Catching Up 2

View of ski runs from Sprague Park Campground, NY
Obviously high elevations are not necessary to ski

On to New York and Sprague Brook Campground in Erie County, about an hour south of Niagara Falls. You may be wondering how can you travel west through New York, New Hampshire, Vermont and continue West to New York. Check it out on the map. New York is a very interesting and beautiful state.

The Erie County campground was another beautiful site with all kinds of facilities beyond camping for picnics, sports, hiking, biking. The grounds had vast expanses of mowed grass, forests, natural grassland, and a small stream. We saw deer every day.

The highlight of this stop was a visit to Niagara Falls. We did not have passports so were restricted to the U.S. Side but spent several hours hiking a few miles to enjoy the different views of the river rapids and the falls. As our time was limited (QT again!) we passed up the Maid of the Mist boat trip. It was our first visit to Niagara Falls and we were duly awed and overwhelmed by this magnificent wonder.

I had recently read a biography of Tesla and enjoyed reading some of the displays about the early efforts to harness the energy of the river for electricity, especially the contest between Tesla and Edison to determine whether it was going to be AC or DC.

If Sprague Brook was one of our favorite camping sites then the exact opposite would have to be the Pilot Travel Center we stopped at next. Caesar Creek Campground in Ohio was too far for a one day drive so we decided to overnight at Pilot. We pulled into one of the lanes among the trucks beyond the pumps. We kept looking for the other RVs but saw nary a one. We did see LOTS of trucks of all sizes (but all big!) with a variety of cargo coming and going all night long and most with their engines continuing to run.

Days later we learned that many, perhaps most Pilot Travel Centers do not have RV parking. Oh well! It did help to keep our average campsite cost still close to $10 per night :-)

Edna and Ted Zabel

One of the main purposes of stopping at Caesar Creek Campground just south of Dayton, Ohio was to reconnect with Ted and Edna Zabel. They were classmates at Simpson Bible College in San Francisco in the late '50s. They were on the pastoral staff at Salem Alliance Church (Oregon) where we attended while teaching at North Salem High School. They came out as part of a singing ministry team for a Spiritual Emphasis Week at Dalat School in Malaysia. It was so good to spend time with them again.

They took us for a long drive around the Dayton area. One of the special treats was a few hours in the aviation museum at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. That's a museum that needs to be visited again and again!

David Smith, lead pastor of Fairhaven Church w/ Pearl and Elmer
Unfortunately we missed seeing Kathy

We went to church with them at Fairhaven Church where Ted and Edna minister to senior citizens in a variety of ways. An unexpected extra blessing was to listen to a great message on forgiveness by lead pastor, David Smith. David and his wife Kathy were students of ours at Dalat School. It was a joy to get to spend a few minutes talking with David between services.

We are constantly learning on this trip. Right now our lessons are about thunderstorms! Almost every afternoon/evening we are watching the news, looking at the sky, listening for the thunder and making decisions about the awning, the windows, and the possibility of a trip to the campground toilet/shower building. Lots of downpours, some thunder/lightning but so far we haven't experienced anything severe.

 One of the bothering thoughts: If we have to seek refuge do we go to the MEN's or the WOMEN's section? Or do we split up? Or do we go to one section for refuge and the other for normal use?