Off We Go - Autumn 2018

September , 2018.

Goodbyes and Hellos

We left Boston for our camping spot in Jefferson New Jersey on Saturday morning. Naturally it was hard to leave those that we love, you know the usual suspects Amelia Erik, Sheila, Jennifer, Christine. and all of the other rascally relations.

We really love the quiet, secluded campsite at Marlon Dickinson reserve in Jefferson New Jersey. It’s quiet peaceful in the woods close to everyone we like to see. We enjoyed a lovely Italian dinner with Maureen on Berkshire Valley Road. Actually there were several families from Reverend Brown Schooll that Maureen and I knew. It was a trip down memory lane.

The next day on Sunday we went to Morristown to attend Megan Hoffnagle’s wedding. We planned our trip based on this happy event The bride was gorgeous (and I mean the real gorgeous), the groom handsome and we are lucky to be friends with the Hoffnagle family. They sure know how to throw a wedding bash.. We have been  at two of the three great marriage celebrations of the last few years. Magan and Alex's wedding was a joyous occasion in a beautiful setting at the Park Savoy in Florham Park, New Jersey. It was reminiscent of the amazing Amy-Nick wedding of 2016, featuring the lovely Ms. Amelia Hansen as one of the bridesmaids. (hey, it's my post)

Amazingly the Hoffnagles have not been forced to get 2nd jobs at the Quicky Mart and all three of their wonderful children are now happily married.

We managed to get in an all-call to our various Jersey Peeps and had a most enjoyable dinner at Sheridans, our hangout on the lake in Andover. As usual a wonderful time. The theme this evening was the impending tornado/hurricane/doomsday weather that was approaching. Many phones were turned on to the up to the minute path of this storm.

We decided to trust our luck and rejected the many offers for a bed in a real house and retired to our tin box in the woods.

Donner and Blitzen and falling acorns.

A few years ago When Svend’s uncle Otto was visiting us, he came out with the expletive, “Donner Väder!”

Hey, I said to myself, that means “Thunder weather” What a great expression. It beats the F bomb by a mile. It evokes unruly and maybe scary feelings, yet has a natural earthy quality. So I try to remember to use it when things are not going right., of course never actually doing so. Donner väder!!! But I do like to think of thunder and lightning as Donner and Blitzen.

We had major, donner and blitzen that night with a tornado warning thrown in. Additionally the oak trees were positively pelleting our camper with acorns that sounded like bullets. This is why we camp! We shut the blinds and watched Castaway, the worst Tom Hanks movie ever and ignored the peril we were in. Spoiler alert - we survived.

Interesting spider at the Mahlon Dickenson Park

ONWARD

We left NJ the following day and drove and drove until we thought maybe we were in Idaho, only to find ourselves still in Pennsylvania. Boy, and I thought Connecticut was a long state! (yes I know Texas is almost a thousand miles across - poetic licence here)

We decided to camp in a PA Park, the Black Moshannon State Park, a beautiful area near State College, PA. Of course as soon as we leave the highway for the long, windy, uphill road- the gas light goes on. Gas lights are notorious liars, but there was no hint of a gas station for the 20 plus miles uphill in a rainstorm.. ok, now I’m lying, the weather was beautiful. We get to our picturesque campsite and I foolishly said to Svend, let me go get gas while you set up. So we’re basically in the middle of nowhere, but we have a trusty GPS that lists gas stations..7.3 miles, 7.4, 7.9 etc. Why would I not choose the closest? It turns out because that was the most remote, the one over a mountain, the one with twisty one lane bridges and lots of woods and it’s getting dark. That’s why. Of course I’m blaming Svend for being in this scary situation. What kind of husband listens to his wife when she offers to get gas?

No doubt I tend to exaggerate at times, but it was a pressure filled drive that ultimately lead to me making it back alive with a full tank of gas. From then on I ask Svend "How’s the gas situation?" at least twice a day.

Our next spot was on the shores of Lake Erie in Port Clinton Ohio. We chose a hotel to take advantage of a fairly nice pool and free breakfast. For dinner we found a place right on the Lake and had various deep. fried items including perch. Good, but fried, deep fried.

Having never been in Michigan (how did we miss that?) we had to have lunch the next day over the border in an unremembered town in what can only be described as a dive. Of course the food was great and cheap. Never discount dives. Some choice menu items included frog legs, fried liver, fried gizzards (what exactly is a gizzard, I'm afraid to look it up), various lake fish smelts, catfish - fried of course. We chickened out and got chicken. Deliciously fried.