Cowanesque Lake, Tompkins Campground, Lawrenceville, PA; June 24-July 10, 2013

On our short drive from Top-O-Rise to  the Cowanesque Lake  and Tompkins campground we wandered back-and-forth across the state line several times through some beautiful farm and forest

Old barn billboard

country. The campground was well forested and the lake beautiful, but the weather was hot and humid the entire two weeks we were there.

Lawrenceville is a small town with some gas stations, one grocery store, and various other small shops. To get much in the way of groceries we drove about twenty miles to Mansfield. This little town has banners of all

Posters in Lawrenceville

the men from town who had served in the military – we saw photos of soldiers from WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, and I believe there were photos from WWI as well. We thought it was a wonderful way to honor the servicemen.

Cowanesque Lake

The lake is well used by boaters and one of the boat clubs had a small trailer from which they sold food, ice, ice cream, and life jackets. I’m sure it was even more crowded than usual since we were there for the 4^th of July weekend.

We met some delightful folks in the campground and were invited to tailgate with them for the fireworks show at Tioga-

Fireworks at the lake

Tailgating on the 4th of July

Hammond Lake – the last year they were holding the celebration there as the man set up the show was retiring. We had good food and good company and in spite of being a fairly small budgeted show, it was fun to watch – especially since it’s been several years since we’ve gone to a fireworks display.

We took a drive one day to Pine Creek Gorge in Wellsboro, PA, which is also known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. It is 47 miles long and 1,000 feet deep (at one point, it is 1,450 feet deep) and was carved out of the mountainous landscape by Pine Creek. The gorge was born about 20,000 years ago when the receding Laurentide Continental Glacier dammed Pine Creek with rocks, soil, and other debris. The glacial melt water formed a lake and when it overflowed the debris dam, the creek flooded to the south and ultimately carved a deep channel on its way south to the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. 

Pine Creek Gorge

Pine Creek Gorge

The scenery is spectacular and there are several hikes in the area.  We didn’t opt to go very far on one trail as the weather was hot, muggy, and beginning to thunder.  I’d like to go there in the fall or early spring and hike down to the creek, but wouldn’t think much of climbing back up the very steep one-mile long trail. 

On the way back from grocery shopping one day, we stopped at a little ice cream place for a cone. Rich bought us each a medium cone for a little over $2, and the cones must have had a pint of ice cream each!  It was Hershey’s too - YUM!

Another pretty field

I know this sounds dorky, but I loved the beautiful farms and colorful farmland throughout our drive from Nebraska to Pennsylvania. Sadly, in the Midwest, there were acres and acres of withered and dried crops due to the drought which has been so widespread.

Rich’s older son, Ted, his wife, Tressa, and their dog, Molly came to visit us one day and we had a great time catching up on news. We’ll catch many of the rest of the family once we move into New York.