April 11 – 14: Hungry Mother State Park, in western Virginia, has three camping areas, plus cabins and yurts, a beach and boat launch and many hiking trails and nature trails. I was joining a friend with her teardrop camper there for a few days of rest and relaxation – and knitting and sewing and kayaking.
That first full day we worked on sewing and knitting and enjoying the beautiful weather – until the controlled burn we’d not been warned about started affecting our ability to breathe! We needed to officially sign in anyway, so hopped in the camper and drove down to the main office to pick up our paperwork and vehicle tags, and enjoy a much less smoky area. All of the smoke was being funneled up the valley where the creek that is along our camping area exits; it was much less smoky further upwind. So we walked around some, and admired the redbud and cherry trees:
The smoke had started to abate when we returned to the campground, and as evening fell conditions improved. The teardrop camper, with air conditioning, was able to filter the air; I found that as long as the upwind windows in the Roadtrek were closed, the air stayed relatively clean. It was a warm day, and no one felt inclined to do much cooking; supper was cold shrimp, cheese and bread, brie and apples.
The next day was another sewing day; I did do some knitting. Genne slept, having had a rough night the night before; she had eaten a large piece of plastic and maybe had found some raw potatoes, and spent the night bloated and vomiting. Sigh.
I took the kayak out later in the afternoon. They had done another burn; this time the wind didn’t bring the smoke into the campground, but cut off half the lake!
And that’s where I turned around; I stayed at the less smoky end, looking at the old seedpods and new buds on the rhododendrons, and white flowering trees:
And returned to the mouth of the creek where I’d launched.
That evening, at about dusk, the mallards wandered through our campsite. Genne HATES ducks – I was standing firmly on her long leash when she realized they were there and tried to go after them! They strolled out of range.
The next morning, April 14th, I left before everyone else was up and headed north through West Virginia to Ohio, for lunch with a friend in Marietta. She will be much easier to visit when she moves to New Hampshire in six months or so! I offered to transport anything she wanted to send, so I now have some bonsai stands in the camper. She’s an avid gardener; I should have gotten photos of the gardens but was too busy listening to her tell about the plant choices. Also an artist, she refinished and stenciled the concrete floor of the front porch.
Then on the road and north another couple of hours, to visit another knitting friend and her husband – and very handsome golden retriever; you will meet him next post!
Anni encouraged me to put off my visit another day, so I didn’t go west on Prince Edward Island until Thursday, September 12. We’d been seeing scenes like this since Sunday – there are many places with trees cut just enough to get through on the road. Or sometimes partially off it! There was power on when I got to her house, and she thought I was kidding when I told her that when she came in from work!
Bentley once lived with Justine. Now he’s at Anni’s, he’s a special needs dog with emotional issues. Or maybe learning disabilities – fortunately, he comes with a handle!
There’s lots of fish farming in the area, presumably oysters and mussels. 
And lots of herons, again –
Duck Creek, where we bottomed out – you can’t tell it’s only a few inches deep!
We heard the sound of running water, and found this bunch of rivulets tricking down. 
And back to the Roadtrek, back to the house.
Sunday, 7/7: My destination was Oberlin, and the Kendal retirement community there. I said Hi to these ducks, then joined Friends there for worship. They invited me to join them for lunch, which I was happy to do, getting to know some new Quakers. They gave me a tour of hallways lined with artwork from the collections of residents, and artwork outside, as well.      
Continuing on, taking secondary roads and avoiding cities, I stumbled on Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It gave me an excellent excuse to take a break, and walk around some, enjoying the scenery. 
I spent about an hour, walking, looking at interpretive exhibits, and people watching – there were lots of people on this holiday weekend with nice weather! The canal trail had people walking, jogging, bicycling, picnicking – having a good time. On into Pennsylvania; I stopped at a library with internet access to get directions into campsites in Allegheny National Forest, and that’s where I spent the night. Very quiet (until the woodpecker started in the morning!), dark, level enough. In the morning I took my time, walking around trying to see elusive woodpeckers, and then some more time until all the road grading equipment had gone by! 
After stopping to jump start another camper’s truck’s dead battery, I went up to and along part of the Allegheny Reservoir, 
and then up into New York State. One of the roads took me past a state Highway Department depot – someone had been having fun! What a creative use for old highway signs! 
Still avoiding major highways, most of my trip across the state was through farmland – but there was not always a place where it was safe to stop and take photos. 
And on to Vermont, stopping again in Bennington where my friend has a quiet, dark, level place to park the Roadtrek. I’d not been there long when the sunset started showing its colors – 
and it was reflected in the horse trailer window. 
After a good night’s sleep, I walked around the flower gardens,
visited a while, and headed for home. My cats were glad to see me!
I’d never met a psaltery before; it’s essentially a bowed harp, and one woman played in the dining hall a few times, keeping the cook entertained. I loved it.
Then it was time to head for Iowa, and Friends General Conference. I had a young man carpooling with me on the drive west. The first night we spent in
It was flat enough, and certainly dark and quiet – and free – and I could have chosen to park at the old CCC site closer to the entrance. But we had plenty of daylight to explore, so did that, about as far in as we could get! We did go past several other possible sites, deciding that drier ground was better than risking getting the Roadtrek stuck. My fellow traveler uses a hammock tent, so looks for a pair of suitable trees. The second night we found the 
This area is not free, but there was no way to pay there, and the office was closed by the time we got there, and certainly wasn’t open when we left at dawn; I owe them a whopping $8.00! And it is flat. Very flat. 
Some images from an early walk around the area:Â 
And as were driving out to Route 6, we crossed the canal again: 
Then it was into Iowa. We stopped at the welcome center, admired their sculpture, 
and thought it ironic that the smoker chose to stand directly under the “No Smoking” sign.                                         
Then it was on to Grinnell, and a week of hanging out with Quakers.
The wind was strong, as were the currents; I stayed close to shore and had no problems. Actually, the breeze was much appreciated, as it’s still too hot for my northern blood, even here in South Carolina! They provide life jackets:Â 
I nudged into a creek not far from the landing, and wound my way up the winding twisting passage. Just after I started in I probably surprised a gator – don’t know what else would make such a big commotion entering the water! It churned up lots of mud, but I never saw whatever it was. Then I surprised a pair of wood storks – by the time I got the camera out, they were leaving. I just waved the camera in the right direction and snapped, and got a rather nice foliage photo:Â 
And when I zoomed in on it, there’s one wood stork! 
I really like the feathery foliage of the cypress; it’s more fully leafed out then on my return trip last year. 
This is as far up the creek as I was able to go – the cypress knees were too close together to fit the kayak. 
 
Also seen: great blue and little green herons, and this turtle –Â 
By 10:30 – after playing in the swirling current to get back – I was on shore, and loading in the kayak as it started to sprinkle. Rain didn’t last long – continuing north, I reached the North Carolina border at about 1PM 
and the welcome center had beds of bright roses to welcome guests. 
After 237 miles, plus 1 1/2 hours of kayaking, I was in Newport, NC to visit cousins Jan and Dean – and their new-since-last-visit 
A couple of photos with people for scale –Â 
There were lots of plants growing on it, of which I could identify Spanish moss and resurrection fern (both in the first photo):
It’s great to see these people who live too far away, and have them share part of their neighborhood. But time to continue north –
did have some shade, but my northern self was just too hot to get the boat out and carry it down to the water. Back to the air conditioned vehicle, and on in to Georgia at 2:00, and South Carolina at 4:30; I pulled in to 
at 8:10, after 432 miles. I occupied one of the three campsite with people in them – the place was not busy! And it’s dark, and it’s possible to find a flat space without having to level the camper; the frogs’ serenade drowned out traffic on the local road until dawn, too. The downside of free camping? No toilet paper in the outhouse! But I’m self-contained; I have my own.
also, I believe, on Lake Tillery – but with maybe 1/5 the parking spaces and much less traffic. Long sleeves were welcome, but the sun was shining brightly and it was sheltered enough that the wind never built up much in the way of waves. Scenery: 
Wildflowers:
A Year of Kayaking 