Happy ReCycle Day!

Yesterday was Recycle Day, which is really just a girls day out that starts with the errand of dropping off the recyleables that you collected over the last month.  I usually try to contriute at least one beer can!

Up here everybody recycles, and one Saturday a month huge bins are set up at the community center for drop off.  They're there till Noon, and we're often the last ones through before they close down.  Afterwards we have the day to ourselves, the guys aren't invited.. although they usually catch up with us later once we've settled somewhere.  I never know what we're going to do, and a lot of the time I don't know where I am.. lol  But we always start out with somewhat of a plan, and this is us putting one together for this month.

Soon Larry got bored of our peckin and plannin and decided he would leave us for his new love..

He shined her up a bit (not that she ever needs it) and took off to find his own adventure for the day.  We'll catch up with him later..

Our plan was to hit the community center, get gas, then stop at a little shop (where the lady who wants to buy my beads sells her stuff), then grab some lunch.  After that we were planning to run over to Lisa's new house so I could see everything she's done since she moved in and also grab some chairs and end tables that she wanted to bring up to the old house so I'd have something to sit on... since I'm going to stay at the house on the hill till I head to VA on Wed.   Thee plan was to meet Kevin (Lisa's husband) up there later and have a bonfire or bbq.

So off we set, took care of our chores, and do a bit of shopping.   We headed into Wellsboro to shop.  It's a cute little co-op type of shop where a bunch of different artists and crafters sell their stuff.  Connie's stuff was nice but mostly her wire wrapping, which is what she kind of specializes in.  Other than those pieces I thought her jewelry designs were uninspired compared to some of the others with stuff there.

No wonder she didn't want Linda as competition.  LOL  I like LInda's stuff better and wait till you see her newest things..  I wore one on Sat.  Very comfortable and well balanced.  And of course the beads are lovely.  Don't have em yet, but I'll get some pics.

 Then it was off to the Gaslight, a pub in town, for lunch and libations.

The Girls in front of the Gaslight, and the door to a friend's tattoo shop in town..

While gadding about town I noticed that things have really changed quite a bit.  It's noticable even to those who are here every day.  There are probably 40 to 60,000 more people living here today than there were 18 months ago.  Thats fast growth.

There are new neighborhoods (RVs parked along the side of the road) popping up all over the place.  But I suppose there are some good points too.. new businesses are also being born to accommodate the needs of this new influx of population.  Here's one now...

Click on any pic to enlarge, or to read the street sign!

Here, have a better look:  I bet they have excellent, authentic food, and I intend to try me some before I leave..

It's hard to listen to the locals bitch about the traffic - sheeeit, they don't know what traffic is!  However, they are seeing quite a change in this department too and most are not happy with the changes they see in their community and all around them.  Here's one example of why, and one of the ways the locals are expressing their displeasure...

Check out the sticker someone slapped on a sign that hangs on the door of the Tattoo shop..

Yep, that's what they call the gas workers... gasholes.

We had a great lunch at the Gaslight then headed off to Lisa's Rivah House (as opposed to the Hill House).  The Hill house is the house on the mountain that I've always coveted.  The River house is the new house they moved too that is right on Tioga Creek.  They're both lovely, and after seeing the new place..  I guess I can forgive her for moving out of the house on the mountain..  ESPECIALLY since I now get to stay there while I'm here.  :)  Win Win!

Once we had picked up our wares at the new house we picked up my car from Linda's and headed on over the mountain.

My Beloved Mountains

Now Lisa's house is outside of town up the mountain on a 2 mile paved road, then about half a mile of gravel road, and then... behold her driveway: Yes this is her driveway to paradise.

A Trip up Lisa's driveway

Kevin met us with a fire in the pit when we arrived.  We called larry, who joined us and we kicked back for the rest of the night.. Lisa entertained us by splattering pizza sause all over herself and I almost went over the edge of the patio backwards..  it was all good though.  By 10 we were all ready to call it a night and they all went home and I was left alone at Camp Paradise.

This camping is rough, I tell you.. wonderfully cool night, huge kingsize bed (all to myself - no dogs to share with and quiet.. just me and the leaves.  :)  I slept great.

Got up this morning and ran to the supermarket to stock up a bit, then posted about Thurs.  I had lunch and hung out this afternoon with Linda and Larry.  It rained this morning, but later this afternoon the sun came out and I went for a walk on the mountain.  Took this of the outside of the house since yesterday's "driveway" Vid didn't really show it..

The rest of the story.. er, the outside!

It's a beautiful house and so quiet and peaceful.  I've just been kicking back this evening and am planning an adventure to the Glass Museum tomorrow.  I can't wait.. I'm sure I'll have more pics and some kind of story!

Hope things are happy at home!

Love you

The Wacky Sister

And we're off...

Friday, August 12th 2011

When I woke up on Friday I still had a half day to work.. but it sure didn't feel like it. 

Till I sat down and organized what I absolutely had to get done.  Quite a bit.  No problem.  I was motivated...   Finally after tieing up some pesky customer issues and a few snafus setting my auto responder and voicemail away message I was finally out of there at 1 p.m..  damn, I was hoping to slip away between 11-11:30.  Oh well..  I'm free and that's all that really matters!  lol

I had an ambitious route and a realistic route mapped out, in several different navigators I should mention here, for my drive up to Wellsboro and my rendezvous with the Ladies.

I was on vacation, and wanted it to start right way.. so to that end I had planned an adventure right off.  Why wait till I get to my first overnight destination to start things off right??

So my ambitious route included a stop at a Classic Roadside Attraction (in fact called Roadside America), the Yuengling Brewery in Pottsville, and then on up to Wellsboro taking a rather scenic route rather than the upper North East Extension and Rt 80.

I knew from the get go that the Brewery was a long shot.  When I got out of the house at 1 p.m instead of 11:30 I killed that plan right quickly. Yo.

So off I went, heading north.

As you know I've been to Wellsboro many times, and I've taken the back route up as well as the turnpike.  I don't really *need* the GPS to get there.. but it's new, and I had the stop planned along the way so I was using it.  As previously mentioned I actually had the trip route entered into two or three different navigators.. and I used at least two of them in the first 20 miles!  lol

So anyway.. I am plodding along, famiar with the route and knowing that I'm getting off at the allentown exit, shooting west across Rt78 for a ways, then heading north somewhere along the way to head up to Sharlesville where Roadside America is.

As I approach the Allentown exit, where I am sure I'm getting off - because I've looked at the route and entered it into several different navigators right???  But the Google Navigator app that I'm using at this point for my GPS tells me to keep going to the Leigh Valley exit????  Huh??

I'm a pretty quick thinker, so immediately deduct (since I'd switched navigator apps at least once already at this point) that this navigator app is taking me one exit further along the turnpike and then must be planning to take me a scenic route west and then South to shartlesville.. I keep tooling along happyily ignorant in the knowledge that my adventures had in fact started at that very moment!!!  lol

 On through the tunnel I go, and 18 miles later exit at Leigh Valley and get on 209 S as I'm instructed to do.  Immediately the wise (and annoying) voice from the navigator starts telling me to make a U-turn and then a right onto the entrance ramp to the North East Extension SOUTH!

After pulling over and examining the mapped directions more carefully... sure enough, the bitch had me driving up to Leigh Valley, looping through the exit/entrance ramps only to drive back 18 miles South on the turnpike to exit CORRECTLY at Allentown.

What the hell??? 

At this point any sane person would hop back on the turnpike heading north to Rt 80 and take the most direct, fastest way to my end destination of Wellsboro.

However...  I've never claimed to be sane, and I was damned determine to have an adventure on this first day of my vacation.. so I followed the cursed GPS's stoopid ass directions and went BACK down the turnpike to 78 where I KNEW I should have gotten off in the first place!  Oh well.  I'm NOT on a timeclock so all's well...

I was soon greeted by a homely Amish couple at the entrance to the somewhat hokey, very awesome little attraction in no-where PA.

This place is actually pretty cool.  It's a miniature village, the largest known in the country.  Built by hand, by a guy (now deceased) who was into miniature train sets.  The displays depict life in rural america from the 1800s through to the present - industries, architecture, homes, villages, towns...   it was neat and really interesting.  I passed on the giftshop...

One (miniature) porta potty you missed out on, Michelle!!!

After spending a little more than an hour checking out their HUGE display I set out for Wellsboro.  I removed the Brewery from my trip route, double checked the directions for any more "loop-dee-loops" and arrived safely at Linda and Larry's in plenty of time to run some errands before settling in and watching a movie...

Stay tuned for an accounting of ReCycle Day itself, along with more pics and video too!

Have I told you lately that I love my phone???

Later Yo

Yes Michelle, You CAN come with me...

And I won't even make you piddle in campground or State Park bathhouses with the spiders!

This blog is for my sister, and I'm sure of no interest to anyone else - even though I do ROCK terribly.. *snickering*  so you can follow along on my roadtrip without getting wet, bug bitten, sweaty or have to use a porta potty!

This thing is a first for me.. so be patient and I might even figure out how to post up a pic or two for ya.

I head out tomorrow.. and I can't wait, only 3 or so more hours to work and they're from home tomorrow - piece of cake! 

I'll be on the road, living out of my car, for the next 23 days.  I sure would rather be roaming in an RV!

Next year...  :)

I'll post when I can.. 

Yer Rockin sister