3 July 2018......Bellefonte, Pennsylvania
I am sitting here on my sister’s back patio with perfect weather..birds chirping and of course beautiful flowers all around. ( my sister does not have a brown thumb like me).
We left Lancaster on 15 June and spent some time with Maryann’s Aunt Fran and Aunt Ethel. It is always so nice to see them each year when we come East. This year we also got to see Debbie, Maryann’s cousin.
We continued on after our visits to Bellefonte, Pa to spend time with Maryann’s family, Joan and Tom. Joan had a get together with her children and families so the girls got to see their cousins. What a fun afternoon with family. The girls enjoyed seeing Joan and Tom’s garden. They helped pick strawberries and squash. In the evening they were so happy to be able to catch fire flies. They had remembered the fire flies from the times we had come to Pennsylvania in the past years. OF COURSE...we played several games too. AND were never hungary with Tom and Joan’s great cooking and OF COURSE..Joan’s chocolate chip cookies! I even heard that Joan’s chocolate chip cookies were as good as Granddad’s or better!! AND there was only a few left when they left to go to the Cape ...of course they took the left over few cookies to have as snack in the car! Joan’s Tom made the girls pancakes nearly every morning and they were delighted as ate several every morning.
After a few days in Bellefonte, we left our car at Joan’s and took Kelly’s van and headed out to Niagara Falls. We took the back roads through the beautiful forest of central Pennsylvania. Amazing to see the scenery. Due to the increased rain they have had here the forest was so green and plush . It was as if the ground was covered with carpets of leaves and green carpet. We stopped in Benezett , Pennsylvania which is an elk preserve. Unfortunately due to the hot days, we did not see any elk there but we did see a couple elk on our trip north. The girls loved seeing some deer in the wild. We were lucky enough to see some doe’s and their fawns as we drove through the forest. They were hoping to see a bear...but it seems they were not out and about. We arrived at Niagara Falls, New York side in the early evening and checked into New York Army National Guard Base in Niagara Falls, New York where we were staying in their billeting. Very nice facility. Kelly had planned our days there with events we wanted to attend. We had a good nights rest and woke up and headed to Niagara Falls. First stop was the Visitor’s Center at Niagara Falls, New York side. Our plans were to take the Maid of the Mist boat trip up to one of the most powerful waterfalls in North America to hear the thundering roar of 600,000 gallons of waters falling right before your eyes...feeling the rush of mist on your face. Also wanted to take the Journey behind the Falls and stand in the mist behind the thundering American Falls at the Cave of the Winds. Plus see the Niagara Falls Adventure Theater AND the Fire Works over the Falls. We got our tickets and were walking out to the van to get backpacks and rain jackets when all at once, Kelly was on the ground and could not get up! They are doing construction at the center and the sidewalk was not even with the ground. There was a 2-3 inch drop off from the pavement to the ground. Kelly heard a pop in her calf when she went down and the lower leg started to swell immediately. Maryann helped Kelly up but she could not put weight on her leg. Tom and the girls went and pulled the van to the gate so would not have to walk very far. Several people were very nice and offered to help us. Once in the van, we headed to the nearest Emergency Room. On the way there, we decided that Tom and the girls would go back and do the events we had scheduled as thought would be a few hours at the hospital. AND of course we were there for about 4 hours. The care we received was less than good medical treatment. Maryann had to ask for almost all the standard care for Kelly’s type of injury and to ask the nurse etc. whenever they walked by the room for standard of care stuffs such as ICE, PAIN MEDICATION, SOMEONE TO ASSIST KELLY TO BATHROOM, IF AND WHEN A PROVIDER WOULD BE CHECKING ON HER...INFORMING THEM THAT HER FOOT WAS NUMB... We know ER and Urgent care could be busy but as we observed none of the patients seemed to be being evaluated and treated. In the four hours we were there, the only person that even touched her leg was the x-ray technician when they came to get the x-ray AND by the way Maryann had to ask about them taking an x-ray for evaluation! After awhile it became “a thankgoodness did not have a serious” issue. Of course Maryann would have called for a supervisor etc. if that had been the case. Finally the NP arrived and stood at the door and said they would get an x-ray and she would see Kelly after the x-ray. Time passed with Kelly and I thankful that Tom had taken the girls back to do their events and entertaining ourselves with staff behavior. When we checked in they said would call the Niagara Park Police as would need to come and take a statement. The Police arrived about 20 minutes after we arrived there...hmmm. He said he was surprised that Kelly did not have more injures as was told by the staff at the hospital that she had fallen in a “crevass” . The policeman was very nice and ended up spending about a half hour with us just chatting. Which was fine as we certainly were not getting medical care! A couple hours after the x-ray was completed and Maryann asked if provider had gotten the results ...the nurse arrived with a pair of crutches to show Kelly how to use...he seemed less than patient with us. Gave us the x-ray disc be grudgingly and told Kelly to be seen in a couple days. More cause to laugh. Tom and the girls had just finished seeing the Cave of the Winds when we called them so Kelly and I went to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Kelly said was the best French fries she had ever eaten so I guess the trip to the Hospital was not all bad!! One has to be able to find humor in these circumstances!!!!!! Tom and Girls picked us up and took Kelly and me back to billeting on base and then they went back to Niagara Falls. They went to the Aquariaum and saw a movie about the history of Niagara Falls...and then stayed for the fire works over the falls. Tom and the girls really enjoyed their adventures at the falls . Molly had a friend that was to be at the falls from her school in Florida and what a surprise that her friend and her family were on the same boat to ride to the falls that they were! They all really enjoyed the fireworks and the night was perfect...they did not get back to billeting until about 1030 PM. While we were here Kirsten found the car/van she wants when she can get a car....It is a dark blue 8-10 passenger van! HOW CUTE. I will post a picture on our blog...
The next morning we headed back to Bellefonte where my sister lives. On our way back to Bellefonte, we stopped at my friend Janet and Dick’s home in Karthaus and had a nice dinner and time for them to catch up with the girls and Kelly. Always enjoy our time together...and Janet always has goodies for them and us! We also were driving through Snow Shoe and they were having a town parade so we stopped (because all traffic was stopped) and watched their early 4th of July Parade for about 30 minutes.
Kelly was seen at the Orthopedic doctors the next day and after review he said was a bad sprain of muscle/tendon between the tibia and fibula and gave her a boot to wear on the leg. She is to follow up when returns to Florida. Thank goodness was her left foot so can still drive.
We all went down to the park in Bellefonte the next day and the girls spent time feeding the ducks and fish some cheerios. They also were able to spend time in th swimming pool with their cousins the night before we left . What a blessed Granddad and Nana to be able to spend 39 days on the road with Kelly ,Molly, Samantha, and Kirsten. Special moments we will never forget. They left for Mashpee on Cape Cod on 23 June to spend time with Bryan’s parents. Bryan will join them before the 4th of July and they will all drive back to Florida together after the 4th.
Since they left we have been spending time with Joan and Tom and will be seeing friends and family. We went down to their camps for a day and then spent the rest of the day driving the back roads...saw an elk and several deer and beautiful country. Of course have also been eating some great foods as they really know how to make such good tasting meals. Spending time playing games and cards...and of course laughing so much. ~A DAY WITHOUT LAUGHTER IS A DAY WASTED~ I can assure you we have not wasted one moment of a day we have spent together!
We have of course been talking with Carrie and Emme...Emme is starting Kindergarten this year at Country Day School ( same school she has been attending for pre-K ) so they went shopping for school uniforms last week. We talked to them while they were at the store...Emme asked US “if you had a kid, would you buy them this pair of shoes” and showed us the shoes!! Not sure if she understood her mom was OUR KID....We told her Mom was our Kid and we would have to think about it!
This area of Pennsylvania has been having some daytime temperatures of 95-98 which they do not usually have. It is uncomfortable as the humidity is very high too.
We are spending the 4th of July at Rosanne and Jeff’s annual 4th of July get together ..has become an annual event for us.
~FROM EVERY MOUNTAINSIDE, LET FREEDOM RING ~~ Martin Luther King Jr
We are starting to plan our trip West and then home to Tucson. Will let you know if we will be near you so can get together. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travels.
Sending love and hugs ,
Tom and Maryann
“THE JOURNEY ITSELF IS OUR HOME”
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