Sunday Afternoon Drive to Waterville, PA

 Taken outside of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in Waterville, PA

 Showing the Brook Trout

 Lou's favorite the train showing the switch-back used in lumbering the mountains

 Some of the tools used in lumbering.  I had not seen the branding tool before

 The beautiful Pennsylvania Mountains in October

This picture shows the Annie S coal mine

September 30th - Sunday  - Cloudy mild day

After a wonderful church service with our Pastor Keith Diehl, which we give God praise for daily, we feel so blessed for he and his wife.  He suffers from many physical problems; however, week after week he is there for us with a sermon that enlightens our week.  We are looking forward to the month of October as we are going to be studying the book of Job and he has asked all of us to read the book.  I hope everyone takes the challenge and does as he has asked.  Lou and I plan to do that, in fact we have read up to chapter seven so far.

We left church and drove to Antrim and then to Morris and made our way to Waterville.  We had read about the new display that was open to the public at The Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and thought it would be interesting to see it.

The drive was beautiful, we drove through Little Pine Creek and stopped for lunch at a restaurant and enjoyed a wonderful lunch, that we found we could not finish, I think it was the best Bleu Cheese burger I have ever eaten and they made their own potato chips and the coffee was delicious, just a great meal.  We had a hard time finding the DCNR as we did not have reception with our OnStar , so we had to stop and ask directions, but eventually found the place and it certainly was worth the drive.

The working model railroad that shows what the timber harvesting looked like in the Pine Creek Valley at the turn of the century and interprets the lumbering heritage of the region was Lou's favorite.

There was a 180 gallon aquarium featuring our state fish, the brook trout, as well as other stream dwellers.

A interpretive display of the many large birds common to the skies of the Pine Creek Valley

A Pine Creek flora and fauna display with touch screen that provide information,  about the plants and animals of the region, this was something I really enjoyed, I learned that King Fishers nested in the ground.

An observation deck, this is where they took the picture of Lou and me, that interprets the green roof and native plants used for landscaping and features viewing scopes as well as a log slide replica similar to those used to transport logs down the steep hillsides at the turn of the century.

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon that we spent there.  We came back up route 414 to Morris and came out in Blackwell, arriving home just before dark.  It was a good day.  We have both been at home for some time, while Lou's hip was healing, so we enjoyed our day out.      

  

           

OOPS with Resurfacing Driveway !!

September 27th - Thursday  68 degrees - Beautiful fall day

The day finally arrived to have our driveway resurfaced.  It was the perfect day to have it done.  Mr.  Fay called early in the morning to alert us and Lou took the car out of the garage and drove it down by the barn and got the lawn mower out of the little barn so he could cut the yard when the grass dried off and he fastened both gates so Estee wouldn't be outside, all was set for the men to arrive.

I decided it would be a great day to do the bedding and hang it on the line, so that is what I did and of course, I had to go off the back deck to the clothes line and I opened the gate and never thought about Estee going out with me.  I hung up my clothes and came back in and proceeded to clean the bathroom, when I heard some one calling to me from the front door.  The man that was resurfacing the driveway told me that Estee had gotten on the driveway and had come up the newly stained sidewalk.  I quickly turned to search for her, well I didn't have to search for her long, she sat behind me with the look of "what do I do now".  I quickly picked her up and sat her in the sink and put in some warm soapy water and told her to sit.  Thankfully, she does obey me very well, and I went back to ask the gentleman what I should use to get it off her feet, and he told me soapy water, then I asked him about my carpets and floors and of course, the sidewalks and deck.  Well folks, the secret is WD-40 and it worked like a charm.

I now have a clean puppy, clean sidewalks, decks and will have clean rugs once I wash the WD- 40 out of them. and our drive way looks great thanks to Fay's  Paving.

Getting Ready for Fall

 Steve installing new railing on front deck

 My tiny cactus growing taller

A monarch in the making


September 24th Monday - A beautiful fall morning 36 degrees

I know I had  promised I  would blog more frequently once we reached home; however I didn't know what awaited me at home.  We arrived home and  Preston and Susie helped us unpack and get things cleaned up.  In fact, they helped us clean the motor home on Sunday and left for home.  Lou and I were finishing up the last of the washing and decided  we would clean out the compartments and I was working on the compartment on the drivers side and he tackled the lock on the entrance door that we were having problems with and I heard a crash, I came around the RV and found Lou on the ground.  He had taken a "swan dive" from the second step onto the paved driveway.  I helped him roll over and up to his knees and we was able to pull himself up using the step ladder that was beside of him.  Knowing Lou he put the screw back in the door, but found it was very painful to take a step,  so I got him to the car and we went to the ER.  To make a long story short.  at 11:00 pm he was admitted to the hospital for a fractured him, and told he would have surgery  on Monday.

When Monday morning arrived at the orthopedist looked at the CAT scan he made the decision, that surgery would not correct the problem.  Lou was discharged with a walker and told he could use his toe for balance, but bed rest for three weeks would tell the story.  He could come home, if we thought he could get up the steps.  Krista come down and between the three of us, we got him up the steps and we quickly converted the house back to walker safe and Lou did very well.  Most all of the equipment we needed was still here in storage, so we were in business.  Lou was a very good patient and did just exactly what the doctor said.  He always told everyone that he married me because he needed a full time nurse, well it was true this time and it was nice to be a care giver again.  Kris, once again, was right here to do whatever she needed to do, even with little Matthew, and Michelle was good to help out when needed also.  Even Steve helped out when I went to paint the front deck and found my iron rail had rusted out.  Steve went to Lowe's and got new railing and he replaced it for me.  Lou had to do the "grunting" for Steve, but soon realized he needed to have his leg up.

After almost four weeks, Lou went back to the doctor, had x-rays done and found the break had almost healed.  The doctor told him to get rid of the walker, use a cane, if he felt he needed it, but he didn't think he would need it, come back in three weeks if he had pain, but he felt he would be fine.  Lou does still have a little pain, if her over does, or if the weather is rainy, but is doing very nicely.  As Lou says not ready to dance a jig, but very pleased with his progress.

We have had a lot of company, phone calls, cards, prayers and we went a month without going to church and have been able to go again, and we really missed our church family, so things are back to normal.  We did get our motor home cleaned up for winter and have it back in the barn thanks to Preston and it will stay there until we winterize it and it is ready for the trip to Florida in January. Everyone had a hand in getting it cleaned up ready for the barn.  Krista and Mary washed the windows while we were at the ER.  Little Matthew loves wheels and he played with the wheels that I had sprayed with cleaner before I left and he left little hand  prints around one side of the RV, real cute!!

The picture of the Cactus will be appreciated by Scott, the year after Al died, I stayed two weeks with Scott and Sue, and Greg and I went next door and I found this darling little cactus and I wanted to try and grow it at home and Scott told me I couldn't bring it home on the plane, so I told him I would mail it home along with some other plants, I think Scott was a little doubtful about my thoughts, but he went along with me, so I gathered up some things and Scott took me to the UPS and I mailed them, well they looked a little sick when they arrived, but I planted them anyhow, and they all lived, and this cactus just keeps growing.  Each winter when I go to Florida, I leave it here alone, so heat or water and it does alright, and each summer I put it outside, but his year, it has just grown after I repotted it.  Now Scott aren't you amazed??

Michelle and I have always been fascinated by Monarch butterflies and when she was in kindergarten we captured a larva like the picture and watched it turn to the pupa and eventually the Monarch, but we noticed that the Milkweed are disappearing, so I starting planting seeds, to try to help the Monarchs; however, this year I only noted one larva.  Perhaps next year will be better.  

On The Way Home

 The Canadian Flag in our Camp Site in Canada

Coming across the bridge back into the USA

 An ESSO gas station in Canada

Had to have a picture of the windmills coming home.


 August 18th Saturday - 68 degree
Greetings from Ontario, Canada.  We arrived here last evening, traveling from    
near Flint, Michigan  across route 69, past a large GM assembly plant and the Uniroyal Tire  and  Belle Tire Distributors in to the special gates to enter Canada .

We found the gate to pass through with the motor home very narrow and we had to do some fancy maneuvering to pass through.  We had been told we would  only need our passports to get out of Canada, that was wrong, we needed them to enter also.  Once we were allowed to pass through the gate, we crossed over the bridge and witnessed the great view of the canal that connected Lake Huron and Lake St Clair.  One nice feature of riding in the motor home, is you are up high enough to get a good view of the country side.  The view is much better when you are sitting in the driver’s seat or the co-pilot seat compared to sitting on the sofa or the dining room table, where your view is very limited.  We have tried to trade off positions to allow everyone an advantage of a good view.

Last evening we stayed at N.E.T. Camping Resort in Vineland, Ontario.  We had a pull through lot, it was a pretty site, but we were really crammed in it was expensive compared to past sites.  It cost four loonies (quarters) to take a shower, which was unexpected after paying over $50.00 for one night with our Good Sam discount.  We found that someone played music outside all night long with a very deep base that resonated through our motor home, which did not lend to a good night sleep for those of us without a hearing home.

We did unhook the car and drove into Pelham for a wonderful fish fry last evening.  We found that the money exchange is even at this time.  We paid $14.99 for fish, fixed however we wanted it fixed, garlic mashed red potatoes , coleslaw, dessert (choice of five things), I had rice pudding, Lou decided on gingerbread with a hot vanilla sauce, Preston had a fruit salad, Susie had a peach and blueberry crisp and we all had coffee.  A delightful meal and a sweet waitress.  The restaurant was called The Lazy Loon.  An excellent choice.

Today we traveled GEW from Ontario back into the US.  I was amazed that there are so many ESSO gas stations in Canada and gas is listed as 129.2 per liters, making gasoline over $4.00 per gallon here, our waitress told us that many people go into the states to purchase gasoline and milk and she spoke of milk being in a bag?

I am also amazed at how flat Canada is and the many acres of corn and soybeans, I can not help but think of my father and how he would have loved to have farmed a field such as the ones that I have seen.  The many farmers in Tioga county that have farmed and made a living, really had to work hard to do so and now we see so much of the country side growing up to weeds, sad to witness.

This has been an interesting journey and when we reach home, we will unpack and clean the motor home and get things ready for our next journey and that will be to our square dancing campout this weekend.  I will try and