Chocolate Covered Graham Crackers - The Real Journey Begins

Monday, September 6
Our first night in the beast was a bit fitful, mainly because I was on the downhill slope and Dan kept rolling into me.  We woke to the sound of the screech owl which, in hindsight, was an omen.

We had a lovely breakfast with Diane's parents.  Always fun to be around Mr. and Mrs. C.  I want to be wearing high heels and looking as glam when I'm a retiree.

The highlight of this day was seeing the logo designs Diane has been working on for Pippa's Tea Room.  I love them!  Now I just have to find the right space ......

All through dinner the night before, and breakfast, and packing up, the looming question was how were we actually going to get the RV out of CT and Diane's driveway. The almost unanimous suggestion was to just back it straight out (as John the fireman had - "No problem!")  I re-read the Giving Backing Up Directions Without Destroying Your Marriage chapter and felt confident that if I left it to CT and Diane, while I took the pictures, my marriage would stay intact.

But Dan had a different idea.  He believed he could turn that baby around in the very tight turning circle available and drive it on out.

 

Clever, clever husband.

And he did!












We said goodbye to our dear friends who had given us such a gracious entrance to our new life, and set out for the uncharted portion of our journey.

On the way we met up for lunch with Dan's art school classmate, Ethan Perry, a supremely talented woodworker in Ferndale, PA.  He gave us a lovely gift - the Tea Deck - written by his cousin, Sara Perry, a fellow foodie who lives in Portland, Oregon.  Another tea world contact.

 Then he and Dan consulted the map and decided on a back road 'scenic' route to Gettysburg, supposedly a two/two and a half hour(max.) drive away in a southwesterly direction.  This route would take us through lovely little colonial villages before hitting the main road through Amish country.  We seemed to do a lot of driving in a northerly direction through tiny towns requiring tight turns on narrow colonial streets.  Even the GPS gave up. Two hours later we hadn't even hit the main road yet and I was thinking dark thoughts about being stuck in this god-awful bus with this god-awful man for ANOTHER 28 DAYS!

We saw one lousy Amish buggy.

Dan kept repeating how different it was 40 years ago. It could have been Kelly McGinnis and Harrison Ford in that lone buggy and I wouldn't care.  The GPS said we still had 2 HOURS to go.

We pulled in to a gas station in a tense silence to use the bathroom and I couldn't even find an ice cream worth buying.  This, too, was totally Dan's fault.

In desperation I pulled out the pack of chocolate covered graham crackers I'd bought him the day before in a fit of unwarranted fondness and we each ate a couple.  Suddenly the tension lifted.  They were good, really good.  Dan's been searching in vain for years for a replacement for the Nabsico ones he ate as a kid.  These were even better.

We made it to the RV Park in Gettysburg by 6 pm and explained we were first timers.  The call went out:  "We got virgins here!"  Jim helped us hook up all the various umbilical cords (water, electric, sewer, cable) and we ended up having a lovely evening. 

Tomorrow is the 2 hour ride through the battlefields.  Yes, ride, as in horses, as in payback for the for the scenic backroad route.  Sometimes revenge is even sweeter than chocolate covered Grahams.