"Today is a Good Day to Drive!" .....Van-Go

October 30, 2007 McFalls Ferry road off route 74, amid the farms and rolling land, had a little park where we made some lunch. Then hurried off to Haverstown. Our hurry ended with rush hour traffic just a few miles from our destination. The sun had set by the time we got to Jen&Troy's (see pics below) Jen was already home; she had run four miles as she does most evenings keeping fit. We hugged and Will went through the stopping for the night procedure while Kathy went in the house with Jen, both of them talking a mile a minute catching up and renewing their Aunt/Niece thing. Troy had just finished mudding the dining room; that is where he put a layer of plaster over the entire room filling holes, cracks and dents in preparation for painting. They already have the royal red drapes with velvet roses; the walls will be a golden caramel. They are accenting the tall ceilings in the room with a 6-inch crown molding. Look for pictures in Better Homes! Troy arrived home and we put toge

October 30, 2007 Van Go parked in front of the Pennsylvania Monument at Gettysburg National Military Park. We got up with the sun, ran the engine to warm the Roadtrek. Our heater is not working. We decided over coffee to go back to Gettysburg since we have not been through the National Park there. The visitor center is a dark and dingy sort of place with workers perched atop stools calling out, “next” and handing out maps. There is an orientation program with a lightup map as its center, but there is also a fee not covered with your park pass so opted out of that and went on the Auto Tour. They also have guided bus tours, individual tours or private tours you can take. We followed the route stopping at the key points of interest. Monuments, plaques and exhibits tell the story of three days of battle with troops moving and men dieing. Our first stop was the cemetary where Abraham Lincoln gave his two minute speech, The Gettysburg Address. Today a monument stands on the spot where he was

October 29, 2007 We left Jayne’s about 10am and made a stop at Nicole’s. Damiana was feeding her new babydoll, Elizabeth, and Finnaeus was pretending to be a Jedi Knight with his light saber. We dropped off a few presents for Nicole, housewarming gifts: new sweeper, floor light and a pumpkin pie. Will resorted to reading the directions for putting the lamp together. He searched under the couch for his missing diamond earring, a gift Kathy brought him back from Hawaii; Kathy searched the garbage for a sweeper bag. We didn’t find it. Damiana came down with her little jewelry box and gave Will her little diamond stud, she had lost the other one. Kisses and waves and we were back on the road again. Driving out of town we saw a sign for Martinelli's Garage! We pulled over and met David; he looks like family, but says there was not relationship. We did a little Turnpike time then back on the two-lane. The trees are so golden, leaves scattering over the ground. Turner Covered Bridge was a

Happy Halloween!

Sueann's birthday is in October so we all met at her house for a celebration. The new kitchen is really super with lots of open space for everyone to socialize. Kathy brought a craft activity; night light lamp shades made from safety pins and beads. (Thanks Lou for the idea. It has only been two years since you showed me how and I remembered most of the directions!) The guys all watched the Steelers win another game. Then we enjoyed Carmine's lasagna. Deserts were three birthday cakes! Carmine surprized Kathy with a belated birthday gift to match Sueann's--QVC snapware! It was a great visit and send off for us as we are heading to warmer weather! Watch out for us Jen, Jill, Jan, Lou and Nick...we are hoping to make a few stops on our way.

Humpty Dumpty had a great Fall; we hope you do too.

We snuck away to Crooked Creek State Park where we parked in the empty lot near the lake and enjoyed the view. We met some neat people. George stopped by in his Roadtrek and we chatted away hours. Before he left he gave Kathy a Roadtrek cap the company had mailed to him; thanks George. Geese were flying south, squirrels were chattering, turkey were grazing, kildeer were screaming, and we were enjoying the peak of leave peeping.

Calipso's father came from Germany where his wife works for the US government for a short visit. Nicole made a yummy meal and we had time to chat and get aquainted. Of course Taryn was the center of attention, but still Damiana and Finnaeus got in on it too!

Will helped Cliff take the boat out of the water and we watched as he trailered it back to his house to winterize it. It will be staying in a mine for the winter.

We joined Maria and Cliff on "Our Great Escape" and headed up the Allegheny River. We went through two locks and docked at Rosston Eddy Marinia for the night. Cliff made us a yummy breakfast and we headed out again at 12:30 when the locks open, hoping to see some colorful leaves further up river. We went through locks 7 and 8 and played around in the blue waters of pool 8, but never made it up to pool 9- something to look forward to for next season. We made it back to River Forest Marina just after dark.

We arrived with our buckets and cleaners. The first order was to clean the back porch for a play area for the kids, followed by the kitchen. What a great kitchen with lots of storage and counter space! Before After Teaching the children about the train that runs along the the main line tracks at the front of the house. Grandma Jayne visits too. Damiana's room is pink.

We loaded the Roadtrek and headed east of Mount Pleasant to visit with Nicole, and our grandchildren. The family was living in a fifth wheel at the gate of Willie’s “church” Taryn was in his father’s arms. Calypso is a proud dad. Damiana and Finnaeus are proud siblings and Blitz, Issac, the family dogs, and the family cat, are protective. We lived next door in our Roadtrek for three days. We made meals, blazed a trail to the spring, giggled, played old maid and tic-tac-toe, picked wild raspberries, laughed, hiked through the corn field to visit Sponge Bob, carried our safety whistles, looked at pictures on the computer, napped in the grass, said the Pledge when Will put up the flag, made graphs of M&Ms (Thanks Stella.), found critters with legs, critters with wings and critters with slime, used a compass so we didn’t get lost in the corn field and a walkie talkie to keep in touch, celebrated Taryn’s birth, a nd packed up everything in the fifth wheel.

We enjoyed time with our new grandson, Taryan.

THANKS CLIFF-- Kathy took the wheel for a short time to feel the difference between the rudder stick on a 30-foot schooner and the wheel of Great Escape. Cliff and Maria had other plans and gave us permission to come aboard on our own. It was a beautiful evening. We drove down to the lock 4; listened to the lock master talk with the barges coming and going then pulled out of the channel and anchored. Will grilled our salmon and enjoyed the sound of water lapping up against the shore, wind russling the leaves and the train across the river chug along it's tracks. We watched the leaves drift off the trees and land in the water then drift on the current. The sun set and we headed back to the dock. We put everything in order, buttoned down the cover and climbed in the Roadtrek. We watched some episode 6 of seaon one of West Wing. "Toby ( Richard Schiff ) and Mandy ( Moira Kelly ) work to convince some congressmen -- including the nervous Mr. Willis ( Al Fann ), who assumed his la

Pittsburgh Aviary was again a fun place to spend the afternoon. We played in the Lorrie Room with colorful Lorries sitting on us, pecking at our buttons and beads and laughed at their antics. In the open room we watched a lady scratch the neck of a little social bird. Kathy was overjoyed as her favorite bird, the pelican hopped up on the rail and let her get close enough to look down his throat!