Vax Populi

July 21, 2021

Joanna and I took our second helpings of the Moderna vaccine two weeks ago.  That means it has now kicked in at full force.

Look out, Earth: we’re celebrating.

It has been almost a year and a half since we did any real traveling. 

We were in Bangkok in late January of last year and getting ready to visit Vietnam when the Red Chinese finally had to admit that they had the flu. 

It was going to be a six-week jaunt in Vietnam and Thailand, but we cut the trip short to come home. 

Since then we’ve had to stay close to North Jersey. We made short car trips to ease cabin fever. We even got as far as the Delaware Water Gap; Milford, Pa.; and Orange County, New York. All of them day trips and all deja vu.

But now, at last, we’re on the road again.

The start has plenty of deja vu in it, too, but with a little extra.

We’re on a circuit that will take us to Clearfield, Cleveland, Niagara Falls, Ossining and points in between. I’m so rammy after all this time that I’m actually excited about a trip to Cleveland.

On the way west, the first stop was a brief stretch of the knees at the Delaware Water Gap. We stopped at one of the trail heads, but didn’t try that. There were steps up the hillside that looked like the climb to a cathedral belfry.

We stopped at Dunnfield Creek, the protected trout stream. I have never seen trout there, but then, that could be because they are good at blending in.

The visitor center was closed. Had been for a long time, it seems, judging by the cobwebs. There was a strange insect that looked like a spider minus two legs. It was marked like a lady-bug, red and black, but was way too big and shaped wrong for that. We had no idea what it was.

We did find a working restroom not far from there, and I was grateful for that.

We got to Clearfield, Pa., around four, checked into the Comfort Inn. Paul, the man at the desk, had recently had his second vax shot. He and Joanna compared notes on side-effects.

Then we headed to one of the star attractions in the area—Bilger’s Rocks, a bizarre geological formation that looks like the ruins of a megalithic temple.

I came across the place about three years ago, but I was on a solo run, so Joanna had never seen it.

The rocks—“over 300 million years old,” according to the sign—were naturally formed, but they are rectilinear and look like dressed stone laid in courses. As if that’s not eerie enough, the whole place is shaded by a dense canopy and dressed in moss.

When I was here before, I was struck by the roots-and-ruins feel of it. The trees were growing over the stones, just like Angkor Wat.

I only went to the top of the rocks on that trip.

This time Joanna suggested we take the walking tour. We parked the car in a pulloff at the roadside next to a stone wall that wasn’t built by people.

We stepped across a puddle and entered a long rectangular space that looked like a stone gallery whose roof had fallen in. There were carvings in the stone, including one that reminded us that Jesus saves.

We met a young couple. Not only was the man from Clearfield, but it seems so was his family from way back. He said his ancestors were among the founders of the town. Some had fought in the Civil War.

The young lady with him was originally from Rahway, N.J. She was seeing the rocks for the first time, too, just like Joanna. 

They were coming out of a narrow passage that continued straight out of the room we were in. It was covered with rocks turned every which way. 

When I was nimbler, maybe I would scrambled over that crooked path just because I could. I have become lately more judicious about when and where I risk life and limb. Besides, there was still plenty to see by less energetic methods. I just had to watch my step.

Where is Erich von Daniken when you need him? The illusion that the place isn’t natural but maybe built by ancient aliens is reinforced because you go through narrow passages to more and more rooms.

Joanna even noticed an outcropping that looked like a face with a Cambodian nose. You’re not likely to remember that but it is one of our favorite travel stories. We were at a temple in Angkor Wat that was decorated with faces believed to be the king who had the temple built.

The guide was talking about the profiles, how they had Cambodian noses. “The barang nose—” he began. “The European nose,” he amended, “sticks out farther.” Joanna wanted to offer me as an example.

Anyhow, the ancient alien carving with the Cambodian nose is the photo of the day. 

There are broken walls that let you see into other rooms. It is all so beautiful and hilarious that it hurts.

When we went back to the car, a man in a pickup stopped on the road and asked if we enjoyed the sights. He was a worker on a construction job in the area and was going to pick up a friend to check the place out. He hadn’t seen it before either.

We drove up the hill to the park, where we found more information about the rocks. There is also a continuing experiment to study a blight-resistant chestnut tree to be reintroduced into the American wild.

The original species has been wiped out by a blight. I believe it still grows, but doesn’t live long. The experiment is testing the resistance of a new hybrid strain.

The specimens are still saplings, but are taller than they were three years ago. So far, so good.

While we were there, the young man we met down the hill came up and said his fiancee would like to have a picture of Joanna and me. Would we mind? I’m not a fugitive from the law right now, so I had no objection.

Then we began to chat. His mother is the family historian, so she had told him various stories. 

There may be a leg pull in here, but I don’t know all the facts.

According to the young man, his mother said her family name was Copenhaver, and back in the day, they were members of the Danish royal family. They had a castle in a part of present-day Germany that was at the time ruled by Denmark.

The family lost control or moved out or whatever, and the castle was eventually sold to a rich man who had it exported brick by brick and rebuilt in Arizona.

He pulled up a website on his phone for Copenhaver Castle on Camelback Mountain, which is in or next to Phoenix.

I looked it up myself later and all I could find was that an orthodontist named Copenhaver had an elaborate home built on a mountainside in the style of a Moorish castle.

I’m not bitching, mind you. You can’t let the facts get in the way of a good story. If this was invention, it was brilliant. And more important than that, it was fun.

We went from the park to Denny’s Beer Barrel Pub for burgers. Joanna was conservative. She ordered a burger of ground prime rib. I had elk, as usual at Denny’s.

Much to my delight, the bar had Otto’s red ale on tap again. I had that with elk the first time I stumbled onto Denny’s years ago. It is almost a local beer, brewed in Pittsburgh, but the bar hasn’t had it any time I was there between then and now. The first sip brought tugs of nostalgia to my heart.

I followed that with something I had not heard of, Hop Lot American ale, which was on nitrogen, like a Guinness stout. It was OK, but it probably would have tasted better with CO2, which has more bite.

Right now, I’m enjoying a tasty number called Vellerouge, a hazy IPA from Axemann Brewery, about 45 miles from Clearfield in Bellefonte, Pa. I bought a six-pack at Denny’s bottle shop, and have had enough that I’m ready to sign off.

Love to all. Love the road.

Harry

July 22

Harry,

Glad to hear you are back in your zone, On The Road Again!

That ladybug/spider-looking insect you saw at Dunnfield Creek was most likely the late nymph stage of the Spotted Lantern Fly. You will see them from July to September and then they morph into adults.  While beautiful and unharmful to humans, they are destructive and invasive pests, devouring agriculture, timber and most importantly to me, vineyards.  They jump, rather than fly, and I step on every one I see.  

Happy Trails, hello to Joanna.

Jamy

You’re an inspiration! Linda and I are planning excursions to the Berkshires in August and Williamsburg, Va., in September. We’ll leave the overseas traveling until next year, I think. Then we plan to do Italy for a month or so.

 

Alan

Dear Harry,

So glad to hear you're "On the Road Again."

Please send best wishes to Joanna.

Hope to see you soon, my friend.

John 

What a joy to hear from  you! And “vax populi”? Would ‘twere so!

Much love to you and Joanna.

Beatrice

Hi Dad,

It is SO AWESOME to hear you're safely on the road again! Seriously, this is the best news I've had in a while (and I've actually had some pretty good news lately, so there was in fact a competition). I bet Denny's was glad to see you again, too. It's so nice to revisit places and find they're still there.

Speaking of which: Brian and I spent a couple of days at Wildwood last week and it's basically identical to last time we went down as a family trip. It was a nice bit of nostalgia.

Looking forward to more updates from the road as they come through.

Love you,

--Kate