On our trip report from Tucson to Freeland we mentioned we wanted to spend a couple of weeks camping in Canada’s Maritime Provinces. Well, due to the weather being cool and wet, we decided to postpone that leg of our journey. Instead, we spent a more time with Joy's mom in Freeland and in our travel trailer in the village of Equinunk.

Equinunk (Dick’s birthplace) is a small village in northern Wayne County, about 40 miles south east of Binghamton, NY. The Delaware River is its northern boundary and Equinunk Creek runs through the village from the south. The population of “greater” Equinunk is approximately 1,000 people. The area is considered to be part of the western Catskill Mountains. The village’s elevation is about 875 feet above sea level. The area is forested, with a few small dairy farms sparsely scattered among the hills.

The time spent in Equinunk was in our camper, parked alongside a small brook on the edge of the village. The early summer was very quiet and beautiful. I probably have said this before, but the early spring in northeastern PA is my all-time favorite season. The campsite is set among a mixture of large hardwoods and Eastern Hemlock trees, and along the edge of an old pasture (no animals). Other than my son, there are no other campers nearby. A campfire was made nearly every night, except during heavy downpours, and the meals were prepared over the campfire. We shared the evenings with a few mosquitoes, an occasional bat and a bottle (1.5 liters) of Pinot Grigio, from Oregon. Definitely not a “plonk”.

About a quarter of a mile away is the beautiful Delaware River, a National Wild and Scenic River. The river has great fishing for wild Trout and Smallmouth Bass; kayaking, tubing and my favorite, canoeing. I was born, schooled and raised to a young adult only a couple of miles from the campsite. The area is in the far northeast corner of PA, on the western edge of the Catskill Mountains.

Freeland (Joy’s birthplace) is a small town in southern Luzerne County about 30 miles south of Wilkes Barre, PA. The population of Freeland is approximately 3500 people. The area is on the western edge of the Pocono Mountains with an elevation of about 2000 feet above sea level. The area was once part of a large soft coal mining region. Joy moved into their current house at a young age, where her mom lives now, after her father passed away. Her grandfather built the house about 1915. Joy’s brother has an excellent garden, so fresh vegetables and herbs were readily accessible as well as local sweet corn, all the time we were there.

May and June passed quickly and it was time to head for Tucson. We had a set a date to be back in Tucson by the middle of July. Joy had never traveled in the upper mid-west, so we chose that way to head home. Our travels were for viewing general scenery, visiting new elements of the National Park System, and of course seeking out new places, and food, to discover, sort of like a modified, “Corps of Discovery” trip.

Our itinerary took us across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin (along the southern shore of Lake Superior), Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado (over the continental divide), New Mexico and Arizona, arriving home in Tucson on July 14th. The miles traveled on the return trip was about 3800. The total trip (to and from) was 9654 miles.