Where we're heading next:
Home Sweet Home
Quote of the Day
Peanut, "Wow, mom, now we can say we've been to all 50 states! What are we gonna do next?"
Waking up to a gorgeous day, we were all a little peeved at the downpour from yesterday; it was our only day of bad weather! We had Renaissance clothing hanging all over the hotel room and many things were just going to have to be packed soggy.
I asked Grandma if she was ready to leave and I got a frown followed by a reprimand for the Philadelphia tease -- our hotel was in an incredible part of the city and she didn't even get a taste of Philadelphia! (A Philly Cheese Steak for dinner at Campo's didn't count.)
So I asked the kids if they were ready to go home because very few homesickness comments have been expressed and we've been gone over a month. Immediately they said, "Yes!" Peanut misses school. Little Man misses his friends. Doodle misses Tomcat and Niece.
I should note that Tomcat never managed to join us this on this round of states. Naturally, the kids take for granted how hard he works, funding our adventure without bitterness. He's truly happy for the kids to have this opportunity. While we're away we see him in the unexpected and it's like he's there with us. Grandma and I, of course, are endlessly grateful and don't take it for granted.
Before closing, I've again asked each person what their favorite part of the New England road trip has been and here's what we all have to say:
Grandma: All of the historic little towns, especially in Vermont. Mystic, Bar Harbor...but nothing can beat Niagara Falls.
Peanut: Shelburne Farm; our PA farm especially the calf being born; the Wizard of Oz and The Little Mermaid shows.
Little Man: Lobster boat; Renassainse Faire; playing in the 'swamp' with Slugger; the PA farm and "coming home to see my dad".
Doodle: The Little Mermaid show; playing 'don't kiss me' games with Tio and Aunt NYC; playing with Sprite and the girls I met.
The O'Hare airport -- surprise surprise -- has too much wind today and our flight has been delayed by 1.5 hours. We're looking at arriving home close to midnight by our body clocks. But as the kids lounge all over me on the floor of the airport (and Peanut loses another tooth!), it occurs to me what a gift I've been given: one-on-one time with the my kids and my mom. I have to say that our New England Road Trip has been truly exceptional. Short driving distances, fantastic stops at the end of every day, beautiful weather and two visits with dear friends.
Someone actually asked Friend if I was doing this trip because I was dying. Imagine? But I see how fortunate I am to be healthy and alive and spending time with these wee ones while they still want to spend time with me. I can say with certainty that I like my kids more as people because of this experience. I know them. And that is my, CurlyTop's, favorite part of this trip!
I hope you'll join us again in February when we head to Hawaii. Your support and comments are such an important part of our trip!
Due to spend a day in Philadelphia before heading home, we changed plans once again. A nice woman back in Vermont or New Hampshire heard Little Man saying he wants to be Knight when he grows up, and she told us we just had to go to the PA Renaissance Faire.
Once we were in Pennsylvania, I checked it out and guess what? It was in Lancaster County, very near the farm! We were able to get a hotel across the road from the Faire so off we went! The kids have dressed up in my nephew's clothes before -- he digs this stuff and has armor, shields, the whole bit. We all knew it would be fun, but had no idea what to expect.
At breakfast in the hotel
we saw people in costume and Doodle's eyes were as big as saucers. She had her heart set on something fancy. When we got to the Faire, we were stunned. Crossing through the castle courtyard, we entered into another world! Jesters, pubs, theaters and a village of shops. William Shakespeare greeted us and soon we saw pirates and their wenches everywhere.
Little Man started to grunt and Peanut started saying things like, "G'day ye." The first costume shop we saw had our full
attention and everyone (except Grandma) got decked out. We even clothed Tomcat and Niece who weren't even with us! (We're going to look great for Halloween!) It was a blast.
Doodle was in heaven while the rest of us worked out our gear. Grandma made the comment that the longer we stayed, the more expensive her outfit got -- a cape here, another scarf there, a necklace or two... One thing I noticed here was the quality of ware in the shops -- swords, mugs, leather, jewelry. No kitch whatsoever. Grandma and I could have spent all day people-watching and mentally taking apart the incredibly unique costumes.
There were clever medieval rides, and pirates everywhere handing the kids trinkets and booty. Everyone, even children, were in full character. A Jousting Match happened right in front of us while we ate big hunks of bread and cheese and suddenly the rain came. I'm not talking a little bit of rain. I mean a downpour. We had water pouring down our faces, water and mud soaking into our shoes. (It was fun until it got cold.)
Little Man kept saying, "Well, this is how it is for pirates!" but I was seriously starting to look like a wet nurse and Doodle was a shivering lass. We were really bummed to miss the Mud Ring Fight but meltdowns were moments away. By the time we got to the car both girls were in tears. Fortunately, the hotel we had stayed at the night before let us in to use their bathrooms. We changed clothes and headed to Philly a couple of hours away.
This Renaissance thing is something our family is just going to have to do again!
A hot destination is the Pennsylvania Train Museum. None of us are particularly into trains (see Durango, CO post), but we thought it'd be fun to take the 45 minute ride and eat lunch. It was exceptional, the only train of its kind still in operation. It was a simple ride through Amish farm country -- no electrical wires to obstruct the view!
The actual train museum was a bore for all of us, but especially me. The docents talked down to the kids and the interactive center was essentially broken. No one can dispute the collection of restored trains as phenomenal, but they must be observed from afar which takes away all the fun.
We had much more fun doing Farm Chores. One morning Jim asked if the kids wanted to milk a goat. Unanimous cries of, "Yes!" After feeding them, Jim grabbed a goat's hind legs and backed her up to the fence. The kids' hands reached
right up to her teets and they milked her to uproarious laughter, milk spraying all over them. I'd never seen anything like it -- Vermont farming seems ot be a tad more humane than here in Pennsylvania Dutch Country! I just kept imagining someone grabbing me by my legs, turning me upside down and popping out a boob to milk. It was really too much.
Our last morning at the farm was sadder than I'd expected. The kids were heart broken that we had to leave. First Little Man's friend left. The next day Doodle's friend left and her family took the favorite orange kitty with them. Now it was our turn. One last ride in the big farm truck, one last time feeding the sheep and goats and one last time gathering eggs, hoping for more green than brown.
Thankfully, we managed to avoid another trip to E.R. while staying here although there were numerous opportunities: trampoline covered in frost, climbing pear trees, racing on big wheels or surprising me with shouts from on top of the barn!
The saddest part of our final morning was Doodle puking all over me at breakfast. Then she continued to puke and puke and puke. Poor, poor baby. Thankfully, we were the only guests there as I practically took over Mim's kitchen floor, and after she'd just made us a Shoofly pie for breakfast!
After loading up, Doodle napped in the car while Grandma and Little Man did laundry. Peanut and I went to the post office and the bank, and back to the farm to pay our final bill in cash. Doodle managed to get an hour and a half nap and was feeling a lot better so we decided to make one short stop in Lititz to visit the Wilbur Chocolate Factory.
Five minutes of shopping, with me carrying her, she got that look and started to drool. I ran to the counter, passing hordes of people, "Excuse me, I know you say you don't have a bathroom. But do you really not have a bathroom? My daughter..." suddenly a horrendous choking gag and she puked all over me at the counter. It was awful. I managed to save the counter, catching all of it into my sleeve, my neck to my bra to my waist. It was pretty bad let me tell you. With much concern, someone ushered us to a tiny bathroom in the back, and we waited it out to the background of hammering and clanking chocolate making.
This time we drove straight to the hotel, where Doodle went to bed, I jumped in the shower and Grandma, otherwise known as Laundry Mistress, went at it again for the second time that day.
I had just explained the Amish sect (broken off from the Mennonites) to the kids when we passed our first buggy. I feel very conflicted in this place. Here are these perfectly respectable Americans with tremendous talent, trying to live a harmonious life in a chaotic world. It’s very unsettling to be so enthusiastic about staring at people like they're in a zoo. Yet, here I am, camera anxiously in hand! (I really don't think the kids noticed anything different about them, but rather noticed I was different with regard to them.)
Still, I am intrigued. My favorite Amish farmer was riding a plow across his fields, pulled by several horses. It was beautiful and I kept thinking how like Pa he was; I couldn’t take a picture. The next day at the same time I saw him again; I couldn’t take a picture again. Eventually, I took one from really far away, his beard just barely visible.
Then I saw a beautiful girl driving an open buggy (most are covered) and she looked so fresh and pleased about something. I just stared at her, but I couldn’t bring myself to disrupt her by taking a picture!
When I finally got bold enough to take a picture in this place, we were passing a school with little children playing in the yard. They were just darling, but when I slowed down and snapped a shot, they turned into little demons, running at me with their tiny fists in the air. It was awful and I felt horrible. Then I had to explain what had happened and why I felt bad to Peanut -- it was all very ugly for me inside.
The Amish are a riddle and I’m certainly in no position to judge their inconsistencies. I got a few things straight on this visit to Lancaster County, though, mostly in the quilt shops we visited.
note: The three main characteristics of a Lancaster Co. Amish quilt are: dark, solid colors, wide borders and wide bindings. However, their original cloths actually had many bright colors (still no prints). After a local train wreck caused many fatalities, the Amish leadership blamed “blending too much with the modern society”. They were reigned in hard and there went the bright colors in the quilts!
The Amish do have a rhyme and reason to their lifestyle. Basically, they’re committed to farming, family and community. They allow outside conveniences if there are no disruptions to the family or community. For example, no phones in the house, but for business (they contribute considerably to the local agriculture) they can have a phone in an out building. They can accept a ride in a car to church, but they can’t actually own a car. They can wear tennis shoes (black), but can’t use a chain on their bikes – so they ride around on scooter-bike hybrids.
I just figure they're doing the best they can in their own way. Like I said, they have numerous talents. We followed a sign for Homemade Root Beer and guzzled the cold and refreshing bottle before we even got back on the road. I also bought fudge and homemade peach jam, but I managed to come away without a quilt, even after visiting The Log Cabin Quilt Shop twice! Shocking!
Every morning after breakfast we got to go on a hayride followed by farm chores. Our first morning was freezing – one of those days where the skies are crystal blue, but you find your lips are slowly turning blue as well. There was so much frost on the ground that the kids were playing “ice-skating” on the trampoline and showed up to the wagon wet. Jim brought out farm suits, blankets and more jackets then we all huddled together atop bales of hay. With 600 cows on the farm we were hoping to see some new calves.
Jim was giving us a farm tour and when we got to the cows, we saw a new baby and her mama right away. We’d just missed the delivery! There was bloody goo dripping from her rear that grossed us out and I said, “Well, birthing babies is messy business.”
We saw a lot of calves in separate cages and learned that they’re separated from their moms after only one day. They’re bottle fed from the get go, no nursing. We three moms were acutely bothered by this but didn’t say much. It was worse to hear that the males are shipped off at one day old and usually butchered a day or two after that -- veal. The females are kept, of course for milking and birthing. Ugh, right?
We passed another mom with her new calf and as we rounded the corner I said, “Wow, she’s delivering the afterbirth. Look at that gray bulge.” No one really paid much attention because we were driving away, but I noticed that the gray bulge wasn’t moving at all. I screamed up to Jim that I thought the cow was having another baby and he took us back around. He walked up to her and broke the sack, GUSH! Suddenly two wee hooves appeared!
Excitement filled the barn in no time! Since none of us was in a hurry, Jim said we could wait it out even though it might be awhile and we were all turning to ice. Hoorah! The cow moaned a few times and one of the women sounded alarmed, “Oh, she’s in pain! Listen to her! Is she having trouble?” This alarmed the kids and without knowing how the other two families felt about natural childbirth, I opted to take over from there.
I said to my own kids, "She’s just finding her ‘om’. It helps a mom a lot when she’s birthing a baby to hear her voice in a nice deep tone. Like this: ommmmm, ommmmm. That’s all she’s doing. It helps her manage her pain. It’s hard work having a baby and she needs to stay in control." The cow was lying down and she got up onto her front knees. The other mom said, "Oh look look! She's getting up!" I continued, “It’s important for a mom to be able to move around when she’s birthing. It’s hard to move with a big baby in your belly, but her body will tell her what’s comfortable.” Then the cow got all the way up and Jim found a farm hand. He came over a few minutes later and bottle fed the new calf on the ground without realizing this big gal was in the middle of having twins -- rare for a cow!
My natural childbirth lessons came to a halt when Farm Boy got involved. First of all he grabbed the new calf by the leg and literally dragged her out of the way. Then he wielded mama into a corner, chained the new hooves sticking out of her and cranked out the second calf. She slowly slipped right onto the ground. PLOP!
Mama did look relieved but I was sad they made her rush anyway. In fact, my heart was racing and I was dying to get preachy about the evils of intervention, but I held my tongue. (Occasionally, I’m capable of that.) This really was a moment to be treasured and I was so grateful to Jim that he allowed us to experience it.
Peanut was so excited that she got to see the womb, “Mom, did you get a picture of the sack? Did you get a close up? Check and make sure it’s in focus!” One of the dads was particularly overcome and I casually asked if he’d been able to witness his 2 daughters’ births. Yes he had. Still, birthing is overwhelming and beautiful no matter how many times you see it. There was a celebration in the barn while we all shouted our congrats and oohed and aahed over how cute the new arrival was.
On the ride back each of my kids were full of questions like, “Was there that much blood when I was born? Why did the mom lick all that gross stuff off the calf? Did you lick me like that? Was I so cute like that? Did they use a chain to pull me out?” Doodle argued emphatically that the calf had come out of the mom's bum, "Right, mom?!" No, Doodle, it comes out of a mom’s…and I said the word again hearing Little Man in the background, “grooooosssss.”
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!
