HEADING OUT

We are back from vacation.  A short one but we packed a lot into it.  I took close to 100 pictures and videos.  Too much to put together in one post, so I'm breaking it up into several days.  Hope you follow along.  I was driving, so not a lot of scenery pictures, but if you've been following me for any length of time you know what Lancaster County looks like.

Thursday was my sister Elaine's birthday.  She traveled from her home in northern New Jersey to my house.  That's about a two hour drive.  Then it was another two hour or so drive out to Lancaster County.  I know she must have been tired of being in a car by the time we got there.

We left around 11 a.m.  I didn't take the short cut I usually do because I would have to go through center city and it was a mess with the Democratic Convention going on.  So I took the old way out.

I knew there was going to be a storm, but I was hoping to miss it. No such luck.  We got pretty far.  We had already gone through Philadelphia, Montgomery and Chester Counties when it hit.  A few drops on the windshield.  Then more.  I turned on my lights and the wipers.  Then it got darker and the rain got heavier.  Finally it was a downpour like I've never seen before.  I could not see a thing in front of me.  I saw the car before me put on his flashers and so did I.  Besides those tail lights all I could see was rain hitting the windshield.  The roads were flooded too.  You know I slowed down.  Way down.  At one point I pulled off the road and let all the people behind me pass.  I was going to sit there awhile, but decided to not take a chance of someone losing control of their car and plowing into me.  Elaine, Joe and I were all praying.  It was BAD.

As we drove on we saw many cars pulled over on the shoulder of the road.  But most of the road I was driving on did not have a shoulder.  It was the road and corn fields or tobacco fields.  That's it.  So I drove on.

And then as suddenly as it had started, it ended.  We drove into bright sunshine.  The roads were wet and you could tell it had rained, but no rain coming down.

By this time it was after noon so we decided to stop and get something to eat.  My girlfriend had recommended the Gap Diner so we pulled in there to get some sandwiches.  We didn't want to eat a lot because we knew we were having dinner in a few hours.

 

Joe got a reuben sandwich, Elaine grilled cheese and I got a BLT.  The food was good, but it was just an OK diner.  I guess we expected a lot more.  I would go back again, though.

We drove through some more rain, but not like it was.  Even though it was a little early, we went to the hotel and asked if our rooms were ready.  They were, so we checked in.

After we got settled, I went next door to see Elaine's room.  The hotel had given her a basket with a birthday card, bottle of sparking cider, two glasses, two whoopie pies, and a bunch of Hershey's chocolate.

I took a video of her room too.

Our friend, Marion came from Bensalem to spend Elaine's birthday with her.  It was a long drive for her, too.  She gave Elaine a gift.  I love the covered cup.

We decided to go to the outlets before dinner.  But that's another story for another day.

Kathy