Home from Little Pine SP

[tlhdoc]

I am guessing that I am the first one to get home from Little Pine State Park today.  It was a great trip, even though we did get a little rain on Saturday night at dinner time.  We were getting ready eat the HUGE buffet that Paula prepared for us,when it started to rain.  Paula was back at camp slaving away making food for us, while we were out eating ice cream for lunch.  DiW and Paula each had a shelter so we set them up and threw my tarp over the top of them and had a plenty of room for our feast.  It was a wonderful meal.  I felt kind of guilty that Paula made almost all of the food, but not so guilty that I couldn't eat .  I winterized my water system before popping down   , and feel kind of sad.  This may have been my last trip of the year.  

We are talking about going to Gettysburg the first weekend in November, and maybe Pine Grove KOA later in November if the weather cooperates.  

[debbiedee1957]

Glad to hear you had a good time..  You were in my thoughts, I was "J" thinking of you guys camping...but I did get a lot of what I need to do done around here.  How cooooold did it get?

[tlhdoc]

I never ran my furnace. :eyecrazy:

[HersheyGirl]

We got home in about 2hours and 45 minutes.  Traffic was much better.  When I got home and walked into the house, DH and DD were standing over Kiwi and DD was crying......Kiwi is sick, I think that she has a urinary tract infection and her hind legs were not working.  She had some accidents today but was running around earlier this morning.  Called the vet, answering machine....called DH's sister who is a vet, no answer, so I started her on antibiotics myself and await the calls.  She, Kiwi, is a little better now, can walk but is very slow.  I will stay with her tonight.  I hope she will be OK.
We had a great time and I will let you all know about Gettysburg.

[tlhdoc]

We got home in about 2hours and 45 minutes.  Traffic was much better.  When I got home and walked into the house, DH and DD were standing over Kiwi and DD was crying......Kiwi is sick, I think that she has a urinary tract infection and her hind legs were not working.  She had some accidents today but was running around earlier this morning.  Called the vet, answering machine....called DH's sister who is a vet, no answer, so I started her on antibiotics myself and await the calls.  She, Kiwi, is a little better now, can walk but is very slow.  I will stay with her tonight.  I hope she will be OK.
We had a great time and I will let you all know about Gettysburg.

I am sorry to hear about Kiwi.  I hope she recovers.

[tlhdoc]

Oh Rick I forgot to post that we had a really big fire Saturday night and the kids put three of the fire sticks in it.  MTNDAVE was camping down the hill from the rest of us and commented on our fire.  We also had some large flashes of fire, thanks to our fire bugs. :yikes:

[DiW]

Kels and I got home around 7:15 (about a 3 3/4 hr trip). We drove by the apple festival but didn't bother stopping. Had to detour off Rt 80 twice due to bumper 2 bumper traffic (probably construction delays). All in all, not a bad drive - finished hearing "The Giver" on tape.

Thanks everyone for a great time; we didn't want to leave. The food was great (exp Paula's dinner) and so was the company. Didn't get much time to talk at Hickory Run so this was a nice chance to catch up with everyone, esp MtnDave and Lee. Special thanks to Tracy for her hospitality, putting us up for the night.

Beckie, so sorry to hear about Kiwi. Hope the situation improves. Michael, what a huge help you were. I swear you could have moved that table by yourself.

Diane

[SheBantam]

I'm home,  took almost  exactly 6 hours. I80 was bumper to bumper. I really think everyone has it out for me, they send me down (acreoss) I 80.Going I get stuck in an hour back up because a truck driver decided to turn his rig over ahead of me, and when I get there, they block all the traffic to clean it up.  

Then these guys had it out for me Frday night, they made me worrie about them. I got in on Thursday, Dave and Sharon came in on Friday afternoon, these guys waited until after 9:30 and picked out a campground that I had to drive about 15 miles to get a cell phone signal to call home. Then on Saturday, while I was out calling home, they decided to leave me (I think they thought I was going to try to find the new Walmart Supercenter that the lady at the cmpground office told me they recently opened near by...I fooled them, I came right back)...well I made them pay dearly for leaving me behind...I fixed a pot roast with carrots and onions in the DO on the fire, then peeled 5 lbs of taters and made REAL mashed potatoes and lima beans, Lee made me/us wait to eat while he prepared his Rice/sausage/onions and pepper special. I was so busy cooking and cleaning the mess I made I never got to get my kayak out and inflate it. That way Lee could not see me paddling my heart out,and it was just too darned cold to maybe turn over in that lake...

Then on the way home, I started off the way they told me to go. After sitting in traffic on I 80 for about 30 minutes and NOT knowing the way around it, I got off on I 81 to I 83 to 283 to US 30 to PA/DE 41 to home.

Got caught in 2 more construction sites in my last 35 miles (right at GAP PA and then as I entered DE).  I really think these characters like making me sit in traffic and wait on them (but I would not have it any other way)...Next time guy and gals, it will be pork and saurkraut and Mashed potatoes, just like the German Army makes it (and Raymond says that is a good thing and the kids love it when I make it here at home)

Now go ahead and talk about me, I am going to go to bed and for the first time this weekend, have someone to snuggle to to keep my feet warm.

[HersheyGirl]

Hey Paula,  glad that you made it home...sorry about the traffic, yuck!  But Paula, you are one Great cook.  I really enjoyed your meal that you made for us and that hash on Sunday morning was wonderful.  DD said that the eggs that you made at Hickery Run were out of this world.  Thank you for all that you did for us.  Hope that you are feeling better and that your feet are now warm.

[SheBantam]

Should have stayed,I would not have made it home today, have barely gotten out of bed, no the feet will not get warm, but the head is burning up.  Raymond ate the pork chops and rice left over from Friday, he was glad to have a home cooked meal, even if it was left overs.

Becky, tell Diana that the secret is Hellmans, spicy brown mustard,pickle relish and lemon pepper salt,topped with paparika, had to think about what eggs as we did not share breakfast, but then I remembered...

Why should I have stayed???The police just picked up Jeffrey, they had dogs and all looking for him, he threatened to kill himself, his counselor told us to call the police and have him taken to the hospital so he could not hurt himself...that is how he says "happy birthday mom". He told thepolice, AFTER they caught him after chasing himacross the highway, that he had hid in thon the shelf  of his closet until we left the room.then he opened the bedroom window that he had taken the screen out of earlier in the summer, climbed out and hung there then dropped. :yikes: rAymond just left and followed the police officer to the hospital.  See, I should ahve let you consirators conspire and talked me into another day, but then it would have been two or three days, and I would have been out there not knowing all this heck was breaking loose because I could not have gotten a cell phone signal so no one could have let me know, then I may have been cold AND sick, but oblivious to everything happening at home...I will probably be home tomorrow due to mental and physical ails.  :screwy:

If you e-mail me tomorrow, I will have his patient number, which mental facility he is in and the phone number so you can verify this, right now they are headibng the CHristiana Hospital Emergency for a referal, as all the beds are full in the local adolecent facilities.  :eyecrazy:

[tlhdoc]

Paula I am sorry to hear this.  I hope things calm down for you.

[DiW]

Paula,
So sorry to hear this news. Glad to hear that Jeffrey is getting some help. This could be a start to getting him back on track. Hang in there. Hopefully next year's birthday will bring lots of happiness.
Diane

[MTNDAVE]

We made it home.  Got back this evening.  Used every last min. of campsite time and tremendous weather.
 
Sorry we didn't spend more time with the group and for that I must apologize,  Our 1st time camping guests were a little shy and required a bit of attention but they did enjoy themselves.
 
Wow.... So much to read about.  
 
Paula,  so sorry to hear of your trouble getting home and what you came home to.  As was already expressed, we hope the best for you.  Also shake that bug and get better.
 
Beckie,  I'm sure you will do a fine job of bringing Kiwi back to good health.
 
Glad to hear everybody made it back in one piece.  It was great seeing you all.
 
Tracy, I know you WILL camp again this year.
 
Anybody heard from Lee?
 
It was obvious that the FEAST of Saturday nite was grandious.  I did slip in a taste or two of the leftovers and commend the cooks for a job well done.  
 
Wish I would have had some time to show you all some of the secret treasures of the area but alas the weekend was short and we were pre-occupied.  Next time .....
 
We went to the Parks Fall Festival on Sunday afternoon.  It amazed me how just 2 weeks ago everything was underwater and now they were having a festival.  Sharon spent quite a bit of time at the Audobon Society stand and was able to get them to reveal the secret location of the Bald Eagle nest along the upper lake area.  There were quite a few interesting stands and exibits, including LIVE rattle snakes.  They were also offering kayak lessons.  Brrrrr !!!!!
 
After the festival we rode up Route 4001 thru the flooded area.  Devestation was everywhere for miles and the road was just passable in some areas.  We thought we would take a chance and see if we could make it up to Blackwell and get in for that Geman Octoberfest dinner.  We were lucky to hit a momentary lull and got a table.  Beer, Schnitzel and the sunset over the mountains were perfect.
 
When we got back Sunday evening we discovered only about 15 campsite were in use and none near us.  Boy, was it dark.  
 
Monday we hit the bike trail again covering about 15 miles of the upper trail and then took a scenic drive.  Saw lots of birds and several Bald Eagles in flight.  
 
Came back to campground to discover only 7 sites in use and none in our loop.  All the other campers were out near the gate.  Had a grey fox run right in front of us on one of our potty trips.
 
We got up early this morning had breakfast and got packed up early.  Left the camper sit and took a drive up into the Black Forest area and drove some off the beat forest roads.  Took one dirt road that dead ended at a lookout point about 2,000 ft. above Pine Creek.  You could see forever and we could actually see where we had rode the day before.  While there several hawks and Eagles flew close by at eye level for a grand finale to our long weekend.
 
When we left the campground at 3:00pm there were only 3 campsite left in use and one of them appeared to be packing up to go.  BTW, this campground stays open till Dec.  
 
This has become a favorite destination for Sharon and I and we hope you enjoyed it as well.

[HersheyGirl]

Kiwi is better today.  The home vet called yesterday and thinks that she just may have a bad infestation of ear mites that she can't fight off.  On Monday, she suffered several seizers, a really big one on Monday night, and so he think that the mites are causing it.  She had mites this summer and was treated.  The poor old cat is 18 years old and has some kidney damage, so she is not in the best of health, but she is still doing well,  considering her age.  She was in a big cat fight a couple of sundays ago with another cat that came on her property....so go figure.  I have continued giving her antibiotics and now ear drops and did give some potassium( sister in law vet suggested that) and she is pretty much back to her old self and no seizures in over 24 hours.  She has been such a great companion to me these past 18 years...she has done a good job of helping me raise these kids of mine.

[SheBantam]

I am going to work in a little while,as I e-mailed some of you that Jeffrey was not admitted, He admitted to lying to get us upset (and it worked). I e-mailed his probation office, his supervisor, my administrrators and his social worker, I am getting results, finally. The PO is going to get Jeffrey around 10:00, that is why I am still home and revoke his probation for 2 to 4 weeks. They will make sure he goes to school.  He is promising he won't miss a day if he can stay here at home (yeah right we ahve heard this before), he also says he is too sick to go, he has something going on with his stomach (I think it may be self induced to make us feelsorry for him). I told him the detention center has an infirmory...

Things will get better, Raymond was all huggy this AM (almost as much when I first came home), we are still eating the leftovers I found the empty pan on the counter this AM, gets washed and oput back into the camper.

Dave said that they were giving kayak lessons...I had mine out of the camper, all I had to do was blow it up, but I could not get Lee out there,so I decided I better stay put too. Water was just a little too cold for me, aswas the air. I think my feet got warm for the first time last night, I was running about 3 hot bathes a day to stay warm (heater in the house is on and running, I just have not able to get warm.