June 8, 2023 We woke up to smokey skies and the weather report said that we had a Code Red Air Quality Alert. They suggest wearing an N-95 mask if you have one, which we do. Bob walked Auggie without a mask, but he could smell the smoke in the air. They weren’t outside very long. We took our time to get moving this morning. We left around 12:30 to see if we could find access to view to C & D Canal. The C & D Canal is 14-mile long, 450 ft. wide, and 35 ft. deep. The canal saves approximately 300 miles on the route between Wilmington or Philadelphia on the Delaware River and Baltimore on Chesapeake Bay. There are 3 locks in the canal each of which are 100 ft. long and 22 feet wide.
It was just a couple miles from here. We found a road that we thought might provide us access to the shoreline.
We followed the road that ran parallel above the canal and could only catch glimpses of the water. We could see the Highway 301 bridge that you could take over the canal.
We noticed this pipeline that was strong across the canal from one band to another.
There is a bike path that parallels the canal on both rides, but today was not the day to bike on the trail with the poor air quality. We continued our search for access to view the canal by going to the Summit North Marina.
Here they have a Freedom Boat Club and a restaurant and craft beer bar called The Grain.
We took a walk down the sidewalk to look at the boats docked there.
There were boats of all kinds and sizes. We got a look at the C & D Canal where the entrance to the Marina is.
We left there and found another road that provided us a view of the massive lift bridge on the canal.
Two boats had motored under the bridge, so they must have it in the “up” position all the time.
As the afternoon wore on, we saw patches of blue sky and the smokey haze seemed to dissipate. There was a slight breeze which also helped. As we headed back, we took the road down to the boat launch on Lums Pond and we could see across the lake.
This map shows the many different use areas of the park. This park is bigger than we thought!
We discovered this path on our drive back into the campground and stopped to check it out.
It took us down to a fishing pier where we got a different view of the lake from our side.
On our drive today, we spent a little time walking around outside and didn’t notice much effect from the smoke. When we got back to the campsite, I sat outside with Auggie, and Bob did a few chores outside on the bus, but nothing strenuous. We had a military helicopter fly very low over us and circled around a couple of times before flying off. I wonder what that was all about?
It is peaceful in the campground in the afternoon when people are out and about doing their thing somewhere else. When we arrived yesterday, the campground was full. This morning, quite a few campers left, so it’s a little emptier today. Sitting outside, the only sounds I could hear are the birds and the occasional “chirping” of the squirrels. No voices, no motors, just the rustle of the leaves in the trees from the breeze. I finally had a chance today to contemplate how beautiful it is here and how lucky and blessed I am to have such wonderful opportunities to enjoy it! This campground is in the northern “hook” of Delaware and tomorrow we leave to spend 5 days in the most southern part of New Jersey in Cape May. We’ll enjoy some time near the shore.
Side note: When we are traveling, we are often drawn to the water. Whether it be a campground by a lake or a marina that we want to visit and look at all the boats. We’ve spent 30 of our 40 years of married life owning boats–from water ski boats to traveling yachts, so we have been to many of these East Coast cities and harbors by boat from Florida to Baltimore and Chesapeake Bay. It’s always fun to revisit some of those areas remembering our good times and to discover some new areas.