Pennsylvania - State #38

There was a time when I had about 8 outstanding tickets in Pennsylvania. In fact, on a trip home to Texas (when I lived in New York), I did everything reasonably possible to


avoid Pennsylvania altogether. Unfortunately, there’s no reasonable route from New York to Texas without crossing Pennsylvania. On that trip home, I had one of my scariest nature memories: fog.

It’s a hilly state and fog settles into the lulls quite often. This particular time, in the wee hours of the morning, the fog was so thick that I couldn’t even see the hood of my car. I had to come to a complete stop right in the driving lane until the fog lifted. It seemed an eternity. I remember crossing my fingers and praying and praying that no one would smash into me from behind.

Grandma was really surprised by the hills and by how much farmland there is so close to Philadelphia. So, where does all the road rage come from? They actually have big polka dots painted on the roads with signs that say, “Keep 2 dots distance” and “No Tailgaiting” and “Take Care of Angry Drivers”. Wowee.

We’re staying at Country Log House Farm, run by Mim and Jim. They have a Mennonite background which means we wake up to a lot more Jesus and even more delicious home cooking!

At 8am each morning the breakfast bell rings and we all gather at the big table. Jim reads 2 bible versus, says grace and Mim starts bringing out the goods: fresh quiche, chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs (gathered from the chicken coop), home-made sausage, baked blueberry oatmeal, Shoofly pie...oh my oh my...Shoofly pie.

Fortunately, there are 2 other families here with children: one has Little Man's new friend from Georgia, "that boy". The other family has Doodle's new best friend from North Carolina, "that girl I like so much and her little sister". With a trampoline, tons of kittens and a full farm in operation, it's going to be quite a stay!