Trip to Azilum

On Saturday August 9 we went on a trip via the back roads to the site of Azilum. Bob had already left for Kalamazoo, MI for the World Disc Golf Tournament. This photo shows the Cottage from across the Susquehanna River. The field in the left center of the photo is the field below the Cottage which is in the upper left corner. The Susquehanna makes a big gooseneck curve from upper right across the center of the photo.

Azilum was the site of French loyalists in 1793. They fled the French Revolution and an enterprising group of Pennsylvanians who were sympathetic to them developed a site on a bend in the Susquehanna (why they located the town so far from Philadelphia, for people who were of the noble class is unclear). They assumed that the refugees would be coming with significant money and possessions. They didn't because their assets were seized by the French, so ultimately the site failed and the developers went bankrupt. However, they did lay out a 300 acre site for a town and about 30 houses were built, including a grand house (rumored to be the future home for Marie Antoinnette). The houses, though log cabins, had glass windows and there are a lot of artifacts in the area. The settlement lasted only about 10 years before most of the immigrants went back to New Orleans or Santo Domingo. In addition, Napoleon granted them amnesty, so some returned to France. There is nothing left of the site, though archaeological excavations are on-going. During its existence, it was visited by Louis Phillipe, the future king of France, Talleyrand and various others.

This house, owned by US Congressman John LaPorte (born in Azilum in 1898), built in 1836, has only had three owners. As a result it is in remarkable shape. The ceilings are painted, there is a lot of original furniture of the LaPorte's or from other people who lived in the area at the same time. The Azilum site, on a good weekend, sees 12 visitors. We happened to hit it during Descendant's Day when there is a reunion of descendants of the original inhabitants. I highly recommend this site, though the signage lacks a little clarity.

The Cottage from below the field (which is seen in the top photo) from our gravel road. We own down to the cut portion of the field (which is really about 2/5ths of the field). You can see the slight rise which is the dam for our pond.

Swimming in Tunkhannock

Just below the Cottage we have a half-acre pond. Unfortunately, it is only about 1/3 full due to leaks in the dam two years in a row. However, the leaks now seem to be fixed and the pond was full to the brim this spring. Even at 1/3 level, it's about 8' deep and wonderfully refreshing when it is hot and humid out. The Cottage has one shower and one bath tub and so we use the pond to clean up and get rid of the sweat (often several times a day). Oriana and Calder (with Andrew's assistance) searched for and caught frogs. Darwin pointed towards his frisbee which was in the water in the above photo. Bob had developed an 18-hole disc golf course which used the pond as a water hazard on three holes (and has lost three discs in the drink).

One afternoon during the Barn Raising we went over to Stoney Brook, where all Robinsons have swum for generations. However, Markus discovered a much better place to swim about 100' down stream from Stoney Brook. It consists of a wonderful 8' deep pool (on the left in the above photos) and carved chutes through the rocks that you can float down and one deep pool in the rocks. Andrew and Calder proceeded to build dams and divert water so that the flow was increased over the lip (Calder is trying it out in the above photo). The stream is surrounded by flat rocks on which to sun bathe and we were alone on a Friday afternoon. Heaven!

Tunkhannock Jobs

The Cottage was built by my grandfather, Louis Robinson, in 1910 on property that had been in his family for hundreds of years. When I was a child we used to come here every summer for two weeks. I had not been here since 1967, until Markus' 40th birthday 4 years ago. Our generation, with the addition of my mother, Andrew and Julia, and two cousins purchased the Cottage out of Louis' estate and Markus has been working on it ever since. Last summer was the first annual Barn Raising and we literally raised the Carriage House from the grave. Its roof had fallen in, the walls were splayed and only Markus could see that it could re resurrected. We got it level and put a new roof on it, though the installation of the corrugated tin had to be done by Markus after we left. This year there was another Barn Raising. Jobs included, installing the subfloor on the extension to the back of the Cottage that will eventually accomodate a bigger kitchen and a screened porch. Last year the foundations were poured and Markus put in the stringers. This year, Andrew, Bob and I installed the subfloor. I got good at using a drill to drive the screw every 8" into the stringers. Before this, you entered the kitchen via a gang plank (lots of fun with your arms full of groceries).

The other big job has been clearing the west field. Markus has spent two years with a brush hog removing all the junk trees that have grown up in the field. Andrew and Calder went out and cut down the trees while Markus followed with the chain saw to cut the useful portions into fuel for our wood-fired heater. The rest of us would gather the useless parts of the trees into big piles. We would do this every morning for about an hour (it's hot, hard work). The night before everyone left, Markus decided to burn all ten piles of wood. It was quite a spectacle and had an unintended consequence. When I drove my mother down to her B & B at the bottom of the hill, there were two fire engines at the intersection of N. Eaton Lane and various other cars. It turns out that someone across the valley called in the fires and thought that the Select Sires (source of bull semen for most of the Eastern US) was burning. When I got back the two cars were up at the Cottage and Markus was explaining what we were doing. The Fire Department (volunteer) was fine with the controlled burns but asked us to give them notice in the future. Markus made an apology to the Fire Chief the next day and offered to contribute $50 for the cost of the diesel, but they didn't accept it. We have continued to clear brush (particularly in the ditches next to our gravel road) each morning and today Markus and I finished the last of the ditch work and loaded all the cut wood from the trees Andres cut down. There are still about 50 trees to go and we'll be having another big bonfire before Bob and I leave.

Pennsylvania Grand Canyon

After spending a week in Guelph, Ontario with brother Beren, Arlene, Calder and Oriana, while Bob returned to Corvallis to help coordinate the transportation at North Pacific Yearly Meeting, we headed off in Snoopy for Tunkhannock, PA, the old family homestead. I had a delightful time with Beren, Arlene and family, though Beren was recovering from a broken hip which he got while riding his bike home in a driving rain storm. We went to the Mennonite market in St. Joseph, near Guelph. It is a huge indoor and outdoor market with produce, meat, cheese, crafts and many other things. We also took in the Guelph Saturday farmer's market which also boasts fresh produce and crafts of various varieties, quilt stores, a visit to Elora, wonderful food and family and chores. I helped Arlene and Beren weed, mulch and get their yard back in shape. The weather didn't cooperate as it was humid, hot and very rainy. Beren and Arlene had applied for special Nexus passes that let you get into the US without waiting in long lines. So, we separated at the NY border and they headed directly to Pennsylvania and we, as is our fashion, avoided the interstates and headed due south of Buffalo on country roads to Highway 6 in Pennsylvania. Highway 6 goes all the way from the East Coast to Long Beach, CA and was the first transcontinental highway, built in 1927. We stopped at the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon because it had a back-country campground in the state park. Unfortunately, though it was not advertised as closed to pets, it was. However, we took a walk any way. The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon is 800' deep at this point and gets 1,400' deep. The road on the left used to be a railway that has been turned into a multi-purpose trail. The river used to flow north, but during the last glacial age the terminal moraine was a little north of here and when the lake behind it melted, the direction of the river was reversed.

In addition to hiking around the point and looking at the views, we took a half-mile detour to this lovely, lace-like falls. As you can see, Darwin was hot and on his own volition sat down in the water at the base of the falls. From here we went to a commercial campground and arrived in Tunkhannock on Saturday about mid-day, in the first wave of Robinsons arriving for the 2008 Barn Raising.