Newark Airport – Terminal ‘C.’ Early morning, quite a few years ago. “Florida?” “Hawaii?” …I could only dream!
Retired now, but a glimpse back to years of employment often revealed necessary travel. How nice! But mid-winter? It meant up early in the cold, managing the slippery roads to the airport, and shuffle off to …Buffalo, or Detroit, or some other frozen landascape.Renting a car was the norm. Bringing it back in one piece was the expectation.
Yeah, there was work to be done, and yes, often pretty landscapes in between.
But, at the end of some of those days, there was always a little nervous anticipation, often by the windows of the waiting room, pretending to read “USA Today” while supressing the notion of helplessly skidding or sliding down the runway in that plane out there. I would maybe think: Is this the fun part yet?
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About four weeks ago, in one of our last ventures before the Corvid-19 Pandemic, we visited the little town of Piermont, New York …on the Hudson River, and explored its 182 year old rock and earthen pier, which by 1851 served as a loading and unloading track bed for Erie Railroad trains picking up steamboat passengers from Lower Manhattan, twenty-five miles to the South. On the then longest rail line in the world, vacationers would travel 450 miles (724 km) to Dunkirk, NY and the shores of Lake Erie. Some hundred years later, long after the excursions were outmoded, tens of thousands of WW II troops would depart from this same mile long pier to ferries, and transfer onto troop ships in NY Harbor. Sadly, thousands would literally leave their last footsteps on U.S. soil right here. A monument nearby is solemnly named “Last Stop, USA.”
The Piermont Pier is located about two miles (3.2 km)south of the new Mario Cuomo Bridge, jutting out a little less than one mile (1.61 km) into the Hudson River.The old steamship/ferry slip from years ago is seen above, …to the left.Above: Today, the pier is a commercial, residential, and hiking park.Remnants of the steamship/ferry docks can still be seen in this 2/23/20 view looking south. New York City would be just beyond Tallman Mountain to the right.Above: A bollard, used for securing heavy lines, is seen here near the end of the pier, looking south.Above: The trestle part of the new bridge, carrying the New York State Thruway, is about two miles (3.2 km) to the North; and Hook Mountain, overlooking the Hudson, is seen beyond.Above: The striking new Governor Mario Cuomo Bridge; and two miles (3.2 km) further, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse off Tarrytown, NY seen to the left of center span.Taken some years ago while boating on the Hudson, Sleepy Hollow Lighthouse, also know as Tarrytown Lighthouse or Kingsland Point Lighthouse, was “installed” in 1883.
Thanks for viewing. Zoom in for a closer look.
And a special note: BE WELL, …and please use best judgement practices as we “navigate” through these un-precedented difficult times. M
I’d like to thank the Piermont Historical Society for their added information concerning this topic, and Wikipedia. I am a proud contributer/donator to both sources.
Not too much snow this season in New Jersey. So here is a look-back to Western New York State, seventeen years ago – January 15, 2003.
Above (and the next two pictures) …were taken just north of Hornel, NY
It was about 10° F (-12° C) with 20 mph (32 kph) wind, with me freezing outside!The next day, below, I was in Hamburg, NY, just south of Buffalo, where “Lake Effect” snows can bury cars …like MINE!Thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome, and zoom in for a closer look. M 🙂
Lucy Kaplansky, a Greenwich Village honed musician and singer-songwriter with pitch perfect vocals and acoustic guitar mastery, has impressed us during a number of local performances over the years. This past Saturday, as snow fell on the city and suburbs, my city savvy son and I made the trek, first by car in N.W. Bergen County, NJ, to the local train station. The end of the line is Hoboken, just steps away from the ferry terminal where we waited a few minutes for the frigid ride across the Hudson River to the “Battery” terminal (WTC area.) A cold half mile walk thru accumulating snow and partly along the water front, brought us to the pleasantly impressive “City Vineyard” restaurant on Pier 26.
Preceded by an excellent dinner, Lucy would perform flawlessly with her music and stories, right there on the Hudson River, and practically in the shadow of One World Trade Center.
This is how we got there…
The last image above is through the window next to our high top table while watching the show, – overlooking the summer deck and Jersey City beyond.
City Vineyard is marked near the upper right on the map above.
After the show, with my son leading the way, we would take a cab uptown to Penn Station, where the trains would bring us back under the river and eventually to the car (via Secaucus Jct.) and the final slippery road home.
Note that these are i-phone images.
Thanks for viewing and comments are always welcome. M 🙂
Tooling around Florida after the wedding, (see previous post here) the two of us would spend some time on St. Petersburg Beach…
Our son and Grandson flew in for the wedding and would spend the next day with us afterward. Here, the art of “catching” is demonstrated… in this case, either a small seagull or a tennis ball!
Then, visiting friends, and eating out on Long Boat Key, and Punta Gorda…
An alluring on-water restaurant, (Mar Vista) sitting amongst sprawling Silver Buttonwood Trees, Whitney Beach, Long Boat Key
And then, two nights inside Disney World, doing the entire day in between within Epcot, each of us walking about 22,000 steps (about 10 miles – 16 km!)
A last-minute call for any available room on this Spring Break weekend succeeded in getting a very reasonable “yes” in the Pop Century resort. 🙂The iconic “Spaceship Earth,” Epcot
The last post in this series will cover our rainy drive back to New Jersey.
Thanks for viewing, zoom in for a closer look, and comments are always welcome. 🙂
Today, Wednesday, we would continue the adventure from Roberval, arriving at what would be our ultimate destination, indicated below as “Route du Nord”
The 185 mi (298 km) from Roberval would take us about 5 1/2 hours this day, compared to the 3h 22m indicated on the 2018 Google image, the route now …all pavement!)
In Part Two, I covered our initial 725 miles (1,167 km) non-stop drive over just under 22 hours from New Jersey to Roberval, Quebec Province, Canada. “Day Two” began at 9:45 AM August 31, 1966, in that lakeside town, driving North-West among more alpine lakes enjoying a smooth, well maintained paved road.
Within about 35 miles (56 km), however, we came across this worrisome signpost just inside another provincial park, (“Chibougamau Reserve”) indicating the end of the pavement. 🙁
65 mph (104 km/hr.) was no longer practical on the gravel surface that stretched endlessly ahead. Stones occasionally pelted the sides of the car; and as this was lumber country, massive logging trucks would fly by enveloping us in choking clouds of dirt and dust.
It would be 115 miles (186 km) before reaching pavement again, at the junction of Rt. 58 West (now known as Rt. 113.) After hours of gravel, the Sprite’s ride felt smoother than ever! Eight miles (13 km) later we would be in the last town while heading north in this part of the world, Chibougamau, serving a growing copper mining region, logging, and the Royal Canadian Air Force radar services.
Continuing, …the pavement ended again just past the town, as we once again were on the gravel road. Thirty minutes later we arrived at the barrier shown below. Its deterrent-rousing presence seemed to emphasize increasing aches and pains, emotional drain and weariness to us, not to mention the effects of dust inhalation and a worsening cold, on my part. We decided this would be our turn-around point as the road would end about 100 miles (161 km) further with limited or no amenities, and likely little change in scenery.
3:25 PM, 8/31/66, 918 car miles (1477 km) – 632 miles (1017 km) as the crow flies.
The non-stop return trip would first take us over 200 miles (322 km) on an unprecedented, unexpected overnightchallenge of gravel and poorly maintained, primitive dirt road before reaching dawn and the increase of population, north of Ottawa!
See the conclusion of “A Northbound Adventure,” (Part Four) here.
Thanks for viewing, and comments are always welcome. Zoom-in or finger-stretch for a closer view of the maps and images. M 🙂
There is a wonderful five mile one-way roadway just east of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, in the foothills of Mount LeConte, the third highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, at 6,923 (2010 m.) The auto turn-outs allow access to old growth forests, streams, waterfalls, wildlife and more. Recently, Sandy Paws and I found unexpected tranquility, and almost complete silence, among the resurgence of forest life, ten months after devastating fires sorched the region.
A short walk from one of the turn-outs, leads to a small summit, elevation 2,900 feet (884 m) as shown photographically in the last picture above, and located on the topo renditions here.
Special thanks to Crow Canyon Journey and Jessica for zoom-in attributes, and Le Conte spelling respectively! M 🙂
As usual, click on the image for a closer look, and thanks for viewing. Comments are always welcome. M 🙂
See updated version of this post (with Zoom In capability) here
A wonderful five mile one-way roadway just east of Gatlinsburg, Tennessee, in the foothills of Mount LeConte, the third highest peak in the Great Smoky Mountains, at 6,923′ (2010 m.) The turn-outs allow access to old growth forest, streams, waterfalls, wildlife and more. Recently, Sandy Paws and I found unexpected tranquility in the resurgence of forest life, ten months after devastating fires scorched the region.
A short walk from one of the turn-outs, leads to a small summit, elevation 2,900 feet (884 m) as shown photographically in the last picture above, and located on the topo renditions here.
Thanks as usual for viewing, and click on for a closer look. Comments are always welcomed. M 🙂
Renting a car was the norm. Bringing it back in one piece was the expectation.
Yeah, there was work to be done, and yes, often pretty landscapes in between.
See updated version of this post (with Zoom In capability) 
