Good Morning
We are now in Lancaster, PA.!
We bid a farewell to Pete and Linda on the early morning of 3 August to head to Pennsylvania.
We took the scenic route through Rhode Island, Conn. and New York. We did make one final stop to have a seafood lunch prior to leaving the Northeast Coast!!! Pete and Linda were such great host that it was bittersweet leaving them...even knowing we would see them when we get back to Tucson in October. We thank them for sharing their family history and allowing us to spend time getting to know their family from the area...what gracious people!!
We arrived at Maryann's home to spend time with Mom and family on 3 August in the evening...as we hit traffic on Interstate 80...not sure why we were at a near standstill for over an hour...as could not see any reason for the delay. Tom said that "just Pennsylvania"! We hit rain just as we arrived at the PA border and it follow us to Maryann's Mom's in Karthaus, PA..central PA. Of course they were having the hottest week of the summer...Mom does not have air conditioning...hmmm. Very hot sleeping on the second floor...the window fan did move the air around a little... Maryann's sister Joan and her Tom brought them a large fan up from the camp which made the nights bearable...during the day we had 4 fans going in the room we were in....even thought it would be better in the 108 degree days were having in Tucson...as 0 humidity vs 100 % humidity!!! We were able to help Mom with stuffs that needed done around the house. My brother in law Kenny and Tom decided that the sidewalk needed to be leveled.. Maryann even was part of the team to help..and we were able to get most of it done. Of course it started to pour so we were able to get wet before we decided to finish another day.
Tom and Kenny were able to spend lots of time together..they are like brothers...lots of time spend at Kenny's Camp sitting and talking and of course..drinking beer and eating peanuts!! Tom got to see lot of deer too..
It was difficult going home and knowing that Maryann's sister Carol would not be there to make us laugh. ( for those who do not know, Carol died suddenly from cancer last October..after only being sick for 5 weeks..she was 64). It was a comfort to sit on the bench Carol had always wanted vs a tombstone. It is right down from her and Kenny's home and looks over the mountains. Maryann keeps Carol in her heart but it was a comfort to be able to go up and just sit and talk and just be there knowing this meant so much to Carol. We were able to see cousins and attend birthday parties, make Pigs in the blanket with Julie (Carol's daughter) and play dice and do all the things we miss out on living far away. Maryann took Mom shopping and out to lunch and we were able to convince Mom and her sister to go to town and have lunch and just dropped in on her Aunt's daughter and she went to lunch with us...a 2 hour day trip turned into 7 hours!!! Mom's brother lives in Cleveland, Ohio so was able to convince Mom to go see him. We left on a Sunday afternoon and went to Joan's and her Tom's and spent the night and went on to Cleveland ( 1.5 hours from Joan and Tom's) the next day. Had a wonderful visit and so good to see Uncle Eddie and his family as had been 20 years since Maryann had seen him.
When we returned to Linesville, PA where Tom and Joan live, it was a beautiful day so Joan and Tom got out there ATV's and let us not only ride but drive!!!! Maryann had never been on a ATV...let alone let her little sister drive...but after a short time....Joan was riding with Maryann!!! We have pictures...Joan said could take off her bucket list....never really on her bucket list...but it was so much fun....so many laughs. We also went to the Amish place to shop and to the canal to feed fish...amazing how many fish...Mom has not done before so was good to share with her...she could not be convinced to get on the ATC with her daughters!!! (could not blame her). Tom and Joan are also such great hosts...lots of great food and dice games. Kenny, Tom and Maryann also spend a day with them at their camp ..yes the sisters did some more ATV riding... Maryann was able to see two good friends she grew up with and spent nearly an entire day with Janet ...going to dinner and movie...had not done that in YEARS!!!
It was so fun to see the cousins and their kids...the little ones were thrilled to use the IPAD to play Angry Birds... The night before we left, there was no parking at Mom's house as everyone came to say good bye. What fun!
On 27 August we said our teary good byes to Joan and Tom and Mom and Kenny and headed toward Hurricane Eilene..hmmm. We arrived in Harrisburg, PA about 11 AM and spent several hours over lunch with a friend Tom had found on Facebook that lived in Harrisburg. Tony and Tom were stationed at Barksdale AFB together. They had not seen each other since 1968!!! It was like they had never been apart. It was fun for Maryann to listen to all the stories etc. We look forward to seeing them again...either in Tucson or in Harrisburg...Tom and Tony are trying to find others who were with them and try to set up a reunion. THE AF is a small world.
After our time with Tony, we went to Maryann's Aunt Ethel's and we had a get together with Aunt Ethel and kids and Aunt Fran. It was Linda's birthday so we got to share another family event. When you go to my Aunt Ethels...you always come out weighing much more...she alway has lots of food and can get it all together in minutes!!! Linda had spent 6 weeks with us in Hawaii years ago...and we had not seen her since..she was 40 and when she was in Hawaii...she was 14!!! hmmm . What good memories.
Talked with Peggy and Larry on our way down and they were concerned as the hurricane was to hit Lancaster...we decided we had never spent a hurricane with them so would come on down!! We arrived here about 8 PM. Had rain and winds during the night but no loss of power etc. Sunday the morning had reports of severe rain and winds but we were able to go out in the afternoon to a nice sunny day. There were several area with trees down and no power but we were not affected. Since arriving in Lancaster we have been able to share the joys of seeing Peggy and Larry's kid, grandkids and family that we see as our own...even got to meet their bible study group at a pot luck and went back to church with them today and attended bible study with the same folks...such friendly people...felt just like we were at home! Today the sermon was on friendship...how appropriate...we were meant to be there!! Yesterday we did the Lancaster tourist stuff. Dan is the engineer at the Strasberg railroad so he was so good to get us tickets so could ride his train after a wonderfully breakfast at "Sugarplums and Tea" in Lancaster...highly recommend if you come to the area. Tom is Larry's yard boy while we are here and making sure the yard is mowed. Maryann, Tom and Peggy made cookies from Larry's Mom's recipe too as a surprise for Larry as he has had to work!!! Once again, we feel so at home here with Peggy and Larry! How blessed are we!!!
We were also able to visit Maryann's Aunt who lives in Lancaster too.
We are so blessed to not only have family but friends that are family too..it is the best of times to share moments with them.
Update on Buddi...Carrie says he is back to being Buddi...he will have more labs done this week to see if needs to continue on his meds. He sent us a video last week and YES, he does look like he is OUR Buddi again! Carrie has started her last class and then will have her BS degree.
We SKYPED with the girls last weekend...what a treat.
As we got on the interstate last weekend heading this way, we received a phone call and email from Pat and George with wonderful news. George's cancer is in remission. Thank you all who have been praying with us! We have planned to meet up with them in Ohio as they will be near I 70 as we make our way south. What tears of Joy we had to hear this news about our "GEORGE" and Pat!
Our travels will take us South on Friday when we leave. We will spend a couple nights at Virginia Beach and then head to Ohio and down to St Louis and then on the Arkansas before we head to Texas to visit friends and home...should arrive on 2-3 October.
All keep asking us what is the best part of these travels...everyday is a blessing and to be able to spend time with family and friends in their everyday lives seems like that is where we need to be...helping when we can or just visiting etc.
How blessed we are...and how fortunate we are to have all our family and friend at home checking on our home and knowing they will be their when this adventure ends.
We are keeping you all in our daily prayers. We ask you to keep us in your prayers as we head home.
Love and hugs
Tom and Maryann
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