NY New England and South

     NY has multiple NP sites.  Unlike NH and Vermont which have one each, or Delaware which has no available National Park locations, the Empire State offers multiple opportunities to load up the National Park Passport with visitation stamps.  Just twenty miles from us in Rome, for instance, is Fort Stanwix, a rebuilt Revolutionary war fort.  Most readers will understand when I say that attractions in your backyard are often the most difficult to appreciate.  Before I started this Tour, I had never been to Fort Stanwix though Robin took the kids there many years ago.  They have a fully staffed visitor center, ongoing historical programs, and encourage school groups to visit.  Kids (and adult visitors too) get to clamber on the walls, climb into sentry stations, and generally poke around. 
     Another nearby attraction with multiple sites is the Erie Canal National Historic Canal.  Right across the middle of the state, this symbol of NY's commercial past is still a vital part of the tourist and transportation grid.  With a fully operative lock system, recreational boaters use parts of the old canal and the Barge Canal to connect New York City with The Great Lakes.  In Seneca Falls, less than two hours from us, we found an Erie Canal museum just down the street from the Woman's Rights NP.  While the NP is really one building, many historic residences and and businesses from the Katie Stanton era are open for visitors.  The Hudson River National Historic Area, the Saratoga National Historic Park, and the Roosevelt home and area are all upstate and easy to reach.  NYC has a number of sites too, though for this Tour, we didn't use any locations in the Big Apple.  They are reserved for the next one!

Acadia, near Bar Harbor,  is a magnificent seaside NP with miles of roads, trails, and seashore. This visit to Maine represented the first of the four required corners of the US, necessary for either the Silver or Gold level of the Iron Butt Association's National Parks Tour.   

New England offers lots of options, though mostly in the Boston area.  New Hampshire has just the Saint Gaudens National Historic Site, the lone NP dedicated to an artist.  Sculpture displayed over acres is the main attraction through the indoor display of coins and other examples of his work is available in the visitor center.  Conveniently, the only site in Vermont is just an hour away with the Marsh Billings Rockefeller National  Historic Park.  We collected those two stamps while attending a motorcycle rally in Killington, Vt.  Just before that, we had ridden up to Acadia, Maine by way of Lowell, Mass.  Surprised to find a NP in Lowell, we were treated to historical displays of America's industrial beginnings and especially the extent women workers were exploited in the textile mills. Jack Kerouac was from Lowell, and the Visitor's Center has a nice display dedicated to him.

   

     So much for our backyard and the wanderings we did in the late summer and early fall.  In October, we rode south to meet up with friends at a motorcycle gathering in North Carolina.  Going and coming, we clicked off NP sites in Pa, NJ, Vir., WV, Md., NC, SC, Ga., Tenn., Ala., and Florida.

With Florida notched on our gun butt, we had two of the four required corners, and as it happened, enough stamps and states to satisfy the basic NPT.  Next was planning for the next riding season and an attempt to meet the criteria for the Gold level which requires us to add California, Washington, and Alaska to the collection.  And that's where we are now. . .packing actually and getting set for a noon departure today.  We'll get in a good half day of riding, stopping around Erie, maybe.  Tomorrow, we'll start logging miles with the California Redwoods as our target.  We have an oil and tire change scheduled in Seattle next week so, for now, that's the plan.