Our Stop in Butler PA. Of Course!

Butler PA - July 26 - 29, 2016

After leaving Lancaster. we motored up to Butler PA. 

....But first, we had a small disagreement with a construction site guard-rail.  

The scenery is gorgeous, I loved seeing hills again!

What a wonderful time, seeing old friends and touring the area I knew so well.  I lived there for 25 years but I've been gone so long, the area seemed foreign.

I had to re-orient myself to a place I thought I knew so well.  Time was short so I didn't call many friends or visit many places. I spent a little time at Morraine State Park but wasn't able to visit one of my favorite parks - McConnells Mill State Park.  All hold good memories for me.  Next time.

 Rose Hill Campground next to 

Moraine State Park.

We drove up to Harrisville on the chance that Penn Gold was still there.  To my delight, it was, and hasn't changed a bit!  The inside was the same as always and they still make all their own ice cream.  

Truly it's the BEST!

I met my excellent friend Ellen at Timbercreek Taproom near Grove City for lunch.  The food was fantastic and the company even better.  We connected as if no time had passed. Although we were friends when I lived in Butler and I keep in touch on FaceBook, there's nothing like meeting in person to reminisce and catch up.  Thanks Ellen, time was too short, but we packed a lot into the time we had together.

I met Bill Guetthoff (who hadn't changed a bit) and we visited my former boss Joe Dickinson.  He fell recently so he's recuperating but I hope he's up and about soon. He's pretty much the same Joe I knew, and he's quite active on Facebook, so I follow his songs and memories, hopes and dreams.  

The highlight of my trip was the reunion with former co-workers from the Butler PA Social Security office. Sandy Guetthoff organized the reunion and wouldn't tell me who was coming, so it was quite a surprise seeing friends I hadn't seen for years! My life was impacted by these  all these folks and I thank them for coming out for this very special time!

The stars of my visit were Bill And Sandy Guetthoff. Thanks to Bill for visiting Joe with me and to Sandy for organizing our get-together.  You folks are amazing, truly.

Let's do this again sometime.

 

Thanks for the banana bread Sandy - Yum!

See You Soon!  Next Stop, OHIO!

Moving on

November 21, 2015 Saturday

Today we pulled out of Topsail Hill Preserve State Park after 10 days.

While here, we learned how to unhook and hook up the car to the hitch, add fresh water to our tank, empty the black and grey tanks, and deal with some of the foibles of living in a motorhome.  
It seems like the time just flew by! We were still getting set up and needed to buy some things, so we were out and about a lot.  We were planning to stay long enough to wait for a window to come in at Lazydays, but since it wasn’t in yet, we decided to move on to San Antonio for Thanksgiving.  Of course I’ve never been there or met most of Shelly’s relatives, so I agreed immediately!  It’s about 750 miles, so we decided to make the trip in 4 days, or about 200 miles a day.  I’m not helping with driving yet even though I’ve been to driving school, and we stop a lot to rest, eat and take the dogs out, so we decided not to push our travels.

So we pulled out around 10am this morning and the first order of business is to get fuel.  We found diesel not far away and managed to top off the tank.  The clerk at the register asked if we are on vacation or live in it, so I proudly said we’ve been living in it but admitted we’ve only been full time about a month.  She informed me that she and her husband want to do the same soon and have already sold their home.  I wish them luck!  

We headed on down Rt 98 until we found a road to take us to I10 which would take us the rest of the way. But first we had to cross the Choctawhatchee Bay in Destin FL.  




We went through Pensacola on the far western edge of the Florida panhandle, then off into Alabama for awhile.  But first we stopped at this rest stop.

Unfortunately we weren’t in Alabama long.....

and then we were in Mississippi.
I was amazed at the lowlands – taking bridges over land, not water. 

Well, some water.  Too soft to build a road I suspect.  Anyways, new landscape to me, so exciting to finally see places I’ve never seen before and this is just the beginning!  Stay tuned for Louisiana!