I wasn't sure about how Christmas would end up, since everything and everyone is in some transition. Bt it turned out great.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Christmas 2010
I wasn't sure about how Christmas would end up, since everything and everyone is in some transition. Bt it turned out great.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
How I spent my summer part 2
Half of the summer was spent in Avalon. I only went to the beach two times but the salt air was healing. I have a great sunset pix. I really do love the shore...and I really hate what the Jersey Shore reality shows have done for the women. We either are bitches and air head dim wits...most Jersey girls are smart...
Monday, September 13, 2010
How I spent my summer part one
It was a weird summer. It all started in Texas, when my Dad called saying he was not well and could use some help, so I drove the RV to Avalon NJ. After a month he was better and said he didn’t need me there. So I drove the RV to Lancaster County and stayed at the White Oak campground in Strasburg. Of course we all knew Dad needed help and was being stubborn. Things changed when he fell and was on the floor for a day not able to get up… So in August I again went down to Avalon. Within 10 days he was complaining about me being there again and kicked me out..actually he told Craig ,my brother, to kick me out..so again I packed up and left….not doing that again.
I did enjoy being down at the beach for most of the summer. I walked the roads I had walked as a teenager. The streets are the same; the houses are now mansions. The music cooperated and I listened to songs of the 70’s . It felt like ol' times.. I did get to see an old friend Bel Whilden. We worked together on many newspapers. We also drank a few. It was good to see him again.
Tim and Jean were down in Stone Harbor and I saw them and the kids and Jean’s Dad. It was nice to sit on the porch and watch the sun go down.
The best part was seeing Sean and Courtney and the Frisbee team in Wildwood. Every year many teams from the east coast come to Wildwood for the Ultimate Frisbee tournament. It was soo hot 100 degrees on the beach, Their feet were burning on the white sand. I got a pretty good sun burn too-yea I put stuff on but went for a swim and forgot to re-apply...
More summer fun to come
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Leroy the Amish man Part Two
Part 2
With the temperatures being in the upper 90’s, sitting at the bar at Applebee’s was a cool break. I didn’t have the AC in my car and the heat was getting to me. I wondered how the Amish survived the heat. Leroy said, “Ah we’re joust oused to it.” (Add the accent). He told me about one of his friends, (or maybe it was him) had gotten very drunk up at the YP, (that’s Your Place for non PA residents.) The Amish man got into his buggy and was driving back to Strasburg on Route 30. He forgot to put on his safety flashers and was stopped by the police. The police asked him to get out of the buggie. The man stumbled and was found to be drunk. He was driving a buggy drunk. He was taken to jail on a DUI. His poor wife had to come in the middle of the night to get the buggie. Imagine that call…The man had to call his “English” neighbor to go down and wake up his wife so she could go get the buggie. The man had to spend time in jail. The funny thing is they let him out every morning and evening to go milk the cows. So that’s how the Amish get DUI’s.
Meanwhile ol’ Leroy is pretty happy and keeps asking if we are going to “my place or yours.” He was clearly hoping for alittle action. I wasn’t interested in putting an Amish notch on my bedpost. I kept saying I had to get back to the RV because I was worried about the dog. I guess there are women who would like to try an Amish man. You could see that in his younger days Leroy might have been handsome, and he probably had his share. He just seemed like a 50 year old man trying to be 18.
So after relieving the horse again, our next stop was Brewer’s Outlet, where again they all knew him. Leroy bought a case of Genesee Cream Ale. We dropped off half of the case at a friend’s house. He asked me to come in. “No thanks.” Then we drove down the road to another neighbor’s house where he took all but three beers. Interesting hiding beers all over. Then finall,y we drove down the lane to his families farm house. I parked in front of his workshop. I could see a buggy parked in the barn and a few eyes peering out the windows.
A small Jack Russell mixed female dog with large sore tits greeted me. Her name was Sadie. She was a sweet dog. She walked over to the porch and out popped six puppies. Leroy said she got out one night. One of the puppies looked like Dakota, black with white tips, several were brown, and one looked like a mini Doberman. Sadie got around that night! We talked about dogs; our dogs now and the ones in heaven. We agreed that most animals are smarter than humans. Leroy offered me a puppy. If I had a place, I would have taken the baby Dakota dog.
Finally Leroy showed me his shed where he does his crafts. There is some paintings and some blue jay parts. He showed me what he was doing. I thought it was a cool idea and said I could paint them. I told him to give me the parts and I would paint them. But now I needed to go. He gave me a quick hug and I drove back down the lane, which looked like a tunnel of corn.
Ok SO YOU THINK THE STORY IS OVER??? Well it’s not.
Several hours later, Leroy calls to ask if he left his cell phone in my car, which he did. I said I would drop it off tomorrow morning at Katie’s Kitchen.. I wondered if he did that on purpose??
So it is twilight now and Dakota and I were taking our walk around the campground. Dakota drags me over to this pop-up camper. There is a Canadian man and woman there. She loves animals and attracted Dakota by her smiles…and the smell of food. Her name is Natalie and I can’t remember his name, but he is a Bus driver. We started talking. The bus driver offered me a real treat, a real Canadian Beer..yea…Dakota got some food. Dakota got to play Frisbee with the bus driver.
I talked some about my adventures on the road.
Natalie said they went out to dinner at a diner and there was an Amish guy sitting near her. He had his pants pinned together with a safety pin and he had a black painted straw hat. She said the waitress called him Leroy. And I said have I got a story for you…..
Postnote: Leroy called back once to see if I could drive him. I was busy that day. I never did do any work on his birds.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Leroy, A Day with the Amish man. Part one
When I did my laundry in Strasburg, I left a note on the bulletin board:
I NEED A JOB Office, HR, Customer Service Would like $14/hr Will consider other Offers |
Last night after a frustrating day of failing the Excel test at the staffing agency, I got a call. It was Leroy, an Amish man. I am not using Leroy’s last name since he is pretty well known here. Leroy was looking for someone to paint his craft items.
OK, I’m game…so we met at 9AM at Katie’s Kitchen, authentic Amish cooking. I arrived first and got a cup of coffee. Not long after Leroy arrived sporting his black straw hat. He is a thin man between 55-65 years old. He wears traditional clothing held together with safety pins. I introduced myself and we had coffee.
We talked about the weather, dogs and people. He asked if I could drive him a few places. OK, I said curious to what this day would offer. He was a bit flirtatious—how fun. We went to his house driveway to pick up a saw and drove to the Black and Decker store in Rockvale plaza. They could not sharpen the saw. Leroy said that stores here rent for $6000 a month and many were now closed or closing. Leroy said he wanted to try a hardware store in Bird in Hand, but first we had to stop at the Turkey Hill because he needed to “water the horses” and there was a real doll there. We drove to the hardware store where I was the one everyone was staring at.
Evidently they could not sharpen the saw either. Now he wanted to go to Intercourse to the bank because there was a clerk there who was a real doll. Are you seeing a pattern yet?? After the bank we went back to Bird in Hand to a machine shop. Leroy took off his watch, “We aren’t suppose to have these.” The machine shop took the saw. Leroy came out of the shop and lit another cigarillo and starting singing “Bad, bad Leroy Brown.” He said that’s what everyone calls him “Bad Leroy”. I was coming to that conclusion myself.
After the machine shop, Leroy directed me to a short cut (not) through the country. He pointed out his sister’s house. He has five brothers and at least two sisters that I know. He said “people always complain about how big Amish families are, but everyone is needed to keep the farm going. He said people are jealous about the million dollar farms but they don’t realize it is hard work and 14 hours a day. “ He said yesterday he mowed grass and it was hot.
Anyway we ended back on route 30 where we had to stop at a gas station so he could buy some more cigarillos. Every time we stopped he would light one up. Oh yes, then he says he forgot to buy minutes for his cell phone (shhh don’t tell anyone). Back to the Turkey Hill where he watered some more horses, bought minutes and found the “doll “and gave her a big kiss. I waited in the hot car not knowing what was taking so long. He came out and said, “Did you see me kiss that blonde? She is a real looker.”
OK so here we have a real character. The next stop was Applebee’s on route 30. Everywhere we went everyone seems to know Leroy and this was no exception. The bartender said “Hi Leroy. Do you want your regular Budweiser?” He ordered and offered to buy me a beer. Originally I was going to have water, but it was offered and I don’t turn down a free beer especially when it was so hot. I had a large draft and on an empty stomach gave me a bit of a buzz. Leroy drank three bottles of beer using a straw.
At this point Leroy is definitely chatting me up. Innuendos and flirts were passed around. It was fun but I was not sure where this was going to end.
To find out the rest of the story see Part 2 coming soon.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Avalon Cooler than a mile- no place like home
I must say it was fun being back in Avalon for awhile. The last time I really spent more than a day here was in the late 1970's. Much as changed since then. Most of the the people and stores have been replaced. The old cottages have been torn down and Mac-mansions have been built. Some are interesting; many are big but average looking. The thing that annoyed me is that many newer houses are shades of grey or beige. Very blah....houses used to be yellows and greens and even a pink one.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Finally made it to home
Part 2
From Virginia I could almost smell the ocean breeze. I decided to drive up the east shore of Maryland, therefore missing the Washington DC and Baltimore traffic. I had never been in this area so it was fun driving through the old towns. Before long I was in Delaware….What does Della wear boys??? What does Della wear? A new Jersey… boys a new jersey….I sang that song all through Delaware. There was a lot of road work which slowed things up, but I didn’t care. Soon it was over the Del Memorial Bridge. Driving in the RV I could actually see over the railing down to the river where I saw barges and a small ship. You don’t see anything driving in a car. Now I was in familiar grounds. This was my regular route to the shore. It was getting late and I was ahead of my schedule so I found a campground somewhere between Woodstown and Elmer.
I recognized the campground from years ago. Many years ago I was the editor of my friend, Belford Whilden’s newspaper, THE MID-ATLANTIC CAMPER. The newspaper was distributed all over southern NJ, including this campground. Some weeks I delivered the papers there.
While working at the newspaper one summer a lady came in who had written a book about her full time RV life. I interviewed her. She and her husband were traveling the country in a RV and worked here and there at campgrounds and state parks. She had some great stories. So that is where the seed of this journey actually began.. I can blame it all on her!!! LOL
I am not going to say the name of the campground because it was the worst one of my entire trip. There were many seasonal trailers there, but the campground was empty. They charged full price and told me to park across from the store, which was closed. The electric units there were all broken and there was no water, so I saw a place right next to the store and backed in there. The place was run down, unmowed grass and I didn’t feel safe there.
I was glad to get out of there. The next morning was cool with a brilliant blue sky. It was great driving weather and I was excited that I was almost home. I drove down familiar roads. So much has changed since I went to high school there. Farms were now developments and little strip malls had popped up here and there.
Then I saw the sign for Avalon…yea…I could smell the ocean now. The tide was high in the back bay and I could see sea gulls and birds searching for food. I drove right into to town and finally parked on 39th Street. My childhood home. Hi Dad! I made it.
My trip was over…..or so I thought…
More on Avalon next time
Sunday, July 18, 2010
The drive back Home- part 1
Sorry for the delay
As I was driving through Tennessee, it was clear that the series of storms had caused damage across the state. Besides flooded waterways, trees were broken and bent, and dried mud was on the roads. It was sad. But the days were now clear and the sun beat down raising the temperatures to the 90’s.
I drove past Knoxville and saw big thunderheads forming. I had to stop every 1 ½ hour to cool down. We all needed cooling down, me Dakota and Agatha. We stopped at very nice rest stops on I40. One was named for Al Gore’s father, who was a designer in the national highway system that brought us these great roads. At this stop, there was a celebration and there were free donuts and drinks. Cool.
There was also TV with the weather. A severe storm warning, possible tornado. Now most of my friends know, thunderstorms are not on my fun list. I had about 2 hours of drive time before the storm. I drove about 1 ½ hours, got off at a convenient exit and saw a motel with my name on it. Yep, a night of luxury. AC, Cable TV, WIFI, Queen bed, hot shower and no worry of bad storms getting me. The storm came late at night, big booms and bright flashes of lights. I turned up the sound on the TV and closed the curtains. Dakota cuddled up to me.
The next morning was beautiful. I got back on I-40 and before long there was I-81. I stopped at the Welcome Center near Bristol, Virginia. I knew there were car races here, but this area is really known for the Blue grass music. There was a big festival coming up, which I wished I could have stayed and gone to. But onward. I was on a time schedule, hoping to be able to see Sean.
I moved along and drove a very long day. I ended up at the Natural Bridge. One of the wonders of the US, worth seeing. Nearby was a Jellystone Park. I drove down a very curving road and finally arrived at the campground. This is not the Legacy Jellystone in VA, that was up the road. The people there were very nice. The site was in a big field on the side of the mountain. Nice cool night for sleeping, if fact I was cold and had to get a blanket. Some difference from the 90’s of Texas.!
The next morning, I found my way out and onto a road that would take me east. There was some stop and gos , but most was 4 lane. I travelled through some of the most deadly battlegrounds of the Civil War. I tried to remember the Southern and Northern Generals. I remembered five from both sides and felt pretty good about that. Before long I was in Fredericksburg, VA. I had made very good time and called Sean. Sean had a Frisbee game and could come in late afternoon. I didn't find any campgrounds nearby so I found a Day’s Inn. The manager let me park the RV near the front office and gave me a great room.
Around 4pm I get a call Sean is in the parking lot. I open the door and here is Sean and Courtney with flowers and a present. What a great Mother’s Day . After 1 year away, I get to see Sean and Courtney. It was good. We went out to dinner.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Going back East- a flooded Tennesee
After Trickie's , I was back on Interstate 40. After a delay in West Memphis due to an rush hours accident, we drove over the Mississippi River bridge and into the Land of Elvis. I drove through but I had visited Beale Street and Graceland years before.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
THE TRIP BACK EAST- Texas and Arkansas
The trip started with spending most of the day at the repair shop. Agatha needed new spark plug wires, oil change and a few other adjustments. We arrived at 8AM and left about 4PM. It always seems to be a whole day and a whole lot of money to get anything done on Agatha. Mostly
I was waiting for those odd little parts. The good news was Dakota and I stayed in the air conditioned office. I spent the day watching SPEED TV. I saw motorcycle races, monster trucks and drag races. Not my usual watching, but it was tolerable and I learned there are a lot of crazy people out there doing crazy things.
Once the RV was road worthy, I drove north to see out friends Dave and Viola in Big Sandy. I was not sure I was going to get Agatha down this very rural small road, but we did make it. It was nice spending the night there. And this is where Hobo Mike got off the RV road. He plans to do some hobo-ing and east Texas is a good place to hop a train.
Tuesday morning I was on my own. I was starting out to drive across country solo. I have met some other women out there as solo RVers, but I have to admit I was a bit unsure of myself. I took the road north from Big Sandy headed to Gilmer and Texarkana. My idea of Texas was always desert looking, but in the north east part there was pine trees and lakes and small rolling hills. It was clear with bright blue sky. Perfect for driving.
It was around noon when I went through Texarkana and drove into Arkansas. It was 3 days after strong storms had gone through, but I didn’t see any damage. It was getting hot. For lunch Dakota and I stopped at a truck stop and had a PBJ and got some gas.
The road from Texarkana to Little Rock didn’t have much traffic. There were trees and lots of daisies. Yellow daisies. There were some buildings near the exits of the interstate, but most of the drive was tress, birds and flowers. I paid attention to Crow Brother . He warned me several times when there was problems up the road, like a cop who stopped a car. There is a sign for Hope, birthplace of President Bubba Clinton. The sun was heating up to 90 degrees. It was hot in the RV with only Red Neck Air conditioning.
There was more traffic as I got closer to Little Rock. The by-pass missed most of it. Once I got on interstateI-40, I was getting tired and hungry. I stopped at a MC Donald’s for a chicken sandwich. Dakota got a kiddie burger. I drove for a bout 25 more miles and saw a sign for TRICKIE’S RV CAMPGROUND.
Sounded good to me. I took the exit and saw Trickie’s convenience store and right next to it was the RV park.. Well really it was like a parking lot with electric. Half of the sites did not have working electricity due to the storms, or lack of attention.. who knows. I found a site, turned on the air conditioner in the back and soundly went to sleep. I was so tired I didn’t even take off my clothes. Dakota was crashed out right next to me.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Spring Time in Texas
Before I came to Texas, the images I had of the state were shaped by the old cowboy movies. It looked rough, dry and barren. And certainly there are parts of western Texas that are like that. In fact the drive from El Paso to San Antonio is 600 miles of barren flat desert land.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tyler- Rose Capital of the Nation Rose Garden
Tyler Texas is in the north east corner of Texas, about 100 due east of Dallas. It was named after John Tyler, tenth president of US. Yea I had to look it up. There are about 100,000 people who live here. Actress Sandy Duncan and a bunch of football players are from here. It is a nice small city and easy to get around in.