11th/12th September....Jim Thorpe & Early Morning at Don Laine Campground, Pennsylvania

Apologies for lack of blog posts over the past week...
After the rain of yesterday it's a lovely sunny morning for our drive to Palmerton, PA.... it's a fairly easy drive and time when we arrive at the Don Laine Campground to set up camp and then drive over to the historic town of Jim Thorpe...not your usual name for a town but named after "the greatest athlete of the 20th century"  Have to say he was a real all rounder....he won both the pentathlon & decathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics but was also a major league baseball player and all round nice guy....
After his death his wife, in search of a proper tribute to him moved his body to Mauch Chunk and the struggling town changed it's name to his...

As it often the case the old railroad depot is the welcome/visitor centre...

This and next photo some of the old buildings of Jim Thorpe...

Interesting town...in the early 1800's it was a coal mining town and unique in that  the coal was transported from Summit Hill to the railroad in the town by a switchback gravity railroad...when the coal played out the switchback railroad made more money as a tourist attraction as the first rollercoaster but then sadly the tracks were torn up and sold along with the railcars for scrap...
Also an interesting area, very hilly with deep ravines and narrow roads...
Another snippet of information is the film The Molly Maguires was filmed in the town and at nearby locations...

Early morning at the campground....it's a very pretty quiet area a "destination" campground as away from major roads and surrounded by open fields and lovely views...

Sunrise...

Another view from our campsite...
When we checked in here one of the first people we spoke to was a woman visiting from Portsmouth, small world !! She and Elaine the campsite owner started their friendship over 60 years ago as pen-pals...
We are packed and ready to leave our home on wheels here while we "pop" down to New Jersey to visit with an old friend and colleague from my banking days of the 1970's.....