Local Hike

 Yesterday, while the kids were in school, my daughter-in-law and I went for a hike up a local mountain. The drive was only about 15 minutes. We parked, took out the hiking sticks, and started walking. We have walked this trail before. Spring has not yet arrived to this part of Pennsylvania. Forsythia is in bloom. Tulips and daffodils are up but not yet blooming. We didn't see any wild flowers and we got mud all over our shoes and jeans. We had a good hike though. Often we could see no signs of human activity so that is always a plus.

An Honest Mistake

 Today I went to the West Shores YMCA where I have been a member since last winter. After exercising on the second floor I came back down to the locker room. Normally I would take a shower after a workout but this Y has had an issue with the hot water ever since I got here nearly a month ago. It takes a month to replace a water heater? This is seriously disappointing. Anyway, instead of finding my lock on my locker I find a different lock and a note that asks me to go to the front desk. At the front desk I learn that another woman came to the front desk claiming her key didn't work in her locker. So they cut my lock. She opened the door to find my stuff instead of her stuff. She immediately shut the locker and found her key two rows down. She was very apologetic. The Y staff were very apologetic. I didn't care. I was not emotionally invested in that lock that I bought in Duluth four years ago. The Y gave me a new lock. None of my stuff was stolen. She made an honest mistake. No biggie.

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

 This afternoon we attended the matinee performance of "The Wizard Of Oz" at the Mechanicsburg High School theater. Wow, theater performances in high schools have really improved or else this high school has an outstanding theater department. This theater has an orchestra pit in front of the stage but they also had a sturdy walkway around the orchestra pit for extra effect. Grand girl #2 went dressed as Dorothy and brought along a stuffed dog to stand in for Toto. The play had an actual dog on stage today. This was a very placid dog. When the Wizard of Oz was speaking they had what appeared to be XL Roman candles standing beside his image. They used strobe lights  during the Wicked Witch scenes. Throughout the entire performance I never noticed a flat note nor a misstep. The kids did an incredible job.

Living On The Creek

 I am staying in Pennsylvania with Offspring #1 and his family. They live in a brick house bordering a creek. Every morning I look out at the creek through the kitchen window. The creek flows from left to right. Lately there have been pentagrams of ice flowing to the right. Some of the ice shapes are a yard across. Others are smaller. By noon the ice has melted. Yesterday a group of a dozen buffle head ducks were splashing and throwing up water in the back yard. As they gradually moved to the right they were followed by a crowd of thirty Canadian geese. This morning an angler was out there fishing. Sometimes the angler was in the blue boat and sometimes the angler was wearing waders next to the blue boat. All evidence points to fish being in the creek in the back yard. Sometimes the flock of geese will leave the creek and park themselves in the large sloping lawn to rest and eat grass. Living on a creek is a real treat to those who like nature.

Susquehamma Art Museum

 

Last week I visited the Susquehanna Art Museum in downtown Harrisburg. I was the only customer that morning. The museum has free parking in the back (a rarity in Harrisburg). The first floor has an admission desk, a small museum store, and a few exhibits several of which are displayed in the vault. The museum used to be a bank and they still use the vault. Upstairs was a display to textile art. Jordan Nassar is one of the exhibitors. He does textile art which looks to me like complicated tiny cross stitching. Most of the works are by him along but one giant piece is a combination of his art with textile art that he designed and commissioned from other women artists in Palestine. Beside that is a collection of quilts from the American Folk Art Museum. Some of the quilts are from Pennsylvania. Some name the artist. Some are from the early 1800's and the artist is unknown. Here is a picture of one of my favorite quilts labeled "The Rose."

An Adventure

 

Last weekend I was going to go for a walk. My plan was to walk the sidewalks in this suburban neighborhood. Grandgirl #1 had a better idea. She knew a path that goes behind the town houses, along the creek, under a bridge to an ice cream store. Isn't taking grandchildren out for ice cream on my job description?  I think it is. So we took off. She wasn't entirely sure of the path and it took us 50 minutes to get to the ice cream shop. Once there she had to sample 3 flavors before making her decision. I had a child's scoop of Dutch chocolate. As we walked along the river I saw patches of water cress. I suggested we bring a rake and bucket next time and make something out of our foraged watercress. Then I looked it up on my phone. Watercress can contain liver flukes and other bugs. I am not sure how many industrial areas this creek goes through but I do know the Purina Dog Chow factory isn't too far away. We decided to leave the water cress for other people to forage. We did have a nice adventure though.

Mini-golf

 Today there was a birthday in my family so the five of us went out to lunch for sushi. After lunch we headed to Trindle Bowl in Mechanicsburg to play mini-golf. I was not expecting glow mini-golf. The course was very dark. Black light illuminated our clubs and balls. Considering how dark it was and how my cataracts need taking care of, I did okay.

The Bus Driver

 Yesterday was the last day of school for the week. My grandgirls had Valentine's parties with juice and cookies and Valentine's Day cards. Both had decorated containers full of Valentine's Day cards and treats and presents. As the school bus rounded the corner near their home their bus driver asked, "Hey, is your Grandma in town? Is that her yellow car?" This is the same bus driver that toots her horn at us when we walk to school. It's nice to be known.

Remember These Drinking Birds?

I didn't know you could still buy them. We had one of these when I was a kid.

The grand girls had this in Pennsylvania.

 

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

Returning to Minnesota after being in Pennsylvania, I decided not to fly home. I wanted something different. Amtrak from Harrisburg to Saint Paul cost me $345. Here is a picture out the train window as we crossed the Susquehanna River.. We left at 2:45 p.m. and expected to arrive in Pittsburg by 8 p.m. Commercial traffic and flash flood warnings slowed us down. Beside me on the train were some real loud characters. I was glad when they left the train in Lewisburg. The train to Chicago was expected to leave at 11:45 p.m. The train was an hour late.

I was assigned a seat upstairs on the train next to a young man. I tried to sleep but it was difficult. A guy across the aisle offered me his pink neck pillow. Instead I asked him how to put up the foot rest. In the morning I went to the dining car for coffee and a bagel as we drove through Elkhart, Indiana. I could have gotten a sleeper car. A sleeper car would have cost me $850. That would have been an expensive night.

Chicago has a very nice train depot. I waited here a couple of hours. Once back on the train we went north to Milwaukee before heading west across Wisconsin. We went through the Wisconsin Dells.

We crossed into Minnesota at La Crosse. The man who sat next to me from Chicago to La Crosse drank a small bottle of whiskey about every half hour. I almost asked him for one but I figured he maybe needed it more than I did.

Crossing the Mississippi River and saw a steam boat.

Here we are at Red Wing behind the Saint James hotel. The train depot on Kellogg Boulevard was very impressive but not quite as large as the one in Chicago. I got home tired but it was an interesting journey.

 

Fort Necessity

About a 30 minute drive from Gallatin's home in western Pennsylvania is Fort Necessity National Battlefield. This is where the British soldiers, led by George Washington, fought the French and Indian troops on July 3, 1754. Washington expected to be attacked so he built a fort. Unfortunately he built the fort in a low spot and when the attack came so did the rain so his fort filled up with water. Washington ended up surrendering. He signed the surrender document. He had a poor French translator. Unable to read French himself, he signed a paper saying he willing assassinated a French leader (he didn't) which lead to repercussions. Washington learned never to sign a document he could not read which is a valuable lesson.

The British officer fired his musket twice for us.

 

Dayton

After Chicago we drove south and east towards Dayton, Ohio, where we spent the night. The next morning we went to the Wright National Park where I have visited before. The girls earned another junior ranger badge. We visited the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia where they earned another badge.

We stopped in western Pennsylvania at the house built by Albert Gallatin. Originally from France, he was a well known founding father of our country. He is less well known now. Here is a statue of him surveying property.

He named the house he had built "Friendship Hill." He was elected to the U.S. Senate and later the House of Representatives. He was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under Thomas Jefferson. He arranged for the purchase of the Louisiana Territory. Famous then, not many people know about him today.

 

Rainy Sunday Afternoon

I completed a couple of manicures today.

 

New Trails

Here in Pennsylvania I have been spending time with the grand girls, walking them to school and attending sporting events. I was sent on an errand today to pick up some groceries. I decided to spend some time at a local park exploring. New trails are always exciting. I found a dirt path that went along a creek and found this wonderful spot.

 

North Carolina

 This morning I got  up early, packed my car, and started driving south and east. I left Pennsylvania in the rain about 10:30 in the morning. I drove through Maryland and West Virginia. I drove through Virginia and into North Carolina. The prettiest scenery was in southern Virginia and northern North Carolina. This is my first time in North Carolina. I like it. Gas is cheaper here by 30 cents a gallon compared to Pennsylvania.

Crocus

Nice weather we're having here in Mechanicsburg. Yesterday it was so nice I decided to walk up ten blocks to the Mechanicsburg cemetery. Crocus were blooming on the grounds.

 

Boiling Springs

Today I took another hike south on the Appalachian Trail. I started in the town called Boiling Spring. I saw the spring and it did look like it was boiling but that is because the two springs come together with such force the water boils up but the water is not hot.

Snow drops are blooming here now (which are white) and these yellow winter aconite.

 

Today

 Today the grand girls and I were on our own. This morning we went to Target to buy Offspring #1 a birthday present. We stopped at Petco to look at the pets. Then we drove to Carlisle, Pennsylvania for the ice fest. Families were walking around town looking at the ice sculptures. We saw about 30. Some had broken or melted. People rode on horse drawn wagons. We came home for lunch and then went on a bike ride around this neighborhood. We played with some Legos, did a little sewing and reading. Today was a good day.

Dance

Tonight I went to an elementary school dance. There were several hundred people in the gym. Students were given a glow stick and a foam rod that had lights inside. The gym was dark, the music was loud, and a disco ball shined above. Some people were dancing near the speakers. The loudness made it impossible to converse.  Kids were throwing balloons in the air or popping them.  Most of the kids had dressed up. Offspring #1 and I dressed up too but most parents didn't. In the hallways there was a cafeteria room where they offered popcorn, pretzels and goldfish crackers plus water to drink. In another room 8 volunteers applied temporary tattoos or face paint. My grandgirls found friends to hang with and we didn't see them most of the night. They were wearing floor length dressed and lipstick. We were there for an hour but that was more than enough time for me.

Hiking South

Today I drove to the Appalachian trailhead on Trindle Road and hiked 2 miles south instead of north. I hesitated to hike south last time because I could hear gun shots to the south. I heard them again today. There must be a gun range around here. Today was a beautiful day for a hike in the woods. The temperature got up to 51 degrees and the breeze was slight.

After a while I came to a style. I love stiles. But then I was in a field surrounded by electric fence. No animals were inside the fence.

Soon I came to another stile. After a five minute walk to the end of my journey I turned around came back the same way. I climbed over four stiles in one day-a new record.