Bradford PA | The Beauty Around Us

A Friday Drive

We went for a drive on Friday (January 6th), leaving Warren PA around 9:30 am. It was a frosty morning, with a dusting of snow covering the ground and clinging to the trees.

Our first stop was at the Big Bend Recreation Area, at the base of Kinzua Dam where it meets the Allegheny River.

We walked from the parking lot the short distance to this pavilion.
The pavilion sits above the Allegheny River and overlooks Kinzua Dam.

Our second stop was at the Zippo/Case Museum & Flagship Store, located in Bradford PA.

Going to the Zippo/Case Store was the purpose for our drive. Bob purchased a Zippo Butane Lighter Insert. We wandered through the Zippo/Case Museum.

Zippo/Case Museum
An American Flag dominates this exhibit.

The American Flag contains approximately 3,400 red, white and blue lighters.

Zippo/Case Museum
An American heroes tribute

Zippo/Case Museum
“ZAC” is a 7-foot audio/kinectic ball machine.

We spent the majority of our time in the museum watching “ZAC”.

“ZAC”

Our next stops were at Allegany State Park. We entered the park via Interstate Road in Bradford. All of our stops were in the Red House Area of the park.

This snowy scene was near the intersection of ASP Route 2 and Ridge Run Road.

Red House Brook flows under a bridge, located between ASP Route 2 and Camp Allegany Rd.

All the bridges in Allegany State Park are beautiful.

The Thomas L Kelly Covered Bridge crosses over the Red House Brook.

Our last stop in Allegany State Park was at the Red House Wetland.

From Allegany State Park we drove to Red Lobster in Lakewood NY, where we ate lunch. We chose from the Dockside Duo menu. Bob chose Fish & Chips with Mozzarella Cheesesticks. I chose Parrot Isle Coconut Shrimp with New England Clam Chowder. Cheddar Bay Biscuits accompanied our meals, as well as Coleslaw. A slice of Vanilla Bean Cheesecake was our choice for dessert. We “doggy bagged” enough fish and shrimp for two meals and carried home the cheesecake too. Neither of have as big an appetite as we used to have.

A Meet & Greet

The L.L.Bean Bootmobile stopped by for a meet & greet with the Zippo Car this morning, from 9:30 am until 11:00 am, at the Zippo/Case Museum & Flagship Store in Bradford PA. Bob and I live about an hour’s drive from Zippo Museum and Store, so we decided to meet & greet the Bootmobile too!

In 2012, L.L.Bean celebrated its 100th anniversary by unveiling the Bootmobile – a 13-foot-high, 20-foot-long, road-ready replica of the iconic L.L.Bean Boot

The L.L.Bean Bootmobile and the Zippo Car

The L.L. Bean Bootmobile is on tour, traveling through 10 states in 10 days, to commemorate its 10th birthday.

The L.L.Bean Bootmobile stopped by for
a meet & greet with the Zippo Car.

We did visit the Zippo Store and Museum, briefly. We have visited Zippo many times over the years, and I chose not to take photographs during this visit. Inside the museum Zippo displayed plans for a renovated museum/store, to open in the summer of 2023. I will be sure to make a return visit then AND take pictures!

Friday Afternoon Drive: Marilla Reservoir

Bob and I went for a drive Friday afternoon. We drove to Allegany State Park via Bradford, PA. Our first stop was at Willow Dale Duck Pond.

From Willow Dale Duck Pond we continued driving on PA Route 346 towards Bradford, PA. In only a few short miles we reached Marilla Reservoir.

Marilla Reservoir

We walked the one-mile trail surrounding the reservoir. The trail, which features three wooden bridges, is wide and constructed of a tightly compacted crushed gravel surface. One of the wooden bridges is seen in the photograph displayed above, way off in the distance. From this bridge you can look across the reservoir and see another wooden bridge.

the Erik Benjamin covered bridge

I used a telescopic lens to photograph the covered bridge
from the bridge seen across the reservoir in the previous photograph.

The majority of the trail winds through woods alongside the edge of the reservoir.

Marilla Bridges Trail

I liked how this tree was framed and how the light was hitting it.

Our final destination was Allegany State Park, the subject of my next blog post.

Friday Afternoon Drive: Willow Dale Duck Pond

Bob and I went for a drive Friday afternoon.

We drove to Allegany State Park via Bradford, PA.

Our first stop was at Willow Dale Duck Pond. The duck pond is located along PA Route 346 a few miles west of downtown Bradford. We parked alongside the duck pond. I took photographs of three resident white ducks, from inside our car, using my Grizzly camera bean bag as support for my long lens.

The white ducks were fun to watch!

Once the ducks tired of playing, I got out of the car to take a few pictures of the pond itself.

Willow Dale Duck Pond

It’s beginning to look a lot like Spring!

Our next stop was at Marilla Reservoir, the subject of my next blog post.

I linked up this blog post with Eileen’s critter party. You may view more critters by visiting Eileen’s critter party blog post.

An All-Day Motorcycle Ride

In the late afternoon on Friday, July 24th, a friend posted a status in the 2 Scoop CycleTherapy Facebook group, asking if anyone wanted to go to Springville, NY to the vintage motorcycle museum at Northeast Vintage Cycle. Bob and I said that we would go. We left home at 8:30 Saturday morning and departed from Herb’s house in Scandia at 9:00 am.

We rode to Springville, making one brief stop (a stretching break) along Route 219 in Ellicottville, NY.

There was a pretty flower bed near where we stopped in Ellicottville.

We located Northeast Vintage Cycle without any difficulty. Unfortunately the store/museum was closed and will be closed for the next two Saturdays, while the owners attend vintage motorcycle shows in the area.

We turned around and rode back to Ellicottville. Prior to reaching Ellicottville, we stopped at Griffis Sculpture Park (Rohr Hill Road Site) in Ashford Hollow.