The Great RV Adventure -- Part 4

Driving through Pennsylvania, Lori noticed that a lot of the old farmhouses had two front doors. “Why is that?” Lori asked.

If you were to Google, “Why did houses in PA have two front doors?” you would discover there are many theories. Symmetry, ventilation, formal versus every day and room rentals seem to be the top four.

I grew up with only one theory and that was the formal versus everyday one.

“There were many German immigrants in this part of the country,” Momma told Lori, “and they had a formal parlor they used for company.” That always made sense to me because if their home was anything like my home, we lived in our home, aka not always company ready.

“How do they know which door to use?” Lori asked and that was a great question. One I never thought to ask.

“It’s always on the left.” Don’t I have the smartest mama in the whole wide world!

Our campground was in York and to get there we had to pass by my old stomping grounds, so to speak. This was my view as we were coming into Columbia and yes, that is the Susquehanna River in the background.

We get on the new bridge which is the Wright’s Ferry Bridge and off to my left, I see the old bridge.

THE BRIDGE!

The bridge of many dreams and a few nightmares for one little girl I used to know.

The Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge actually has a fascinating history.

This is the fifth incarnation, opened in 1930 and a toll of 25 cents per vehicle (equal to $3.53 today) was charged. Tolls ended in 1943 when the bond issue was retired.

Although officially named the Veterans Memorial Bridge in 1980, it will never be anything other than the Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge to the locals.

The first bridge was a covered bridge and was destroyed by ice, high water, and severe weather in 1832. Bridge two was also a covered bridge and at over 5,600 feet in length, both of the first two bridges were considered to be the longest covered bridges in the world at the time. The second bridge was burned in 1863 to prevent the advancement of the Confederate troops.

Sometime during the mid 1800’s, they added a double-track railway to the bridge but because of the risk of fire from the locomotives, teams of mules or horses pulled the rail cars across the bridge.

Bridge three was destroyed by a hurricane in 1896.

Bridge four was an iron bridge designed to be resistant to fire, ice, water and wind, elements that had destroyed the previous wooden bridges. They also considered it incomplete because they never finished a planned upper deck. The “Iron Bridge” was dismantled for scrap in 1963.

All of these bridges were toll bridges.

Another tidbit of history here is on a more personal level. My father’s great-grandfather was a ferry master on one of the incarnations. Pennsylvania is an old state, rich in history and was a great place to grow up. Thanks to school field trips I’ve seen historic battlefields, the nations capitol and some of the best museums on the east coast.

Another landmark in this part of the country is the Haines Shoe House, built by a shoemaker as part of an advertising scheme.

This view, as we drove down the new Route 30, is the backside. The front has stained glass windows with shoes in them.

We found our campground with no trouble at all.

The Ben Franklin RV Park used to be a mobile home park and they are getting rid of the mobile homes. When Mike and I stayed in this park in 2010 they had a lot more mobile homes than they do now.

This park has been a family run business for a lot of years and Ben Franklin III is now running it.

I took Momma out for a stroll around the park and we saw a really beautiful bench. Except for the legs, it looks like it’s made from one burl. (A burl is a growth or knot on a tree.)

This park is also making a huge fountain at the entryway into the park. It isn’t done yet, but they had eagles on top, frogs on lily pads under palm trees and a gorilla in a cave. I pushed Momma across the gravel and grass and had her sit on one of the big rocks as I took her photo with the gorilla behind her.

No, Momma doesn’t have horns, we had a bit of a breeze that day.

Our itinerary called for us to spend this night, Thursday, and Friday night in this park before continuing our trip. We were to see my brother Charles and his family the next afternoon.

“Has anyone called the girls?” I asked Momma referring to my nieces, her granddaughters, who live in the area.

“I don’t know,” she replied.

“Would you like to see the girls if I let them know we’re here?”

“If they would come,” Momma says in that way that she has.

“Wait a second, Peg!” you exclaim. “What about your nephews?”

My brothers Richard and John, fathers of the nieces in that area, only had girls. Charles has one son but he was away and wouldn’t be coming. I got on Facebook and told the girls about a picnic we were planning. It would be held in a little park across the road from where Charles lives and it would be the next day. I know it was short notice and I didn’t know if they would come, but I would invite them.

Momma and I passed the rest of the evening playing Skip-Bo, a card game. Gosh, I love that game. Have I ever told you that? And I was grateful that Momma would play it with me. I only hoped that she would enjoy it too and I was delighted that she quickly became as addicted to the game as I was!

“What about Lori?” you wonder.

Lori isn’t into playing games all that much and was perfectly happy to return phone calls or emails that she had missed while driving that day.

Friday found us waking up and getting ready for the picnic. Over our morning coffee, Lori and I made a list of supplies we would need for the picnic and Wal Mart was right on the way. It wouldn’t be any big deal to pull in and get the supplies we needed on our way down to Wrightsville.

By now our stirrings and quiet conversation had roused Momma from her sleep. “Peggy,” she called.

“Are you ready to get up?” I called back as I got up and set my coffee cup on the table.

“Yes.”

While Momma was still laying down I got her compression socks on her, then she sat up. “Get me a washrag, would you?” she asked.

“Absolutely,” I said as I went to do her bidding, returning a few minutes later with a nice cold face cloth.

“Why didn’t you get her a warm one?” you ask.

The electric water heater in the RV didn’t seem to be working so we were making do; turning on the gas heater when we expected we would need hot water, like for dishes.

“And showers, Peg. You forgot to say showers.”

Boy, oh, boy! You guys are sharp! I can’t get anything past you! Nope, I didn’t forget to say showers, our shower was full of Momma’s houseplants. Here’s the deal.

My oldest and much-adored sister Patti knew that Momma had houseplants. The planner and problem solver in her had provided us with two nice heavy black plastic containers that could hold all of Momma’s plants, safe and secure for the trip.

“Just set them in here, put water in the bottom, put them in the cargo hold and forget them,” Patti told me. “They’ll be fine.”

When it came time to move Momma’s houseplants from the apartment to the RV, Lori had a few concerns. “They won’t get light for two weeks,” she said. “And it’s too cold for them in the cargo hold. But where else can we put them?”

“How about the shower? We can water them right there, there’s a skylight and they won’t get too cold.”

“Where will we shower?” Lori asked.

“We are in campgrounds every night and they all have showers,” I told her. And between you and me, RV showers are a bit of a pain in the arse. You have to be careful about filling your tanks so they have a water saver button on them that allows you wet yourself down, stop the water, soap up, start the water and rinse off. And the shower in the RV is small and so is the bathroom which made drying off and dressing a bit of a challenge too.

“How small was it?” you ask.

It was so small that you had to open the door to turn around! Maybe a slight exaggeration, but not by much, let me tell you!

When I came back I warned Momma, “It’s cold.”

“Wow,” she exclaimed as I touched it to her face, “that’ll wake you up.”

Face washed I helped her dress. Momma doesn’t move all that fast anymore so while she sat there catching her breath after the exertion of dressing, I went to the kitchen, got her morning cup o’joe and had it waiting at the table by the time she got there. She usually does her morning nebulizer before she eats so I settled with my coffee for a bit until she was ready for me to get her breakfast.

“What’s a nebulizer?” you ask.

That’s a good question. A nebulizer is a drug delivery device used to administer medication in the form of a mist inhaled into the lungs.

An hour or so later, meds done, breakfast eaten, kitchen cleaned up, three cups of coffee under my belt, it was time to pack up and head out for the day.

If you are traveling in an RV, it’s not as easy as saying, “Let’s go,” and you go. There are things that have to be done in preparation for the trip. Our RV has a room slide that when extended gives you lots more room while parked. Before bringing it back in we need to make sure there was nothing in the way to impede the slide. Anything that could fall over or fall off had to be stowed. Then I unplugged the hoses and cables and put them away as Momma got settled in her seat and Lori warmed the engine. Then we could go. It’s a process you know.

Five minutes down the road we pulled into the Wal Mart. Lori parked in the back of the lot where we would be out of everyone’s way and she went in to pick up the supplies.

“Momma, you wanna play a game of Skip-Bo?” I asked her.

“Is there time?” she answered my question with a question.

It takes about half an hour for two people to complete a game with thirty cards in your stockpile. “We can play a short game,” I suggested.

“Okay,” she said and started making room at the table.

I got the cards out and dealt us a hand with ten in our stockpile and we played it through and Lori wasn’t back.

“Again?” I asked.

Momma laughed. “Sure.”

I shuffled and dealt again. As a matter of fact, I’m always the shuffler and the dealer. There are 162 cards in a Skip-Bo deck and that is way more cards than Momma’s delicate little hands can hold.

“You go first this time,” she said.

Traditionally the dealer goes last but honestly, I don’t care. I’m just glad she plays with me. “I’ll tell you what. Whoever has the lowest card on their stockpile goes first. How’s that sound?”

“Okay,” she agreed and that’s how we played it from then on.

We didn’t finish the game before I saw Lori coming across the parking lot with a cart full of picnic supplies. I gathered up the game and put it away and was waiting at the door by the time Lori got there. She handed the bags in to me and I set things around until she had the cart unloaded. While Lori returned the cart I tried to find a place to put all this stuff. What a challenge!

Oh. Wait. I didn’t tell you, did I?

“Tell me what?” you ask.

I didn’t tell you about my funny Momma. Part of packing Momma out of her apartment was cleaning out her refrigerator. In her fridge, besides her everyday stuff, she had eighteen one-pound packages of the best double smoked Lebanon baloney in the world!

“Eighteen?”

Yep, you read that right, eighteen. But in Momma’s defense, she didn’t know she could order it from the internet and have it delivered right to her door. I think she thought once she left Pennsylvania that she would never be able to get it again.

Guess what else?

“What?”

Double smoked sweet Lebanon bologna is so good, no matter what you do with it. Straight out of the package, roll it up and eat it. Slap it on two slices of bread with a little mayo, with or without lettuce. You can even fry it!

I remember when I was a little girl, my dad was out plowing the snow from our long-ass driveway and had been out all morning. Momma made him a couple of sandwiches for lunch and asked me to take them to him. She made him toast with sweet bologna and mayo, his favorite way of eating it, and a thermos of hot coffee. And I always think of my dad when I eat mine that way.

Then, my brilliant mother introduced me to cream cheese wrapped Lebanon bologna.

OMG! I was a goner! It is so good! I think the ratio is one package bologna to one package cream cheese and I could polish off one by myself if I wasn’t careful. Sometimes, with some things, I have no off switch, you know what I mean. And it’s been my new favorite every since then. Although, I still have to have it on toast sometimes just for my dad.

But anyway, Lori came back from returning the cart to the cart corral and came in only to find that I had very little accomplished!

“I don’t know what to do with all this stuff!” I was overwhelmed.

Lori, the Queen of Packing, jumped right in and took over rearranging and putting the cold things into the refrigerator. It’s just amazing what that woman can do! Where I saw no room, no hope of fitting it all in, she saw endless possibilities! And anything that didn’t need to go in the fridge was just stowed off to the side. We would need it when we got down to Wrightsville.

Everyone got back into their seats and we headed down to the picnic. On the way, I got a text message from Bambi, my cute little redheaded niece.

“Momma! Bambi and Taysha are there!”

“Oh really!” Momma said and her face just lit up!

Coming down into Wrightsville on the old Route 30 I’m waiting and watching for the old bridge to come into view and as soon as it does I snap a photo of it.

This section of road right here reminds me of my brother Michael. He once told me that as he was coming up the hill and had the sunset in the windshield and the bridge in the rear view mirror that it made a really pretty photo.

We drive down under the concrete arches of the bridge and just on the other side, we see people standing on the sidewalk waving at us.

“Is that them?” Lori asked.

“I bet it is,” I answered but I haven’t seen them in five years.

The park was on the other side of the road and Lori made a left-hand turn and we drove down into the park and found a spot that suited us.

The wind, in mid-May in Pennsylvania still had a little nip to it so Lori turned the RV around and we used it as a giant wind block.

My brother Charles is a bachelor living in a full house. Besides his son Eric, there is Eric’s wife Jasmine, (Jazzi for short) Jasmine’s mother Debby and the girls Destini and Jaiyden. Eric Jr., just four months old, was born with CHARGE syndrome and still in the hospital. Since their house is just across the road from the park they walked down the hill.

“Where’s Charles?” I heard Momma ask Jasmine.

“He had to go to work. In fact, you only missed him by five minutes.”

I knew Momma was disappointed that she wouldn’t get to see her fourth born child but if there is anything my family understands, it’s work.

Just about this time I see two beautiful ladies come walking across the grass and recognize sisters Bambi and Taysha along with their kids. Lori and I set out the picnic lunch and everyone settles with a plate of food and I, of course, do what I do. Take pictures.

I’ll tell you what! We have some good looking kids in our family!

Bambi brought the family dog, Honda along and I have no idea if he is allowed scraps from the table or not but when no one was looking, I gave him pieces from my sandwich. I couldn’t help it. I love dogs.

The kids were excited to see a mama duck and her babies swimming in the canal beside the river so we all went down to see them.

During the course of play, the girls found a treasure stuck in the crook of a tree. When they opened the container it had rolled up pieces of paper and some small trinket inside. The paper had a list of names as well as instructions on what to do. You were supposed to keep the treasure and replace it with something of your own, add your name to the list, re-hide the container and post a clue to where it was on a web site especially devoted to this game. The girls had a great time trying to figure out what to put in and their mom helped them hide it in the crook of a different tree.

At some point during the afternoon, I ended up with the baby Bram in my arms. I think Bambi went with the older boy Russell (Russe for short) down to the river’s edge. She left Bram content in his stroller and asked Taysha to mind him for a few minutes. Lori and I and Jazzi’s girls all went to coo over the baby and Bambi, good mother that she is had a sun hat on Bram. He was in his stroller, in the shade and I wanted to see his beautiful hair, so I took his hat off.

Look at all that gorgeous dark hair on this three-month-old, would ya!

Bram started to fuss and Taysha came and picked him up. Bram, being familiar with his aunt, quieted as soon as he was in her arms. We were sitting around chatting when E.J., Taysha’s little girl, needed help and it was at this point that I ended up with the baby.

Bram wasn’t happy with me. I don’t mind holding babies as long as they are happy to be held by me. Once they start crying - that’s it - I’m done! Been there, done that, and don’t have to do it no more. As soon as I could I gave him back to Taysha and once again he quieted.

After a bit, Bambi comes back. “Taysha, why’d you take his hat off?”

“I didn’t take it off,” Taysha defended herself. “He didn’t have one on.”

“Yes, he did. What did you do with it?”

“I didn’t take it off!”

Okay, at this point I’m thinking I goofed taking his hat off and I listen to the girls banter back and forth for a while before I owned up.

“I took it off Bambi,” I said.

“Oh.”

“But I’m happy to let Taysha take the blame.”

“Gee thanks, Aunt Peg!” Taysha said and we all laughed.

“We do have to get going pretty soon though because I have to go to work,” Taysha said.

“Okay. Well, let’s get a family picture first.”

“Peg, who’s the other little girl in the picture?” you ask.

I’m sorry to say that I don’t remember her name but she is a cousin to Destini and Jaiyden. Debby, Jazzi’s mom is grandmother to all the girls and had her for a few hours this day while her parents were at work. I could have edited her out of the photo but I didn’t feel right about doing that.

“Is she wearing a turban?”

Yeah, I can’t get anything past you guys. This was a school day for the girls but Jazzi wanted the girls to see their great grandmother for what could very well be the last time so she took them out of school in time for the picnic. The cousin was sent home for lice, hence the turban also known as a lice restraining device. Does that even work? I don’t know but that is how she was sent home.

Boy! I’ll tell you what! I sure don’t miss those days. My kids brought lice home from school once. What a pain that is to deal with.

After Bambi and Taysha said their goodbye’s and gave hugs all around and things started to quiet down a bit, I heard Momma call me from where I was sitting on a blanket in the grass. “Peggy!”

I jumped up and went over to where she had been talking with Jazzi. “What?”

“Where’s that box?”

“What box?”

“The box Rosemary sent.” Then I remembered and went to get it. I found it stowed in the back bay of the RV and brought it around to where she was sitting.

“This is from Rosemary,” Momma said to Jazzi pointing at the box.

Rosemary’s friend Linda works for a thrift store and when they hear of a family in need, they find out the sizes and make them a box. And since we were on our way to see Jasmine and the girls we saved Rosemary from having to mail the box down to them.

Jasmine opened the box and started pulling items out and it was just like Christmas! There were new shoes!

And the clothes were very nice, very gently used and very current in style. The girls loved everything and ooh’ed and aah’ed with each piece that was pulled out.

“That will fit me!”

“I want that one!”

Debby helped to sort out the clothes into a couple of piles and the girls were so excited they wanted to go and try things on right now!

Even baby Eric received gifts among which was one of Rosemary’s beautiful homemade baby quilts.

And then there were a lot of brand new things an angel named Rosemary purchased and put in the box too. Fun things for the kids like bubble wands and new sunglasses in blue and pink. The girls were very good about who got what color. In fact, it seemed as if each girl got the very color they wanted. There were girlie things like headbands and hair bows and Disney character Frozen earrings that stick on! How cool is that!

My phone rang.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Where’re you at?” It was my brother Paul.

“We’re in Wrightsville, where are you?”
“At your campground in York. I thought we were supposed to meet you here.”
“Oh. Well, we are having a picnic in the park across from Charles’s house, why don’t you come down here?”

It didn’t take long for Paul to make the thirteen mile trip from York to Wrightsville and Momma’s face lit up when a door opened...

...and out stepped a handsome young man, Paul’s son. “It’s Bradley!” Momma exclaimed.

More doors open and out come her two youngest sons. “And Paul and John!” Then a pretty young woman steps out. “And that must be Eunice,” Momma said. They crossed to where we sat waiting for them.

“Mom, this is Eunice,” John introduced his new wife.

“Hello Eunice,” Momma said.

Eunice smiled and greeted Momma with a hug.

“This is Lori, Patti’s girlfriend," we introduced Lori to the newly arrived family members.

“There’s lots of food!” Lori said. “Help yourself.”

And they made sandwiches and got bottles of water and found seats and they sat around and caught up on the news with Momma.

Debby, Jazzi and the girls gathered their treasures and carried them off to the house and when they came back Jaiyden had a different dress on, one of her new ones I’m sure.

I got lots of pictures from that day, lots of memories.

The girls splitting maple seed pods and sticking them on their noses.

I’m not sure what that’s all about, but they had fun.

Destini and Jaiyden collecting spent dandelions is one of my favorites.

And I’ll tell you what!

Taysha’s little E.J. is just so stinkin’ cute and was very comfortable with the camera pointed at her. In fact, lots of times she hammed it up for me.

As I sat there, on a blanket, under the trees with Lori, just chatting and taking pictures of the things going on around me, I kept hearing this bird squawking. There was so much activity that I just considered it background noise for the most part but eventually, it broke through to my consciousness.

“What is that?” I asked.

Squawk! Squawk!

I followed the sound and spotted her in a knothole above our heads. “There she is! I bet she has babies in there and she doesn’t like us being so close.” I snapped a few pictures as she stuck her head out.

“Hey! There’s a cicada killer,” Paul said pointing.

That got my attention. You know I like critters.

“What’s a cicada killer?” I asked.

“It’s a big bee that hunts cicadas,” he told me.

“I bet it has a nasty sting,” John observed.

“Actually they can’t sting. They don’t have stingers.” I was impressed with Paul’s knowledge of cicada killer’s. “There it goes. It’s on that tree over there.”

I jump up. I’m like, “Where? Where?” I was going after it. I wanted a picture of that. Paul got up and together we headed for the last place he saw it but it flew off before we got to it.

“There it goes,” Paul said.

He’s got good eyes, that’s all I’ve got to say.

“It’s over there now.” We headed for a new tree in the park but once again, it took off before we got to it and again we headed for a new tree. This cat and mouse game was getting old and after losing it yet again, I quit and we headed back to the picnic.

I never could spot it.

After we settle back in, Paul pulled out his phone and looked up cicada killer. Yeah, everyone but me has those new-fangled cell phones that have the internet on them. In fact, Paul had Siri on his phone.

“Watch this,” Paul says to us. “Siri, I love you.”

“I know,” Siri answers.

“Siri, I’m drunk.”

“Neither one of us is driving home.”

“Siri, talk dirty to me,” Paul says.

“Humus, compost, pumice, silt, gravel.”

From here the conversation strayed into R rated territory but Paul had us all in stitches. Except Momma. She wasn’t within hearing distance.

My brothers.

I’ll tell you what, you don’t have to be around my brothers very long before you see what kind of a relationship they have. They are smart and quick-witted and funny and they can pick on and tease each other like no one else can. It always amuses me to watch them interact.

“I want to go down and see the river,” Paul said getting up. “Who wants to go with me?” Bradly gets up and Eunice being right there Paul grabbed her hand. “Come on,” he says to her, then over his shoulder, he calls back. “John, I’m running off with your wife!”

“Go ahead, you’ll be bringing her back,” he replied. Then under his breath, “I’m not worried.”

I walked down long enough to get a photo of Eunice, Paul and Bradley then I headed back up to the picnic.

Yeah. John said he wasn’t worried but I passed him on his way down to the river's edge.

All too soon the boys said they had to go and pictures with Momma were taken.

Gosh, I love my family!

 

Let's call this one done!