Take Time to Make Time

Yes, I have been somewhat verbose of late.  That's what happens when we aren't planted in the same place for an extended period of time......I actually have something of note to blog about!

With the need for an abrupt change in our itinerary over the past week, we found ourselves spending a week in Kutztown, PA, instead of the Campground from Hell that I discussed in my last posting.  We were supposed to head to Lancaster, PA today, but decided that our overpriced and underwhelming back-up last week needed to be a short stay, and the campground in Lancaster would have been a similar nightmare as the Campground from Hell, so Tim found a decent replacement campground in Kutztown.  We’ve been here since 9/17, and it’s been a good substitute.  Reasonably priced and quiet thus far….however, the weekend warriors have been checking in all day, and it’s like a dog kennel.  Everybody has a dog, and they all insist on saying hello or guarding their campsite! It's also close enough to family that we opted to make a few drives to visit.

On Wednesday, we took the 90 minute drive to Bucks County to visit with Tim’s brother, Paul, and his lady friend, Lisa.  We had a nice visit, and ended it with a dinner out.  Lots of talking about family, lots of laughing, and just a good time catching up.

On Thursday, we took an hour drive to Berks County…..Birdsboro, to be precise.  This visit wasn’t with living family members, but it was a visit to the cemetery where Tim’s grandparents, George Upton Favorite and Harriet Leaf Favorite, are buried, along with his sister, Elizabeth Favorite French.  We also discovered that in the same plot are the parents of Harriet (“Mo”), Edward Bowman Leaf and Elizabeth Trenchard Leaf.  I may have known at some point they were in the same cemetery, but I definitely didn’t know that they were in the same plot.  It was kind of a pleasant surprise to find them together.  It was also nice to “meet” them after all these years of researching them.  

Today (Friday) we took the almost 2 hour drive over to NJ.  A quick visit to our favorite bakery, McMillan’s, to get our donut fix (seriously, it’s like nobody outside of South Jersey knows how to make a cream donut!), a visit to the nursing home in Pennsauken where my mother is living, a stop at an old friend’s house to drop off a small token of my friendship (she wasn’t going to be home due to unplanned appointments popping up), and lastly, lunch with my sister and brother.    The visit with Mom was about what was expected – her mind is not always lucid, with her regaling us with fanciful tales of outrageous claims, but other times she was together.  She remembered us, so I guess that’s a bonus.  It’s been a year since our last trip to NJ, but our absence hasn’t caused her to forget us.  She did appreciate the cookies we brought her from McMillan’s though!

Tomorrow is a rest day.  I’ll start putting away the little knick-knacks and artwork that make this tiny house on wheels feel like home, and also give the place a good cleaning before our travel day on Sunday.

One thing I didn’t mention is that on Tuesday, Tim sold the motorcycle to a local dealership.  We no longer have to worry about the loading process.  It was a no brainer – and he’s all the happier for having done it.  Me too.  From now on, our travel days will be much easier and take much less time packing up.  Anything to take the stress out of it is a good thing as far as I’m concerned!

So, on to Gettysburg for two weeks, then we make our way out to Indiana to get the warranty work looked after, our patio screen door installed, and also have the glass slider replaced.  After that, we make our way south for the winter.  Bring on the warm winter!