The Poconos

Our condo was near Buskill, Pennsylvania and was on the lake. There are a lot of names ending with "kill" which  means water in the language of the first settlers of Pennsylvania who were Dutch.

Our front yard was frequently visited by turkeys and deer.

I loved sitting and reading on our balcony where the mornings were frequently foggy and the sunsets were spectacular.

Bushkill Falls was just down the road from us. We were there during the government shut down so we were glad to find that it is a private facility and was open.

We spent the morning there and went back in the evening to get some more photos in  the "magic hour"

Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is part of the national parks system. Much of it was closed but we begin to see some of it on our first day to explore the area.

We took a "trolley tour" the first day and got our first view of the gap. This is IS 80, our route to everywhere.

We were happy to find several nearby state parks since the National Park was closed. Big Pocono State Park was our first stop.

The Gap from Big Pocono mountain.

We had trouble finding Lehigh Gorge State Park, but we found some interesting photos while we were lost. This barn is part of a small sawmill.

We found an enormous Christmas tree farm near the park (we are still lost). I did not realize there were so many kinds of Christmas trees. It was encompassed several miles and many farm houses.

We finally found our park. There are no entrance fees to the state parks here which makes it difficult for Texans who are used to finding a "pay here" gate house to find them.

We found Lehigh worth the search, though.

It is part of the Lehigh River which is popular for rafting and  kayaking and several other water sports. It was past the season and too cold, though so we didn't see anyone on the river.

There was a beautiful hiking trail here along the river.

Who knew the national parks had all these gates?

There were many areas we could not visit. I am kind of upset with Ted Cruz.

But we were able to go to Worthington State Forest

 We entered on a one way road with an unusual signal light.

Delaware River

This is my favorite picture.

Nescopeck State Park was the final stop of our Pocono visit.

Nescopeck Creek

Another pretty hiking trail

We did not see any wood frogs but we did find a lot of these red salamanders.