Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Shenango Lake, PA

THe Pennsylvania Welcome Center has a 1973 Peter Toth statue, this one honoring the Seneca Indians. Have seen several of his sculptures around the US.
My site at Shenango Lake Recreation Area. Forum friend Donna joined me here for a mini get-together. She grew up in nearby Greenville, PA.
Donna is a great tour guide, and we visited many places of interest during our visit. We started in her home town of Greenville.
 Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge
 Donna in front of the bridge.
Did you know the inventor of the parachute was from Greenville? 
The museum at the Greenville Railroad Park was closed (Monday), but we did get to see the largest steam switch engine ever built. Volunteer workers are fixing it up.
Donna told me her father worked for the Railway Express Agency.
Next we tried to visit the Canal Museum, but it is closed Monday too. An extension of the Erie Canal once ran through this area.
 So we went to the Shenango River Park and walked a trail. The river would be a good place to kayak.
 After that we were hungry and headed downtown to this Italian restaurant. Guess what else is closed Monday?
So we walked around the historic downtown area.
This building has a nice mural depicting many of the places of interest that we visited.
 We drove by Donna's house and found a sparrow feeding babies in the bird house that Donna built. I forgot to take a picture of Donna's house.
 After lunch we picked up the dogs and took them to another park for a walk. That is Donna and Maggie the Papillion Princess.
 We found this fox waiting in the road for us at a wildlife viewing area.
 On Tuesday we went to another small town south of the campground. This park has a very old log cabin.
 A larger house had been built around it, and the log cabin was "discovered" as the house was being torn down. I'm glad they had the wisdom to save it.
This park has a piece of the old Erie Canal Extension...the only surviving lock.
To get there, we follow the path along the Shenango River.
 Our path goes right through the middle of the old lock!

 Next we visit a dam on the river. There is a fly fisherman standing in the water below the dam.
 We watched him "catch and release" a big fish.
Our next stop was the Avenue of 444 flags and the War on Terror Veterans Memorial.
There is one flag for each day 53 American hostages were held captive in Iran.
Names and photos of victims of the War on Terror are displayed.
On to some grand old buildings. This is Buhl Mansion, circa 1890s. It is now a guesthouse and day spa.
Ornate lamps line the sidewalk.
In the back are elaborate gardens. The mansion and grounds are often used for weddings and banquets.
On the same street are these other beautiful old homes.

Meanwhile, back at the campground, there are many serenading birds. This Rose-breasted Grosbeak is my favorite.
Thistle was all excited about the large chipmunk population.
And we're not too far from Punxsutawney. A lot of Phil's cousins live here too.
It was great spending time with Donna. I'm sure we'll meet up again in Florida in the fall.

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