Kathi came out from behind the desk with hugs and "Welcome MR AND MRS Cook!"
Carol just pointed out to me that I haven't mentioned our cat, Peaches who is traveling with us. She rides in a carrier on the backseat of the truck between Emily and Andrew and she has been an exceptionally well behaved traveler. No kitty Valium needed. She does "meow" some. Sometimes rather pitifully and we didn't figure out why for awhile. Then we noticed that she only seemed really distressed when our ears were popping from altitude changes. Now if we could just teach her to hold her nose and blow, everything would be fine. She has pretty well accepted everyone and the sharing of the Airstream space.
I blogged last year about the 4th Fest and that State College has the 2nd largest fireworks display in the country. All Carol could say last year was, "The kids have got to see this." So this year, they did. Tom drove up to the area very early, got a great parking space in the "tailgaiting" section and rode his bicycle back to the house. Then we piled 4 adults and 5 kids into my truck (did I tell you that I LOVE my truck?) and drove to as close as we could get. Schlepped chairs, drinks, toys and food to the Eurovan and settled in for the afternoon. The kids played games, rode rides and we all picnicked and enjoyed the beautiful day. There was a small carnival area
The fireworks couldn't compete with the sunset that preceded them.
The fireworks are choreographed to music played over a local radio station. There were 5 or 6 different songs with appropriate fireworks. After each one, Andrew and Emily asked, "Are they over?" The final, for real, finale is about three minutes of 40 shells PER SECOND. And we were close enough to feel the force of the explosions. We didn't even try to get pictures.
Sunday was a day of rest. On Monday we - meaning (listed by age) Tom, Carol, Emily, Casey, Andrew and Sarah went to Penn's Cave. It's a great "first-timer" cave. The kids loved it and so did Carol and I. Especially since it was a boat ride (we got to entertain the gang while sitting down!)
Dinner at the Olive Garden, since it is Casey's favorite restaurant in the world and no one else could decide.
Tuesday afternoon we had a kid's day - dinner with all of my family plus Ann's sister, Ellen and her daughter, Ella. We went to Baby's. It wasn't called "Baby's" in 1964 when I lived a block away and went there several times a week, but it was, and is a chrome diner with great comfort food. AND on Tuesdays, kids EAT FREE !! Since we had 5 adults, at least in calender years, all 6 kids ate free. And we all had great food.
Then off to the $1.00 movie theater for "Monsters vs Aliens". The theater is always $1.00 but on Tuesdays the popcorn and drinks are $1.00 each, too. I was so full from Baby's that I didn't even buy popcorn. And the movie was definitely worth one dollar.
WEDNESDAY - THE BIG DAY !
Kidsfest, the day before Artsfest officially starts. Kids can rent space, set up booths and sell things they have made themselves. Casey with some family help, sold tie-dyed clothes. Baby sizes up to adult. Mostly re-cycled stuff. And she did very well, again this year. Sarah isn't technically old enough to participate so she shares Casey's booth and sells pet rocks and votive jars and magic wands.
Thursday, the 9th we went to Artsfest. But first we stopped at People's Choice Festival of Pennsylvania. More crafts than art but nice people, great food and lots of stuff for the kids. I took Emily and Andrew by Dragon's Breath forge to talk with my friend from last year, Tim Bradford and his wife, Karen. Tim works at these events with a portable forge almost exactly like the one my Grandfather used. Check out last year's blog for pictures. I'm STILL having problems getting my head around the idea that this man from my memories is Casey, Sarah and Ben's Great-GREAT-Grandfather.
While many people think Artsfest is about the hundreds of incredibly talented artists and their wares, WE know that the kids are right when they say it's all about the "buckets."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - Andrew - Sarah - Emily - Casey - Ella - - - - - - - - - -
and the wall
and the music
These are the Rustical Quality String Band. The female fiddler is a friend from a local jam. They really put on a great show. I guess they should, they've been playing together for over 31 years!
and playing air guitar and gettin' down to the music
and meeting and greeting really great people
from left to right that's Cindy Alley, me, and Graham Spanier, President of Penn State.
Carol's not in the picture because she was taking it. We arrived at the stage a little early and Carol said, "Do you want to sit over there in the shade?" I said that I did and went over and sat down next to Cindy before I realized it was she. Small World. Lots of inbetweens.
Saturday evening Tom and Ann hosted a picnic with some of their friends, some of their kid's friends and one of our friends - Cindy Alley. She sat down and started talking with Tom. I stuck around for the conversation for a little while. But shortly after he found out that she was a geologist, not just married to one and that Karen is doing some kind of project at Colgate that he might be of help with, I found that I didn't understand any of the words. So I left the two of them and enjoyed other company, great conversation and wonderful food.
Sunday we went back to Artsfest - we HAD to - we'd gotten Creamery Ice Cream every day we were there and didn't want to ruin our record. We also walked across campus to get these pictures at the Lion. If you have to ask, "What Lion?", you haven't been paying attention.
Back to Seven Mountains. Even though we were exhausted, we had one more campfire and made s'mores.
Tomorrow it's off to Patapsco State Park near Carol's sister in Catonsville, MD.
Life is good!
1 comment:
Hello, I just noticed your blog on Airstream Hobo. I live in Catonsville MD and was wondering where you camped while here. Could you drop me a line at frankyensan@verizon.net please. Frank
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