Salamanca Rail Museum

Yesterday in the afternoon, Char was takin’ us all to some local museums. She said she had never been to either, even though they were in the next town, maybe 6 miles. Funny how we’ll travel all over to see different sites but ignore the one right under our noses. Linda and I found this true of ourselves several years ago. We still have to yet to visit the Everglades, maybe we can cross that off our list this winter.

Anyway we arrived at the Seneca Indian Museum after a refreshing ice cream cone for everyone. Char pulled into the parkin’ lot only to find we were in the local library parking lot. I guess she has never been here. We walked to the museum next door to find it was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday, what luck we have.

The girls had to point out that fact.

We were startin’ to get really silly by this time.

So with that museum trip a wash Char next took us to see the new local state of the art sewer plant her son operates. Sorry no pictures, TOP SECRECT stuff. It was interesting but stin……ky. Next we headed fer’ the railroad museum in town.

The Salamanca Rail Museum is housed in the old Buffalo Rochester and Pittsburg railroad station.

The Passenger Depot building was constructed in 1912. Salamanca some 90 years ago was a railroad hub and boasted a very large train yard with roundhouses, an engine house and many maintenance facilities. There is an even larger station across the road belonging to the Erie and the Baltimore and Ohio railroads. Maybe someday that one will be restored. The Salamanca Rail Museum was acquired in 1980 after the vandalized vacant building shell had sat abandoned for 20 years. Using a combination of private donations, government funds and volunteer labor the building was brought back to it’s original appearance. Everything in the building is either a restored original or an exact duplicate based on the architectural plans. It is full of artifacts from an era gone by. The restoration is beautifully done.

Even the restrooms are restored to the era of nearly 100 years ago. The admission to the museum is free and it is open most everyday from 10am-5pm, except Sunday 12pm-5pm. It is also closed Mondays in April and October, and closed entirely during January, February and March. There is also always a knowledgeable volunteer on duty. Behind the Station building is the B R and P Freight Office with a static display of a box car, a passenger coach, a crew camp car and two cabooses. Lot to see, lots to touch it was a enjoyable visit. You’ll find a link to the museum Here.

After our gallivanting we returned home to a spaghetti dinner Linda had prepared. Delicious!

Come morning Linda, Bud, Linda and I were all off for Sandy’s for breakfast. I’ll tell ya’ this place is so good and so special I can’t reveal where it is. Sandy is very independent and likes to work at her own pace I think. Right now she’s open three days a week, but if she feels like closin’ the doors, she does just that, could be for several months. Then one day she decides to open’er up again, very independent! After stuffing ourselves the day before everyone swore they were just orderin’ something light the next day, but we all ordered full breakfasts. I even dreamed about orderin’ an omelet and eatin’ half and takin’ the rest home for the next days breakfast, which is just what I did. Here’s what I had for breakfast, just a ham and cheese omelet with two pieces of homemade raisin toast, except the omelet has a pound of ham in it and the toast is an inch thick. All this fer’ $3.25. I took a photo with my phone but it turned out terrible.

After breakfast we returned to Char’s house. Today was the day her and her girlfriends get together to play cards so we sat with them all and had a ball. Then we got ready to move to our niece’s in Holland.

Char we want to thank you for your hospitality and we will miss your smiling face. Maybe you’ll come on down to Florida this winter, this is no place to be in the winter.

Again it is time to say ‘Goodbye’. We hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

On the Road Again

Well we left cousin Bonnie’s house Monday around 10AM on our way to Warren, PA and the Buckaloons Forest Service Campground. With a quick stop in Tionesta to check out the steak situation at the grocery store there. We bought one little steak and nothing more.

We arrived at Buckaloons around 1:30 and stopped to fill up on water before we took the last site on the big loop. We’re right at the exit so we’ll have an easy time pullin’ out in the mornin’. Pretty empty here, just us, the hosts and two other campers. We took a walk around the camp loops then just relaxed fer’ a spell till dinner. Cooked that steak with a baked potato and a salad a while later. Linda & I sat and played cards in the evening cause there was no TV reception.

We were up at 8 had breakfast, broke camp and headed north. We had decided that we needed one more ‘Wally World’ stop before we got where there were none. We spent better than an hour in ‘Wally World’ and only had 7 items on our list, what gives with that. These shoppin’ stops are getting’ longer and longer.

Back on the road we got a call on the phone, it was Charlene wanting to know where we were. We told her we were on the expressway and she said that she was goin’ to a local restaurant and to look for her car when we went by. I told her that if she was still there we’d stop. So surprise, surprise, Linda and Bud were there as well. So after findin’ our way to Char’s, and figurin’ where to park, we all settled in for an afternoon of visitin’. Both Bud and Linda’s motorhome and our trailer are in Char’s driveway.

Char made a nice dinner and we broke out a bottle o’ wine and Linda supplied pumpernickel bread. After dinner I was tryin’ to fight off the sleepy’s and they won for a few minutes, but I bounced back and watched TV fer’ a while. Then we said our goodnights and were off to the trailer.

Wednesday morn we were up and gone to Sandy’s for breakfast by 7:45. Oh what a meal! We got two ham and cheese omelets, one western, two eggs and bacon and sausage gravy and biscuits. Everybody also had thick slices of homemade raisin toast. Each breakfast was $3 or $4 can‘t beat that. We’re goin’ back tomorrow!

Char is takin’ us to a couple o’ museums this afternoon, so I’ll sign off fer’ now. Hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Eat yer’ heart out Wisconsin!

Just a short post as we’re getting’ ready to roll out . Headin’ up the road to the Warren, PA area, maybe Buckaloons Campground. Tryin’ to get a little closer to our girlfriends in the Great Valley area of NY.

We took a trip the other day with Linda’s Aunt Mary and Aunt Rose to a cemetery where Linda's grandfather is buried. This is her mother’s father and died long before Linda’s birth. Her grandmother had eleven children and her youngest was 18 months old when he passed away. Remarkable that she was able to raise all those children. I guess people pulled together and helped one another in those days. Anyway we had wanted to learn the location of his grave and Aunt Rose was able to provide the way.

Aunt Mary, Aunt Rose and me.

This is the Licking Cherry Run U.P. Church that the cemetery is attached to.

Across the street is the Johnston Hill School 1880-1953.

Linda said this next stop explains why it takes us so long to get from point A to point B. Never can tell how many miles we may get under our belts in a day. No Schedule, No Plans. Bonnie says “we’re like a fart in a mitten”. I guess that means we drift with the wind, eh. Notice I’m practicin’ up on my Canadian, eh.

Well there’s a lot of dairy farms around here but somebody been doin’ some genetic engineerin’ or somethin’ cause I never even seen these in Texas.

This girl sure must make a passel o’ milk in a day! Eat yer’ heart out Dairy State.

Our next stop was for lunch at a local restaurant Montana’s. Linda and I had the Fish sandwich special and Aunt’ Rose and Mary had the beef tips and noodles special. We followed it all with some graham cracker pie. We all waddled out and headed the car for home.

OK. I was makin’ this a short post right? SO we hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

This is a Bunch o’ Baloney!

Today Linda had our day all planned when I rolled out o’ the sack at the crack o’ 9:15. We were goin’ to some local yard sales and do some shoppin’.

First off was a run for some corn at a local stand, no corn. Then there was a yard sale where we should have turned to go to town, got to stop there. As we pulled up I’m thinkin’ this is one of those permanent yard sales ya’ see, nothin but picked over junk cause everybody has taken all the good stuff. Well as I’m wanderin’ around I spot somethin’ that I think I recognize the name of, FloJet. Sure enough I buy us a ‘Brand New, In the Box, Shrink Wrapped 4400 Series Quiet Quad 12Volt Water Pump! And I got this for the amazin’ price of not $50, nor $25, But for a measly $5. Guess I shouldn’t be so quick to judge.

How’s this Bud?

Just last week while camped at Sanborn I mentioned to Linda we should buy a pump to carry as a backup. Someone’s lookin’ out fer’ me. Then Linda found some Correlle dishes and plates for 50 cents and I found some Dana Ross Fuller books about the expansion of the west. I bought a boxful for $1, 15 books. I have read Independence, Wyoming, Oregon & Texas in the same series. Now I have 15 more to read. We stopped at one more sale but all we found was some good conversation with the folks havin’ the sale.

Next we made a stop at the local ‘Wally World’, or should I start callin’ it ‘China Mart’? We needed to stock up on some stuff before we go off to Canada, eh. Some things are not available, or more costly or just different than what we get in the good ole’ USA. Anyway as we’re perusin’ through the parkin’ lot headin’ to the store ya’ take a gander over to the store entrance and what do our eyes behold?……..

Das’s right, der ‘Wiener Mobile’!

Must be one o’ the ‘Seven Wonders o’ the Redneck World’

Now chasin’ around the country we’ve seen that funny lookin’ hotdog runnin’ down the blacktop, but always in the other direction, with no chance o’ catchin’ her. Well today we got to see her up close an’ personal and check out the crew that mans the ship. It’s pretty nice inside and the tells me that it will do 65 mph down the road. But they try to keep her crusin’ a little slower cause she causes quite a stir when seen by the motorin’ public. They’re drivin’ slower trying to keep the gawkers from losin’ control of their own vehicles. The crew told us they’re next stop was Hartford, Connecticut.

After a few more stops we were home unloadin’ our bounty from the truck when Johnny J and Marlene pulled in. We invited them in and talked fer’ quite a spell, then they had to run and we finished our unpackin’. 

The rest of our evening was quiet, so I say Adios and Vaya con Dios. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Just Some Needed Maintenance.

Today the weather finally took a break and we had no rain to speak of during daylight hours. Since we had a break I decided to finish up some maintenance items on the coach. I had removed some of the graphic stripes, cause they were deteriorating badly, but the glue and dirt remained. I had tried some ‘Goo Gone’ to remove the glue with little luck. Eight dollars for a jug that doesn’t do what it claims. ‘Goof Off’ was what was needed! I found ‘Goof Off’ to be so good it removed the glue and dirt as well as the black moldy look to the vinyl moldings on the coach. The vinyl moldings seem to have black moldy lookin’ stuff embedded in it. I’ve tried every cleaner and solvent including paintin’ several coats of straight bleach on it with no results. The ‘Goof Off’ worked so well that, even though I had purchased new moldings for the entire coach, I only replaced those that were shrunken and black. At the front and the rear of the trailer the moldings that wrap around the body were just cleaned with ‘Goof Off’. They actually turned out whiter than the ‘new’ moldings. Here’s a picture of what the moldings looked like.

This is what the moldings cleaned up to look like.

Now ya’ got to use a bit of ‘elbow grease’ with the ‘Goof Off’ but it does a great job restoring the vinyl.  Now the entire trailer has nice fresh white moldings. I have re-caulked about half of the trailer and hope to get the rest done soon maybe as soon as tomorrow. 

We also cleaned the mini blinds in the kitchen. I should say I took them down, and got everything ready and Linda did the cleaning, while I continued workin’ on the moldings. Tomorrow we’ll clean the remaining blinds in the Living area, as long as the weather cooperates. These are a little trickier to remove, as I have to remove the valances that we made first, to get to the blinds.

As I was cleanin’ up the last of the tools and supplies this afternoon I noticed my back was aching and I was lookin’ forward to a little nap. I was puttin’ my little chair, that I use when workin’ on the moldings, away in the front basement when I looked down and got a shock! The right landing gear was jammed. The pin that goes through leg to adjust the height was jammed in between the two sliding tubes, rather than through the adjustment holes. The only thing holdin’ up that side of the front of the trailer was friction caused by the pin being jammed between the tubes. I guess when I was settin’ up I didn’t latch the pin through the holes in the landing gear. I brought the truck around, placed large wooden blocks under the frame of the trailer to keep it from falling, not knowing what might happen when I energized the landing gear motor. Then I had Linda retract the slide out rooms, to remove that weight hanging out the side of the trailer. I slowly raised the trailer and was able to get it high enough to hitch up to the truck. Then I retracted the gear enough to atempt to remove the jammed pin. It took some doin’, but I got the pin out, straightened it and hammered the bulged landing gear tube back in shape, replaced the pin with the retaining clip in place. Whew! A tragedy was averted.

I don’t know if the one landing gear would have supported the entire front end of the trailer or if it would collapse causing the trailer to nose dive or roll over on the side with the two slide outs extended. Dodged the bullet on that one.

Tomorrow they’re callin’ fer rain again. I’m getin’ tired of all this rain. It’s been 7 straight days now and the future forecast is lookin’ like we should be considerin’ an ARK instead o’ an RV! Just more rain everyday into the foreseeable future.

In a few days we’ll be headin’ up to NY to see our friend Charlene for a few days, then up a little further to our niece’s for another few days, then it’s off to Canada, eh?

Well I got to go fer’ now but we hope to see ya’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

A Brake in the Weather?

The weather has been pretty crummy between Irene then a cold front that just wouldn’t get movin’ now tropical storm Lee is threatenin’. Rain, rain, rain. But I guess a bad weather day in the RV is still better then a good day at work! Oops, did I use a four letter word.

Amongst all this wet weather guess what I been doin’?

That’s right, since we had that problem on the trip down from NY last month I decided we needed new brakes all around. I had been waitin’ till we were stationary so I could order the needed parts. We arrived back at cousin Bonnie’s last Monday and I pulled off one wheel so I could be sure of orderin’ the right parts. After lunch I called eTrailer and ordered four 12” brake assemblies, some extra grease seals and two bearing assembly sets. The nice girl at eTrailer said shippin’ would take 5-7 days but with the upcomin’ Labor Day weekend it might take a bit longer. So I figured I would be changin’ brakes on the 5’ver next week.

In the mean time, midweek, Linda and I made a trip to Sandy and Craig’s in Tionesta. Linda and Sandy were makin’ salsa. They made some last year and when we brought it home, our grand daughter loved it.

Along the way, we had just turned off the highway when Linda spied this……

Just a growin’ there in the woods alongside the road. Of course I had to stop so she could check out this fungus. I don’t think I would try eatin’ somethin’ that looked like this. I remember readin’ on a friends blog recently that “All mushrooms are edible, One Time”.

Linda had me hold my hand behind the ‘shroom for perspective. That’s one Big Mushroom!

Thursday morning I got a surprise first thing in the morning. Linda told me that my brakes were on the front porch of Bonnie’s house. My Gosh! I just ordered them. Those folks at eTrailer are on the ball. So between rain showers I been replacin’ all the brake components on the trailer. I purchased four complete brake assemblies, all components already mounted on the backing plate. I figured, maybe, the old brake components were to old and too rusty, so I replaced everything. Replacing everything instead of rebuilding what we had was much easier too. So now we have all new brakes, just have to test drive them to see if all is well.

Tonight Linda had to run out and take some shots of the setting sun.

I’m hopin’ that sayin’ about ‘Red sky at night, sailor’s delight’ holds true and the rain is over fer’ a spell.

Well that’s all the excitement fer’ now. As always, we hope to see ya down the road, as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Boondockin’ at the Sanborn Grange

Last weekend we spent 5 days at the Sanborn Grange grounds south of Clearfield, PA. We traveled on down there with our friends Bud and Linda. They have attended the annual Grange picnic here for forty somethin’ years. I all those years, I think they missed one year.

The ladies of the grange put on a meal fit for a king on the last Saturday of August each year. It included roast turkey, stuffin’, mashed potatoes, vegetable medley, cranberry sauce and whole cranberries, coleslaw, roll and butter, beverage of choice and pie for dessert. I don’t think anyone walked away hungry for the $8 meal cost.

Here we are setup on the Grange grounds. Bud and Linda’s motorhome on the left, Bud sister Edy’s 5’ver in the middle and us on the right.

We sat around and BS’d Thursday and Friday. Enjoyin’ each others company, eatin’ and sittin’ around the campfire.  Saturday we were joined by Bud’s Nephew Don and his wife Tracy with their truck camper. Everyone enjoyed the picnic in the afternoon then sat around like a bunch of fat ticks to mellow out.

Linda made chili for dinner and everyone ate hearty again, then it was time for Rusty’s ‘Mountain Pie Assembly Line’. Seems Rusty, Bud and Linda’s niece, is the Queen of the Mountain Pies in the family. She laid out everything to make pies, pizza sauce, cheese, pepperoni and all kinds of fruit fillings. Then when everyone had their fill she brought out ingredients to make smore’s. We sat around and told lies around the campfire the rest of the night.

Sunday dawned for us to find Bud and Linda, Don and Tracy ready to pull out. We decided to stay around another day. Edy and Foster pulled out a little later in the morning leaving us all alone.

This was the weekend of Hurricane Irene and although we didn’t get lots of rain we did get lots o’ wind and days of cloudy skies. Boondockin’ on solar energy was a little tough to say the least.

So how did we make out with our new solar system? I’d say terrific! We got minimal charging due to the weather and the trees we were parked under but we still did great. We used power from the battery bank to watch TV, trying to keep an eye on the storm track and at bedtime each night, made toast each morning with breakfast, ran a fan each night all night, charged laptop battery when needed, showered and washed dishes usin’ the pump and used any lights we needed. So after five days and four nights of boondockin’ our battery bank was down to 81%. I was elated! On the 3 hour ride home the batteries came up to 89%.

I did find out we need a battery charger for times of little or no sun. I thought our generator had a 16 amp charger, which turned out to be 8.3 amps, a little inadequate. I’m lookin’ at a Peak 4/10/20/40 Amp Intelligent charger at Wally World, that should do the job in conjunction with our genny.

This guy came to visit Monday mornin’. I think he a relative of Phil from Punxsutawney.

Well that’s all for this entry. Hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

‘The Fair’ a kids view!

While we were at the Crawford County Fair I kept seein’ kids enjoyin’ it from their perspective. I couldn’t resist snappin’ some pics when I saw the opportunity. I guess I’m getting’ soft or is it that I see little kids in circumstances that make them so cute? You’ll have to be the judge.

A few days of washin’, groomin’, paradin’ around the arena and some more groomin’ and most everyone is getting’ worn out.

The kids!

…and their critters!

Actually most o’ their critters, large and small.

But no matter how big the obstacles life throws at ‘em,

….some just trudge through with a smile.

Until exhaustion takes over and we just can’t take another step.

Well I’m sure all had a good time, includin’ the animals that got bathed and curried and had all their owners attention during the fair.

Well that’s all fer’ now. Hope to see ay’ down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.

Siteseein’ and Fair Food

OK, I aint’ blogged in a while. We been busy, didn’t have any signal, didn’t have the time and I just didn’t feel like writin’! Been havin’ a streak of BLAH’s.

Well our friends Bud and Linda from home come rollin’ in last Monday to the big red barn, right on schedule. We just kinda’ hung around through the day visitin’ and catchin’ up.

Tuesday we headed out to do some siteseein’ around the area. We went to the overlook in Oil City,

This is a shot of Rouseville, adjacent to Oil City, where all the refineries were. 

Wednesday we were up and on the road to the Crawford County Fair by 9:30 in the morning. The Crawford County fair is supposed to be the 3rd largest in the state. Uncle Don wanted to get there early so he could watch the races. It was also ‘Senior Day’ so we skated on the parkin’ fee and the admission fee, sa..weet.

When we arrived they were judgin’ the two horse teams in the arena.

Then came some small two wheeled carts, sorry I don’t know what all these class distinctions are, so I’ll describe ‘em as I see ‘em!

Then the bigger draft two horse wagons.

Just like any hobby, sport or pastime it’s amazing the amount of money that folks have tied up in this stuff.

Then it was time to get to the track for the jockey’s were warmin’ up the race horses for the harness racin’. We grabbed some lunch before we sat down then the races began. Only Uncle Don had seen harness racing before, so it was a new experience for us all. Don picked most of the winners during the two and a half hours we watched the races. It was interestin’ to watch but I still like good ole’ horse racin’ better. These horses are trotters and I guess I just like to see the horses runnin’  all out.

Here’s one I caught at the finish line.

After the races we went through some of the home exhibits, then some of the cows, goats, sheep and horses. Eventually we made it to one end of the midway where they had some RV’s on display. No RV models that interested any of us.

We then made our way back to dine on some ‘fair food’, What Linda and I like to refer to as ‘Carney Food’. That stuff that you just have to go to a carnival or fair to find.

Bud and I had sausage, peppers and onions, while the girls had meatball subs. Each was very good but I preferred the sausage.

We ended the day with a 90 minute concert. A Johnny Cash impersonator, I was skeptical, but he was terrific. He sounded just like the real deal.

And that was our busy ‘Fair Day’. Until the next time, hope to see ya down the road as we’re;

Dancin’ on the Wind.