York County, Pennsylvania

Scout and I arrived at her parent’s house in York County, Pennsylvania a day before we thought we would arrive.  Mainly that is because we drove nearly all night on that final day.  Her dad had been stressing for over a week already because he was certain that we would have to back Loretta into their driveway instead of pull her in directly – primarily because there is a stone wall on one side and a telephone pole on the other.  When we arrived, I ran into the house to let them know we were there, and Scout stayed in the truck across the street, waiting for her father to come outside and help her back it in.  When I came out of the house, however, she was already ramping the neighbor’s yard, just missing the wall and pulling the trailer right on into the driveway.  That’s Scout for you.  She has cajones. 

                                              The back of Scout's parent's house. 

                                                  Loretta parked next to the Pole Barn

We arrived a bit worse for wear.  It had been a few days since we had last showered, we were still minus a window, and we noticed that a panel that held in insulation under Loretta was falling down.  Scout’s dad takes everything in stride, though, and he and Scout’s brother had things fixed for us in no time. 

Her dad also helped us unlatch the hitch and free the SUV.  We had only had the one instruction on how the hitch worked from the man at the RV dealership in Irvine, CA, and we hadn’t dared mess with it until now.  So, we unhitched, pulled out the tire blocks to help Loretta stay put, and we set up the awning.  It was our new home away from home!

It was great to see Scout’s family again.  Her parents were as lovely as ever – they are such happy, wonderful people.  And I met Scout’s brother for the first time, and his girlfriend, who are also both really nice. 

Morning Chat Time in Loretta

My mother is my favorite person on the planet, but I don’t have many memories of her making me snacks and breakfast in bed.  Scout’s parents have been so hospitable.  They adore her and are always fussing around her to make sure she is happy, fed, and comfortable.  It’s very cute.  I don’t know how they have so much energy, but I know that I certainly have loved the cheese steak sandwiches, the BLT&Es (in bed, no less), the banana bread, etc, etc, etc.  Even Scout’s brother and his girlfriend made an amazing shrimp fettuccine alfredo.  (Would you be surprised to find out that some of my pants are getting tight?)

Isn't This Idyllic?  Girl Time in the Kitchen.

                                             Scout's Neice "Testing" the Banana Bread

Besides the food, which really has been delicious and overly abundant (oh, did I mention the peanut butter cups and the Turkey Hill ice cream sundaes?), we have spent a lot of time with Scout’s friends.  She has an awesome group of friends whom she has known since high school.  It has been great seeing everyone (some of whom I am only meeting for the first time), and what I love most about it is how much everyone loves Scout.  They are all true friends, and she is so lucky to have them. 

The towns around here are just beautiful.  There are acres and acres of farm land, with quintessential red barns and tall feed silos.  The fields are full of grazing horses, cattle and corn.  Small creeks cut through the land as it slopes and meanders into the distance.  It’s just gorgeous.  The pictures below, believe it or not, are just behind the Pole Barn at the back of the yard.  It's been tough waking up to this view every morning, I tell you...

The Road To Scout's Parents

When you do come upon a town area, the buildings are mainly old, stately brick façade buildings, which have so much character.  The towns here were greatly impacted by the civil war, and still have a very historic presence.  We passed Gettysburg while we were driving to the house, and I can’t wait to go back and explore all of the little shops and old restaurants.  But closer by, towns such as Wrightsville, Columbia, and Lancaster have as much charm. 

The Susquehanna River

Quaint Streets in York

Wright's Ferry Mansion, Columbia, Pennsylvania

The Wrightsville Bridge

(This bridge was burned down during the Civil War, where the Union troops burned the bridge to save Lancaster from the Confederates.)

Restaurant Named After the Namesake of Wrightsville

                                               The Limestone Kilns in Wrightsville

One of our favorite past times is antique shopping, and there have been some great shops around here.  There seems to be a theme in many of these shops, where you find a lot of farm-type antiques – older, heavy wooden furniture pieces, military trinkets, antique pistols, barbershop straight blades, old train sets, and lots and lots of stained glass panels.  We were lucky enough to find 2 pieces of art that we liked enough to buy – although, ironically, the images are of a carnival ferris wheel that reminded us of fun times we had at the Santa Monica pier in California.  (Have we both become California girls at heart already?) 

One day, we all drove down to a place called BB’s Grocery Outlet.  It is a discount grocery store that is run by members of the local Amish community.  I was so surprised when we arrived – it felt like I was in a foreign country!  The Amish speak a language called Pennsylvania Dutch.  It sounds a lot like German, which I speak a bit of, and I was constantly straining my ear to see if I could understand them.  It’s really hard though.  Not only do they speak their own dialect, but people from Pennsylvania have an accent that is very unique.  It’s not just the Amish, but even Scout’s family sometimes says things that I don’t understand.   For example, most people here don’t use the verb “to be”, but rather go directly into the past tense.  So, instead of saying, ‘That needs to be washed,’ they would say ‘That needs washed.”  Another thing I have noticed is that people say ‘left go’ instead of ‘let go’ or they will even say ‘leave it go.’  It’s very interesting.  Most of the time, I can figure out what people are saying, but it’s definitely fun experiencing this new vocabulary.

Anyway, back to the Amish.  What I have learned so far is that they don’t use electricity or automobiles.  They ride in horse-drawn buggies, and it is not uncommon to see one driving across an overpass while you are on the highway.  Some stores (like BB’s Grocery Outlet) even have parking spots for the buggies, with a post to tie the horse to while they shop.  They are a very close knit community, and although they do not like to have their pictures taken, and they shun modern advancements, they can drink and smoke, and seem to have a lot of fun.  Just tonight, we went to a place called Root’s Country Market (pronounced like ‘ruuts’), where Amish people were working at the vegetable stands.  Little girls in prairie-esque dresses and white bonnets (and some in Sketchers and Nikes) and young boys in black suits and straw hats were wandering around the market, looking at the cakes and candies, while their parents ran the booths or made food.  Some of it seems a bit paradoxical to me, for example, if they don’t use electricity, why do they work at a place that uses lights and a cash register, but for the most part I try not to over-analyze and just enjoy the experience.  It’s a culture I have never seen before, and so far, I really like it.  Scout was just saying tonight how much she admires the simplicity of their lives – and even though their method of simplistic still makes us look like yuppie techies in our fancy Airstream, we are also trying to live a bit more simply.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for tonight was the animal auction.  I knew that an animal auction happened at Root’s, but for some reason I romanticized it in my head.  Scout asked me, did you think there would be a lot of chickens and pigs running around free and happy?  When I answer honestly, I suppose I did.  What I saw, however, was lots of birds cramped into cages, a gerbil taking its last breath, and a lot of people mulling around and bidding very low prices while a man spoke loudly into a microphone.  I sometimes worry that I have the radio too loud in the car for the dog’s ears – they have hearing that is a lot more intense than a human’s – but here, these animals were not really ‘animals’ per se, and definitely not pets, but things to be bought and sold.  A lot of my time in Pennsylvania so far has been spent thinking about the disposable nature of the animal, and how I, like so many people I imagine, have lived without really wondering how the food I eat gets to my table.  I know the horror stories of the abattoirs, but I am not aware of the regular goings on of farmers, and the plight of the animal who  is not inhumanely killed based on those horrific standards, but who is killed nonetheless.  Last night, we went deer spotting – which is where you shine a very bright light out into fields to see the deer grazing there, and we got into a discussion regarding the upcoming hunting season.  Scout said that she would kill a deer, and I turned to her and adamantly said, ‘no, you wouldn’t.  I couldn’t imagine you doing that!’  She replied, ‘I would kill a deer and then I would eat it.’ So, I wonder –where do I think my food comes from?  I guess that is the hot button question for me these days.  If I couldn’t kill it myself, do I have any business eating it?  So right then and there, I decided to be a vegetarian.  Which lasted all the way through breakfast and lunch today, and failed when I had a chicken cheesesteak at the farmer’s market.  I guess I don’t care about chickens much after all…

Anyway, we are having a terrific time here in Pennsylvania.  It's wonderful spending time with family and friends, experiencing the fall weather and getting glimpses of winter, really living in Loretta, being successful at working remotely, exploring new towns, and just living the dream. 

Happy Girls