A Different Life II

[Hittenstiehl]

Your luck is still good that's why the light comes on [emoji4] so you can fill it by yourself.

That's just the ebs and flows of life. Seems something always needs to be fixed or fiddled with.

Pretty crappy about your chair and cord being stolen. Damn theives. You did the right thing by reporting it. I know someone will say maybe they thought you forgot it. Well if that's so turn it in or leave a note.

Getting stuck in a ruckus holiday weekend crowd sure is a change from all the nice spots you had. Like so many we've abstained from holiday weekend camping when we have a choice.

How was the behaviour of the insecure doggy at your daughters. Did Lily stay home during visits or how did you modify.

[Lily&Me]

Thanks for the reminder, Hittenstiehl…enjoy the highs and tough out the lows.

I carefully coiled my power cord on the electric post, which with the chair and being in a ClassB should have been clear indication after four nights there that I was coming back.

At any rate, I did what I could about that, and it is an annoyance rather than life or death.

My daughter visited me at the campground until yesterday, when I picked her up at home for our day trip to Kingston.

She took me late Saturday to her hairdresser for a trim, as my hair has not been touched in almost three months and was looking a bit shaggy.

She brought Lenny out to the campground Friday, and this is what he does…over and over again.

75 pounds of dog, who thinks he belongs in your lap.

He’s very sweet, tho, and he and Lily get along as well as she does with any competition for my attention, but none of the aggression I saw with strange dogs this summer.

I left Lily in the Interstate for a half hour or so either end of our day trip yesterday, so that I could visit the dogs, as this was important to my daughter.

Lucy-the-pit-mix greeted me very exuberantly and like a long-lost love, rather than the owner of a dog she tried to kill the last time I was there.

So I had Lucy at 65 lbs and Lenny at 75 lbs, both needing to lick my face and be in my lap.

I told my daughter they have boundary issues, and they are certainly a lot of dog.

Lily’s eyes got big when we pulled into their drive, and she looked at me like “you’re not going to make me go in there, are you???!!!???

No. Lily will not be exposed to that dog or any other pit bull again. Period.

[Lotus54]

I had an intermittent leak on mine- it was the water pump.

[Lily&Me]

Thank you.

Going to top it off with fluid this morning and hopefully make it home to have it looked at there.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

By the low level of fluid in my radiator that even I could see this morning, getting home for a repair didn’t seem an option.

Doug Engles @ L.J. Allen Tire & Auto Service in East York, PA diagnosed a bad water pump, which was actively dripping by the time I pulled in there.

He located Susquehanna Chrysler/Dodge dealership in Wrightsville, PA, who could deal with it, and sweet-talked Service Advisor Nate Flickinger into taking me in for this repair today.

I am soooo grateful for all of these service providers who take we travelers in off the road for emergency repairs.

And, I note I have added another “Doug” to my list of helpers on the road.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

11 hours later, 10 of those at Susquehanna Chrysler/Dodge, water pump is replaced and we are good to go.

The drive belt when taken off was dried and a bit cracked, but after the parts store sent the wrong part TWICE they put the old one back on at the 11th hour and told me to get it replaced when I get home.

Hopefully, there will be no more repairs needed between here and there.

A nice older man who works here part time was fascinated with the Interstate, my travels, and HistoriCorps, and tried very hard to get me to come to his place and park in his driveway for the night, he worried that we will not be safe here in their lot until morning.

I showed him Lily’s teeth, told him we would be quite safe, but thank you, so we talked for a long time about family history, dna testing, etc., and I may have convinced him to be tested.

His grandfather was born to his 15 year old unwed great grandmother, and the child’s father has never been disclosed…I told him that mystery just might be solved thru dna.

Also talked with him of HistoriCorps, which he thinks sounds fascinating.

Lily had her dog food, of course, and when by 4pm my rig was still not close to being done and we were obviously going to spend the night here, I got carry out from the restaurant next door…lasagna, tho nothing like what we make at home, it came with a nice salad and filled my tummy.

A looooong day waiting for repairs to be completed, but I am so grateful they squeezed us in and got it done.

On into West Virginia in the morning, then heading west toward home.

Maggie

[mimiandrews]

Glad you got the water pump fixed. When those things fail, engine temps can climb high enough to do major damage very quickly. Much better a day in the shop than stranded on the side of the road and an engine replacement.

Have a good trip home.

[Lily&Me]

Hi, Mimi, and you are absolutely right.

We spent a relatively peaceful night backed up to this field in the far reaches of the dealership…where there is an awful lot of activity during the hours this place is closed.

Up and out early, soon to be in West Virginia where we will spend the night somewhere near New River Gorge.

Heavy rain last night, some again today, but it’s now clear and rain-free.

[Lily&Me]

We had a beautiful, early morning drive on US 64 this morning, thru low hanging clouds and around the area in Greenbrier/Pocahontas County where my maternal grandmother was born and raised.

Graduated high school in Ronceverte, WVa, went to nursing school in Charleston, then joining the US medical corps heading to France to treat WWI’s wounded.

Along the way, meeting my surgeon grandfather, also stationed in the hospitals in France, they marrying after the war and settling in his home state of Mississippi.

A beautiful, beautiful state is West Virginia.


We were on the road at 6:30 again this morning, tho I took the time to brew a small pot of percolated coffee…which just seems more civilized than Starbucks instant, morning after morning.

The Starbucks is good, but the percolated was much better.

I haven’t stayed in a campground since we left NY Tuesday morning, as why pay the price when I have no power cord , but I want a small bit of luxury so we are in a little public one for tonight so I can have a good scrub, empty tanks, et al.

A tent site, overlooking a small lake, shady and breezy and all that we need for one night.

Lily is tired of driving, tho she knows we are in our way home.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Yesterday morning we woke up in West Virginia, and today we are home.

Unlike my usual routes, we took major highways and, once out of WVa, made very good time.

It is in the mid-80’s here, and I have not missed the heat.

Ground is very dry, doesn’t look like there’s been rain here for quite awhile.

My son and his will be over for lunch tomorrow…Grandma will order pizza, bake some cookies and hug her grand babies.

Laundry is running, mail is sorted and in it I found this very sweet thank you note from that wonderful group of young people from Northern Bedrock that I worked at Forest Lodge.

I was kind to them and supportive of their unrelenting roofing work with temps in the 90’s…not unusually so I didn’t think, but they apparently appreciated it a lot.

It’s been a very good summer, new frig door and water pump notwithstanding…all part of the privilege of travel.

But, nice to be home.

[Lily&Me]

In and amongst getting home, emptying the Interstate, doing laundry, resolving the huge mess in the little house that all this creates, etc….it has not been lost on me that this year is the 20th anniversary of 9/11.

I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I first heard the news.

I watched the twin towers fall on live TV, and became saturated with the horror of it all over the coming hours, days, weeks, months and years.

At some point in the first year or so after, I bought a large photo book memorializing these events.

Which I wrapped carefully and put in a back closet, for posterity.

I couldn’t open it and look at it then, I can’t do so now, nor can I open a single news article lately that purports to show the most important photos of that event.

I don’t need the photos, as I watched it all on live television and read it in my newspaper…it is all indelibly seared into my mind.

We protect ourselves from re-experiencing trauma by avoidance of reminders.

A natural human response to overwhelming events, and it’s okay.

May those lost Rest In Peace.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Yesterday morning I wrestled off all of the seat covers for the Interstate’s driver and passenger seats, plus removed the cab commander, back seat organizer and rose-covered carry bags I use for dog items and other small storage off the passenger seat…emptied all the bags out and threw them with the seat covers into my front-loader washing machine.

They washed up amazingly well…that cab commander rode in my passenger seat the last few years I worked for the state, carrying forms, diapers of various sizes and other caseworker necessities, and is now about 17 years old…then were dried in the sun, bag contents sorted/re-organized/re-packed, and are ready to go back out there this morning.

While they were washing, hauled my vacuum to the driveway and went over everything thoroughly…it needed to be done.


Found cookie dough made in June stashed in my freezer, so got a pan of those baked before my son and his came for lunch…pizza delivery equals large quantities of food made easy, as those three teenagers are like feeding a horde of locusts.

Three teens at the high school for them this year, Caleb now so tall that he has to bend slightly to rest his chin on the top of Grandma’s head.

Where or where have the years gone…seems like just a few years ago that we packed their stair-step, toddler selves into the Interstate to travel to Edisto Beach for a week…all very much time well spent, as Doug would say.


And, a loaf of bread rising on my counter.

It’s good to be home.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

Baking a loaf of bread is my “I’m home” ritual.

Back in the day, moving into a new place required a batch of bread to kind of make it ours…but, 36 years in the little house this year.

I wanted a loaf of rye bread, which just sounded good…the usual no-knead recipe, one cup of unbleached white flour swapped out for a cup of good rye or pumpernickel, and add 2 tablespoons of caraway seed.

Yum.

As I’ve said before, it is near-impossible to ruin this bread, and today’s loaf is a perfect example.

I forgot I had this dough down for the second rise, so it went about 2 1/2 hours on the counter before I remembered and turned on the oven to preheat.

So, it over-rose a bit and spread more than usual, but still looks pretty darned good.

[Lily&Me]

A downside to an extended trip away from the little house during the growing season is that I return to all kinds of growth of all manner of unwanted things that must then be pulled or cut back.

Finally got started on that this morning…little oak trees 12”-15” high in the beds around the house, clumps of low-growth somethings and these tall things that look like milkweed.

And then, there’s the English ivy I thought would never fill my beds as groundcover but now must be cut back several times a year.

The ivy growing on the trellis on the front porch had the hedge trimmer taken to it this morning, both sides…and I haven’t touched the back yet.

All of my dense yews and other shrubs need a good cutting back for fall, and my son is going to bring the boys over to help their Grandma with that.

I could do it myself, but an extra couple pairs of hands will be much better, and it is good for the boys to help with those things.


Went into my nearby Walgreens yesterday morning and got a Covid booster as well as the flu vaccine. Have had minimal side effects, important to do what you can.


Taking the Interstate in for service in the morning, having gotten everything cleaned, vacuumed and washed out there.

I keep it pretty clean, really, but am always impressed with especially what comes up in a scrub of the floor with a soft brush when I get home…where does all that dirt come from?!


My son was here for lunch today, our Wednesday routine most weeks when I am home. All three of their kids are at the high school this year, and just listening to him talk the managing of their individual needs sounds exhausting.

They are really good kids, but that is a busy household.

I’m the Grandma, I’ve had my turn in that barrel.

It was a wonderful summer, and for that I am grateful, but it is really good to be home.

Maggie

[Lily&Me]

The Interstate has been serviced, serpentine belt replaced and had its final trip to Blue Beacon for the season.

They do such a good job, for a very modest sum, and it is worth every penny.

A little detailing needing tending to, and it will be done.

I’m not quite ready to winterize, as a few days out in the fall are floating about my mind…maybe a trip north to see my sister in law and a stop at the Woodmans in Rockford.


And, have decided to make a trip back to my daughters in the Toyota in the next 6-8 weeks, so that we can have a better visit without Lily in tow …and so I can bring back my Nana’s trunk to my son and his here.

Earmarked for my son when they picked it up from my cousin in Maine a couple of years back, but tho small considering it held most of a young woman’s worldly possessions, it is too big for it to ride safely in the Interstate.

And, too fragile to ship.

But, the back of the Toyota should be the perfect ride to Illinois.

What a remarkable journey she made 115 years ago…across the ocean from Denmark by herself to reunite with her fiancé already here, then to carve out a new life with him on Long Island where they raised 4 children.

Both of them domestic servants in Copenhagen before they emigrated, he made a living for them here as a carpenter and they had their own home.

[Lily&Me]

I finally spent the time this morning figuring out how to save pictures of the lighthouse project from Cluster.

I didn’t take many myself, so had to rely on those posted by others…which required downloading a Clipboard app to save them to, then to my Photos.

They are very clear on Cluster, not so much the saved versions, but it’s what I have.

We did a lot of paint removal, mixing of mortar, and repairing the stone walls surrounding this lighthouse.

[tallytwo1994]

Originally Posted by Lily&Me

They are very clear on Cluster, not so much the saved versions, but it’s what I have.

Maggie,

Have you tried taking a screen shot from the photos on Cluster? It’s been my experience that if a photo appears clear on my iPad, it appears clear and of good quality when I take a screen shot.

I’ve been following your adventures and several times I’ve composed a response only to loose it before posting. 🤷*♀️ I read your posts from my yahoo email on the mobile app. Unfortunately, mobile apps constantly reset when you temporarily bring up something else. This drives me crazy. I really need to read some things on my computer.

Anyway, your travels and work with HistoriCorps has intrigued me over the last several years and it is something I must look into seriously.

Take care,
Carol

[Lily&Me]

You’re absolutely right, Carol!

A screenshot is crystal clear, tho I had to first Google how to do it.

Thank you for that tip.

I’m only going to duplicate here this one of me using this power mixer, so you can see the expression on my face.

I’ve never used a jackhammer, but this is what I’d imagine it was like.

It took all of my strength and focus to keep that thing in the bucket of mortar.

I have really enjoyed HistoriCorps…for the purposeful travel to beautiful spots it provides, the opportunity to make a contribution/be a part of something worthwhile, meet interesting people from all over the country, learn new skills, etc., etc., etc.

It’s a very good, very well run organization, from my experience the past now 4 summers.

These projects have filled a need for my aging, widowed self.

[Lily&Me]

And I’ll add this picture of John and Erin, project supervisor and crew leader at the lighthouse and in the white hats, along with sweet Eric-the-archeologist from the Forest Service, who made me the beautiful spoon from plum wood.

[Lily&Me]

And, you know, i read something this summer about how travel is good for the aging brain.

When you travel, you are having different experiences in different locations, adapting to changes large and small, etc.

Lots of good reasons to keep going til I can go no more, and I like to think I have some years left.

Maggie