Friday 31st. May 2013
We checked out of the hotel and  took a taxi around to the car hire place in West 42nd. Street. They offered us a small Fiat but for a little extra we were offered a larger Toyota SUV. We started down West 42nd street at about 10:00am through the maze of people and yellow Manhattan taxis. Our GPS was confused by the tall buildings in Manhattan and it was a good thing we had done a trial run with the GPS earlier and knew that we had to turn right into 7th. Avenue, then right into West 37th. Street and then turn left somewhere to go through the Lincoln tunnel. Thankfully the GPS was working properly by the time we got to the Lincoln Tunnel turn off. The GPS directions were frequent and clear and all was going smoothly until we slowed to a halt and waited while the traffic passed some road works. An hour later we were stopped again and there was a massive queue of traffic for more road works. This lot of road works took us nearly 45 minutes to get past.
We stopped briefly for lunch and with some great difficulty got back onto the Highway 81 North bound. The rest of the journey was uneventful and we arrived at Lee and Cloudia's in Athens, Pennsylvania at about 3:45pm.
At around 6:00pm "Humphrey," the two year old black bear, appeared and I managed to get a few photos of him. His mother BB didn't appear. As "Humphrey" made numerous appearances during our stay and seeing as how I took a lot of photos of him, I will post a few here and get him over and done with.

At 7:00pm we drove into Sayre and had dinner at the Original Italian Grille which is an old converted railway station. The meal was good and reasonably priced.

We arrived home just before 9:00pm

Saturday 1st. June 2013
We went shopping for groceries at Elmira, about 20 minutes away by car. The local supermarket at Athens/Sayre not being quite the same standard as this one. We bought vegetables etc for our stay with Lee and Cloudia.
The gathering of family and friends began at 3:00pm. Many of those present were friends of Robert and included members of his choir/singing group. We met Lee's father for the first time and became re-acquainted with his mother.

Humphrey the bear made an appearance at about 4:00pm. but didn't stay long and was spooked by a passing motor bike and disappeared into the undergrowth. The "kids" all went swimming in the pond and a good time was had by all. Humphrey re appeared later on in the evening when everything had quietened down. He found the large piece of Wedding cake that was left for him on a plate and quickly devoured it, before wandering off back into the undergrowth.

We sat on the balcony and watched the sunset over the distant hills. We learnt a lot about the district and the local customs from Lee's good friend Derek who live just up the hill and over in the next valley. Derek is of Italian extraction but was born in the USA and never been back to Italy. His family own a business which includes a pizza shop. He brought 9 huge pizzas  earlier in the day for the celebrations. He is very articulate and an interesting character who by the age of 28-30 has done most things including cage fighting and has a passion for collecting motor bikes and old guitars. He warned us about taking photos in the area, saying the people around here weren't particularly friendly.
Derek: "What do you intend doing while you are here?"
Me: "I hope to take some photos"
Derek: "Watch out the folks around here aren't very friendly"
Roo: "Have you seen the film Deliverance?"
Me: "Yes"
Derek: "Then you know what it is like!"
About midnight we went to bed

Sunday 2nd. June 2013
It was a cool fine morning that threatened to heat up as the day went on. Lee was not feeling well so Cloudia came with us to show us a bit of America. We followed Derek's suggestion from the day before and decided to drive to "The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon."
Derek assured us it was only an hour or so drive from Athens, Lee on the other hand, said it was further and guided us towards the Pine Creek Gorge. We left in our Toyota SUV with Maryland registration plates at about 11:00am and drove for hours. At about 1:00pm we stopped for lunch at the little village of Waterville, located deep in a valley and surrounded by trees. It was quite pretty. The local store doubled as a fishing and tackle shop, sandwich bar, merchandising franchise and petrol station. Cloudia and I shared a beef, lettuce and cheese "Hoagie," which turned out to be a long roll stacked full of roast beef and lettuce. It was delicious. We drove through a heavy shower of rain and then the weather cleared to light clouds and a temperature in the mid twenties. Put A$54.49 worth of petrol in the car.

Waterville, Pennsylvania	Our Toyota Venza	Pine Creek Gorge, Pennsylvania
Pine Creek Gorge, Pennsylvania	Turkey Vulture, Pine Creek Gorge, Pennsylvania	Typical farming country in Pennsylvania

We traveled north, still uncertain as to where we were exactly supposed to be going. Our GPS would acknowledge the towns we put in but not the Pine Creek Gorge. We eventually found the turn off to the west rim and drove up there. The view over the river and road below was spectacular, although nothing like what I imagine the real Grand Canyon to be. We moved on a little and stopped at a lookout where we overlooked 5 eagles (I will have to ask Peter Day what they were .. they were brown, seemed to have pink faces and a white tip to the end of their beaks. I have a photo or two). Our eagles/birds (Peter Day has since identified them as Turkey Vultures which are very common in the USA) glided by back and forth below and above us until they were joined by another 10-15 birds and they all headed off to the other side of the canyon/valley.
At about 4:00pm we decided to head home. The GPS guided us faultlessly and we arrive back at Lee and Cloudia's just after 6:00pm.
We were greeted by the news that Humphrey the bear had made an appearance earlier and had been swimming in the lake just below the house. There are no photos to verify the rumour and so we don't know if it was a hoax or not.
As we sat on the balcony overlooking the valley waiting for the sun to set, a young deer appeared. However it was spooked by something. Lee went down the hill towards the woodland to investigate and I was a little alarmed to see that he had a pistol in his left hand. It had obviously been in his pocket as we had been talking. This was much the same situation last night when Lee went to investigate something near the woods and Derek had produced a pistol from his pocket to "cover" him. Having to protect oneself when you go to the bottom of the garden is something new to a couple of Australian city slickers like us, but a way of life for these country folk. The young deer's alarm was caused by the presence of "BB" the much larger mother of Humphrey Bear.
The warmth of the day suddenly disappeared as night fell and we were in for quite a chilly night. The windows were thrown wide open and the air conditioner turned off. We were very tired after a long day and slept well.

Monday 3rd. June 2013
It was a cool overcast morning but the temperature had warmed up to wear shirt sleeves by mid afternoon. With Lee and Cloudia we set of to Montour Falls.

Montour Falls, New York State	Montour Falls, New York State	Montour Falls, New York State

We took a few photos and then moved on to Watkins Glen State Park in New York State. We did the 1½ mile walk up the gorge taking photos of the various waterfalls, small canyons and rock formations.

Watkins Glen State Park, New York State	Watkins Glen State Park, New York State	Watkins Glen State Park, New York State
Watkins Glen State Park, New York State	Watkins Glen State Park, New York State	Watkins Glen State Park, New York State

We arrived back at the car at about 2:30pm and headed back towards home. Not having had lunch and at my insistence, we stopped for lunch at a "Diner" just south of Watkins Glen. This was our first experience of a Diner. The food was good, the serves large and the waitress was happy and helpful and well deserving of the tip we gave her.

When we arrived back in Sayre at about 4:00pm, the mailman had delivered my order of Thayer's Slippery Elm and the three pairs of cheap reading glasses I had ordered online last Thursday while in New York city.
As the boys were not around I was allowed into Lee's "Boy Cave." It was quite amazing for one as naive as myself.

Driving in the USA Quite obviously one drives on the right hand side of the road here! Intersections present a challenge. There are intersections which have traffic lights and those that have stop signs. At those with traffic lights you are sometimes able to turn right against the red light (the safe turn) if there is no traffic in your way and there isn't a small sign that says you can't. Intersections with stop signs are a challenge. At a fourway intersection with stop signs on every approach, everyone approaching the intersection must stop and cross in the order in which they reached the white line at the intersection. So you must remember in which order you and the other three lanes arrived at the intersection. Unless of course you drive a pickup truck, in which case you just force your way across because you are bigger than everyone else, or you are a redneck and don't know the road rules of Pennsylvania. At a two or threeway intersection with stop signs, the traffic on either one or two roads approaching the intersection doesn't have to stop (they aren't confronted with a stop sign) and so you must give way to them if you are facing a stop sign. Then you must remember in what order everyone else (facing a stop sign) arrived at the intersection. Unless you are a pickup truck , of course, in which case you just claim the right of way as detailed above!

At about 7:30pm, Humphrey the two year old black bear appeared again and I wasted another hundred photos!

Tuesday 4th. June 2013
Today was a rest day, so we did nothing except laze around Lee and Cloudia's house. The morning was cold and clear, but the temperature rose to a pleasant 20˚C in the afternoon and there was full sunshine. Around midday we were resting beside the pond when Humphrey the bear decided to join us. This meant a hasty retreat back up the hill to the safety of the house, and more photos taken of Humphrey. Lee had to see the doctor in the afternoon and so we had the house to ourselves. Tomorrow is going to be a long day with a trip planned to the Niagara Falls. At this stage we are thinking of heading off down the Blue Ridge Parkway on Friday for a few days of exploring and site seeing.
In the evening we went to the Waverly High School to listen to Robert singing with the "Choraleers" and the "Show Choir" while Andrew played trumpet in the Waverly Band, which consisted of about 100 members. This was the end of year "Spring Festival of the Arts" for the students.

Wednesday 5th. June 2013
Today was fine and a chilly start to the day. Cloudia accompanied us to Niagara Falls. We left at 8:30am and it was a 3½ hour journey. Thankfully the GPS worked well and we had no trouble find the Falls. I put another US$50 of petrol in the car along the way. We arrived at about mid day, and my first impression was how small the falls were. They are not particularly high but a huge volume of water flows over them. The American side is straight and the water drops down onto rocks. The Canadian side consists of the more spectacular Horseshoe Falls. Taking photos of the Canadian side was difficult as there was so much spray. We bought tickets for the "Maid of the Mist" (US$15.50 each) and were grateful for the waterproof ponchos they provided when we sailed into the spray of the Canadian Falls. It reminded me of our visit to Milford Sound in NZ a few years ago and was like being in the cold rinse cycle of a large washing machine.

There were a large number of Amish folk at the Falls. The young girls wore blue pinafores and small white bonnets while the men wore straw hats, blue trousers, white shirts and blue waistcoats. They seemed to delight in riding around in the "Scenic Trolley" which is best described as a two carriage, rubber tyred bus or train. Maybe this was their first ride in a horseless carriage!

We walked across to Goat Island and took more photos of both the American and Canadian sides of the falls and at about 3:15pm we started our journey home again. We arrive back at about 6:45pm to find that BB, the bear had raided a rubbish bin in the garage which Lee had inadvertently left open during the afternoon.
I relaxed on the balcony with a glass of red wine and watched the sun set over the distant mountains. A couple of deer appeared and also a rabbit but not sign of either bear. It was a very pleasant warm evening.
The day time temperature had reached about 28˚C.
 

Using a clothes line for drying clothes is regarded as a sign of poverty. It means you can't pay the electricity bill for the electric drier.

Thursday 6th. June 2013
Today was overcast and there was a  chilly breeze blowing. Today was also a rest day in preparation for our big trip south starting tomorrow morning. The roads here are good and so traveling large distances is not really a problem. The only problem that arises is the constant road works that can render one's car motionless for 45 minutes or more at a time at the end of a 3 mile queue.
We really have no idea of how far down the Blue Ridge Parkway we will get. Our aim tomorrow will be to drive from Sayre, PA down to Charlottesville in Virginia. Charlottesville is at the northern end of the parkway. The web page I found indicated this might take us 8 hours. Our next target would be Roanoke which is also about 8 hours from Sayre (442 miles or 711 kms). I estimate this would be like driving from Adelaide to Melbourne. If we make it down to Ashville in North Carolina, during our stay, we will have done well. The journey back from Ashville NC to Sayer PA is estimated to be 10½ hours (669 miles or 1072 kms). Only time will tell how far we get. From Charlottesville along the Blue Ridge Parkway to Ashville is 385 miles and the maximum speed limit is only 45mph.
We had light rain all afternoon and so about 2:00pm we went into Waverly to the Susquehanna River Archeological Centre. Briar bought some gem trees and we were "collared" by an old fellow who insisted on telling us about his father's archeological collection which had been brought together under one roof rather than being sold off when he died. It comprised of many ancient Indian flint tools from Ohio, arrow heads etc and a wooly mammoth tusk. We managed to escape him by telling him our time was limited and continued to plan our trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway.
The current plan is to get to Charlottesville by tomorrow night. Spend two days going south for 180miles along the BR Parkway as far as Mabry Mill then cut across the "Crooked Road" and then back up Highway 81 to Sayre by Monday night.