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Sunday, August 31, 2008

Tom's Truck...

This is the truck that I rode in today as we went ' sightseeing'. A couple of times, Tim had to push me in as it was so HIGH up!!! I just had to have my picture taken by it to show you...

Double dating with Tom and Carole!!!

Today after church, we went on a double date with our Sower friend Tom and his new lady friend. She is from the Baltimore area and the one he met on eHarmony on the internet... Her name is Carole too and we got along just great.. Tom was real quiet but Carole, Tim and I talked all afternoon...We ended up going up to the proving grounds in Aberdeen..Not my ' cup of tea' but the guys enjoyed it. They also took us to the PX.. Not much different from a Wal Mart and about the same prices.. The picture was taken with our camera placed on a picnic table and the timer set so....... Speaking of picnic tables. That is the guys' job for the next 3 weeks.. repair and stain over 100 picnic tables that are in bad shape... I think it sounds like a fun job and I may even help... I LOVED the Nazarene church we attended as the pastor's wife was from the same denomination as us ( Free Methodist ) and went to the same Manton camp in Michigan and knew a lot of the same people we know.. We've got to get together again and TALK!!!!! Tomorrow starts our first day so..... Carole

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Unimportant information

We are trying to stay put and not go off the grounds as the traffic is SO BUSY this week end in this area.. All the Balties ( Baltimores ) are having their last summer fling... The campground is BUSY too... It is HOT and HUMID so we have spent most of the day staying in the m.h. and a.c. We did go down to lunch in the dining hall and stopped at their THRIFT store... mainly to see if they need any help from me on Tuesday... Just a few things I wanted to tell you.. Gas is $3.34 here now but they expect it to raise because of the Hurricane G..... Our Sower friend Tom is a veteran so he plans to take us to Abedeen proving grounds and the PX... It is where the Army has more military weapons, etc. than anywhere else.. I"m really not into that but Tim may enjoy it.. A neighboring town is Havre de Grace.. It sounds like a neat place to visit and is definitely on " my list "!!There is a light house there and a 100' cliff overlooking the Chesapeake Bay... also a chocolate factory!!!! Tom lost his wife over a year ago .. so he joined eHarmony.. They matched him up with 247 women.. He has narrowed it down to 3.. and one lives in Baltimore.. Her name is Carole and she plans to come see him this week-end and EVERY week-end we are here.. Guess he put down.. NO ONE over 5'5" and 130# so she must be small!!! And he wants us to " double date"...The camp has a lot of different groups coming in next week... father/son and also ' The Red Hat Society'.. They plan a BIG Homeschooling week- end later... We went to the nearest Super Wal Mart yesterday and it is 5 miles from New Jersey.... I forgot to blog that last Wednesday, after the Civil War Museum.. we took a ride on The Pride of Susquehanna... real nice tour of the waterways... That is when we later came home and ate the banana splits at Bonkey's.. ( wordless Wednesday blog )... Not sure about church tomorrow.. A state park around here has another light house to see and at 9:30 they have a church service... Carole

Friday, August 29, 2008

Chesapeake Bay work site!!!

Wow!! What a work site!!! We arrived at our new work site yesterday and it looks really neat! It is located on the Chesapeake Bay north of Baltimore... The village of North East is a small New England fishing ( antiques ) town... The campground itself is fabulous... 3 huge swimming pools.. ( 1 indoors )... A grand lodge that accommodates 153 guest.. 2 campgrounds...even a chapel.. I ask to help in the laundry ( folding towels ) or office ( mailing ) but we will see. I am the only Sower woman here as the other Sower Tom does not have a wife... But there are other volunteers here whom I'll work with... Annie, Sue and Lucy... Picked up brochures and there seems to be a lot of to do in the area... Baltimore blue crabs, Civil and Revolutionary War, Baltimore Zoo and Aquarium, light houses, plays, ships and cruises on the Chesapeake Bay, etc... Hope we have enough time!! Guess we plan to work Labor Day as the traffic will probably be REAL heavy if we go anywhere...The weather is starting to get down in the 70's now as a by- product of FAY heading north.. Every one keeps giving us tomatoes. 2 from a church, 2 from Naomi's garden( Sower ) and 2 from Mona's garden( friend from Harrisburg ) so we have had a lot of BLT's lately.. Work does not start until Monday so we have 3 days to check out the camp ground and surrounding towns... Wal-Mart, BK, etc...They provide lunch every day for the staff in a beautiful dining room.. They even made different name badges for us to wear like the staff... Hope to be able to blog a lot more about this place.. Probably one of the nicer places we have worked.. Do they really need us?? Carole

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Wordless Wednesday!!!


Civil War Museum



Today we went to the Civil War Museum in Harrisburg with some friends....You could spend a whole day there if you were a Civil War buff.. we are not ...but we still stayed a long time.. Very interesting... Helped you understand how awful the war was as brothers fought brothers and fathers fought sons...A dark time in our History!!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Gettysburg...

Today we spent the day touring around Gettysburg... I tried to post some of the postcards we bought but the blog will NOT let me so will post a picture that we actually took. This is the statue of Buford...who fought in the Civil War there at Gettysburg.. We saw the hotel where Lincoln slept the night before he delivered the "Gettysburg Address.." We also went to the " Hall of Presidents " where they had all 43 Presidents in wax figures and how they attributed to our History.. Also saw some of Eisenhower's artifacts as Gettysburg was his " second home " when he was in the" White House.." We were only 15 miles from 'Camp David 'but did not drive there as we figured we would only be able to see the gate.. We have been in Gettysburg 2 previous times so we did not take in everything there was to see but it is interesting to drive through the small towns. Some of them were established in 1790's... See a lot of flags flying !! Must be PRIDE!!!!

Tim sorting out the bays!!

Tim spent most of the day yesterday sorting out the bays.. That is what they call the storage area under the motor home..He wanted to make use of the free time and 2 picnic tables ... He sorted every box and bag and ended up throwing away a small box full. He seem to do this every few months... At least it reminds him what he has stored away..

Sunday, August 24, 2008

A Lazy Sunday..

Just got back from the Trails Nazarene Church and lunch at Wendy's in Schrewsberry.... After a quick stop at Wal-Mart to pick up a few groceries for this week.. the rest of the day is "lazy"... Tim is engrossed in reading a huge novel so that will probably take all afternoon.. We may walk over to check out the pool.. It is SO QUIET here.. kinda eerie!!! There is no one else on the grounds except 3 others.and they are on the other side of the camp...Even our " friends" have left for the week-end... The Day Care is over as school starts Monday... We have a week of NO work and just free time to sight see and relax... I have been busy working on my life story of my childhood... complete with pictures.. Did not take a lot of pictures back in the 40's and 50's... did we??? My daughter Kathi and daughter-in-law Tabitha promised to help me finish it and make copies for my grandchildren... Will the kids even read it??? IF anyone wants instuctions and patterns for the " butterflies ", let me know .. I will have to send them snail mail... Plan to go for banana splits one more time to Bonkey's on Wednesday.. IF we get back from Harrisburg in time.. Carole

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Butterflies




Today Naomi and I spent our free time making butterflies out of plastic pop bottles...
I am not a very crafty person so I only made one while she made 3... The other 2 are ones I made about a year ago when a Sower lady showed us how.. The are not finished yet. They are suppose to have antennas and suction cups to hook them to the window.... Today was the last day of work. We were busy in the kitchen and then they ask if we would consider working one more afternoon in the Snack Shop.. very little left to sell but I did dip up a lot of chocolate ice cream cones. Lisa, the camp directors, gave us each a jar of peaches and cherries she just picked and canned.. They have a lot of peaches around this part of Pa. It will be good to have the week-end free and time to do some more sight seeing .... There really is a lot of things to see and do around here. A friend said once..." It must get tiring.. camping and traveling all the time"... but we really do not consider it camping as this is how we live!!! I look at it as, we can visit and see all the things we want to and then we step into our motor home and we are HOME !! Not like a vacation when you have to drive back home.. usually a long ways... Anyway this is gong on our 8th year so we must LOVE it!!! Carole

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Banana Splits and Sluff....

I wanted to post a Wordless Wednesday but no good picture.... We were back at work today in the kitchen.. Then took a good long nap.. must have been tired from our long trip... Tomorrow is the Carper's last work day so we went out for our banana splits. Were they good!!!! We should have taken the camera....Then we played SLUFF out on the picnic table. Guys won !!! and then the girls won a shorter game... They are going home after work tomorrow.. We plan to go up to Harrisburg and maybe take a dinner cruise with our friends on The Pride of Susquehanna..... Made a big crock pot of beef stew.... But they keep inviting us to eat in the dining hall...In the afternoon Naomi and I plan to make a craft of "butterflies' out of plastic pop bottles...Maybe I'll post a picture later...

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Back in Pennsylvania !!!

Hi.. We are back in Pa. after a 5 day trip to Michigan.... We drove 1,800 miles and are we tired!!! We did stay in Ohio last night so the trip home was not as tiring...We drove through 4 tunnels on the toll road which went right through the Allegheny Mts. The scenery in Pa. is VERY breath -taking.. Lots of mts. and valleys... We plan to work 2 days this week and 2 days next week.. before we move on to our next project.. It is only 50 miles from here at a town actually called North East, Maryland... It is on the Chesapeake Bay and we heard is a BEAUTIFUL camp.... So far we only have one single guy working with us.. Maybe I won't have to work... ha ha.... My brother- in -law Dick gave us lots of sweet corn and green beans from his garden in Michigan so.. lots of good eating!!!! Tomorrow night is our banana split and game night.... On Friday our Sower friends leave so over the week- end we plan to go back and spend some time with our friends from Harrisburg... Gas around here is $3.48@ gallon.... It was $4.03 in the U.P. Thank you again for remembering us in prayer on our LONG journey and our time in Michigan..Carole

Saturday, August 16, 2008

In Michigan

We traveled 800 miles to my sister's in 15 hours.On the way, we met our daughter Kristy and her family at Ponderosa for lunch... They have been camping out for a week at Ogemaw Hills Fair.. the girls show their cow and pig.... and vegetables.... Had a really good sleep on Friday night as we were SO tired!!! Finished our trip on up to the U.P. and Kari's..... They are getting things ( pictures and flowers and some music ) ready for the Memorial service tomorrow night... We plan to start back to Pa. on Monday... but this time take part of 2 days to drive it.. Maybe stop at the Eisenhower Birthplace and Hall of Presidents in Gettysburg.... Thank you for your prayers for travel.. Carole

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Enjoying Ice Cream at Bonkey's


Tonight the Sowers went down town to Bonkey's Ice Cream.. It is homemade ice cream and only opened in the evenings.. It is very reasonably priced and I have never seen such a choice.. They had ice cream cones that were: chocolate, pretzel, cookie dough, choc. chip, waffle, cookie, etc. And that was just for the cones... Next Wed. we already plan to go down for a $1.99 banana split and then walk home and play Games.. Girls have won EVERY game so far... The couple with us is Jay and Naomi.. our Mennonite friends... The people there took this picture and were REAL friendly when we said we were from Michigan...

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Traveling to Michigan on Friday...

We have finally decided to travel to Mi. on Friday as the Memorial service for Joanna , our grand daughter is on Sunday evening.. My heart goes out to Kari and Ben and their family... Blessed that they have a wonderful pastor and church family. They have been bringing some meals in while Kari was on bed rest.... As it is 900 miles to their house in the U.P., we plan to spend Friday night at my sister's...and to have a quick visit with our daughter Kristy on the way back home... Naomi and I have been working in in the kitchen fixing a snack and lunch for the Day Care, so it is not as hard as last week!!! They come to fix our t.v. and ended up having to take it into the shop.. Quite a feat for a t.v. installed in a m.h. Tim has been busy painting windows and now after work, he is cleaning ALL our windows... Now it will probably rain... Games tonight.. hope the girls win!!! Carole

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Very Sad News...

This morning our son-in-law Ben called from Michigan and said he had rushed our daughter Kari to Marquette Hospital.. She is 22 weeks along and " her water broke" and it did not look good.. Kari lost a little girl at 21 weeks along just 2 years ago... so she has been "high risk".. Later in the day, Ben called and said the baby girl had been born and there was nothing they could do for her. At this time we are not sure... if and when they will have a service....We plan to drive back to Michigan for a few days but not sure at this time WHEN...It is 1000 miles from here to Marquette, Mi. So we ask for your prayers for Ben and Kari and their children... also for us as we travel back to Michigan.. Kari and Ben both trust GOD so that will be a blessing at this time...

Saturday, August 9, 2008

The Theatre Again...

Today we drove back 40 miles to Lancaster to see the other production at Sight and Sound Theatre... (Now they just opened one in Branson, Mo. It will show the best one yet.. " NOAH'S ARK".. )"Abraham and Sarah"was not as long as the one we saw yesterday ( In The Beginning )but just as great!!! People clapped and clapped.. Especially when they showed Jesus on the Cross as the answer to ALL Mankind... A group of ladies sat next to us from Brazil... They came to Lancaster,Pa. especially to see the production.... not the Amish and their way of life..They were always talking Portuguese and would then talk to me in English ( a little ).. All in all, the play was VERY MOVING!!! If you ever get a chance to see it... it is worth it!!!!! Tomorrow we drive 60 miles to attend church where our friends' pastor.... Will be good to get back to work on Monday to rest up.. but it has been a fun week-end!!

Stopped at an Amish store

This was a real Amish house . They had a small produce stand in their yard.. Their corn and peaches are great!!!
Here were some dresses on the line to dry...
I got a change to get a quick picture of their scooters on the porch .... a lot of them ride scooters instead of bikes... We really saw a lot of horse and buggies today. We also went to a Farmer's Market in Bird-in-Hand....

Another Day in Amish Country

First we went to the pretzel factory and they let us make a soft pretzel.... Then we bought one... but it was too salty!!!! The sticker says that I made a pretzel....
After the theatre, we went to a smorgasbord of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking...in Bird-in-Hand....
We got to sample their famous ' shoofly pie ' ( made of brown, molasses and eggs ) and ' moon pies'.. ( 2 brownies and cream filling ) not my favorite...

Friday, August 8, 2008

Finally some pictures..


Amish children, like all children, have fun rollerblading, scootering and getting out of school...

Amish Country.. Lancaster, Pa.

Today we spent the day in Lancaster,Pa. There were a lot of Amish farms and horse and buggies.. I tried to blog some pictures but having problems with it for now.. We drove thought the country side and saw a lot of beautiful farms.. their corn is real tall!!!! We saw 2 videos about the Amish and Mennonites... We attended a theatre where we saw "In The Beginning"... It was just fabulous!!! Very professional!!! Tomorrow we plan to go back (40 miles ) and see another play at another theatre called " Abraham and Sarah.. A Love Journey".... Also may take a tour of the Amish or go to eat at an Amish smorgasbord.... Looks good!!! UUUUMMMMM!!!! We also plan to go to the Amish farmer's market at Bird-in-Hand... There really is a town called that... if you have ever read any of Beverly Lewis books about the Amish...

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Now for the long week-end!!!

We are ready for a long 3 day week-end.!!! We have worked hard for 3 days in the Snack Shop and made over $1500.00 !!!It is hard to believe that 200 girls could have that much spending money!!! We have tickets to attend 2 fabulous plays in a theatre in Lancaster... Based on Genesis " In the Beginning"( Friday night ) and Abraham and Sarah " A Love Journey "( Saturday night ).. If we can't get a motel at a reasonable rate, we will come back home for the night as it is only 40 miles from here... Then on Sunday we plan to attend church where some friends of ours pastor. They are from Michigan but have pastored in Pa. for the past 14 years... We have always kept in touch.... The Slabaughs from the Brethren church... Our car is fixed now and our t.v. gets fixed next Monday.. Hurrah!!!! It has been a good but BUSY work week... I will probably dream of dipping ice cream cones for a long time... Somewhere in this 3 day week-end , we need to do our laundry and buy groceries... Hope we get some good pictures to share...

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

A little slower...

We did not have as many customers this morning so I am not as tired.. And I did get to sit on a stool for a 5 minute break from time to time....Hope you noticed my Wordless Wednesday picture..... The girl's name is Jordon.... Played SLUFF last night and the girls won!!!! We got the t.v. in out bedroom to work so we can watch t.v. now if we sit on the bed... nothing good to watch....LOVE reading your blogs and comments.. Carole

More Ice Cream!!!


Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Over $400.00 this afternoon!!!!

We were even busier this afternoon..!!! I told Noami that we don't work next week. There are only the 2 of us working..We took in over $400. this afternoon in a little over 3 hours!!!... That is A LOT of ice cream and pop!!!!.. We ran out of SO many things so Brian has to run to SAM'S tonight... We are SO TIRED!!!! Not sure if we can even make it to GAMES tonight... Tim is fixing steamed summer squash and BBQ ribs for supper... Think I'll crash!!!

What a morning!!!!

WOW!!! What a morning!! We opened the Snack Shop at 10: and closed at 11:30 and were we busy!!! WE took in $156.00 in 1 1/2 hrs. Somehow we both visioned that in between customers we would talk and read and do some more cleaning.... WRONG!!! We never had a break at all... We sold ice cream.. ice cream.. ice cream and slushies!!! Maybe the temperature being 90* has something to do with that... So I feel like the day should already be over and we still have to work another 3 1/2 hrs.... Pray that we can make it through Thursday. Guess I'll be ready for a 3 day week-end.... I'd go to the pool but it is all covered with black plastic for the girls to swim.. There are about 200 Mennonites here for the week...They probably wouldn't like my swim suit... Trying to get a bed and breakfast in the Amish area.... Tim is busy painting on some of the old buildings... Still NO T.V. so are getting some reading done.. But the car is fixed so appreciate that... I'll post later and tell you how the rest of the day went..... At least the girls are very polite and a joy to wait on...

Monday, August 4, 2008

1 work day down... 11 to go!!!!

It is VERY hot here in Pa. and today we started our work project... The guys are painting and they ask us girls to work in the SNACK SHOP.. Sounds like fun... When we went over to check it out.... dirty and unorganized.. They had just had teen -agers working in it and I think they just dropped everything and shut the door.... We spent 4 hours cleaning it SO far... Brian just gave us our schedule and it is 4 1/2 hours per day instead of our regular 3 hours... Oh Well.... Maybe it will get easier and we won't have many customers!!!! They sell pop, candy and ice cream..... This week they have a large group of Mennonites here... It is different to see ALL the girls and women dressed in long dresses and wearing white or black caps.. ( prayer veils )... I ask about using the pool and Brian said YES but when the Mennonites swim, they don't believe in mixed bathing SO they put black plastic up on the fence all around the pool... Guess I'll wait until later to swim!!! Maybe I'll get some pictures later to blog... Yesterday we attended a Nazarene church where they had a singing group come in.. The Itzels... They were different but Tim still bought 5 of their CD's.. Said the grandkids would like that music.... Went to Cracker Barrel for dinner... We are with- in walking distance from New Freedom and 5 miles from Shrewberry where the Wal Mart is located... At the old movie theater here in town, they sell ice cream in the evenings.... On Wednesday nights... IF you take in your banana.... they make you a huge banana split for 1.99....Seems like we are always finding out " funny " things across the USA... In Mexico, we used to go to a restaurant for tacos.. and you had to bring your own silverware..... Still waiting for our car to be fixed. LIFE is interesting!!!

Friday, August 1, 2008

Summit Grove Camp.. New Freedom, Pa.

We have settled in at our next work project and I think we are going to like it!! There is a lot to see and do when we are not working.. We are in a quaint town of New Freedom and there are flags everywhere!!! There are old houses that line the street but most are well kept .. We are not far from York, Pa.. a famous battle site in the Revolutionary War.. We are 40 miles from Gettysburg and about the same from Hersey Candy!!! Tim picked up a part to fix the car and at present is at their shop working on it.. The other couple have arrived and invited us to their home some week- end in the heart of Amish Lancaster County... Landisvlle, Pa... This is an old camp and there are a lot of old buildings but also some newer ones... Most of the bathrooms need painting.. SOOOOOO.... Also they have ask Tim to repair a roof and paint some windows... On the way here, we stopped to visit some friends.. Sheaffers.. in Harrisburg.. They picked us up at the Wal-Mart lot and took us to their home for delicious roast beef and a visit... Later they took us out for ice cream and back to our m.h. The next morning they picked us up and took us out for breakfast... It is hard to believe that these are friends we met over 40 years ago when we went to the University of New Mexico together.. and have always kept in touch over the years. Kari is home from the hospital but on complete bed rest!!! Please pray for her!!! We get good Internet here so I look forward to a lot of blogs and comments.. Carole