Living Our Dream

Winding Down in Amish Country

Berlin, OH - Events of Monday, October 3 to Tuesday, October 11, 2016

With the sun finally out and the weather warming up a bit, we went out on Monday to run some errands to pick up a few food items we wanted to take with us when we left Berlin. Our first stop was at Hershberger's Farm Market to get some pasta sauce. They carry a brand that is not only delicious, but it is a lower in carbs and sugar than most.

Hershberger's is where we got our hanging basket of flowers shortly after we first arrived in Berlin. They had a huge selection of plants last spring that made a showy display, but they really outdid themselves this fall. There were mums, pumpkins and gourds as far as the eye could see.

Mums and pumpkins at Hershberger's Farm Market

Margery standing beside the display of extra-large pumpkins with more pumpkins in the background

Selection of colorful gourds

After looking around a bit and then getting our pasta sauce, we headed next to Ashery Country Store to stock up on some spices and flavorings. Then it was on to Winesburg Meats for some beef snack sticks and some smoked sausage patties for the freezer.

Margery had an appointment for a haircut on Tuesday afternoon. Paul went along so we could stop at Der Dutchman for the salad bar for lupper on the way back. Everything was delish.

On Wednesday, we made a trip to Pittsburgh to see Lora, J. Michael and Lydia one last time before heading south. We arrived early so we could babysit Lydia because Lora had an appointment in the morning. Lydia loves to be outside, so we went for a short walk, blew some bubbles and eventually ended up at the swing.

Grammy pushing Lydia on the swing

When Lora got back, we all had a bite to eat, and Lydia went down for her nap. During the afternoon, Lora, Margery and Paul chatted off an on. We also played around with our iPads and computers, and Lora actually got some Mary Kay work done. Lydia woke up from her nap just before 5:00, which was perfect timing to meet J. Michael after work at Bahama Breeze for dinner.

Lora, Lydia and J. Michael at Bahama Breeze

Bahama Breeze has half-price appetizers between 4:00 and 6:00 so we had a mixture of appetizers, salads and entrées. Most notable was Margery's Cobb salad. It was huge! The Cobb salad was loaded with chicken, bacon, grated cheddar and jack cheeses, avocado, tomato and egg. There was probably some lettuce in there, too.

Margery's huge Cobb salad

After dinner, there were hugs all around before we headed back to Ohio.

Except for running a couple of quick errands, we hung around the campground most of the time on Thursday and Friday working on re-routing our trip to Florida. On Saturday, Paul ran out to Der Dutchman Bakery and brought back cream sticks for breakfast and fry pies for dessert that evening. Then we did our weekly cleaning chores before heading out to Walmart to restock the larder prior to hitting the road.

We spent most of Sunday watching TV switching back and forth between the NASCAR Sprint Cup race and the Steeler game. There were two NASCAR races from Charlotte that were run back to back on Sunday. Both the Sprint Cup race from Saturday evening and the Xfinity race from Friday evening had to be rescheduled for Sunday because of rain from Hurricane Matthew.

On Monday, we headed out to Der Dutchman for the breakfast buffet one more time. Everything was yummy!

Margery loading up her plate at the buffet

After breakfast, we made a stop at Walnut Creek Cheese to stock up on some meats and cheeses before we headed south. They have excellent meats at very reasonable prices. We sure are going to miss grocery shopping in this area!

New sign on the building at Walnut Creek Cheese

We spent most of the rest of the day Monday relaxing. On Tuesday, Margery remembered a couple of items we forgot to get at Walnut Creek Cheese the day before, so we headed there after breakfast. Since we had to go right past Der Dutchman Bakery, we stopped and split a cream stick and also picked up some fry pies for dessert that evening. We just couldn't pass up the opportunity to have our favorites "one more time!" We quit counting how many "one more times" there were. 

One of the things we needed was smoked Gruyere cheese for a recipe for an upcoming meal, but Walnut Creek Cheese didn't have any so we decided to stop at Heini's Cheese to look for it. Heini's is only a few minutes from the RV park, but we hadn't found the time to stop there all summer.

At Heini's, you can watch through windows to see cheese being made in big vats on weekdays. There are overhead video screens that explain the process.

Cheese being made at Heini's

One reason we don't go to Heini's too often is that it is usually crowded, especially on Saturdays. The big attraction is you can sample almost every kind of cheese they make. Fortunately, it wasn't very crowded when we were there on Tuesday.

Customers sampling cheese at Heini's

Unfortunately, Heini's didn't have smoked Gruyere either, so we ended up substituting smoked Swiss. They make several kinds of Swiss cheese, and we chose a type with a somewhat nutty flavor similar to Gruyere.

We spent the most of the rest of Tuesday getting ready to hitch up and head south on Wednesday. We'll tell you where we went in our next post.

Pittsburgh Botanic Garden

Berlin, OH/Pittsburgh, PA - Events of Tuesday, September 20 to Saturday, September 24, 2016

One reason Paul worked so hard to complete the play kitchen set he was refinishing for Lydia for Christmas was we were scheduled to go to Pittsburgh last Tuesday for several days for our annual physicals. We wanted to take the finished kitchen with us this trip so we wouldn't have to store it outside under a tarp any longer than necessary.

Paul loaded the kitchen set into the back of the truck on Monday afternoon, and we headed for Lora and J. Michael's house on Tuesday morning. During Lydia's nap, we carried the kitchen set down to the basement and covered it up so she wouldn't see it if she happened to be down there.

Our physicals were scheduled for first thing Wednesday morning. We both got in and out in fairly short order, and we both got good reports.

On Thursday, we took Paul's step mom out to lunch at Atria's Restaurant in Gibsonia near where she lives.

Atria's Restaurant

Most lunches cost $12 to $15, and the selections include half-sandwich and soup or salad combos, lunch salads, burgers, sandwiches, wraps, and several lunch entrées. Atria's celebrates Oktoberfest during the month of October and they feature a number of German dishes. Paul's step mom had sauerbraten, and the rest of us had half sandwich combos. Lora had half a Reuben and crab bisque, Paul had half a Santa Fe chicken wrap and crab bisque, and Margery had half a Reuben and a Caesar salad. Everything was delish.

Lydia, Lora, Paul's step mom and Margery at Atria's

Lydia understandably gets a little restless after she is done eating, and she has trouble sitting still while the adults visit. We don't get to see Paul's step mom all that often, so we wanted to take time to visit with her, especially since the restaurant wasn't crowded. Therefore, Lora had to resort to drastic measures by finding an episode of "PAW Patrol" online to stream on her phone to keep Lydia occupied while we chatted. "PAW Patrol" is Lydia's latest, favorite, animated TV show replacing her previous favorite, "Bubble Guppies."

Lydia watching an episode of "PAW Patrol" on Lora's phone

On Friday, we headed out to the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden. The garden is a tract of approximately 460 acres that is only a few minutes from Lora and J. Michael's house. Development of the garden started in 2011, and it opened to the public in 2014.

After parking, we headed to the welcome center, which is located in a renovated 1870s barn. Admission is $9 for adults, $8 for seniors and $6 for kids from 3 to 18. Kids under 3 are free. There is a $1 discount for Allegheny County residents.

Margery, Lydia and Lora outside the Welcome Center

Coal was once both deep mined and strip mined from the land on which the garden sits, so there was (and still is) much restoration work to be done. Invasive plant species have been removed from approximately 60 acres, and thousands of trees, shrubs, perennials and spring bulbs have been planted. Most of the garden is woodland, and much of the planting has been done among the existing trees. There is about a mile of wide, gravel, ADA-compliant (Americans with Disabilities Act) paths and several miles of smaller, steeper paths that wind through the woods and through a meadow. Lydia rode her stroller on the smoother paths and walked on the steeper paths.

Grammy and Lydia walking one of the garden paths

A passive facility to treat acid mine drainage was constructed making it possible to restore a pond that existed on the property. The Lotus Pond, as it is called even though there are very few lotus plants at present, was stocked various aquatic plants and with 500 native fish.

Lotus Pond

Water lily in the Lotus Pond

There are a number of things along the paths that are of interest to kids, one of which is a giant bird's nest. We stopped for Lydia and Lora to sit on eggs. Fortunately, no giant birds were hatched.

Lydia and Lora sitting on eggs in the giant bird's nest

The meadow, which has dozens of dogwood trees that bloom in spring, is covered with golden rod in the fall. Golden rod frequently gets a bad rap from allergy sufferers; but the real culprit is ragweed, which happens to bloom at the same time. Since golden rod is much more visible, it gets blamed even though it causes far fewer allergy symptoms than ragweed.

Meadow with golden rod

Rustic birdhouse in the meadow

There are more things for kids along the trails like a fairy village and a storybook section, and there is also an old log cabin with sheep and chickens across the road. However, by the time we got to the meadow, Lydia was starting to show signs she was getting tired so decided to skip the rest of the garden and head back to the car.

While Lora and Margery got Lydia into her car seat and packed away the stroller, Paul lingered behind for a few minutes to photograph the wedding venue behind the welcome center. In addition to a seating area with a stone wall backdrop for the ceremony, there is a wrought iron gazebo and and several picturesque paths for photography.

Wedding venue behind the welcome center

Wrought iron gazebo

Back at the house we had a quick lunch and finished packing up the truck. Then we said our good-byes and headed back to Scenic Hills.

Saturday was Paul's birthday, so we decided to go to Der Dutchman for the breakfast buffet to celebrate. Our stay in Ohio is nearing an end so we wanted to have the breakfast buffet at least one more time before we leave, and Paul's birthday was a perfect excuse. Everything was delish!

Since we'll be heading south soon, there are several more eateries we want to visit one more time, and we also want to stock up on some meats, cheeses, bulk spices and a few other goodies from local stores. In addition, we have a couple of minor projects to finish up before we hit the road, and we still want to take time to enjoy the fall scenery. We'll let you know what we got into in our next update.

Planet Bounce

Berlin, OH - Events of Thursday, August 11, 2016

At the end of our last post, we told you we had a trip planned to another planet. The name of that planet is Planet Bounce.

Well, okay. It's not really another planet. Planet Bounce is the name of a children's attraction in Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, (located just a little south of Pittsburgh) that is filled with bounce houses for kids to play in. We thought it would be fun to take Lydia, so we drove to Pittsburgh on Thursday morning then headed to Planet Bounce with Lydia and Lora. We got an early start because, while they have longer hours on weekends, they are only open from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. The cost is $10 per child. Adults are free. Parents are permitted into the bounce houses with their kids.

When we first arrived, Lydia, who doesn't adapt quickly to new things, was a bit overwhelmed. There were dozens of yelling kids running around, and there was the constant, loud hum of all the blowers that were keeping the bonce houses inflated. We had a hard time deciding what to try first.

The girls all looking bewildered trying to decide what to do first

After watching some of the other kids play for a few minutes, Lora and Lydia decided to try the smallest of three inflatable slides. That sounded like a good choice because Lydia likes slides; but with this one, the kids have to climb through several narrow openings to get to the top of the slide. Lora went in with Lydia to help her through.

Lora helping Lydia through a tight squeeze

Lydia was a afraid of the small openings, especially with the whole thing shaking constantly from all the other kids moving around inside. When Lora lifted her through the opening in the photo above, Lydia was all by herself on the other side of the barrier and started to cry. Lora pulled Lydia back and lifted her out over the side to Margery before climbing back out the entrance herself.

The biggest slide had a ramp that went straight to the top and that wasn't in a confined area, so they decided to try that one next. Lora helped Lydia to the top.

Lora and Lydia going up the big slide

Lydia liked the ride down, but she wasn't ready to try it again because, although the the ramp is not in a confined space, it is very steep and it jiggles a lot when the other kids are moving around. Not only that, but some of the bigger kids insisted on trying to push past Lora and Lydia on the way up making things even more uncertain for Lydia.

Just as Paul was starting to think taking Lydia to Planet Bounce might not have been such a good idea because she was still a little too young, we found a small room off the main room that was a lot more quiet and that had some foam blocks that the kids can stack and crawl on and under. Lydia quickly started feeling more at ease.

Lydia climbing on the blocks

Lydia climbing through the blocks

Lydia emerging from the tunnel under one of the blocks

The small room also had a wall maze with space aliens, rocket ships and comets. It was cute because it kept with the "planet" theme. Poppy and Lydia played with it for a while.

Lydia and Poppy playing with the rocket ships and space aliens (Oh, to be able to squat like that!)

When Lydia started losing interest in the things in the small room, we all headed back out to the main room where Lora and Grammy took Lydia into a plain bounce house that had no slides and no obstacles. It was just a rather large, inflated space with nylon mesh sides where kids can jump around. Lydia had trouble keeping her balance when the other kids were bouncing and was a little afraid at first, so Lora held her hands and jumped with her. As Lydia started getting used to having everything around her move and shake, she started having fun.

After Lydia got used to being in confined spaces by climbing under the blocks in the smaller room, and after she got used to having everything moving and shaking around her in the plain bounce house, she was ready to try the slides again. She still needed help getting to the top of the big slide and through the mazes and tight squeezes in the smaller ones, but she loved them all - especially the tall slide.

Lora and Lydia on the big slide

Poor Lora got really tired from all the climbing, lifting and jumping she had to do to help Lydia, but we were happy to see Lydia get used to all the new experiences and eventually start enjoying herself. We didn't know the bounce houses would require so much adult assistance for smaller kids like Lydia or we would have waited until next year to try it. By 12:30, Lora was worn out and we were all hungry, so we headed back to the house for lunch.

After Lydia's nap, we headed to the Texas Roadhouse in nearby Bridgeville to meet J. Michael after work for dinner. J. Michael had gotten a coupon for a free appetizer, so we all shared an order of Rattlesnake Bites, which are deep-fried cheese and jalapeño balls. They were outstanding.

Texas Roadhouse has 8 or 10 early bird specials for $8.99 before 6 p.m., so that's what we all had. J. Michael had grilled chicken, and the rest of us had 6-oz sirloin steaks. Everything was yummy!

After dinner, we said our good-byes and headed back to the rig in Ohio.

Spring Flowers and Another Project

Berlin, OH - Events of Friday, May 13 to Wednesday, May 19, 2016

We have been enjoying spring here in Amish country. Tulips are up, the Amish are out in the fields plowing and many of the local stores have flowers and plants for sale. Last year, we got a beautiful pot of flowers from Hershberger's Farm Market, so we wanted more flowers to dress up our site again this year. We looked at a couple of other places on our travels around the area, then headed to Hershberger's last Friday.

Margery checking out the flower selection at Hershberger's

With so many to choose from, it took us quite a while to decide what basket we wanted. We eventually ended up with petunias mixed with verbena.

Petunias and verbena

When Lora and J. Michael bought their travel trailer several years ago, they didn't order the optional bedroom TV because they didn't really need it at the time. Now that they have Lydia, who goes to bed early and who sleeps in a portable crib in the living/dining area when they go camping, Lora and J. Michael retreat to the bedroom. Therefore, the addition of a TV in the bedroom would be a welcomed asset.

On our last couple of visits to Pittsburgh, Paul took measurements in the bedroom of their trailer and subsequently did some research online into TVs and mounting brackets. Lora and J. Michael decided to go with a TV/DVD combo because they frequently like to watch movies on DVD in the evening when they are camping, and they don't have room anywhere in the bedroom for a separate DVD player.

Both the TV and mounting bracket were ordered online. They both came in late last week, so we scheduled a trip to Pittsburgh on Wednesday so Paul could work on the installation.

Grammy watched Lydia while Lora went grocery shopping and while Paul installed the TV. Margery took time out from playing with Lydia to snap a photo.

Lydia playing

Meanwhile, Paul got busy with the installation of the TV. Fortunately, Forest River (the manufacturer of the travel trailer) put an aluminum plate in the wall for the attachment screws for a TV mounting bracket. There was a sticker on the wall saying "mount TV here" when Lora and J. Michael first got the trailer, but the sticker has since been removed. Fortunately, Lora remembered about where it was, and Paul was able to locate the plate with a stud finder.

It was a little scary drilling holes in the wall of someone else's trailer, but Paul started with a tiny drill bit just in case he had misidentified the location of the aluminum plate. As the drill bit went into the wall, silver chips came out indicating success at hitting the plate. Paul successfully drilled the other three holes and installed the mounting bracket.

Paul tightening the screws for the mounting bracket

After a trip to the hardware to get longer screws to attach the mounting plate to the back of the TV, Paul was able to marry the TV itself to the bracket.

Paul attaching the TV to the bracket

TV installed

The TV isn't very heavy, but just to be safe, we decided it would be better to detach the TV for travel leaving just the bracket on the wall. J. Michael was at work, so Paul explained to Lora how everything is attached so she could teach J. Michael.

Paul showing Lora how the wires are attached to the TV

A while back, we got a coupon from Bahama Breeze for $10 off a $30 purchase. Since there is a Bahama Breeze only about 10 minutes from Lora and J. Michael's house and since the coupon was about to expire, we planned to go there for dinner before heading back to Ohio.

Poppy and Lydia heading into the restaurant

Bahama Breeze has Happy Hour from 4 to 6 p.m. on weekdays with discounted drinks and half-price appetizers, so we all had appetizers for our dinner. After dinner, we had a Chocolate Island for dessert. Lydia liked the Chocolate Island so much, she attacked it with two forks.

Lydia eating dessert with two forks

After our dinner, we said our good-byes before heading back to Ohio. In the next photo, Lydia is about to get what we call a "sandwich kiss" from Grammy and Poppy.

Grammy and Poppy saying good-bye to Lydia

We got back to Scenic Hills just in time to catch a glimpse of the setting sun peeking under a bank of clouds.

Sunset at Scenic Hills RV Park

Stay tuned for our next update.

Arrival in Ohio's Amish Country and a Quick Trip to Pittsburgh

Berlin, OH - Events of Monday, May 2 to Wednesday, May 4, 2016

We headed out from Piedmont, South Carolina, fairly early last Monday morning toward Berlin, Ohio, which is in the heart of Amish Country. After about a 4-hour drive, we made an overnight stop at Ft. Chiswell RV Park in Max Meadows, Virginia near Wytheville. Ft. Chiswell RV is located along a stretch where I-77 and I-81 run concurrently for a few miles. That coupled with the fact most of the sites are long pull-throughs with full hookups and 20/30/50-amp electric make this a very popular place for overnight stops. We have stayed here several times before, and the campground is almost empty when we arrive because we usually arrive early in the day, and the place is just about filled by 5 or 6 p.m.

Ft. Chiswell RV has about 90 sites. The entrance road is paved, and the secondary roads past the sites are gravel, as are most of the sites. They have a row of 8 or 9 sites that are paved, and we have gotten one of these paved sites the last couple of times we stayed there.

Our site at Ft. Chiswell RV

View of some of the sites behind us

There is free Wi-fi that is fairly fast even when the campground is full, and there also is good Verizon 4G service in the area. Even though the campground is conveniently located less than half a mile from the interstate exit, it is behind a hill so there is very little traffic noise. The cost for our site for one night was $34.75. That included a 10% Good Sam discount and tax.

We always like to get a pull-through site when we make overnight stops so we don't have to unhook. That was a good thing for this stop because we had a long (for us) drive of a little over 6 hours to Amish Country the next day, and not having to hook up in the morning would allow us to get on the road nice and early. We pulled into Scenic Hills RV Park around 2:30.

Scenic Hills has about 110 sites that are a mix of pull-throughs and back-ins. All sites have full hookups, some with 20/30-amp electric and some with 20/30/50-amp electric. The roads are tar and chip, and the pads are gravel. The gravel is always nice and fresh so there are no bare spots. The sites are on three levels - the ones on the middle level are all gravel, and the ones on the other two levels have well-manicured grass between the sites. A few of the sites are a little narrow, but most aren't too bad for a private campground. The overnight rate is $35, but there are various discounts for stays of three nights or longer. We are paying the monthly rate of $595, which includes electricity.

The next photo shows our site in the back row of the upper level where they like to put long-term guests.

Our site at Scenic Hills RV Park

Since it was early in the season, there weren't that many RVs there yet as the next photo of some of the upper level sites shows.

Only a few sites taken this early in the season

After we got set up, we relaxed the rest of the day, but we didn't waste any time heading for Pittsburgh to see Lydia first thing Wednesday morning. On the way, we made a quick stop at Der Dutchman Bakery for our first cream sticks of the season - undoubtedly the first of many.

Paul with his first cream stick of the season

Even though Lora sends us photos of Lydia all the time and we FaceTime with them frequently, we were still surprised at how much Lydia has changed since we last saw her at Christmas. She is no longer a baby, but a toddler. She has quite a large vocabulary and speaks in sentences, although we frequently need Lora to translate some of the words for us. And she picks up new words and grasps the meaning very quickly.

Lora and J. Michael's two boxers get along very well with Lydia, but she really likes playing with Freeway probably because he is more her size. However, Freeway is used to being around adults so he was a little wary of Lydia because she is a little noisy, and she moves pretty fast. Although he still seemed a little cautious, it didn't take Freeway too long to start playing with Lydia. It was fun listening to her giggle.

Lydia playing tug-o-war with Freeway

Talk about being born into the electronic age - at the age of less than two years, Lydia likes to play with Lora's iPad. She knows how push the button to turn it on, and she knows how to swipe the screen; but she can't unlock it because her fingerprint isn't programmed in, and she doesn't know the pass code.

Lydia playing with Lora's iPad

Lydia also knows her colors. When she was playing with her stacking rings, we could tell her which color to put on next.

Lydia playing with her stacking rings

The best part of seeing Lydia in person was being able to interact with her and to play with her. In the next photo, Paul and Lydia are playing with her Plaskool Stack 'n' Spin Gears. Lydia would take a gear off and stack it on top of another one. Paul would then take a different gear and replace the one Lydia just removed. Instead of getting frustrated that Paul was undoing what she just did, she caught on right away that it is was a game he was playing. She then started doing the same thing to Paul by moving yet another gear to the replace the one he had just taken away. It went on for quite a while as they both swapped gears back and forth.

Paul and Lydia playing

Grammy got into the act, too. In the next photo, Margery started swaying her hands in time with music that was playing. Lydia quickly followed suit.

Margery and Lydia keeping time with the music

After Lydia's nap, we took her outside to the swing.

Margery pushing Lydia on the swing

Lydia likes to swing, but what she really loves is for you to twist the swing up and let it go so she spins 'round and 'round. She giggles and giggles as the swing unwinds.

Lydia spinning in the swing

J. Michael stopped at Hunner's Pizza on his way home from work and picked up a pizza. We love their pizza, and it seems every time we are in Pittsburgh and want to get one, it happens to be a Monday, which is the day they are closed. The pizza was as good as we remembered.

After we ate, we chatted a while then headed back to Ohio to chill out for a couple of days and rest up from our travel days. We'll have another update before long, so check back.