Pennsylvania Travels

Section 1-----Pine Mountain Ranch News

Hello again from Pine Mountain. Last weekend The Lilac festival was the best one yet.
In other news the three boys that said they were attacked by a mountain lion were really attacked by a homeowner who returned home to find them rummaging through his house. He shoved one against a table and the other one jumped off a balcony. The boys made up the mountain lion attack to cover their injuries.

Interstate 5 through the grapevine will be slow going through Memorial day. While Caltrans will not be actually working, the barricades will still be in place so traffic will be restricted.

Well enough about Pine Mountain. Next our resident poet returns with a new poem about her adventures in Rome Italy.



Section 2-----Poem of the Week

There is a Rome

written six.two-one.eight

by emily dawn stine

the [celebrated] poet

Bon annoto! [goodday]

there is a rome. there is a rome.

I hope to glimpse it. I hope that I sit

on the stoop of it. My feet slide over

years of people, of history, or war.

I walk over it all & more.

I walk in the twilight, rome is dead

to visitors in this dawn, wineladen tourists,

fat.asleep in their beds. I walk in the morning

& it strikes me yellow, as archaic, as hot.

there is a rome. there is a rome.

Does it reside in 6Euro gelaterias?

I do not know. But I hope it is not some-

thing to be bought, to be sold, but inhaled

& exhaled & ingested again. I want it to infect

me, to disease me so--to spread passion in

my every fiber, to swim in my veins as the fish

of the Mediterranean. I want it envelop me

whole & then envelop me again.

Section 3-----Pennsylvania Travels

Hello everyone I hope you enjoyed your visits to Kuala Lumpur and Buenos Aires.

Three weeks ago we left Howe Caverns in upstate New York and headed south on I - 81. When we reached Scranton PA, we headed east on I 380 until we reached the Delaware Water Gap. What is a water gap? A water gap is where a river cuts between two mountains.This is the famous Delaware river and at Delaware Water gap it separates Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is a scenic wilderness area that is a protected park.
The river flows on and later separates New Jersey and Delaware at Delaware bay.



The Delaware river is a peaceful river and the park stretches on for over 40 miles so we decided to take a canoe ride and discover the countryside like the Lenape Indians did for thousands of years.There are boat launching and rental sites about every 8 miles. Our friend Jim drove our Tiger Motor Home down stream and met up with us just as the sun was setting. It was a peaceful and tranquil trip. We watched squirrels scampering up the trees on the shore and birds singing and flying overhead.The canoe glided through the water with only the slight sound as we dipped our paddles in for another stroke.

We turned in the canoe to the rental store then enjoyed a steak dinner in our Tiger Motor home. Our Tiger has performed magnificently on our journey. This is the first new motor home that I have owned. I have owned other motor homes in the past but they were all used and always needed constant repairs to keep them running.

In case you just joined us and are wondering what a tiger motor home is:



Our tiger is a Ford extended cab F350 with a 6.4 turbo diesel.We have a 130 watt solar panel, heated holding tanks, a 2.8 K generator, an outdoor and indoor shower and a 38 gallon fuel tank. Inside we have all the comforts of home.We have a sink, stove, refrigerator,full bathroom with a shower, and a flat screen TV. Tiger is made by Provan at their factory just south of Columbia, South Carolina. If you would like to see what the inside looks like go to http://www.tigermotorhomes.com.There you can see a video 360 inside tour as well as different models and options available.

Our Tiger has 4 wheel drive and it is a comfort to know that the first slippery spot that we come to is not going to get us stuck.

We camped for the night in our Tiger at the Delaware Water Gap.The next morning we headed west on I - 80. We passed through Stroudsburg then on through Pocono. We saw a deer at the edge of a clearing that turned and looked at us before heading into the woods.



At White Deer we headed south and went to Hershey PA. We toured the famous candy factory and saw how all the Hershey bars are made.

Back on the road we headed west and saw peaceful country streams.



We saw Amish in their Buggies.



Finally we made it across Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh. We viewed The Monongahela and Allegheny where they come together to form the Ohio river.



The steel mills no longer operate and stain the air in Pittsburgh but somehow the city survives. We enjoyed our journey across Pennsylvania. This state has historic landmarks and battlefields in the east, country and wilderness in the middle and coal and industry in the west.

Next week Roxana returns with a story from the other side of the world. We will continue traveling in our Tiger motor home. Check back in 3 weeks and see if we decided to head West or south.

Section 4 -----Pine Mountain Evening

Hello again. It is another spring evening at the ranch. We have just finished dinner and are relaxing in the family room. Tonight I am having a slice of apple pie with my coffee of the day, Amaretto. This coffee from http://www.coffeefool.com combines the taste of almonds with fresh apricots in an American roast coffee. It tastes just right with apple pie.

Well my pie and coffee are finished now and it is time for bed. Good night everyone see you next week.




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