Just an uneventful sighting. We haven’t seen them in a while but we must be back into their terrain.

Bluck….cool rainy days. It has not been so great for getting out doors. We stayed in all day yesterday. We got a lot of travel planning done and relaxed. Not all bad. The forecast for today isn’t much better but we are heading out at least for a while anyway

The tallest waterfalls in New Jersey, Buttermilk Falls. The falls was pretty impressive today after all the rain we have had lately. The drive out the dirt road was a little harrowing. Kent navigated my poor little Miata through pot holes as big as the car and up to the hub caps. There were soft spots too where even as passenger I could feel it grab at the tires like it would just pull us in. It got us there though.

The volunteers at one of the re-created villages built a covered bridge to replace one that washed out years ago. Problem, the Fish and Wildlife guys won’t let them put it over the stream because it has now been designated a wild trout stream. Nobody does anything that might disturb a wild trout stream. So here it sits, a really cool covered bridge waiting for a stream to cross. Weird.

The world would be very different without them. We spent some time at Grey Towers, the blue stone castle that was the summer getaway for Gifford Pinchot. He brought his family money, his connections, and his influence to the role of conservationist. His efforts gave birth to the US forestry service and the beginnings of forest protection and reforestation. Pretty good work. Nope, it’s not bad to have lots of money. Seems like that discussion comes up occasionally in today’s politics. Depends on how you got it and what you do with it.

The Roebling aqueduct was built to allow a canal and the barges plus mules that pulled them to cross over the Delaware River. It doesn’t have the typical soaring towers and sweeping overhead cables but it is the oldest suspension bridge in the country. It’s a vehicle bridge now but still pretty amazing design and structure. Roebling is responsible for the Brooklyn bridge design too.

There is a waterwheel powered mill with all the drive shafts in the basement that used to run metal working, grist mills, saws and all manner of powered stuff. It is just idling for show now but it looks just like the overhead drives in the old shop.