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.

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.

There used to be many prickly pear cactus here and one is growing by the house see pix.

The only old stores still there are Hoy's and my brother's PAPER PEDDLER. The store looks small now, but is pretty much the same. All the kids got a chance to run the store. My run was during the wild '68-'74 period. Man we had fun in that back room. It is amazing we never got busted.

There was much to remind me of those days. For one thing the music playing was all from that time. And I used to walk a dog down the main drag, much like now when I walk Dakota. Everyone knows Dakota..they don't remember my name, but they know the dog!!! Walking the main drag is as it always was. People going to get ice cream and looking for hook-ups. I can watch the young girls and boys flirting with each other. I used to do that, but now I am an old fart. That didn't stop me from flirting with any man near my age.

It also felt like the 1970's because I was living at my childhood home and it really didn't change, except my room is now the exercise room. I went to sleep at night listening to the ocean waves and the toads. Living at home had it good and bad moments. Although Dad appreciated my help, he hated someone being in his "space." He constantly told me to leave or go back to where I was from. So finally I did. Although Dad and I made great progress at a relationship and he helped me get a car so I could get a job.

So I packed up the RV and the dog and rolled back to Lancaster, PA. One the way I heard a song about returning where you came from and it seemed like full circle. I ended up at the White Oak Campground 4 miles south of Strasburg, PA in Amish country.

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 39^th Street. My childhood home. Hi Dad! I made it.

My trip was over…..or so I thought…

More on Avalon next time

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.