A Rainy Day in PA

Sasha woke me up early this Sunday morning, letting me know in her own inimitable way that she had to take care of business. Our little window A/C unit was humming away (although the temp outside this morning showed 69º) as I tossed on a pair of cargo shorts and my sandals and headed downstairs to her leash and the door. The original plan was to walk her down the sidewalk a few yards, let her pee, and bring her right back in...I was going back to bed, oh, yeah!

I hooked the leash to her harness and walked both of us to the front door, and opened it. Uh-oh! It's pouring outside! I had not heard the rain because of the A/C, but now I'm committed, and so is Sasha. I remain on the front porch and let the leash out as far as it can go, and Sasha immediately squats and goes. Good girl! Now it's back inside, wipe the dog down with a towel and go back upstairs to bed.

That doesn't last long barely an hour later, Sasha again signals an urge to purge. Now I'm up for the day. It's back downstairs, but this time I have an umbrella, and we go for a short walk, until she does her thing and we return to our dry house. It looks like I'm awake for good now, although I'm not quite sure I want to be.

It's days like this that show me the difference between Florida and Pennsylvania. I walk out back and look up at that mountain behind our house, and the top of it is covered in cloud.

 

That's something I've never seen before. I look to the west, to the pass where we come into the town, and it's also cloudy and wet.

 

So I walk out of the back yard to the alley, and it's drizzly and wet, but very peaceful, so I head down the street a bit along the stream, to see what that looks like this morning.

 

It's barely flowing, but still... It looks like I could easily wade across it to the other side - it's not too deep. And then I remember our landlord showing us pictures of a brown bear that had done just that, coming into town and strolling down the neighborhood sidewalks before disappearing back into the mountains. So I might even run into a bear or two around these parts. There are also deer and wild turkeys, and a common road sign in this state is a deer warning...I've seen pictures of encounters between deer and cars, and I have no desire to hit one in our little Escort.

And so I walk back to the house, where Jen is just now waking up herself, and together we look for a good Bible teaching on the tube. We haven't had time yet to find a church, but we love Pastor Bob Coy and Calvary Ft. Lauderdale, and watch him on-line. We also love Dr. Charles Stanley and In Touch, and find him on the cable, so we settle in to some good teaching. We know that God has brought us to PA, Jen back to her family and me...I don't yet know. But I know that Jen and I are at home when we are together, and since I have no family of my own, her family is mine, too. I love her two daughters as if they were mine, and I am grandpa (I think the grandkids have decided to call me "Pappi" instead) to 7 wonderful children (well, one of them is 19 and on his own). I think that is why God brought me here - to live out the best part of my life. He has rewarded me for being obedient and for loving Jen, and has given me greater purpose in my older years. 

Thank you, Father!

An Amazing Daughter (and Grand-daughter)!

If you have been following this blog, you will know that the main reason we decided to move to PA was the soon-to-be birth of our 7th grandchild. Our daughter Amanda was expecting, and when we found out, Jen began to pack, planning our arrival to be close to the birth. That event was calculated to be somewhere in late July or early August.

Well, we made it up here right at the beginning of July, and Amanda was really pregnant. I mean, she was "great with child" as the phrase might go. She and her Mom kept comparing notes on past family history, and Amanda had already made a decision not to know the sex of the child until it was born, and that she would have this child at home, with a mid-wife attending. Me, I had absolutely no idea what was going on, and liked it that way. Let the women take care of this "birthing" thing, and just let me know what the baby's name was after the fact. Easy enough.

As I said, Amanda was very pregnant when I first saw her, the day we unloaded the truck, and she was still very active. I thought pregnant women kind of kept off their feet a lot - shows you how much I know - but not Amanda. Of course, she wasn't due until the end of the month, or maybe August, so...

Well, on Friday (7/26), Amanda calls and asks Jen if we'd like to do lunch, and then maybe go shopping at a place called Country Junction, which bills itself as the World's Largest General Store. Jen and Amanda said I'd love the place, and I couldn't wait to see what the big deal was. We'll have lunch at the Palmerton Hotel first. Amanda shows up with her girls, Zoe and Madalyn, and we all climb into her SUV and head for chow. I notice that Amanda is checking her cell-phone frequently - must be expecting a call or something - and we sit down at the table and give the waitress our orders.

And that is when I discover that Amanda's "obsession" with her cell-phone is actually an app she keeps checking that is timing her contractions!!!  "Yep! Mom, they're about 5 minutes on the dot now!" You have GOT to be kidding me! Here we are, 5 of us, including two little girls, waiting patiently (I use that word now, but I have no idea what "patiently" is at the moment) for our lunch, while the pregnant one is timing her contractions. What the heck are we doing out to lunch when Amanda should be about ready to pop this baby out at any second??? And as it turns out, this has got to be the very s-l-o-w-e-s-t waitress I have ever come across - what seems to be hours comes and goes with no food, and a continuing litany of 5-minute reports. I am thinking, in this order: I guess we'll cancel lunch and get Amanda home ASAP, then, I guess we'll call off the trip to Country Junction, because Amanda is about ready to have her baby, like, ANY TIME NOW!!  And then, the food comes, and we eat and before I can say, "Well, thanks for coming to lunch, Amanda!" we pay the bill and...bet you didn't guess it - we head to Country Junction!

Now, I'm trying to remember what to do to help deliver a baby in the back of an SUV. First, call 9-1-1! Give our location. "Where are you, sir?" "Oh, we're in the parking lot at Country Junction!" And then my mind goes blank...this ain't happening. Amanda's baby isn't due for...any minute now!!! What are we doing at the World's Largest General Store? Looking for a STORK?? I can't believe it, but Amanda asks me to drive, because it's a bit hard for her right now. Oh, really?? I guess if she was behind the wheel and decided to give birth it would be a bit tight. But we get to the store, I let everyone out up front and park the car, and meet them all inside.

And we commence to walk around the place for-EVER! I'm being very cool, acting like I'm just another customer, but planning on how fast I can get to the car and get all of us to the nearest hospital!  And here is Amanda, walking around, holding her big belly and pointing out all of the neat things, like a sofa for our house, little knick-knacks, and planning on visiting the petting zoo outside. Apparently, 5-minutes-apart contractions aren't all that important right now. And I'm wondering how many of the customers here have ever witnessed the birth of a baby at the petting zoo!

Again, we walk all over the place, and who's the most uncomfortable? ME! Amanda is, like, so nonchalant, like she's just out for an afternoon stroll. But then, she says that she's a little tired (not THAT'S an understatement!) and she'd like to just go home and rest up a little. Ah-hah! Frankly, I can't comprehend that she has made it this far today, but I feel so much better knowing that she is finally going to go home and rest. And I'm just her step-father...who's the nervous one here? ME! I go get the car, we all load up and head for home. I had inadvertently left my credit card at the restaurant where we had lunch, and Amanda had called them to make sure it was there. I wanted to go straight home to our place, let her and her kids head straight home, and I would go down later and get the card. Nope! Amanda wanted me to go by the restaurant and get my card before we went home. Damn! Is there not any way I can get her home ASAP? We stop by, I grab my card, we bail out at our place, and Amanda heads home. And I'm hoping she will get there before she has her baby.

Her youngest, Madalyn, wants to stay and sleep over, so she gets out with us and comes in. She's a sweet little girl and soon she and Nana are having fun, she's doing acrobatics in our living room and we pull up "The AristoCats" on Amazon for her to watch. Amanda and Jen are keeping in touch by texting, just in case "something happens."  I take one of the dogs out for a walk, and as I'm coming in the front door, Madalyn tells me that Nana will be sleeping over at her house tonight. Oh, really? And then I realize that Jen is packing an over-night bag. Can only mean one thing - baby is coming or baby is here! Jen comes down with her ag in hand and tells me that the mid-wife is on the way, and that the baby will probably be born within the next several hours. Now, we were just at Country Junction a couple of hours ago...how the heck was Amanda walking around, timing her contractions? I am not comprehending this at all - women are in labor for 18 - 24 hours, bed-ridden, biting on a stick in pain and screaming bloody murder! At least, that's MY version of childbirth. Obviously, something has changed.

And when Jen gets to Amanda's house, she's not there! She's out walking around the freakin' block!!!  My daughter Amanda, it seems, just will not stay still. And I am so far out of touch with reality that it takes Jen a long time to explain to me what is really happening - that all of this activity actually is helping Amanda's delivery, that it is gravity and the exercise of walking that is helping make the birth easier. Well, what the heck do I know? I'm just an innocent bystander to this event. And that event happens around midnight on the 26th, or early on the 27th (I'm not sure of the time yet), and after a short labor period, our 7th little grand-baby is born! Her name is Penelope Lane Loper, and she is 20" long and weighs 7 pounds and 10 ounces, and she is a perfect little bundle of joy! Jen comes home around 6 in the morning with the news. This event began our trip North, and God has brought us here with just a few weeks to spare. And now we are proud grandparents and the next episode will begin.

And Jen is so proud of her daughter and new grand-daughter. All of the work and the sweat and the tears of getting up here is now evidence of a new life - a new life for a little baby, and a new life for me and Jen. I just love it when a plan comes together! Thank you, Lord!

A Trip to Wilkes-Barre

Today, I had to make a journey to the VA hospital in Wilkes-Barre for my initial interview in PA. Although I will be going to the Allentown outpatient clinic, about 20 miles away, my first visit couldn't be scheduled before August 24th, so they "rerouted" me to the main VA hospital in Wilkes-Barre, where they could get me an earlier appointment. This trip is about 45 miles distant, and totally out of my comfort zone, so I ask Jen to accompany me on this trip and be my navigator. The appointment is for 8:45 AM, so we have to leave around 7:30. And we have to travel by way of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. We are calling this another "adventure" - it makes the drive fun instead of a chore. I've never been to Wilkes-Barre, so...

Probably 10 miles out of Palmerton, I look up ahead and all I can see are mou8ntain ranges, like ripples in the landscape. Jen says that the farthest is probably in New York state, you can see that far. But then the weather starts closing in. Pilots would call it 'scud' - really low clouds hugging the scenery ahead. I realize that we are at a really high elevation, and we're driving through those clouds. It's kind of neat, actually. The sun was out when we left home, but now it's totally overcast and dark, we have the wipers on, and we seem to be climbing higher and higher. Our little Escort is used to flat Florida, not mountainous PA, and it keeps shifting gears, trying to find a sweet spot. I usually like to drive about 5 over, but here on the turnpike, in the mountains, I am very happy with our 55 mph.

It almost seems like a preview of winter to me. I try to imagine what this drive will look like in about 3 months, with the trees in their autumn format - yellows and oranges and browns. And I start to smile a little, thinking that all of this new stuff is going to be nice. Maybe by my second winter, it'll wear off, but for now, I'm thinking of autumn and cold and snow, and I'm ready for it. Remember, I've been in Florida for 66 years...I'm ready for a change. As we cruise along, it gets darker and chillier. But we're almost there.

And then there's this BIG hospital up on a hill, and we've arrived. I'm actually 10 minutes early, and we walk into the lobby and ask where I have to go. And I make the mistake of telling the information girl that I am new to the area, having moved up from Florida. Mistake? Yep! Because I get the response that I am starting to hate: "Why on earth did you come up here from FLORIDA?"  It seems that everyone in these parts thinks that anyone who would intentionally leave all that warmth and sunshine to plant themselves in Pennsylvania is just plain nuts!  I feel sorry for them for having to live up here winter after winter, never having known Daytona Beach, Miami or Disney World.

But there is a little something that makes their query sad. You see, I moved up here because it was time to become Grandpa to my 7 grand-kids, and to give Jen what she has wanted ever since I took her away from these parts 15 years ago - family!  Winter? Okay, so it gets a little colder, and it snows, and the trees are bare and the sun doesn't shine so much. But there's the warmth of hearing, "Hey, Grandpa, watch me dive into the pool!" Or, "Grandpa, I hit a home run in the game today!" And there's the dinners and the picnics and the other outings where our daughters, their hubbies and the grand-kids will all be around, having fun and sharing experiences. So, again, what makes Florida so special? Sun and the beach? That ain't so special, now, is it? Home is where the heart, and the family, is!

And my intake interview is over with, and I have this melanoma on my left shoulder that was discovered in Orlando that will now need to be excised, so there will be more tests and more visits, hopefully to the Allentown outpatient clinic instead of Wilkes-Barre. But the doctor was very nice, and all my records are now here in PA instead of Florida. As we leave the hospital, I see another thing I have never seen in person before - wind turbines! They are on top of the mountains just west of Wilkes-Barre, and they are huge! Seeing pictures of them and viewing videos does not do them justice, until you see them yourself. And although I wasn't even close, they were still HUGE!  So I discover that PA uses wind to generate some power in these parts. I didn't know that, so I researched it further: Bear Creek Wind Farm. Very interesting. I'm having a great time exploring and discovering Pennsylvania. How long will it last? I don't know, but I suspect it'll probably take me another 66 years to find out.

Musing on the New Location

Woke up this morning, around 7 AM, and went to the back door for a look-see. There is a big mountain out there, and this morning it was encased in clouds...I guess it might rain today. Being from the flat state of Florida, any mountain amuses me, and this one is no different. It was cool, temp-wise, too, around 65-70ºF. And as I looked out the back door, a small rodent crawled up on the deck railing...oh, it's a chipmunk! Never saw one of those in Florida. I think it was looking for a hand-out. In Florida, I used to feed the local squirrels, so Sasha would have something to chase. Now I don't know about chipmunks. Are they supposed to be reviled or should I try and hand-feed the critters? Some in Florida called squirrels "bushy-tailed rats," but I loved to feed them and watch them play with the dog. So I might end up making friends with the 'munks in our back yard, at least until someone comes along and tells me they are no-good vermin. This little guy was so cute that I cannot imagine anyone disliking them.

It poured last evening! A real gully-washer, with thunder and lightning and what might have been some hail. Our dog Sasha is having incontinence problems (she was just diagnosed with a urinary tract infection and is now on antibiotics), so we have her on a timer - every 90 minutes we take her outside for a short walk. In Florida, all four fur-kids had 24/7 access to our large fenced-in back yard, through two pet doors. Now that we have no back yard to speak of, and the neighborhood is fairly yard-less, it's down the sidewalk with plastic bags to collect any foul stuff the dogs might deposit. Don't want to be bad neighbors, do we? Anyway, as I took Sasha out at 10 PM in a fairly heavy rain, it occurred to me that this might be a preview of what is going to happen when the white stuff starts falling. Here I am, trying to find our umbrella, leashed dog in one hand and a baggie in the other, all the while trying to keep Sasha out of everyone's yard and on the very small grassy strip between the sidewalk and the street. Jugglers have it easier, and they have a huge tent to work under. We finally have results and make it back to the front "stoop," where I now have to dry off the dog before letting her back into the house. I can almost deal with the rain - how will I deal with snow and ice? Matter of fact, how will the dogs deal with it? Come winter, I'll bet they'll want to trade places with the cats.

The landlord has been over doing repairs. When we moved in, there was this big ugly home-built bookcase on one wall in the living room. It had to go. At least Jen thought so. And when we asked the landlord about removing it, he concurred. I guess he wasn't too crazy about it in the first place. I told him I'd be very careful in breaking it down, and he didn't seem to care one way or the other, so I ended up pulling it to pieces trying to get it off the wall. And I cannot believe what I found! Picture something about 8' across by 4' tall, with two vertical dividers, all built with 3/4'x12" shelving. Now this thing was mounted on a paneled wall, but for some obscene reason, the builder actually scored the paneling to fit the shelving boards - when I pulled down the shelf, an outline of it was left exposing the wall. It had been toe-nailed and LIquid-Nailed to the wall. When I pulled the paneling off, there were at least two layers of wallpaper under it. Now we have to remove the paneling and the wallpaper from the entire wall to prepare it for painting. Oh, and the builder also cut out the carpeting to fit the base, so now we also have an exposed wood floor where the bookcase was. How do you fix that? Turns out, he won't - at least with carpeting. Looks like we will get some linoleum to cover the wood, and that's it.

In any event, Evan (the landlord) has been over for several days now, steaming off the wallpaper, scraping the wall smooth and spackling all of the holes (nail and otherwise), then hand-sanding the wall, and this morning putting a base coat of paint on it. There is now  a layer of fine dust all over the living room and kitchen - Jen has spent a lot of time cleaning things up and now she has to go over everything again. Will this never end? Probably not, in a house that has been vacant for 5 years. I have a thought that we'll be cleaning until the day we move.

Here's a few shots of the neighborhood - the mountain behind the place, and a shot down the street toward the east:

Me & Snow?

Okay, the real meat of "Florida Boy Goes North!" Short history lesson: I was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1946. And I lived there my entire youth. When I graduated from high school in 1964, I had already enlisted in the US Air Force, and 10 days after I left St. Thomas Aquinas, I was on a plane to San Antonio, Texas for Basic Training. And after 8 weeks of intro to military life, I was sent north to Rantoul, Illinois, to Chanute Air Force Base for my technical training in electronics. I arrived in late July, and immediately started thinking about "winter."  Another trainee by the name of Wayne Kouchi, a Hawaiian, was barracked with me, and the two of us had never, ever seen snow! So when the weatherman forecast snow for the first time, in late November, we were thrilled. We told the barracks guard (there was always someone on guard in every barracks at night - don't ask me why) that as soon as the first flakes fell, he was to come and wake us up. He was a northern boy and thought we were both nuts! Well, he was half-right, anyway.

Around 3 AM (oh-three- hundred, for you military types, or simply oh-dark-thirty), we were roused from sleep to see snow flakes softly falling outside our window. Within 3 seconds, we were outside in our skivvies, running around in the snow and trying to make snowballs from the sparse fall. And that would be the first and last time we would cheer the snow. Weeks later we got our first really bad weather - very cold, probably around 10-15ºF at 0500, which is when we were awakened by reveille and had to march to breakfast and then to tech school. No matter that it was colder than I had ever believed it could be (only in the Antarctic, I thought), but dark, windy and I was dressed in layers: first, the thermal long-johns, then two pair of socks, a T-shirt, a sweat shirt, sweat pants, a pair of jeans, my fatigue pants, a field jacket liner, my field jacket, glove liners and gloves, and finally heavy rubber boots. Sometimes, we even had to wear a face mask. And then came the book-bag with our notebooks and textbooks. Marching across the flight line one morning, I slipped and fell on the ice. I couldn't have hurt myself if I had tried, I was so heavily cushioned. BUT - there was no way I was getting up on my own. Now I knew how a turtle feels on his back. Remember this scene from "A Christmas Story"? Well, I know just how Randy felt! It took 3 airmen to get me back on my feet.

As we got "undressed" and ready for class inside the hangar, I couldn't feel my fingers. I couldn't even hold a pen to write. So I went into the latrine, turned on the hot water and ran my hands under the flow! Bad, BAD mistake - it felt like I had set my hands on fire! One of the instructors heard my screams and took me outside, where he advised me to put my bare hands in the snow. Oh, the relief! Anyway, to make a long story short, that winter turned out to be one of the most severe Chanute had ever experienced. We had snow drifts that covered our barracks - I woke up one morning and all I saw was white. The snow had piled up over the windows to the roof. And the room was freezing.  I went to turn up the radiator that was heating our room, and found out that it was frozen solid. The temps plunged to around 10 below zero, and believe it or not, we still marched to school every morning. Northern winters and snow had taken their toll on this Florida boy.

Later on in the Air Force, I visited Minot AFB in Grand Forks, North Dakota and found out that the temperature could go even lower than 10 below...way below! Years later, I took a job with an electronics firm that sent me to school in Greeley, Colorado - in the winter time. I loved the Rockies, and I loved the scenery, but the snow I could have lived without. That was only a 60-day exposure. When I finished the training, I was sent to Manhattan in NYC to work, in the winter. I lasted until Easter, and quit over salary, but the winter helped the decision. After every experience, it was always back to my home state of Florida. On January 19th, 1977, it actually snowed in Ft. Lauderdale! Aside from that rare event, I successfully kept myself away from the Great White North.

And then I met Jen, and fell in love! Strange story, but she was a Jersey girl who had moved to South Florida to live with her older sister Carolyn as a teen-ager. She met and married her first husband in Hollywood FL, and had both of her daughters there, and then moved to Pennsylvania to live and raise her family. She had vowed, before she ever heard of me, that she would never, ever return to Florida. Me? Well, I had sworn I'd never leave Florida. And then we met, circumstances that I will cover in another post, and Jen ended up marrying me and living 1,000 miles from where she had started her family. But she always longed to return to PA, and be with her kids and a growing brood of grandchildren. Fast-forward 15 years, and with grand-child #7 on the way, it was time to go back home. And although I had sworn I would never leave that good ol' Sunshine State, we were packing and making plans to head north.

My friends and co-workers all chided me - "People leave Pennsylvania and move to Florida! Why the heck do you want to leave Florida and move to PA?" Even Jen had thoughts about how Florida winters were still not cold, and kept dropping lines like "It gets to 10º and colder!" to remind me of my fate. Still, I had no family left in Florida, her family is my family, hence I have 2 daughters and soon-to-be 7 grandkids, and home was now in the Lehigh Valley of PA. No reason to keep me down South (except for the mild winters), and I wanted more than ever to bring Jen back to the family she always longed for.

And so I will "throw myself on the grenade" for the family, and endure what I know is coming. I think. I have never driven in snow, or ice. I have never shoveled snow from my front sidewalk. I have never had to walk my dogs in the snow (and, I might add, my poor poochies have absolutely NO idea what will happen when I open that door and the ground is covered with white stuff!), and I have to face the associated chores of making sure we have enough fuel oil for our furnace...I had never even seen an oil furnace until now. In New York, in Hastings-on-the-Hudson where I had rented a place, there was an old coal furnace - now that is a story I will tell someday!

What will happen with me and snow? I honestly do not know. But I am ready to man up and face it full-bore. It has been 66 years since I was born, and for those 66 years, I never really had to deal with this northern winter stuff. But that is over now. I'm not visiting Pennsylvania, I live here. For good, for real, and most likely for the remainder of my life. Crazy thing is, Jen is already talking about going South for the winter. She's half-kidding, half-serious. But I'm planning on going out and buying myself some Northern winter wear - thermal underwear, a good coat (probably a parka!), rubber boots, and absolutely an all-wheel drive vehicle of some kind. It has been suggested that we also install a remote starter for our car so we can have it warming up before we go out the door. I'm sure there will be other suggestions coming forth. And I'm not looking forward to the first of many times when I will find myself flat on the ground after a slip on the ice.

But I also want to learn how to snow-board. Our oldest, Annie, and her family take to the slopes every winter, and she has promised to show me how to kill mys...er...negotiate the bunny slope on a board. And Jen, sweet Jen, has promised to do everything in her power to keep me off that snow-board. She's probably right! I'm looking forward with some trepidation and some eager anticipation at my first winter here in Pennsylvania. I know it's going to be cold. I know it's going to snow. I know all the leaves will fall off the trees. I know the days will be gray and sunless. I know all these things.

I just haven't experienced them yet! Wish me luck! Better yet, pray for me! I say with certainty that God has brought us to Pennsylvania, and that He has told us: "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." That is Jeremiah 29:11, and it is inscribed in Jen's wedding band. Thank you, Lord for bringing us here!

And Now, the Real Saga Begins!

Well, we're moved in! Most of our stuff is either unpacked or still in boxes in a huge closet or the attic. Where it will probably stay until we are in a more permanent home. We will be looking for (probably) a manufactured (mobile) home - there are quite a few around here that have more space than the place we're in now. Double-wide, 28x56=almost 1600 sq. ft. and that's all we need. Two bedrooms, two baths, and one story - no stairs. Neither of us wants to climb up and down a lot anymore. And a price around $15K. Now THAT I can live with.

Our basement is a place that takes a little getting used to. It's dark and primitive - the floor is dirt, and the previous owner did a lot of, shall we say, very crude and messy wiring. As I said previously, no building inspector would ever pass this place without major renovations. Service is 100A, the breaker box is...let's just say it works. I have managed to figure out how to turn most of the lighting on and off, but since I don't like even going down there, who cares?

It's strange living in modern (by most standards) housing for almost my entire life and then moving into a house that is probably well over 100 years old. Cloth-covered wiring. Wooden floors. Red brick walls, the dirt basement - more properly called a cellar, I think. The neighborhood is all antique. Ironically, right across the street they're putting up a brand new apartment building, complete with indoor parking. In this neighborhood, everyone parks in the street, parallel-style. No reserved parking, so if someone takes the place in front of your house, you find the next open space, hopefully within close walking distance. Then there are the parking rules: the 2nd Thursday of every month, in the summer, your car has to be moved (anywhere...they don't care) so that the city can run a street sweeper along the curb. And you can't move your car back until an inspector has followed the cleaner to be sure that cleaning is complete and no major repairs are needed. I'm told that, in the winter months, the car has to be moved for snow removal. Oh, joy! I cannot wait!

The town of Palmerton is about 2 miles, west to east. Main street is Delaware Ave. There are signs prohibiting "cruising" the main drag - 3 times past a given spot within an hour is against the law. For a small town, they seem to have a big police force...I see police cruisers all the time. We've been told that there is no crime in Palmerton, and I'll believe that. It's a very slow-moving 'burg, and there isn't a whole lot going on. I've laready checked out two pizza places, the local Subway (there are no McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, or anything else within the city limits) and a great little sandwich shop called Joes' Place. Both pizza and sandwiches are great - Joe's provides about twice the sub for the money that Subway does, and the meat is sliced to make the sandwich - it's the place to go. We haven't tried any of the restaurants yet. It seems that most of them are bars or taverns which serve food. There's supposed to be a great Italian place out on 248, but we haven't had time to check it out yet. These things take time, you know.

The place to shop, to really shop, is over in Lehighton, about 9 miles east of us. There is a new year-old Lowe's and a massive Wal-Mart Super Center over there, and between the two of them, it looks like we'll be over there a lot. I don't really like shopping at Wally World, but since it is really the only place to go within 20 miles, it's more a necessity than a pleasure. I am pondering applying for a part-time job at the Lowe's...talked to the electrical manager, who told me they could use someone dependable. It's a brand new store, and it's totally laid out different than my store in Orange City, FL. I've already bought several hundred $$ of supplies from them and got to know some of the employees. We'll see...

Interesting thing happened at the Wally World. First of all, it seems to have been built on top of a small mountain itself. You can't see the store from the highway, just a sign. Make a left turn and start climbing a very sharp grade, and probably about 300 yards up, there's the store. It's huge! And the view!!! We park the car, and look out to the west, and there is this beautiful valley, with mountains as far in both directions as you can see! With farms and houses. Toto, I don't think we're in Florida anymore! Jen takes a few pictures with her cell-phone. This shot doesn't do justice but it gives you a good idea (you can see the Wal-Mart sign at the bottom):

This place has to be 200 feet above the surrounding area. Anyway, after the shock and awe of the scenery, we proceed inside. Jen grabs an electric cart, and I grab a push cart, and we walk in. It's as huge inside as it is outside, one of the biggest Wallys I've ever seen. As we start to shop, I notice a guy in cargo shorts and a tank top looking at razor blades. Nothing special, except that he's wearing a Galco Miami Classic shoulder holster, with a Glock G17 9mm and a brace of magazines. His wife, next to him is sporting a Keltec PF-9 in an IWB holster. I have to stop him and ask. "I'm new to the area, just came up from Florida...is open-carry cool up here?" I find out that just about everywhere except Philly, you can walk around with a piece on your side. In Philly, only if you have a permit. If you get in your car with the weapon, it becomes "concealed" and you need a CCW permit to keep it loaded and available. Now I know I'm going to like this place, and this state.

I've been walking along the alley behind our place, and there's a stream that runs along just below it with trout. I don't like to fish, but again, it's a very nice change of scenery from Florida. There isn't a fast flow of water, but there are a few "rapids" within view. I heard a lot of big-engine noises from behind the trees on the other side, so I decided to Mapquest the area to get a satellite view of whatever it was. This is a view from Google Maps: Palmerton South. If you look in the lower left-hand corner, you will see 4th Street and Lehigh Ave. Just below the "e" in Ave, there is a long building with a parking lot to it's right. Well, two houses further right is our house, just above the "6" in 6th Street. You'll notice the stream, and then if you look at what fills up the rest of the picture to the east, THAT'S where all the noises are coming from. Train cars regularly transit in and out, along with big semis. I haven't asked what this is yet, but I think it has something to do with the New Jersey Zinc Co. - Wiki says, "The East Plant continues to operate at reduced capacity, processing electric arc furnace dust into zinc calcine." So it's not quite paradise. Whoops!

I understand that the town is in the SuperFund program, supposedly because of the zinc caol mining and its aftermath. I can truthfully say that I like the small town and its atmosphere. I haven't seen or heard of any adverse effects on the townspeople, and for a small town, it seems to be thriving.

Can't say the same for the pet problems. We never had any problems in Florida with fleas and ticks, but up here, it's tick convention time. As I stated previously, I was walking the dogs along the stream behind our house, but I have been warned, and now know from personal experience, that this is tick paradise. After the dogs brought several ticks into the house, one which ended up on me and another on Jen, we went to the vet and got tick preventative for both dogs. It's costly ($90 for a 6 months supply, per dog), but worth peace of mind. The cats, who do not leave the premises, will be getting flea & tick collars, just in case. I do not fear most animals, but I hate spiders, and I abhor ticks. I'd seriously think about moving right away, but my kids have told me that ticks are bad through eastern PA, and you can't get away from them. So unless we move to...Texas...I guess it's "prevent" time.

And We Move Into Our New Home

July 1st - We officially move in! Well, not yet. I have to return the truck to Penske; luckily, the lot is only a few blocks from the hotel. But I have to return it with a full tank, so while Jen prepares the pets for our final trip, I go out in search of diesel fuel. When I return, everyone is ready to go, but this is going to be a little different - we had all of the "kids" in a big truck cab and now they all have to fit in a little Ford Escort. A little Ford Escort that is already packed full of other stuff. With some resourceful planning, everyone gets in except me - I have to drive the truck. Jen follows me over to the Penske dealer, and after a few minutes of truck inspection and a receipt, I come out to find Jen in tears. I think that everything has finally caught up with her - it's been a long trip, it's hot outside, 4 animals are squirming around...she is overwhelmed and tired. I feel so bad for her, and I tell her to relax and I will do the final driving up to Palmerton. The GPS is already set up for the trip, and we head to what will be our home.

Remember what I said about the state of the house, with all of the boxes and furniture shoe-horned in? We pull up in front and Jen sees the place for the first time - she likes it! Well, that's a good start, but I'm shaking inside, because I know what's coming next. She was a little overcome when we left Allentown...what will she be like when she opens the front door and sees...?

Unfortunately, I had called it right, and Jen is in tears. Her plan had been to be there during the unloading, and to supervise where everything went. And that didn't happen, so I convinced her that I would do my best to make sure her wishes were carried out. And I failed, miserably! There is enough room to walk from the front door through the house to the kitchen, and that is about it. The kitchen is full of boxes. There is no place to sit. I don't even want to take her upstairs. I forgot to mention that the house came with ramps leading up the front door, and inside there is a electric chair lift so she can navigate the stairs. Thankfully, the chair lift is working, and after what seems like an eternity of disappointment in my failings as an unloading supervisor, we head upstairs. This isn't much different. Both bedrooms are packed full of boxes. I did manage to leave enough space for the bed, which is still standing vertical against the wall. It's like a maze, and now both of us are wondering why we didn't get rid of more stuff before we came up here. Jen is so disappointed in this situation, and all I can do is try to defuse the moment by telling her that "this too shall pass." I tell her that it just looks bad right now, that in a few days, everything will get better, that I will be working my a** off to make sure she is comfortable. Not much consolation, but my contrition helps a little.

About Noon, Annie and Amanda show up. And immediately start to make Jen feel a little better. Amanda tears into the kitchen, and between the two of them, most of that room gets put away and re-arranged.  While they're at it, I sneak upstairs and set up our bed - get it put in place, make it up with padding, sheets and blankets and pillows. I want to make sure that when it comes time for Jen to rest up, she has a place to go and hide and relax. Yesterday, when we started the unloading, the first thing I did was carry the small 8,000 BTU A/C upstairs and install it in the bedroom window - I wanted to make sure that at least our bedroom was cool. Now it's running it's little heart out, and the room is wonderfully comfortable. I'm not going to tell Jen. I'm going to let her come up and find out what I've done.

And she does, and at least I have gained a bit of a reprieve from my failure to keep the house in order yesterday. The kitchen is in fairly good shape, but there are still boxes all over the place, and we both know that it's not going to be cleaned up overnight. It's been a long trip, but now the real work is starting - making this house our home.

We are moved in, and will spend the first night of many to come in our new bedroom. The 8,000 BTU A/C I put in has the room nice and cool. And we are ready to collapse once again. It's been a really long day. But...we have 4 animals who now need our attention. We have set up the kitty corral in the 2nd bedroom (soon to become my den), and have their kitty boxes, water and food there. We have kept them contained all day as we have gone about trying to make the place liveable, and now it's time to open the doors and let them roam around and explore. Meanwhile, Sandy and Sasha need to be taken out and walked, and I have no idea where I will take them. I've barely been out in the back, but on the leashes they go, and out the back door. I learn that there is a small alley behind the place, and across from that a stream, so I head there. It's a rather pleasant stroll, and the dogs are in scent-heaven. There are squirrels and rabbits back here (I find out later), and after taking their timely poops, they start to explore. I will find out a week later that this was a bad idea - it appears to be tick season in PA, something we never had to worry about in Florida. Later that night, as we are preparing for bed, I feel something on my arm, and discover a tick. Now, these things cannot be destroyed with anything less than a hammer, and after trying to contain the sucker (literally), I put it on desk and smash it with a knife handle. This is not something I want to face. I can deal with a lot of things, but not ticks. Later, we take Sasha to the local vet for a check-up (regarding some other issues), and we get both her and Sandy a flea and tick preventive. Now we only have to figure out how to keep them off of us.

But we are here, and we are ready to spend our first night in Palmerton. The room is cool, the naimals are all put in for the night - Sasha on her sleeping pad next to our bed and Sandy in her crate. The cats know where everything is. Jen and I thank God for getting us here in one piece, and for our new home, and we thank Him for each other. Jen had spent the last 6 months packing and preparing for this move, and now she is facing the daunting task of un-packing everything. Well, it ain't going to happen, because we figure out that, hopefully, after a year here we will find a permanent home to purchase, and then we will un-pack these boxes. For now, we will live on the basic necessities, opening other boxes only as needed. Everything else goes into a closet, the basement or the attic.

We are home! Thank you, Lord!

Unloading the Beast

June 30 - Continued: We park the truck on the street in front of our new home - the space has been reserved for us by our daughter Amanda. And there are Amanda's hubby JT, his brother Brian, and Amanda's friend and neighbor Jim Manley. With Dave, Riley and now his other son Aiden, we have a nice unloading crew. And it is HOT! This is one of the hottest summers PA has seen in a long time. Someone has stocked the fridge with a lot of bottled water, and we will need it.

I go and unlock the back door to the truck and several items cascade down on top of me. I knew I had overloaded the truck, but things has shifted a lot during transit, and now the back contents were all ready to just drop off into the street. We drag the ramp out and position it, and carefully start the process of removing things one at a time. I take one look up into that cavern and cringe - what have I done? Two pros loaded this thing up, but none of us is looking like a pro right now, and I can't even start to think how we're going to get all of this unpacked. But the young guys take over, and things start to happen. The A/C has been running in the house, so it's nice and cool inside, but the doors are wide open, with people going in and out like little ants going in and out of the ant-hill.  I try not to think about where everything is going - "Yeah! Put that in the 2nd bedroom! Put that one in the kitchen! Put that stuff in the front room!" Etc. etc. And piece by piece, the truck starts to empty.

But we have such a long way to go. And my wonderful wife is in her hotel room, 20 miles away, where I cannot consult with her as to where everything will go. I shudder to think what will happen when she comes up tomorrow and sees the results of my "supervision." I'm trying as hard as I can to make sure there is a little room left to maneuver through the house, but there is so much stuff, so many boxes. Not a lot of furniture. But then we get to the dining room table. This bad boy is solid rock maple, and it has pull-out extensions, and it weighs about 200 pounds. AND - we cannot get it into the house through the front door. Try as we may, this sucker is not going in, right-side up, up-side down, sideways, on end, at an angle...there is no way it's going to grace our dining room space.

Well, maybe through the back door (someone mutters half-heartedly). Oh, boy! The back door is up 4 steps onto a deck, through a screen door into a laundry room, hence through a wooden door into the miniscule kitchen. If it wouldn't go through the front door...I stopped thinking and let the stronger guys muscle the monster table through a small alleyway between the houses and around to the back steps. Then I got out of the way and let the guys brain-storm how this was going to happen. I cannot describe the way they managed to squeeze that thing into the kitchen, but a Rubic's Cube would be easier to figure out. After about 10 gallons of sweat and assorted curses and shouts, it's in the house! Jen was talking about selling it once we got up here to PA, and now I', wondering how we will ever get this thing back out the door if and when it sells. My choice would be to sell it to the landlord, and leave it here when we move again.

Our daughter Annie seems very knowledgeable about this house, and when I decide that some of the stuff should probably go down in the basement, she cringes. Uh-oh! Bad sign. But she shows me the door leading down into that dark place, we find a few switches to turn on some lights, and down we go. What the heck is this place? Oh, yeah, the house is at least 100 years old. She had told us before we came uyp that it was a "dry" basement. Okay. Well, it IS dry...the floor is earth, dirt, clay, whatever. No concrete down here. If you've seen some of the early horror movies, this place could have been used in the filming. It is dank, dark, and low...if I wasn't 5'6", I would have to duck to get around. And in some places, I still do. Cobwebs all over the place. And wires! As I check out this cave, it is obvious that the last tenant liked to wire things - there are wires, and switches, all over the place. Some lights are the old-fashioned ceramic socket type, and have a pull chain. Others have little toggle switches mounted next to them. Others are plugged into power strips. This place would have been condemned by the building inspector in Florida. As we continue to explore, we find an old wooden door, and Annie says that it leads outside, so we open it and find a set of steps up to what my wife says are called Bilco doors. As we start to open them, Annie tries to stand up and whacks her head on a steel frame over the doors - that was so hard it could be concussion time! She's seeing stars and the tears are coming. I feel her pain. But we finally get the doors open and I tell her to leave them open so this dungeon can air out a little. I don't plan to come back down here too often, but it would be nice is there was a bit of fresh air present when I do.

Four hours later, and the truck is EMPTY!!! And all of us are about ready to keel over and die! It's been a very hot day - sweltering, actually - and all of us are tired, half-dehydrated, sore and hungry. Someone suggests Joe's Place, and we lock up the house and the truck and head to the restaurant. I couldn't eat if you force-fed me, but I manage to put away a small burger, while my daughter Annie eats most of a 2-foot-long sub! I promise everyone that a real dinner is on me and Jen after we get settled in, and everyone is happy. Everyone else heads home while Annie and I head back to the hotel in the truck. It has been on helluva day in Palmerton, and I am so glad it's almost over. I get back to Jen, hook the car carrier back on the truck, and head inside to take a good hot shower and die for the night. Tomorrow we will return the truck to Penske and then head back to Palmerton and our new home. And I am scared to death to guess what Jen will think when she walks through the front door for the first time. I did the best I could, but I know the place will look like a 1st-class disaster to her. For the moment, however, all I want to do is collapse. And I do.

The Trip - Part Deux

June 29th - It's early Saturday morning, and no one is ready to hit the road. We're all a little overwhelmed by the trip so far, and the only drive we have this morning is the fact that when the sun goes down, we will have reached our destination. Our interim destination, that is - we have a room reserved in the Staybridge Suites in Allentown, where we will try to recuperate again before driving up to our rental home in Palmerton and unloading the truck the following day. With that in mind, I get up and walk the dogs one last time while Jen gets dressed and breaks down the kitty corral. As the hotel offered a breakfast, Jen heads down to the cafe while I watch the kids, and comes back with the desk clerk and several plates of food. I love that hotel!

Back in the cab with Jen and the crew...everyone takes their place, and I practice my expert backing up the truck and trailer for about 200 yards out of the parking lot. Ever backed up a large truck and trailer? It's a lot of fun, especially when you have cars all around you and about 25' of width in which to do so. But we get the whole thing turned around, taxi out to the main road, locate I-95 North, and we're off once again. After a short conference, we decide that we will stop every 100 miles for a break, walk the pets, stretch and maybe eat something. We've got my GPS in the truck to keep us going in the right direction, and it marks our mileage, so we set it for 100 miles and off we go.

Everything is going smoothly! Too smoothly. We're making great time, and the GPS says we should pull into Allentown around 4 PM. A little ahead of schedule. Nice. All the pets are chilling, Jen is comfy, even with Sandy on her lap...and the GPS tells us to take a bypass route, I-495, around D.C. Nice road, little traffic, nice scenery...and then we see the electronic sign that is telling everyone to expect heavy traffic as we merge back onto I-95. And about 10 seconds after we see the sign, we are in a virtual parking lot. As far as the eye can see, the traffic extends. Okay. Relax. First of all, we're in a diesel truck, so we have no fear of over-heating...the temp outside is about 90º...the A/C is working fine, and we have probably 2/3 of a tank of fuel. We're not in any hurry, so we might as well sit back and go with the flow. We have no choice - we're in the middle of this dog-slow wave of vehicles, and we seem to be moving at about 2 miles per hour.

We were moving at 2 mph! Now we're stopped, and I cannot see any end to the traffic. It's been 30 minutes now, and we've gone about 3 miles. I'm watching the GPS continue to correct the ETA to Allentown - 4:30 PM, 4:45 PM, 5:00 PM, 5:15 PM...and I'm wondering how much longer we will be caught in this massive traffic jam. After what seems like 2 hours, we start to break into some open road, and after about 2 miles, there's another traffic jam. I'm wondering how many people will be accused of road rage today somewhere in this mess. It took us 2 and a half hours to get through the D.C. nightmare, but soon we are on open road again, and making good time.

But our new ETA is now 7 PM. Well, that's okay. We have nowhere to go but into a hot shower and a cool bed tonight. Tomorrow, June 30th, a Sunday, will be the day of reckoning, as I get my first actual look at our new home in Palmerton. And as we try to unload this packed truck and get everything situated so we can actually sleep there on Monday. Shortly after 7 PM, we pull into Allentown and the Staybridge Suites hotel. We are blessed again by having our room right next to the parking lot exit, so we can walk the dogs in a nice grassy area. Jen sets up the kittie corral again, and I go through the process of disconnecting the car carrier so that tomorrow I can head north to Palmerton and unload our cargo. We actually find an Italian restaurant that will deliver to our room, so it's pizza tonight. A good meal, and it's time to catch some Z's before the big day tomorrow.

June 30th - Man, I did NOT get enough sleep! But it's rise & shine and get ready for the great unload. My oldest daughter and her husband Dave arrive at the hotel; Dave will ride with me in the truck and guide me to Palmerton. He has our grandson Riley with him. Both he and Annie work in Palmerton, so they know the quickest way to get there. Our other daughter Amanda has been to the Palmerton City Hall and prepared the way be getting the on-street parking blocked off just for today. Parking is parallel along the curb; there are no driveways or garages. And so we have about 6 parking spaces right in front of our place reserved to give us room to unload.

Jen will stay at the hotel with the fur-kids, and she'll just rest and relax for the day, doing little more than baby-sitting. She deserves it - she has been a real trooper during this trip, and it has been long and tiring at times, but there have been no complaints. The trip has been tiring on both of us, and before the final move into our new home, one final day of luxury outside the cab of that truck is just what the doctor ordered. I will do all of the "directing" at the house, but I'm not supposed to do any heavy stuff. Don't know if I can honor that promise completely, but I'm hoping that we will have a full crew when we get there. It took two pros 4 hours to pack this truck - how many people and how long will it take to unload it?

Annie, Dave and Riley arrive at the hotel, and after a bit of idle chat, we're off to Palmerton. I canot believe the road I'm driving on - a small two-lane, no-passing zone, up & down hills covered with trees and small farm houses. And the speed limit is 50 MPH! Interspersed with 15 MPH curves and a few traffic signals. I've got a death grip on the wheel, and Dave has a death grip on the dash. It's not that I'm driving badly, it's just that we're in this big truck on a little road, and I'm not used to this stuff. But we finally arrive in town. And it IS a small town. The main street, Delaware, is about 2 miles long. There are probably about  3 blocks to my right before a creek, and about 6 blocks to my left going up-hill. And that is the entire town. We cruise into the middle of town and make a right onto 4th Street, and then a left onto Lehigh Avenue. It's a beautiful little street right out of Mayberry RFD...mostly row homes, lots of American flags, people out on the front stoop, regular Americana. Stuff I haven't seen before. I think I'm going to like it here.

(To be continued...)

The Journey Really Begins

June 28th - Well, the idea of getting started really early didn't work out; we needed a little more sleep. And so we managed to wake up and deflate the AeroBed, and began collecting those last-minute things to put in the truck. As careful and thorough as we were in preparing, I didn't believe how much we still had to gather up and load. Opened the truck, and just knew there was no more room, but somehow I managed to put the bed and several more bags of whatever in there. I would regret this a few days later.

Opened the trunk of the car, and managed to stash some more stuff there and on the floor. Did this packing never end? And we still have ourselves and the pets...we think that's a done deal, but we'll find out very soon we've miscalculated. Right now, we're pushing a 7AM deadline for pulling out of the driveway, it's only minutes away, and we're still not quite ready. A quick walk-through, Jen and the fur-kids head out the door, and (again) we're ALMOST ready. I walk through the place, make sure all doors are locked, then turn off the water at the house valve and throw the main breaker to power down the place. I kept one set of keys, leaving at least 3 or everything else, just so I could get out and secure the house.

And now we're out front. Sasha goes in her large crate in the back seat of the Escort. Shadow and Coco each go into smaller carriers on the two front seats. Windows are rolled part-way down. Sandy will ride in the cab with us. To make sure no one over-heats, I purchased a small indoor/outdoor thermometer - the "outdoor" sensor goes into the car, and the "indoor" main unit goes into the cab with us, so we will know at all times what the temp is behind us. If it gets too hot...well, we don't have a contingency for that yet. But we figure that the car will be doing 65 mph, with the windows open, so it's just an un-air-conditioned car. Maybe not cold, but bearable at least for a 1,000 mile trip.

Car's loaded with animals. Jen and I and Sandy climb up into the cab. Start the truck, check the mirrors, crank up the A/C, wave goodbye to our old house, and pull away. And you know what happens next - at least in my mind, all I can think of is, "Did we forget anything?  Was everything locked up? Everything shut off? Etc, etc!"  But my mind passes the check-list, and we head for I-4 and points north. Way North!

It's about 500 miles to Fayetteville, North Carolina, our first (and only) stop along the way. We have reservations for 2 adults and 4 pets. I really had to do some fast talking to the proprietor to convince him that we could manage all four animals with no problems. It still cost us $25 per, so the bill came to almost $200 for the night. Well worth it! And now we're on I-95 heading out of Daytona Beach, and all seems to be going well. We're planning on stopping every 100 miles or so to stretch and let the pets do their thing. But at our first stop, Sasha and the cats are not happy campers. Although the temperature in the car doesn't seem too high, when we go and open the doors, all three animals are crying and whimpering. We believe it is just because they're cooped up in a strange environment and scared, but Jen decides that the two kitties will now ride in the cab with us. Shadow will remain in the soft carrier, under her seat, and Coco will ride on the seat with Sandy, between us. It's a big cab and a big bench seat, so as we get back on the road, it doesn't seem too bad, and not at all uncomfortable. Sasha remains in the back seat of the car in her large crate.

Next stop, for some lunch, finds Sasha a bit more uncomfortable, but we attribute it to just the strange situation of riding in the back of an unoccupied car with no company. I figure I'd be a little discombobulated, too, if I were her. But the thermometer doesn't show any unhealthy temperatures back there, so even though she has no intentions of getting back in her crate, in she goes.

And then we hit the rain. Just before leaving South Carolina, it starts to rain. We make another stop, rest for awhile, and then we have to roll up the windows in the car, pretty much all the way. But it's cool outside now, and raining, so Sasha should be okay until: A) it stops raining and we roll the windows back down, or B) we get to the next stop. Several miles down the road, I ask Jen how the temp is in the car, and she tells me that it's about 82º. Okay, that's a bit warm but not excessive. So we continue. And then Jen makes a discovery - remember that the thermometer is an indoor/outdoor thing. There are two read-outs, and Jen has been monitoring the bottom one. Now she asks me why the top one should be reading 97º, when it's nowhere near that temp outside. WHAT??  I look at the thermometer, and the temp in the car is 97ºF!

There's a rest stop just ahead, and we pull off the road, park the truck and I rush back to the car. I open the back door and unzip the door to Sasha's crate. Poor dog is shaking, cowering in the back of the crate, and can't move! I reach in and drag her out; she's suffering from severe dehydration and heat prostration. She can't walk - her legs don't work! I carry her over to a grassy area in the shade, and lay her down. We get a bottle of water and start soaking her from head to tail. I go over to the rest rooms and get several gallons of cold water, and we continue to soak her and try to get her to drink. After about 15 minutes, the shaking stops, and she tries to drink a little. Good sign! More soaking, more petting, more pouring water in her mouth, and she's up on unsure legs and walking around slowly. We spend the next 45 minutes helping her get her senses back, and finally she's acting herself again. Thank you, Lord! We had discovered the problem a bit late, but there was a rest stop right there, with shade and cold water, and our dog was safe again. Had we waited until the next scheduled stop, Sasha would not have survived the trip.

And now there was no way she's going back into that crate, no way, no-how! We have to rearrange the "seating" in the cab to accommodate her. The set-up remains basically the same, but now we have Sasha and Coco sharing the space between Jen and I. Sandy is now perched on a pillow in Jen's lap, and Shadow is still in her carrier under the seat. And the A/C in the cab is on high cool, and everyone is now happy! Especially Sasha!!  I'm singing Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again!", Coco is on her back sound asleep, Sasha is awake but comfy, Sandy is looking out the window, and Shadow is letting us know, every so often, that she is feeling left out, riding under the seat. And my sweet Jen, who I was so worried about on such a long trip as this, is handling everything fine.

She is actually enjoying the adventure. We were worried that she wouldn't do too well, sitting in the cab of the truck for hours on end, especially for the two planned legs of approx. 500 miles each. As we were limited somewhat, speed-wise, with the car-tow and a fully-loaded truck, it looked like we'd be doing 12 hours each day. Looks like we'll be doing 10 today by the time we reach Fayetteville, and Jen is doing great!

So we pull into the Comfort Inn in North Carolina about 5 PM. Check in, and find out that we are at the back of the hotel, and our truck is parked right outside. Everyone is very nice, and we soon have the kitty corral assembled, and all four critters settled down for the night. Ah! A wonderful, cool, soft bed after 500+ miles behind the wheel of that Penske! The truck is driving well, and it does have cruise control, but even so, driving that beast beat the heck out of this 66-year-old body. I enjoyed the drive, but I'm ready for some real sleep! So are Jen and the animals, and soon we're all sawing wood. Tomorrow is another day! And tomorrow, we'll be in Pennsylvania, our new home! Woo-hoo!

(To be continued...)

How It All Started...Sort Of

Prologue -

I was born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1946. I was the 1st-born, with 2 younger brothers and a sister. Although I was the first to leave the nest (I enlisted in the Air Force and went to Basic Training at 17, ten days after high school graduation), I spent 99.9% of my life in Florida. In the Air Force, I spent my entire 4-year service at Tyndall AFB, in Panama City Florida. In our last move, I simply moved from South Florida to Central Florida. And so, this move, this permanent re-location to Pennsylvania, is the first time I have ever been out of my "zone", my familiar surroundings. Florida is a very flat state; where I am living right now has a mountain view from my back porch. When a bad winter hit us in Florida, it once hit 25ºF and our water pipes froze - I was amazed. Here, temps in the 20's will be normal for part of the winter. I will experience snow, and slipping on ice, and having to warm up the car before we go somewhere. And I have never driven in northern winter conditions. I'm beginning to think I'll just stay home when it gets "slippery" outside.

This blog is the beginning of my new experiences in the Lehigh Valley, a little north of Philly and west of "Joisey". If you are a southerner, and particularly a Floridian, you might want to bookmark this blog and visit here from time to time. I'm 66 years old, and not too sure of what awaits me. But I call it "Gary & Jen's Excellent Adventure", because I am facing the future with much optimism. Maybe you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. Let's wait and see!

Chapter 1 -  We're "Going Home!"

Ah! The adventure begins! Or really, continues, as it really started about 15 years ago, when I met my wonderful bride, Jennifer. You see, I met her through the machinations of my brother and his wife. His wife who happened to be Jennifer's sister. There was only one problem - Jen lived in Pennsylvania and I lived in Florida, Davie to be exact, a small town just west of Ft. Lauderdale. Of course, love has no geographic limitations, and after a fairly short telephone relationship and a few trips to PA to meet her, Jennifer came to Florida to be my wife.

And she left a lot behind - a good job, two daughters and a grandson...and the home she loved in Allentown. She arrived with little more than the clothes on her back, her guitar, and her calico cat Blossom, and we made a nice little home in Davie. We were married on Valentine's Day in 1999, in a nice little Disciples of Christ church in our neighborhood.

The story continues as we moved to another church family, Calvary Chapel Sawgrass, where I became the church Web guru, and Jen ended up working for the associate pastor. When he decided to plant a new church in Central Florida, we decided to help out. And so we moved to a nice 3/2 ranch home in Deltona in mid-2005, and settled in.

Here I might mention that it didn't take much time after Jen moved to Florida before she started feeling a little home-sick for Pennsylvania. And as the years went by, both daughters married and we now were the proud grandparents of 6. And as our distant family grew, so too did Jen's homesickness. As the youngest of 6 kids herself, she always longed for a big family. And now, there were two sons-in-law and six grand-kids, and she was missing out on holidays, school outings, baseball and football games - all the things she would participate in, if only she could be there.

And I always promised her that one day, I would get her back to PA, to her family, to being a hands-on Nana to her grand-kids. But there never seemed to be that certain situation that would take her back home. After 8 years in Deltona, and a lot of personal changes, we became resigned to the possibility that we would always be long-distant grandparents - we'd fly up to visit, and they'd travel south to see us.

And then the phone call came! Amanda, our younger daughter, called her Mom to announce that she was expecting again, her 4th child and our grand-child number 7. But it wasn't just a call to tell us, but a plea to come back home and help out with the new arrival.

I need to pause here to explain something: we are born-again Christians and believe very strongly that God orchestrates our lives. When we were living in South Florida, I had a good job with Motorola, and we had a very nice home in a nice community. When the associate pastor decided to plant that church in Deltona, we wanted to go with him, but my situation wouldn't allow it. But we prayed about it, and shortly after, I took a very generous buy-out from Motorola, and we ended up selling our home for way more than it was worth, in one day. Other income that wasn't expected showed up, and we knew that God was making it possible to go north.

And so, to continue, when Amanda called with the news of her pregnancy, the first thing we did was pray that, if it was God's will, He would make it possible to move back to Pennsylvania. Jen had actually accepted our permanence in Deltona, and so we started to pack for the trip, continuing to pray for guidance. The original call came in January, the baby was due probably in July or August, and we had no idea how this move was going to work. But we kept packing and praying, and as we went, other doors started opening. Our prayers were being answered in different ways - a financial hardship was ending in May, a friend knew a realtor who could sell our home in Deltona, we had several yard sales that lightened up our moving load... Jen shopped for a home on-line, and found out that an old friend of the family knew the realtor handling a property we were looking at in Palmerton.

Now, we were looking for a rental, something affordable, someplace that would accept our 4 pets - 2 dogs and 2 cats, and someplace that was one floor. Jen has hip problems, and both my knees are shot, and stairs were not an option. So what happens? We find a place in Palmerton, and the rent is very acceptable (so the place is about 100 years old). It's a two-story, but there are access ramps into the house, and there is an electric chair lift on the stairs. Thanks to the modern miracle of the Internet, we were able to look at the place inside and out, Google Earth it, and finally make all of the arrangements to rent it. The way the whole deal went down, we know that God had His hand in the deal - everything was perfect!

So now it's early June. We have everything packed up, and no idea how we're going to get it up north. Looked at PODS, looked at Pack-Rat, and started calling around the truck rental places. Penske gave me a deal I couldn't believe - probably 60% of the Ryder and U-Haul quotes - but we still had my '92 Ford Ranger and Jen's '98 Escort to deal with. Who's going to drive the big truck if I drive my pick-up and Jen drives the Escort? Solution: PA has vehicle inspections, and my truck never would have passed without expensive repairs. So I sold it for a great price, and got more moving money. And Jen didn't want to drive, so Penske rented us a car dolly...I'd drive and Jen would be in the cab with me. We made the reservations.

Situation so far: we have sold almost everything we weren't taking, and built up our moving war chest. Brand new refrigerator - sold! Whirlpool Duet washer & dryer - sold! Lawn tractor - sold! My truck - sold! Our bedroom set - sold! Everything else - given to friends or to the Salvation Army. Everything else is boxed up and ready to load onto our 22' Penske truck. Hired two professional movers to load the truck - they're on deck and waiting for the call. House in Palmerton is rented - 1st, last and security paid starting July 1st. Utilities to be turned on 6/29.

Oh, and Amanda's baby due around end of July! Yep! Looks like we're on track and on schedule.

Chapter 2 - The Trip

First matter of business - what to do with our four furry children on this adventure. Sasha, our Dal mix, is about 45 pounds and medium size. We have a soft crate for her. which will reside in the back seat of the Escort (which is being towed).  Sandy, our Papillion, is about 15 pounds...she will ride in the truck cab with us. Shadow and Coco, the cats, each have carriers, which will ride in the front seats of the Escort. Car windows will remain mostly down to provide ventilation. Windshield and back window will have sun shields. Do not judge this arrangement yet - read on.

As we will be staying at a hotel both half-way through the journey and for a night once we arrive in PA, we have found 2 pet-friendly places. We have purchased a Soft Side Play Pen, a octagonal pop-up container which will house the kitties in the room, and the dogs will sleep on the floor. So the pet situation is covered (Yeah, uh-huh!)

Trip plans: we will pick up the truck on 6/26, and the loaders will arrive that morning to get everything on-board. On 6/27, we will personally load the remainder of our personal things, and get a good night's sleep. We will leave Deltona early on the morning of 6/28, and drive to Fayetteville NC, approx. halfway to our final destination. Hence we will depart NC early on 6/29 and arrive in Allentown PA that afternoon. There we will spend another night with the pets. On 6/30, I will leave the car dolly at the hotel and drive the truck to Palmerton, where our family will be waiting to help me unload. Sounds good, eh?

Well, here's what really happened:
June 26 - Picked up the truck, and found that we had been "upgraded" from a front-wheel tow dolly to a full car trailer. God is good...the Escort will now be totally off the road for the trip. I liked that! Then I walked out of the Penske and actually got UP INTO THE CAB!  This truck is HUGE! Three steps before I hit the seat. The cab is huge, too! And that will really count later! It's diesel-fueled, 50-gallon tank, A/C, cruise-control, and automatic trannie! Nice!  Guy at the desk says that, pulling the car, we can expect maybe 7 mpg, so it looks like about $500 for fuel...still not bad when you consider we don't have to drive the Escort.

I hadn't driven anything this big is a long time, but it wasn't too bad. I had to remember the car trailer, and I made those wide turns, but we got back home and waited for the pros to show up and load the box. Believe it or not, they got lost between Daytona and our place and showed up a bit late, but for two guys, they were indeed pros! Took them 4 hours - I never lifted a finger - and they packed a very heavy dining room set, my computer desk, and everything else, and when they finished, there was about one foot of space left in that box. Should have rented the 26' truck, but it's too late now. Jen and I are trying to figure out how to put the remaining stuff on the truck in the morning, and it's kinda scary - will it fit? It better, one way or the other.

June 27 - Re-attach the car trailer, load the Escort. Cram everything we can into the truck, until it's ready to fall out when the door is opened (and it will!). Load everything else we can into the trunk and floor of the car. Inflate our Aero-Bed for the "good night's sleep" we are supposed to be getting. Get some nourishment delivered for our last meal on good ol' East Fairbairn Drive. Try to think of anything we are forgetting. Last-minute check of the truck...lock it up. Take a shower, and go to bed.

(To be continued...)