Sunday, October 10 Church in Massachusetts to Reykjavik, Iceland

 Sunday, October 10

Brett arrived early this morning and will officiate at the 10AM service this morning. Unfortunately, his plane was changed and he did not get the reclining bed as planned, so has had little sleep and heads upstairs for a quick nap. Dave makes delicious bagel sandwiches for us before we head out to Brett's church. 

Lovely service, friendly people and we chat with a few at the coffee hour after the service.  Nice to see Brett and Dave in their familiar surroundings and meet a few of the people we have heard about and/or met on previous visits. 

Beautiful day as Greg and I take Sonny outside at times.  He loves running and sticks - amazing how well trained he is, as he is energetic with "zoomies" outside, but calm and well behaved inside.

We gather later for our usual zoom call with Mom, including Garth and Kathy who are just back from a cruise with Russell and Charrisa. They live west of Boston, a good hour+ away, while Russ and Charrisa live in Chicago.

An earlier picture of Charissa, Garth, Kathy & Russell

Chef Dave serves a delightful Chicken and Rice dish for dinner and we watch the rest of First Wives' Club.  

Dave takes Gwynne, Greg and I to Boston's Logan airport, unfortunately in a driving rain! He has really gone above and beyond in taking care of us!  A BIG Thank you!

We cleared security with no problems and were at the gate by 8:30 for an 11:00 flight.  Unfortunately, the incoming plane was late so that we didn't actually take off till 12:45 for the 4 1/2 hour flight to Reykjavik.

Saturday, October 9 Massachusetts

 Saturday, October 9

We leave Gwynne's at 8:20 and reach New Jersey at 9:08.  New York 10:38. Connecticut, then Massachusetts 1:22. Gwynne and Greg share the driving and Beth is happy to be designated passenger! 

Lots of traffic with occasional slow downs. It is nice to see the beginnings of Fall color. A few bathroom and gas stops and we eat the sandwiches Beth packed. 

We arrive at North Reading at 3:20, tired but happy and  Dave and Brett's house looks marvelous as Fall colors surround it.

Great welcome from Dave and Sonny, as Brett is in California doing a funeral service for a friend's Dad. He'll catch a red-eye tonight to be here for church services tomorrow!  Whew!  Dave prepares his killer cocktails (killer to me) and a wonderful dinner of grilled steak, corn-on-the-cob and green beans.  He is quite the chef!

Lots of catch-up talk.  Interesting in particular to hear about Dave's work at I-Robot as he navigates the new Chinese owners and workers.  Quite a challenge!  Politics comes up too, but we seem to all be on the same page, mostly.

We watch part of the movie First Wive's Club, a favorite of Dave's.  A nice, light, humorous entertainment... but we are fading and decide to finish it tomorrow.  Good night!

 

Friday, October 9 More Pennsylvania and Mom

 Friday, October 9

Another pretty day!  We sleep in a bit and then head back to Garden Spot and Mom. 

 We take a little detour along the way and discover more pretty countryside, and this church, established in 1722 in the small town of Churchtown.  So much history!   Lots of stone houses and barns in this area. 

Walking home from school

We update Mom's photo slideshow which plays in a picture frame, adding a few new family pictures and removing a few older ones.  And we water the beautiful flowers that Gwynne has planted outside Mom's window.  And then we go for a walk on the Garden Spot campus, which has nice gardens, sculptures and pleasant spots to sit.

We go by the red maple tree which we had planted in honor of Mom and Dad back in 2017.  It is quite large now!  And we sit and enjoy the warm sun for a while.  (Mom has always been quite the sun worshiper!)

We have lunch in The Coop, another venue at Garden Spot with table service.  Very pleasant staff.  Mid-afternoon Greg and I head back to Gwynne's and repack for the rest of the trip.  We will leave the Trek at Gwynne's and take Gwynne's car for the next leg to Boston.  Thanks, Gwynne!

Gwynne joins us and we enjoy Philly Cheese steak sandwiches from Sabbatini's (sp?), a local place we've visited a time or two.  Early to bed and early to rise....

Thursday, October 8 Eastward to PA Dutch country, West Chester

 Thursday, October 8

Another gorgeous day with temps in the 60's and 70's.  Breakfast, then we help Anita sort some stones for a Fall Fair project where kids can choose stones to make either a necklace or bracelet.  Lots of pretty tumbled stones including amethyst, agates, quartz, and interesting colors and shapes I can't name.

A 20 minute or so drive to Vanessa's house where Anita does some work on their alarm system (Anita and Kevin formerly owned and ran Keystone Alarm).  Tanner enjoys showing us his room and assorted toys. Vanessa's husband, also a Kevin, is in Nebraska for a couple of weeks helping to bring in a harvest with time off from his Fire Chief job!

We say goodbyes and head east to have dinner with Greg's Mom and Sister at Garden Spot Village, the retirement community where Greg's Mom has lived for over 20 years!  She is 96 years old!

We cross the Susquehanna River on our way to New Holland, PA near the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country.  Buggies are a common sight.

We enjoy the countryside and stop at a cut-your-own flower spot to get some flowers for Mom. (You knew you'd get some flower pictures sooner or later, haha!)

 Can't imagine such a place at home, where the money people pay is left in a plastic cottage cheese container!

 Great to see Mom, as it has been almost 9 months, though we talk almost daily.   Gwynne joins us after work and we all enjoy a nice dinner at The Harvest Table, a cafeteria-style eatery with lots of delicious options! Always a treat.

We continue on and spend the night at Gwynne's lovely home, about 45 minutes away.  

Wed., October 7 Pennsylvania, Camp Eder, Apples, Pumpkins

 Wednesday, October 7

Good night's sleep!

Anita and Kevin have become very involved with a local church-sponsored camp, where Kevin is on the Board of Directors and he and Anita do a lot of volunteer work.  So today we will go see it.

On the way, we have breakfast at the Village Book & Table in the small town of Fairfield.  Small local spot with good, reasonable food where most people know each other - reminds me of a breakfast version of "Cheers"!

Camp Eder is quite a complex! 400 mostly wooded acres including a 130 acre apple orchard.  It has cabins and lodges, a swimming pool, playground and assorted other buildings. They have summer camps for kids (Anita's kids went there) and also offer rentals for retreats and other events.   Anita and Kevin are working to get donations and grants (they are 501c) to replace/refurbish things like hot water heaters, ac, doors and windows, paving, etc. as many of the buildings are pretty old... and doing a lot of work themselves!  Interesting that they are getting donations of supplies and steep discounts from some local companies where the managers went to the camp as kids.

We pick some apples from the orchard, picking recently fallen fruits which appear perfect.  (The people that manage the orchard haven't harvested yet.) Anita plans to make pies for their upcoming Fall Festival.   

 Tanner finds a playful friend.

When we get back from the camp, Anita's daughter Vanessa comes to visit with her son Tanner, who is 5 years old.  We  head to a local community sale, followed by a trip to a pumpkin patch then back for some playing and visiting. 

Another terrific meal by A&K and dessert is a tasty pumpkin roll that Kevin picked up at the Pumpkin Patch farm.

Virginia to PA, Family October 6

Tuesday , October 6

We have breakfast and hit the road about 7:30, heading for Beth's sister's house in Thomasville, PA.  Clouds are low in the valley before the sun breaks through.  (Some of that Smokey Mountain "smoke".)

Virginia countryside is beautiful as the day brightens, with rolling hills, farmland and mountains to the east. We pass the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, and signs for Civil War Battlefields. 

We pass into a smidgeon of West Virginia and then east into Maryland, where we leave I81 and take winding backroads past Cococtin Mountain, near Camp David. (We've explored this area before.)

Stone houses, red barns,  corn fields, a covered bridge and signs for apple orchards. Summer's last corn and tomatoes for sale at roadside stands, along with pumpkins.

We arrive at Anita & Kevin's around 1:30.  Great to see them and catch up on what's happening in their lives.  They've added gardens and flowers since our last visit and haven't had a frost yet, so things look great and their garden is still producing tomatoes (unlike Texas where ours burnt up by July). Nice to stop and smell the roses (and other flowers).

Above is my sister with a ponytail palm that our Mom grew from a tiny plant.  It must be nearly 60 years old now!  

 

They've also added lots of rocks and specimens and completed a fossil room with some amazing displays!  Anita gives us some fossilized megalodon teeth for our grandkids - millions of years old - they'll love them!

Cody helps Greg with some computer work, haha.

Anita fixes pork and sauerkraut for dinner - an old Pennsylvania Dutch classic - YUM!