Historic Sites

Cornwall Iron Furnace

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Cornwall Iron Furnace

We visited the Cornwall Iron Furnace in mid-October 2025 while staying at the nearby Thousand Trails Hershey RV Park in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

Cornwall Iron Furnace is the only surviving intact charcoal cold-blast furnace in the Western Hemisphere, a testament to the once great iron industry that flourished in South-Central Pennsylvania. Originally built in 1742 by Peter Grubb who named the furnace Cornwall – after his father’s birthplace in England, the furnace underwent extensive renovations in 1856-57 under its subsequent owners, the Coleman family, and closed in 1883. It is this mid-19th century ironmaking complex which survives today. At Cornwall, furnace, blast equipment, and related buildings still stand as they did over a century ago. Here there are rambling Gothic Revival buildings where cannons, stoves, and pig iron were cast, and where men labored day and night to satisfy the furnace’s appetite for charcoal, limestone, and iron ore.

The origins of the furnace complex originate from the discovery and development of nearby iron-ore mines when Peter Grubb, as a 19 year old immigrant who in 1737 came prospecting and discovered three hills of magnetic iron ore, purchased a total of 442.5 acres of land for $675.00, and established what was to become one of the world-renowned and most productive iron ore mining operations of all time. Following continuous operations for 236 years, during which time 110 million tons of iron ore were produced, the famous Cornwall Iron Ore Mines closed in 1973.

We started our visit at the visitors center building where our tour guide showed us an introductory video on the history and operation of the furnace, estates, and nearby ore mines, before taking us to the nearby building that housed the furnace operations. The entire furnace building and the furnace itself are incredibly intact. The tour guide did a great job of explaining all of the components and areas of the furnace building. Starting at the top level of the furnace where the charge was loaded, we went down a level where we saw the huge wooden wheel, 24-feet in diameter and weighing 4 tons, that powered a wooden axle and blowing tubs, which functioned as bellows to supply the blasts of air for the furnace’s operation. The wheel was originally powered by a water wheel but later converted to steam engine operation. We saw the restored steam engine in a room next to the wheel as we continued the tour down to the lower level where the molten iron was removed from the furnace and formed into “pig-iron” ingots. .Also, at this level we could see the pipes and nozzles that injected the blasts of air created by the bellows into the furnace

After completing the tour of the furnace building, we browsed the displays in the visitor center museum, where we saw one of the 42 cannons and some of the cannon balls that were cast here for the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. From the visitor center and museum, we walked around the nearby well-maintained buildings that originally formed part of the estate. There were a variety of trade and farm buildings as well as offices and residences. We also saw the grand mansion house that was built by Peter Grubb’s sons in 1773 with 19 rooms and later remodeled into its current 29-room configuration in 1865 after the furnace operations and estate were taken over by the Coleman family.

Cape May Lighthouse

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Cape May Lighthouse

We visited the Cape May Lighthouse in early October 2025 while staying at the nearby Thousand Trails Lake & Shore RV Park in Ocean View, New Jersey.

Located in Cape May Point State Park, the Cape May lighthouse tour cost $12 and was well worth the fee. We learned a lot about the history of the lighthouse and the area from John, the lighthouse keeper who we met at the top of the lighthouse. We climbed the 199 steps up the original, cast iron spiral stairway to the top of the 1859 lighthouse where we got to enjoy spectacular views of the Delaware Bay and Atlantic Ocean from the very windy outside platform. The Cape May Lighthouse is the third beacon at this location. Still an active aid to navigation, it was restored and is maintained by Cape May MAC (Museums+Arts+Culture). Since Cape May MAC opened it to the public in 1988, more than 2.5 million visitors have climbed to the top. The Cape May Lighthouse is listed in the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

After touring the lighthouse, we walked down to the beach which forms the north side of the entrance to the Delaware Bay. We were interested to see the fairly intact remails of Battery 223 that was built as part of the Harbor Defense Project of 1942. This gun emplacement was once 900 feet inland, surrounded by earth and covered by sod, making it look as if it were a hill when viewed from the sea or air. Periods of severe coastal erosion and storms have washed away much of the sand resulting in the gun emplacement now sitting on the beach close to the water. At low tide the gun turrets at the front are visible. Battery 223 was later converted to a Sound Surveillance System station during the early days of the Cold War (1955-1962), but storm damage forced it to be relocated to Fort Miles in Delaware.

As we walked back into the park, we passed by a large birdwatching platform overlooking an area of ponds, meadows, and dunes where we learned that the annual “Hawk Watch” was in progress. Cape May is viewed by many as the premier hawk migration route of North America. In the fall, hundreds of hawks are counted as they pass the narrow corridor of land along the Cape May peninsula heading south.

Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park

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Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park

Above the entrance to the Lincoln Birthplace Memorial Building are carved these words.

“Here over the log cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born destined to preserve the Union and to free the slave. A grateful people have dedicated this memorial to unity, peace, and brotherhood among these States with malice toward none with charity for all.”

We visited the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park in rural Central Kentucky in May 2025 while staying at the Thousand Trails Diamond Caverns RV & Golf Resort about 45-minutes away in Park City, Kentucky. The memorial building, completed in 1911 was largely funded by citizen donations, and was built to honor the humble beginnings of the Nation’s 16th president. The memorial building houses a cabin, symbolic of Lincoln’s birth home. It was constructed 11 years before the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. and is referred to by the National Park Service as “The First Lincoln Memorial”.


Alongside the 56 steps that ascend to the memorial building, with each step representing one year of Lincolns life, we visited the Sinking Spring – a land feature that the Lincoln family would have used as their water source, and for which the original farm site was named.

From the Lincoln birthplace site, we drove about 10-miles to Lincoln’s boyhood home where the Lincoln family lived on 30 acres of the 228 acre Knob Creek Farm from the time Abraham was two and a half until he was almost eight years old. This site features hiking trails, a visitor center housed in a 1930 Inn building, as well as a log cabin reconstructed from period materials and representative of Lincoln’s boyhood home.

Photos from our visit to these sites are provided below.

Shiloh National Military Park

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Shiloh National Military Park

This is the site of one of the most epic struggle in the Western Theater of the Civil War. Nearly 110,000 American troops clashed in a bloody contest that resulted in 23,746 casualties; more casualties than in all of America’s previous wars combined. Located within the boundaries of Shiloh Battlefield is also a United States National Cemetery, which contains around 4,000 soldiers and their family members.

Congress established Shiloh National Military Park on December 27, 1894, to commemorate the April 6-7, 1862, battle that raged around Shiloh Church and Pittsburg Landing along the Tennessee River. Producing more than 23,000 casualties, the battle was the largest engagement in the Mississippi Valley campaign during the Civil War.


We visited the Shiloh National Military Park in Southern Tennessee in early May 2025 while staying at the Thousand Trails Natchez Trace RV Park in Hohenwald, Tennessee, about a 75-minute drive away. We started our visit at the Visitor Center which told the story of the battle through a variety of media including audio readings of survivor’s memoirs, maps and informational displays, and a video. The battle is named for the Shiloh Meeting House church around which the battle unfolded. A recreation of the Shiloh Meeting House sits on the original church site within the park.

We took the 12.7 mile auto tour route from the Visitor Center, which featured 22 tour stops at such famous places as the Peach Orchard, the Hornet’s Nest, and the Albert Sidney Johnston death site. Informational plaques were posted at each of the stops. An audio tour was also available on the NPS website.

The battle lasted for two days, April 6th and 7th, 1862. During the first day of fighting, Confederate forces made considerable gains, pushing the Union forces back towards Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee River. The Confederate forces planned to complete a defeat of the Union forces the following day, however Union forces were reinforced early the next morning and conducted an unexpected counter attack, which reversed the Confederate gains of the previous day. The exhausted Confederate army withdrew further south, and a modest Union pursuit started and ended on the second day with a Union victory.

It was interesting to see the spot where the battle started early on the morning of April 6th when a Union scouting party came across Confederate troops at Fraley Field. Along the tour, and within the battlefield in general there are many monuments and monuments, memorials, and troop position markers. Many of the park’s 156 commemorative monuments, 600 troop position markers, and more than 220 cannon were visible from park roads during the auto tour. Some of them could only be reached by hiking into the surrounding woods and fields. We found the section of cannons at “Ruggles Battery” particularly interesting. During the battle more than 50 Confederate cannons formed a 1/2-mile long frontage that was the largest concentration of field guns deployed on a North American battlefield at that time. The auto tour ended at the Shiloh National Cemetery which contains around 4,000 soldiers and their family members. A plaque with the text of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address at the entrance of the cemetery served as a reminder of the background and significance of the Civil War.

The Shiloh National Military Park was a historically interesting and though-provoking place to visit. We learned a lot and enjoyed touring the now-serene green meadows and woods that mark the site of one of the most significant battles of the Civil War.

Photos from our visit are posted below.

Winter 2024/25 Review and 2025/26 Preview
(Where we’ve been and where we’re going!)

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Winter 2024/25 Review and 2025/26 Preview(Where we’ve been and where we’re going!)

Where we’ve been and where we’re going!

For the third year in a row, we spent winter 2024/2025 at Mayflower County Park near Blythe, California amongst old and new RVing friends. We arrived in early December 2024 after spending summer and fall on the west coast gradually making our way south through Washington, Oregon, and California with some great stops along the way. Pictures from our winter stay at Mayflower are provided at the end of this post. Our days at Mayflower were filled with walks around the nearby Palo Verde Ecological Preserve, walking the dogs in the park, monthly potlucks and ice cream socials, surprisingly competitive lawn bowling, discussions and reminiscences around the evening firepit, and trips to Blythe and Quartzite. This winter we also visited the Blythe Intaglios for the first time. These are a fascinating group of well-preserved geoglyphs that were created by humans for an as-yet-unknown reason, but clearly had a meaningful purpose for those that did create them.

We stayed at Mayflower County Park in our new 30-ft Grand Design Transcend 240ML travel trailer while our 5th wheel was being repaired. Our winter stay lasted for about 3-months before we headed to Casa Grande, Arizona for a couple of weeks in early March 2025. By then we received word that our 5th wheel repairs were complete in Arroyo Grande, California (San Luis Obispo County), so we schedule a few stops along the 400-mile trip to pick up the 5th wheel in late March 2025.

The 5th wheel repairs were done by Mullahey Collision & RV Service Center, and we were very happy with their work. They did a great job of the bodywork and interior repairs, including replacing the three-way refrigerator workings and completely rebuilding the kitchen slide and pantry. Fortunately, the repairs were fully covered by Progressive Insurance, and Mullahey did a great job of coordinating insurance company approvals for all of the work.

We had originally planned to switch back into the 5th wheel and store the new trailer for our upcoming trip, but after a few months of living in the new trailer we decided, instead, to take it on our trip and store the 5th wheel. We figured there would be some tight roads and campgrounds as we head to the east coast, and the smaller trailer will make travel easier and give us more flexibility on where we can stay.

Since putting the 5th wheel in storage in late March, we’re now officially on our “east coast trip”. The highlight of the year is going to be seeing fall colors in the US Northeast, and then traveling from north to south through most of the east coast states with a plan to spend winter 2025/2026 in Florida. As we get into 2026 we plan to spend spring and summer in the southern states visiting some of Allen’s family and then head up through the Midwest states through late summer, finally looping to the south through Colorado, and making our way back to Southern California by late 2026. That’s a big trip, and if we follow the current plan, we will have RVed through all 48 contiguous states by the time we complete it. The picture shows a map of our planned 2025/2026 trip.

At the time of this post (late April 2025), we’re in Tennessee. Since leaving California in late March, we’ve stayed in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. A recent highlight of our travels was a visit to Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, and we will post a separate description of that visit on our blog.

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