Joan and James, The American Vagabonds, are making a 6-plus week trip to the Upper Penninsula of Michigan, Minnesota and the Dakotas. We have a newer and slightly larger RV, and this is our “shake down” cruise.
So get out your maps, and follow along. A special note is made for all those experienced travelers who have confidence they can prepare quickly and efficiently for traveling. Preparing in true Vagabond fashion is more a "best effort" proposition. So many details and oh so little time. For sure the big things get done like bringing the cell phone and a laptop, but sometimes we forget my yellow mustard. The bottom line is that all of this is part of the adventure in traveling as we, the American Vagabonds, see it!
We spent our first two days in Corning, N.Y., at the Corning Glass Museum and downtown Corning. This was one of our bigger planned stops. As we pass through one small town after another, we discuss the possibility of profiling this community versus that one. This new endeavor is a work in progress, and we’ll keep you informed when we make a decision.
The Corning Glass Museum is a spectacular collection of glass made as long ago as two thousand B.C. , and continuing to present day. The modern buildings and demonstrations were informative, entertaining, and beautiful. The museum itself is spotless, and employees were stationed throughout the buildings to direct us to the next section. As experts in glass, the museum keeps the glass cases spotless and smudge free.
Joan’s favorite piece was a three-foot diameter delicate glass “ball of string.”
The glass “string” wove around, in an intricate pattern. James can not pick out a favorite. All touch his imagination. Even simple clear glass was molded into pleasing displays.
Workshops were offered, and Joan signed up to make a pendant. There were other choices such as beads, ornaments, picture frames, and wind chimes. The young technicians were skilled and professional, first giving me a demonstration, then guiding me through the process. I chose the three colors I wanted to use, melted the glass, shaped the hot glass (3000 degrees) and added the other two colors to swirl around. Then the glass ball was flattened. I had to wait until the next day to pick it up and see my final product - and was quite pleased when I did.
The next morning we took the museum shuttle into Corning. We by-passed visiting the Rockwell Museum of Western and Native American Art and went to explore Market Street, which is lined with small stores selling crafts, clothing outlets, and restaurants. Many of the stores had displays in their windows remembering the flood of June 23, 1972. About 15 people perished in the flood, and many buildings destroyed. Now, there is a beautiful park and Centerway Square and clock tower in the rebuilt downtown. There is so much to do and see in the area around Corning that to see it all, we would need more than a few days.
It is difficult to not compare what the city of Torrington, CT is trying to accomplish with its development efforts in the downtown, and what Corning, N.Y. has achieved since their devasating flood in 1972. Perhaps in another forum such as the Letters to the Editor or perhaps an Op-Ed in the Register Citizen might be a better outline for James to articulate his thoughts on this subject.
When we returned to the glass museum, after a stop for a sandwich, we did some shopping in the gift shop and went to watch a hot glass demonstration, which was a much larger scale of the pendant project.
The last two days have been extremely hot and humid, and we are happy to be in our new/old RV, which is a 2007 Winnebago View with a Mercedes diesel engine. We are still learning how everything works--one thing at a time. We are constantly turning to the manuals and instructions to see what to do and how things run. We have learned a bunch and have a million other things to learn. UGH
We continue our move west, then will shift to the north, we look forward to visiting the Upper Penninsula in the great state of Michigan.
James and Joan, The American Vagabonds
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