Into Pennsylvania

FYI: The river in the picture is the Ohio on the Ohio/West Virginia border.

Today started easily. We had time to be leisurely, so we sauntered down to the dining room in the hotel for breakfast. We were pleased to see hard boiled eggs. We enjoyed them with toasted bagels, orange juice and coffee and coffee.

We went back to the room and Earla called for directions. We took out the map and charted our course. Then we were ready to take off down the road once more.

As we were leaving the hotel, the bank board next door was blinking 44 degrees and 8:59. We drove north toward Maryland once more, which was just a few miles up the road. The distance across the state wasn't long here, so we were in Pennsylvania fairly soon.

During the day, we saw many of the sites we have been looking for in all of our journey. We saw a covered bridge, two clotheslines with clothes on them, white fences, horses, cows, corn fields and farm buildings. We, also, went through what was supposed to be orchard country in Pennsylvania. There were few trees that we saw, but there were a few fruit stands. We stopped at one and picked up some apples, pears and a quart of apple cider.

Our final destination for today was Portage, PA. Looking at the map, the roads coming into Portage appeared to be part of a spider web of roads. We only made one wrong turn and a turn around before we found the town, although there was much discussion about which road was which.

A few stops were made in town before we drove to Becky (Earla's niece on Ben's side), Doug, Megan and Abigail's house. We found the house easily with Doug's directions.

No one was home, so a friend of Becky's let us in. We found nibbles and settled in for a game of Scrabble, then another, then another. I had the lucky letter draws today.

Doug put chicken in the over to bake while he picked up the girls from the bus and rushed them around for after school activities.

When Becky came home, we enjoyed the delicious, moist baked chicken and freshly picked pears. For dessert, we savored a couple of pieces of vinarterta.... an Icelandic tart that Becky's grandmother used to make. It is four layers of cookie with a fruit spread between. This is cut into rectangles. YUMO!!!

Tuesday night meant NCIS. It is soon to bed. Tomorrow brings laundry and relaxation.
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A Day on the Road

Pictures are not uploading tonight -- so will catch up tomorrow, if possible.

Today started wonderfully. We both got a good night's sleep and woke up refreshed and ready for a day in the hills of Ohio and West Virginia.

We had breakfast at the hotel. They had a nice variety of things and we settled on yogurt and bagels with peanut butter and, of course, coffee. No food can match the wonderful home made breakfasts we've enjoyed, but it started us out OK.

When we walked out of the hotel, the sun kissed our faces. It was so pretty outside, we knew it would be a terrific day of driving.

On the first leg of the journey, we saw a few horse and buggy signs and a few horse and buggies. It is always fun to see them, and the horses are beautiful and well groomed.

The road began to twist and turn and was hilly almost immediately. Again, there were a few missing leaves but the colors were amazing, especially with the sun shining on them.

By noon, we were missing seeing any farms, or even fields, and were feeling a little like we'd like a change of scenery. At the same time, we realized that this probably would not happen today. We were going through one of many little towns when we spotted a sign the said "Linda's Hometown Diner,' which seemed like it might be a good place for lunch. By this time our conversation had turned to what we ate and did not eat as children, what was served and how it was served. The diner fit into our conversation as it was very much like one my family had frequented when I was a child. We were treated well. The food was home made and good. Earla had the special --- grilled cheese and chili (comfort food) and I had the grilled chicken sandwich with mozzarella and tomato sauce. After the diner, we stopped in a feed and seed. That was fun, but we found nothing we needed, so headed back on the road.

By this time we were in West Virginia and the song "Take Me Home, West Virginia," kept going through our heads.

About mid afternoon, we were weary and in need of a necessity room, so we stopped at McDonald's, used the facilities and had an ice cream cone which we ate outside. That's how nice the weather was this afternoon.

Not much later, we wondered if one could get too much of a good thing? We really yearned for fields and farms.

We were, also, dealing with truck drivers who showed their impatience either by blinking their lights or following very close. After a while, we were certain that the airwaves were busy with truckers warning, "Watch out for the crazy lady driver with Florida plates. At the first opportunity, get around her quickly."

About the time we were exceedingly tired of the scenery, we saw a sing that said "view point - one mile." We were hopeful, but had no idea how thrilled we would be. We came around a corner, looked to our right and saw a panorama the nearly took our breath away. Now, we understand "Blue Ridge mountains, Shenandoah Valley" from the song. The mountains rolled in shades of blue and purple and the valley below was quilted with every shade of fall imaginable." Amazing is a very small word in describing the scene and we were actually glad that we'd stuck out the roads leading to this sight. As we traveled further up the road, we even saw some fields, white fences, barns and a clothesline!!! All was redeemed.

Today, we started in Ohio, drove into West Virginia, traveled a few miles through the arm of Maryland and ended up back in West Virginia.

We did decide to call it a day when we got to Keyser, West Virginia.

We decided to stop for the night when we got to Keyser and saw the Keyser Inn. We checked in and asked for suggestions for dinner. The desk clerk suggested an Italian restaurant about a mile down. We found it and it was closed --- Monday. So we drove back looking for something interesting and found a bar. We walked in and decided we could deal with the smoke. It was a little dingy, but we'd deal with that, too. When we were ignored, however, we decided it was time to leave. We had our snack packs from the airplane. They would do and they did. Actually they were quite good and the cake Maria sent with us was very very good and topped them off nicely.

Of course, we had to play a game of Scrabble... my turn to come from behind.

Tomorrow we head into PA.

Today is Sunday and the sun was shining.. We could not have had better weather if we could have ordered it.

Church was not until 11:00, so we had time to relax, enjoy more than one cup of coffee and really enjoy biscuits and sausage gravy... About that time we decided that this was the house of comfort food. Oh, they were tasty. We all enjoyed breakfast and, then got ready for church.

We worshipped with Cameron, Maria, Owen and Ruby at Cornerstone Alliance Church. It was a very nice service. The sermon was very good (maybe a little long for these old Lutheran ears). The pastor used some thought provoking analogies and examples. He talked about temptation. That surely is a universal issue. The congregation was warm and welcoming. We did have a concerned member approach us at the end of the service. She asked where we were from and we said "Washington...... State." "Oh," she said, "That's a very liberal state. That must be hard." Very quietly, Earla said, "not for us," but we expect that she was going to go home and pray for us anyway. She really was sweet, even if her concern might have been a little misplaced.

After church, we stopped at the mall. We did a little shopping and, then, headed back to Maria's. Camerons's daughter, Tori, and her boyfriend came by and we all enjoyed brats, chips and veggies for lunch. Then it was time to pack the car and head east once more. We took some pictures, shared hugs and wishes for another visit and headed out.

We went by the Harding memorial again (picture). The sun was shining, and that made the fall colors even more spectacular! Our mission for today was to find the Longaberger basket place and the Y bridge in Zanesville. We drove to Newark, OH and on the way out of town, we saw the largest basket in the world. It is the headquarters building for Longaberger and quite a site to see. Coming out of Newark, we got quite turned around and, that was when we reaffirmed that no road that we were on was or is the wrong road. Each drive is an adventure. We did not find a factory or store, but since it was Sunday afternoon, perhaps anything would be closed anyway and, after all, we did see the largest basket in the world! Then, we headed for Zanesville. We stopped at McDonald's along the way for coffee. Once in Zanesville, the mission was to find the Y bridge. It is the only Y bridge in the US (maybe the world), It starts out as a single bridge and splits half way across. We drove all the way through town, took a few side streets and, finally, stopped a local and asked directions. He was very helpful. We were right around the corner from the bridge. We crossed it, but taking pictures would not have been productive. One would need to take them from above. We came to Zanesville specifically to see this bridge and we saw it. Mission accomplished! Then, we decided on the Hampton Inn nearby and checked in for the night. The elevator needed vacuuming. We were a little leery. Then, we opened the door to the room and were hit by heat. It had to be at least 80 degrees in the room. We turned on the air and headed out the door for dinner.

We could walk to a number of places and chose the Tumbleweed thinking we might find soup. It was a Mexican restaurant... no soup. But they had very good margaritas!. Earla ordered a house salad and I ordered sered pan vegetables and cornbread. That was just enough after an afternoon of driving.

We are back in our room, which is really pretty nice now that it's cooler.

We've played one game of Scrabble - Mine!

We'll play at least one more game tonight, get some sleep, and continue eastward tomorrow.

Another day of Blog Adventures

Today started slowly, but ended up to be a most wonderful day of adventure.

I didn't crawl out of bed until almost 9; I was quite comfy and cozy. I stumbled down the stairs and was most happy I did when I was greeted with a cup of coffee and a puff pancake baked in a cast iron skillet in the over. We added lemon and powdered sugar and it was melt in your mouth good. After breakfast, I had a wonderful conversation with Cameron. He told me all that they have done and all that they plan to do to update their 100 year old house and make it truly theirs. It's a charming house. They have already done a lot of work that reflects them and enhances the house. Their future plans will make for exciting changes to the house and more comfortable living for them.

While we waited for everyone to get ready for a day of adventure, Earla and I played a game of Scrabble. I was way ahead and LOST!!! I learned never to be complacent... It was a very painful lesson.

As we walked out of the front door, the first thing we saw was the yellow orange tree in the picture. What a wonderful sight in one's front yard!

We loaded the kids in the car, then ourselves and the five of us started out. Before we left Marion, we went by the Harding Memorial where President and Mrs. Harding are buried. We headed out of town into the most spectacular panorama of color. Over each hill and around each curve it seemed nothing could catch our breath again and each time we were awed by the incredible beauty. Even in the mist that we started in, the colors were spectacular. Then, the sun came out and all was painted brighter yet. Photos can not capture what we saw adequately.

On our way, we stopped at McDonald's, for the kids of course! OK, it was good.

As we were driving, we saw a sign that said, "covered bridge," so we made a quick turn and found it as you can see.

The next sign that caught our eye said, "church garage sale." Well, we couldn't pass that up. We were hoping for some homemade items. We drove up and up a hill and at the beginning of the driveway to the church we found the garage sale sign again and another sign that said "Eternal Rose Church of Old Regular Baptist." Who could resist such a sign? /We found a very pretty little church and the sale was in the basement. There were not homemade items and not much to brag about, but Maria found some toys for the kids. While she paid for them, Earla and Ruby played in the leaves.

From the church, we headed towards Charm. On the way we found the pumpkin stand. There was, also, a store with baked goods, mixes, jans, etc., and a very long line. The kids rode in the blue wagon here. This was a good place for them to get out again and run a little, too. What caught our eye was the man making kettle corn in a large cast iron barrel over an open fire. We bought two bags.

On our way to Charm, we saw a sign for pottery and, again, we went up and up a hill. On the way, we saw a lot of horse drawn buggies. We found the pottery shop and there were many nice things. Amongst the bowls and plates and other dishes was one lonely elephant. I had to take him home with me.

We left the pottery shop and headed back to Maria's. She showed us a number of very nice houses. Marion has a lot of older houses that are well kept . It's a pretty town to drive through.

At Maria's house, there was a pork roast cooking in the crock pot. Maria put sweet potatoes in the oven and Earla and I played a game of "aggravation" with Owen. It was aggravation all right. Thank goodness, Owen won! But, that took us until dinner time. Along with the pork and sweet potatoes, we had rice and gravy and wine. When my plate was clean, I leaned back and sighed. It was that kind of meal --- one that lead to pure contentment. Another game of Scrabble was begun and midway through we were served chai cake --- yummy. I finally won another game. Then, Ruby and I shared a sliver of pie. If I were smart, I'd share all of my meals with an 18 month old who likes to eat.

Earla had the maps out, and has zeroed in on a route out of Ohio.

We will go to church with Maria's family and, then, be on our way.

From Detroit to Marion, OH

Today was a busy day again.

I shot out of bed with a charley horse about 15 minutes before I was ready to get up. There was no need to go back to bed. I wandered into the kitchen and found coffee and joined the boys and Mark while Aiden and Luke were finishing oatmeal with raisins. That was fun. I had coffee. After we took some wrap-up pictures, the boys were off to school and Mark and Courtney were off to Minnesota. Earla and I had toast with peanut butter and apples for breakfast, packed the car and we were on the road by 9:45. Mark and Courtney had left us sandwich fixings, so we had provisions. We wound our way to I75 and were on our way south through Detroit. Somewhere along the line, we got a little confused and found ourselves on highway 10. Luckily, we found it on the map and were reassured that we would get back to I75. We took that through Michigan and into Ohio where we picked up highway 2 because it looked like we would travel near Lake Erie. We didn't see Lake Erie, but we did see a lot of farms, trees, cows, etc.... all the things we've been looking for. We stopped for gas, Ghordetto's, and no bananas. We stopped again, just so we could get bananas hoping that that would help the leg cramps. We took highway 2 over the bridge over Sandusky Bay, and picked up highway 4 into Marion.

We got to Marion about 2:30 and found our way to Maria, Cameron, Owen and Ruby's house. Maria is a close friend of Earla's daughter, Lara as well as Earla. Maria's mother is a mutual friend of mine and Earla's. We were greeted with great joy and hugs. This is so wonderful. Owen is 6 and Ruby is 18 months. They are so much fun.

We unloaded the car, got caught up a little and headed out the door once more. Maria, Earla and I stopped at a wonderful little shop in downtown Marion. It featured a variety of teas, coffees, knickknacks, soaps, tea pots, etc.. On the way we noticed the incredible fall colors. Even though some of the trees are losing some leaves, the colors are amazing and so varied.

From this shop, we went to the drive through liquor store, open even on Sundays. Even though it is a drive through, we could go in and did. After I broke a bottle of wine, I found the one I wanted very quickly, paid for both and found my way out of the store.

After the liquor store, we wanted to pick pears at a place Maria had heard about. She had the address, so she programmed it into the GPS... WELL, that was a bust, so we stopped to ask directions. That lead us closer, but there was still some confusion, so Maria called someone who knew the exact location. We discovered that the primary problem with finding the pear trees was that the street name was missing. We did find the spot which is some one's home, which not only has pear trees that are loaded, but a very cute little house. Maria and Earla picked pears and I took pictures. It was quite successful.

From there, we came back to the house. Maria fixed dinner while Earla and I continued our Scrabble tournament. We stopped in the middle of the second game for pheasant pot pies (incredible!!!), a very nice mixed green salad, and a little wine. After dinner we finished that game. During the third game, we were treated to hot home made apple pie and ice cream. It was indescribable. We finished three games --- two of which Earla won - one was truly mortifying for me.

Two of the best things about being here are that Owen is willing to share his toys and conversation and Ruby is a hugger.

More tomorrow from Marion, OH.

A Quiet and Restful Thursday

For those of you who have asked, Earka met Mark and Courtney on a trip to Tanzania. Then, she went to their home in Connecticut to help out when the twins were born three years ago. Now, I am blessed to have been included in this circle of friends.

In the pictures, Courtney's dad is helping Earla map out our route for tomorrow, Luke is in the red shirt, Aiden is in the striped shirt and is with Courtney's mom, Courtney is busy as usual and Mark is modeling his high school letterman's jacket which was very impressive. I have a picture of the dog, Griffin, but it's not great, so I'll try again tomorrow. The picture is not, but the dog is great!

Today, as the title implies, was very laid back. I slept late.. got up, had a cup of coffee. Then, I found yogurt and toast with peanut butter and was quite content. Earla had gotten up quite early, so she took a little nap and I found a book and a very comfortable corner of the couch. That's how the morning went. Courtney works from home, but was busy doing just that, so we essentially had the house to ourselves and were allowed to feel quite at home. After such a rousing start to the day, we settled into a quiet, but intense, game of Scrabble -- then, another, and another ---- all three of which I won! Will wonders never cease? The boys came home from school and we had some kid time. They are such wonderful boys. Courtney's dad come in late afternoon, and her mother followed soon after. We shared a wonderful meal... Greek spaghetti with tomatoes and feta ( oh soooooooooooooo good ), a scrumptious salad with many vegetables, hot bread and wine. And, for desert, we had our choice of muffins or donuts with ice cream.. Life is so tough sometimes. It was a joy getting to know Courtney's parents. After the boys were in bed, and Courtney's parents left, we played two rousing games of Yahtzee. I won the first --- and for those of you who have played Yahtzee with me, you know that's just short of a miracle. Mark won the second. They were good games, just plain fun, and the conversation was good as well. Tomorrow, we are off to Ohio.

More Coffee, More Scrabble

I awoke this morning to the aroma of fresh coffee. That drew me to the kitchen for sure. We were greeted with, not only coffee, but fixings for omelets. There was bacon, ham, peppers, onions, mushrooms and cheese. I opted for all of the above except mushrooms!! Earla had hers loaded. There were, also, parfaits with yogurt, granola, fresh blueberries and strawberries. A slice of toast topped off breakfast and we were quite content.

We loaded the car with Craig's help and were on our way about 9:20. We followed Anita and she took us by the lake. It was overcast, but it was beautiful. Anita lead us out of town a little ways and pointed the way. We headed east on highway 46. It was not long before the sun was shining.

I looked for cows, horses and white fences. Earla looked for fields and clotheslines. There were no clotheslines today, but we saw the rest along with some very nice country houses and barns and many shades of red, orange, brown and green on the trees. The trees are truly beautiful this fall in Michigan.

We were having trouble staying awake so we nibbled on sandwiches, cookies and grapes that Anita sent. We stopped for coffee. We stopped to shop. We stopped mainly to get out and walk around in the cool air. We did stop one place that was a day care center / petting zoo / roller rink / restaurant / gift shop. It was really quite colorful with clowns painted everywhere and lots of red and white on the buildings. We bought coffee and donuts and were on our way again.

We managed to get to Detroit with little hassle. Craig had helped Earla map out our route and it worked well. We drove into Mark and Courtney's right about 4:00.

Courtney greeted us with wonderful enthusiasm, even me whom she had not met before. We were taken on a tour of their beautiful home, given something to drink, and Courtney went off to gather their three year old twins, Aiden and Luke, from school. Earla and I started a game of Scrabble so we would be out of the way. The boys are terrific. Almost immediately Luke asked if we wanted to see something downstairs. He was eager to be host and did a mighty fine job.

Courtney started dinner and we kept her company while we finished our Scrabble game and started a new one. About midway through, we had a delicious lasagna, green beans and hot apple crisp with ice cream. YUMO!

We finished the second game while having a nice conversation. Earla, by the way, won both games today. This is not good.

The conversation was good, though. It was a wonderful getting acquainted / getting caught up time. Mark came home later and joined us. This is such a warm, welcoming, relaxing place to be. We'll take it slow and easy tomorrow and be on our way again on Friday.