Vacation Part One — Pennsylvania

Our summer vacation this year, was a little later then normal. Trevor had to go to Pennsylvania for work in August, so we decided to go along with him, and have a vacation at the same time. So early on the morning of August 17, we packed into our van for the 8.5 hour trip ahead. It was an easy drive. The kids do very well in the vehicle as long as they have entertainment and food.

We arrived in PA about 6:30 pm, met up with Bro David S. and his wife, and went out for supper and fellowship.

On Sunday, Aug. 18th, Trevor spoke at Bro David’s church, then we went out to eat with the church family. Good times! When lunch and fellowshipping was over, we packed into the van once again, to continue on our trip. We were heading to Bushkill, PA, which was about 2 hours from Lebanon, where Bro David’s church is. This is were Trevor would spend the next 9 days, doing some very intense training and testing. He was to stay in a small townhome while he was in class. It worked out much better then a hotel, as there was a kitchen and washing machine in the townhome. So we stopped at a store on the way, picked up a few food items, and checked into our room.

Monday morning (the 19th), Trevor get up bright and early to begin his first class. And what would the rest of us do while Trevor was in class?? Well read on. I kept a daily log while I was on the trip, so that I could remember and let all of my faithful readers know exactly what we did. =)

My good friend Melissa B. lived back in the Lebanon area, and offered her house to us for a couple of days. So after breakfast, the kids and I packed up and drove the 2 hours to Melissa’s house. Now first off, for those of you who know me well enough…you’ll also know that this is a HUGE step for me. I am not comfortable at all driving around by myself in an unfamiliar area. But I now have a GPS, so I plugged in the address and off I went. I became quite dependent on the GPS (whom I have named Bill). So as long as Bill knew where he was going, then I was fine.

Moving on…

After arriving at Melissa’s house, safe and sound, the kids had fun getting reacquainted with their friend, Faith, as well as the Farm and the kittens which live there on. I was able to have some “Girl Time” that evening. Melissa’s husband, Karl, babysat all of the kids while Melissa and I went to a friend’s house for supper and fellowship. It was fun for me to meet some new friends.

Tuesday (the 20th) was spent doing some local “fun stuff” with the kids. We went to Hershey Chocolate World, had a tasty picnic at a local park, and spend several hours “thrift store” shopping. The kids were disappointed at first, but once they discovered the clearance section and found some cool games and books for “dirt cheap”, they were loving it. I was able to find some really nice shirts and a couple of skirts for a very good price, too.

Wednesday morning, (the 21st) after breakfast, the kids and I packed up and headed back to Bushfalls to spend a couple of days with Trevor. He was able to finish class early that day because of testing, so after lunch he was free for the rest of the day. We went to the local park “Bushkill Falls Park” to have some family time. There was a very nice pathway that lead to several different falls, in the park, so we spent a couple of hours hiking, then went out to eat for supper.

Being Silly at the Visitors Center

Thursday morning, (the 22nd) I was able to do some school with the kids. Yes I brought along their books. I knew I was going to be spending some time in the townhome, so I figured, why sit around bored. =) The area we were staying in, is actually a Resort, so there were plenty of tourist things to do in the area. One of the local parks had a Jr Ranger Program, so being the JRP people that we are, after school was finished for the day, we headed to the Ranger Station to pick up our books. I also let the kids do some mini golf and bumper boats, as well as playing at the Villa Park.

On Friday, (the 23rd) I packed up the kids and headed to a Sister’s house in Lebanon, who had invited us over for the weekend. She has a big farm, a pond, and some canoes/kayaks that the kids were looking forward to using. They played for several hours before we finally made them come inside. That evening Glorianna and Azariah both got sick. Seemed like some kind of stomach bug. By that night I wasn’t feeling too good either. Not a good thing. I wasn’t sure if we had gotten bad food or if this was indeed a stomach bug. I really didn’t want to spread the germs around, so I had a serious decision to make. I was hoping we would all feel better after some sleep but it wasn’t to be. Glorianna seemed to feel better but Azariah and I both still felt awful. So after breakfast on Saturday morning, I packed up and once again headed to Bushkill to be with Trevor. I felt bad for leaving the Sister’s house. She had been so kind and generous to us. But I felt bad physically too, so I really needed to just head back. We spent the rest of the day just laying around and resting. By the time Trevor got done with his class, about 6:00, Azariah seemed to feel better, but my stomach was still a bit yucky feeling. There was another nearby waterfall that Trevor wanted to see, tho, and it was a really easy walk, so we drove the short distance to the park to see yet another of God’s wonderful creations.

After we saw the waterfalls, I was pretty tired. So we went back to our room. Trevor had some studying to do for class the next day, so me and the kids went to bed early while he studied.

To Be Continued…