Indianapolis, IN

We had a great time with our friends, Retha and Mike, here in Indianapolis. Regular readers of this blog know that we try and meet up with these folks whenever our paths cross, or when we can make them cross. They were heading east to New England as we went west to Idaho, so the stars aligned.

On Sunday night we went for pizza and beer. The waitstaff were a hoot and we enjoyed our food. I’m finding that pizza without cheese is really good—you just have to load it up with veggies. Yesterday we hung out for most of the day. Despite some rain in the forecast (and finding that almost every possible activity was closed for the day) we managed to find fun. We visited the largest mall in Indiana, Castleton Square. We were underwhelmed by its size but walked around it several times for the exercise and as an excuse to just walk and talk. We ate lunch in the food court, too.

Afterwards we set out to find ice cream for dessert, and found Brics, a homemade ice cream place that had both regular and vegan ice cream. It was so yummy!

There’s a lot of construction going on in Indianapolis at the moment so we tried and failed to go to an antique store; there were no open exits off the highway to get there. So we returned to the campground, had a glass of wine, and just enjoyed our visit.

All too soon it was time to say farewell until next time. Our next stop is just south of Springfield, IL, which is in Central time so we’ll hit a time change today.

Heading to Indianapolis

Look what we passed on our way to Galena, Ohio!

The big Longaberger building in Newark, Ohio appeared on our left and I had to snap a photo. I used to sell Longaberger years ago, and still travel with a few of their baskets.  Unfortunately, the company has gone out of business and the building now sits vacant. Hopefully someone will repurpose it one day.

We’ve had a nice, quiet couple of days in Galena. Chores start to pile up when you take up time playing tourist! But we did get out yesterday for a little bit and visited the IKEA in Columbus. I couldn’t resist, since it was only a little over ten minutes away. We didn’t buy too much there; a tiny clock to sit on the bathroom counter for $1.49, some tea, chocolate bars for Bob, and some frozen “veggie balls” to toss into our spaghetti sauce. After a quick stop at Walmart on the way back we were back to doing laundry.

This morning we got off to a leisurely start and left the campground at about 11:00. Soon we were passing the “leaving Ohio” sign and entering Indiana.

We’ll meet up with our good friends Mike and Retha for two days before moving on.

New Stanton, PA

We arrived in New Stanton on Wednesday afternoon, having traveled the PA Turnpike from Manheim, PA. I’ve been keeping track of tolls lately so we’ll know how much money to load into our NH EZPass account ahead of time. Automatic replenishment doesn’t work for us; first of all, the system takes a day or two to post tolls to the account so it you travel daily or even skip a day here and there, you can use up more than the auto-replenish amount of thirty dollars before the money gets into your account. Also, we pay a larger toll than a car, since between the RV and the towed car, we have four axles. We use a transponder on the motorhome and tuck the car’s transponder into its foil bag when we travel. Otherwise we’d be charged twice. 

The toll between Manheim and New Stanton was $66 (and the Commodore Barry Bridge cost us $30) so not paying twice is very important! I have to check my account frequently and add money as needed.

New Stanton is a a quiet area with not a lot of places to see, so we contented ourselves with just a visit to Bella Terra Winery. Their wines were excellent and we added to our wine cellar. And they didn’t charge for the tasting of five wines each, so we appreciated that. Bob and I always choose different wines, then take a sip from each other’s glass, so we were able to each sample ten wines and make the best choice. After purchasing our bottles, we each took a glass to the patio where we enjoyed the pretty setting.

Friday morning we double checked our next destination. Uh oh, the Ohio Expo Center is hosting the Ohio State Fair right now. That wasn’t on the website when I planned our trip. And they don’t take outside campers during the State Fair. Scramble time! We both started researching places to stay for two nights, and Bob found one that would take us. Whew! 

So tonight and the next night we’ll be in Ohio. I always enjoy driving through this state, with its rolling farmlands. Very picturesque.

Fun in Lancaster, PA

Bob and I try and take a couple of days at least in Lancaster County each year. There are always new things for us to discover, and we look forward to the relaxed pace. Our trip was fairly easy (despite rain) and we made decent time. Bob commented that the squeak he’s been hearing as he drove the MH was finally gone. I have to say, that squeak has bothered us foe YEARS. This summer Bob took down the driver’s side shade and made a narrow shelf for it to hang on, installing the shade end pieces on the wooden board. And hip hip hooray, no more squeak!

So Sunday we arrived at Pinch Pond Campground in Manheim, a new area for us. The site was nice and the place was fine except for the sounds from a nearby shooting range. For that reason alone, we probably wouldn’t stay there again. But we found things to do, so on Monday Bob and I drove to Brickerville Antiques Barn in Lititz, PA. I prefer multi-dealer antique places whenever possible, and this place fit the bill. It was fun poking around through all the old things.

Afterwards, we returned to Manheim and stopped into the Stitch and Craft shop so I could look for a piece of fabric or two for upcoming projects. They had a nice selection, and the shop owners were very pleasant.

Then it was on to Waltz Winery for a tasting. We found a few bottles for our “wine cellar” in the motorhome to take with us.

On Tuesday we drove to downtown Lancaster where we visited the Central Market. Downtown Lancaster reminds me very much of a small-scale Philadelphia, with its large, historical buildings, cobblestones and brick sidewalks, and a market similar to Reading Terminal Market.

We purchased farm-fresh fruits and veggies, tea, spices, and pickles. Afterwards we strolled around the area and found Cross Keys Woodworks, which was full of inspirational pieces for Bob.

Today is a traveling day; we are headed for New Stanton for two nights.

Time to Move

 It’s a cliche to talk about how time has flown, but we’ve never experienced three faster months. I suppose it’s because we’d been on “Covid Standard Time” since March of last year where time seemed to crawl. I truly intended to blog this summer so now I’ll need to play catch up.

We started out visiting doctors and arranging for me to have cataract surgery on my left eye. The surgery went well and the whole process was quick and easy. I was amazed at the improvement in my vision. I won’t be at all worried to have the second one done once the cataract in that eye grows a bit more. I enjoyed visiting with friends, as did Bob. It’s always good to catch up with my “sisters of the heart!”

 In July we took the motorhome to Cape May Courthouse for a ten day GrandCamp. Ben enjoyed being the only child for a few days, and besides swimming daily we visited Ripley’s Believe it or Not in Atlantic City, went miniature golfing, and took a tour through Cold Spring Village to get a little history lesson.  

Next up were Alex and Jillian. They enjoyed the pool and mini golf as well, and had fun bowling for the first time, and did lots of crafts including Rainbow Loom bracelets and playing with PlayDoh.

Rob was also a solo camper. He and Bob went golfing at a local golf course, we all played mini golf together, and we spent a day walking around beautiful Cape May. We had great weather the whole time of GrandCamp and everyone enjoyed the pool every day.

Once we returned we had only a week and a half left before it was time to head west. Every day was filled with goodbyes and fun visits. In a blink it was behind us. On Saturday we had lunch with Tim and Bernie; we had commissioned Bernie to paint a portrait of our motorhome in the Grand Tetons and she did a fabulous job. She has spent the last year or more building her business, which may be found here.

So as of today we are on our way toward Idaho to visit our daughter Emily and her family, but we’ll take our time and arrive in a little less than three weeks. We have sightseeing to do!

Back in NJ

 

Our trip from Knoxville to NJ was uneventful. We missed all the storms that have been chasing us since Texas; there was a tornado in Hondo, about 45 minutes west of where we stayed in San Antonio, two nights after we left. More weather in other areas after we had departed. We only saw the occasional brief sprinkle of rain so we timed it just right. Tornados are a major concern in springtime so we are grateful we dodged them all. We travelled from Winchester, VA and skirted around Baltimore using the northwest section of route 695 to avoid the Baltimore tunnel and had no traffic slowdowns at all the whole way. That’s a miracle right there!

We arrived about 1:30 Tuesday afternoon at my daughter Kristen’s house and were greeted by her husband Jason (who was working from home today) and their three boys (who had just finished their remote learning for the day.) Later, we had a wonderful reunion with Kristen, our daughter Catherine and children; and son Tim and his wife, Bernie. 

We’ve been reading about possible fuel shortages this summer so we filled up before our arrival and now we are set for 600 miles more of travel. This week we will visit doctors and spend time with family. Life is good!

San Antonio, TX to Knoxville, TN

 We left San Antonio almost a week ago—where has the time gone? We spent three nights in Livingston, TX while Bob renewed his driver’s license and we ran errands. Not very exciting. We left Wednesday for Monroe, LA on a bone-jarring trip along Louisiana back roads. We’ve decided not to go to Livingston again until my license needs renewing in four years; we don’t like the roads. 

On Thursday we drove right through Mississippi to Alabama, through the upper corner of Georgia, and then yesterday we arrived in Knoxville, TN.

Our campground is in the Smokey Mountains by a lake. Sites are pretty close together but we have a lovely view and people have been friendly.

I love Knoxville. We first visited here in the fall of 2016, when we crossed Tennessee heading west. This is a two night stop, since I was pretty sure we’d need a little breather after averaging over 300 miles a day since Livingston. So this morning we got to play a little. We drove over to Jeffries Wood Works and found some very cool pieces of wood for Bob to turn.

Afterwards we went to Market Square in Knoxville where we ate lunch at The Tomato Head. It was very good food.

The Burn Memorial, commemorating Women’s Suffrage 

Bob spent the afternoon puttering while Auggie and I sat outside on the wooden deck, knitting. At one point a couple of young teens walked by with a German Shepherd puppy tugging on the leash. When the pup tried to pull them over to me I heard the girl say, “Stop! Leave the old person alone!” Bob said I should have shouted “Get out of here, you young whippersnapper!” Lol!

Tomorrow we head to Dixie Caverns in Virginia, which not only brings us one day closer to our destination but also has AN ANTIQUE STORE AT THE CAMPGROUND! I kid you not. Every campground should have its own antique store, to my way of thinking.

I guess I AM old.