Tenn-ah-see

Welcome to Gypsy Jane! I'm thrilled to have you along – I've been following your blog for some time now. :-)

Today's post is about my trip to Pa. And of the interesting trip back so far.

So, I went to visit with family around 5 weeks ago. Although there were some hot days, it was still way better than our Texas heat. Plus even with the humid days, it was still better than the bayou cities I've been living in! Most nights & mornings were cool. I love sleeping with windows open, breezes & cool air filtering through. Sure beats the noise of the a/c, but now that I'm back in the south, the a/c is back & running strong. Thank goodness though, the alternative would suck.

I had a good visit. We had a family reunion, which my Mom referred to as “the gathering”. Heehee

My brother Sonny, showed me one of his gorgeous custom made cigar box guitars. He makes them & sells them to muscians.

My brother David came by a few times, we did some work to Mom's computer, so it's mucho better now. Wifi, wireless mouse & old files cleaned out. All updated too.

My brother Tom came by a few times, we went out to eat with him. He took us riding around one evening, it was fun revisiting & seeing the sights again. Pa sure is beautiful country!

My sister Deb & Linda came by when they could as well. Linda took me to a soccer game that her 5 year old grandson was playing in. It was their last event for the season. Soooo cute. Tiny little kids. Some put their all in, but most had trouble following & comprehending the game. Which doesn't surprise me for such a young age. It's mostly about fun & exercise for them.

Had a good time running around Pa. Left my Mom's on Monday & headed for Sunny's place. No, not my brother Sonny, but to Sunny of Changing Lanes. She got a new-to-her motorhome! A 29'4” ClassC Winnie. Nice, big & roomy! I didn't even bring out my camera! Time was so short with Sunny that visiting was more valuable. But she did have fun taking pics of my goofy dogs.

OH & she will be selling her other little C. It's adorable!! A vintage little Winnie. Soooo cute & garage kept. In really, really good condition. If it wasn't already nearly dark, I would have wanted to take pics of it. But that's the breaks.

I spent the night at Sunny's in my RV in her driveway. Sunny is fun to meet & is a very talented artist. I had fun looking at her paintings on her walls. Even some have humor in them, such as her chickens painted in their chicken nests! Her place is marvelous! And she has great power there too! I was impressed. It's not often that I turn on my lights & see the skies of heaven open. Yep, that's how bright they were. If you don't believe me, then be that way! Humpf. Usually they are dull with most places as I've found really inferior power at sooo many places.

I digress.

Then on Tuesday morn, I left Sunny's & went onto my sister Deb's house as she lives in the same town. I visited with her & her husband Steve for awhile, then headed out. We sat down with a map to study my route out. Somehow, I missed 8 & kept going on through on 27! ARGH! Hate it when I do that!!! So I pulled over, looked at the map & rerouted. Actually, it was kind of fun because I got to explore the small historic towns of Northwestern Pa. High north west that is! So then I decided to stay on the back roads through towns & such. Yes, that does take more time & gas, but isn't this partly what Rving is about? Exploring? Driving? Even if you ARE supposed to be heading west & you have a brain bubble & head EAST!!! Grrrr. Yes, I did. But I caught myself & back tracked. Then looked at the map again, yet for another alternative route. Found one. I'll go 58 till I connect with 5 on through Ohio.

Uh oh. Problem. Um...there's a narrow 10'8” tunnel! Hmmm, I drive past, I study the map. Do I want to try it or go around several miles around till I can reconnect with 5 again? Oh heck, I'll drive up to it to see. It's only a 1 car tunnel at that. I get chicken. I start to back out, but approaching me is a guy on a motorcycle. He said I could do this! He got off his bike & convinced me I could. He walked slowly backwards directing me & I got through. But looking back, it was dumb of me to try that. I'm really grateful that I didn't damage Ellie! So I'm scedoodling down 5, enjoying the scenes.

Oh speaking of scenes. Pa is Amish country, I'm sure most of ya'll know that already. I passed several amish families & their buggies. Their horses have such looooooooong legs! Beautiful animals in fact.

I passed a car show, an antique car show. I thought about stopping to take pics but was already late, so didn't. But I saw two young Amish men with their horse & cart. They were eating ice cream cones & the horse was really fretting over the car activities. He rared up in the air, repeatdely bucking. They finally steered him away from there to gain control back over him. He looked like a very young horse.

OK, back to 5. I lost it. I have no clue where I lost it, but found myself on 7. So I once again, pull over, study the map & find a cross route that will reconnect me with 5. Good!! Gooder! Goodie beans!!

Um....I go about 15 miles, ONLY to find out that there is construction on that road & it is CLOSED!! Now why could they NOT post a sign at the beginning of that route! Grrrr. Again. I pull over & reroute. I find another alternative route that gets me back on 5. I swear, I probably could have been half way back to Texas at that point! So I finally got myself on the road. Slept at a rest area last night with the genny running for the a/c. Somewhere in Ohio. I'm now in Tennessee. I wanted to pull over soooo badly as my foot & back were really hurting. But I could not find a good place to pull over, so kept taking breaks at rest areas & pull overs. Finally, I had enough & finally found a state park in Tn, which is where I am now. Whew! I was kind of grumpy when I got here & hooked up, but I'm better now.

a/c running, nice & cool inside. Storming outside, so I'm glad I got here when I did. Dogs are settled. No tv, so am going to leave the computer on for a tv for awhile if I can get my connection back on the air card. I think the storm interferred with the signals.

So I'm hoping for a good nights sleep & will venture back out tomorrow. I want to get to Arkansas & spend a couple more nights at a state park there too.

I don't have to be back till Sunday, so I still have a little time to blow around & have fun with.

I got lazy & haven't been taking any pics. Sorry. So I'll just post this & ya'll can imagine some crazy woman squeezing her motorhome under short bridges & getting lost on country roads...maybe it's a good thing I didn't get a cargo trailer to haul along. I'm pretty sure there would be some stories about that as well!

~As always, be kind to your pets, clean up after them on your travels & respect your neighbor~