We checked out of our little nest in Pittsburgh by 9am and started the drive to visit Aunt Joan in Artemas, PA. We brought our little toll thingy, which you add money to, put on the windshield of the car and it will deduct tolls as you go through toll roads. These days, they also charge the tolls by your license plates, so even if it doesn’t register the little doohickey, the charges (and fees) will then be charged to the rental vehicle, and we’d have to pay those when we turn in the rental car. It hasn’t been too bad, and one benefit of the toll roads is that they are easier and flatter to drive than the scary highway roads that are super steep, narrow, lots of blind passes, more animals like deer running in the roads, and where there often is no signal to see your GPS! So I’m happy to pay for good roads.
We made it to Artemas by 12:30 or so, dropped our stuff off in our cute little cabin, then went to Joan’s that’s about 3 minutes away and just one direct road. She has the funniest, cutest little dog who looks like a wee basketball on tiny legs! His name is Buddy and follows her around everywhere. She said he doesn’t like to go outside without her because he’s scared of a neighborhood cat that comes by to hiss at him. She had a hummingbird feeder and a tiny swing for them which they loved! There were a bunch of hummingbirds flying around, but I never could get a photo because they are so fast! They looked so cute preening on the tiny swing!
Joan made us some grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and we caught up a bit, then she called her brother Ronny (John’s uncle) to make arrangements to meet him and his wife, Jackie, at a restaurant in Hancock. We met them and had a nice early dinner and talked about genealogy with Jackie, who has done loads of research on Ronny’s family back to the 1500’s! We are very interested to see those results. We grabbed all about the family, and found out that Jan (John’s mom) and Joan (her twin sister) were married on the same day and were each other’s witnesses! We never knew. It was interesting to hear Ronny’s perspective since he is 7 years younger than them, and the difficulty he faced in having to move around so much. Their family had a lot of hardships, and still does, following their kids and now grandkids, so it makes me grateful for what we have, the stability we had, and for making positive changes in my life before the road became too set in stone. Being here also helps to understand why city and rural living and perspectives are so vastly different. We weren’t able to see Ashley or Trinity, Joan’s granddaughters, so we will have to plan another visit out to see them. Ashley is pregnant, so we will hopefully be able to come back out to meet the baby.
After our meal the Jimmy Joy’s Log Cabin Inn, we brought Joan to our little cabin at the Road Kill Cafe and Cabins, chatted for a bit, then ran her home. We came back and vegged out for the rest of the night. There is not a lot to do out here, so we strolled up and down the road a bit, but we’re pretty glad to just chill on the comfy beds in the A/C. John slept a full 8 hours! I woke around 3am and was up for about 1.5 hours before I finally fell back to sleep for a bit. We woke up to see a whole herd of deer nibbling on the grass near the woods out back! We will be having lunch with Joan at the Road Kill Cafe, then heading off to Gettysburg. I’ll be relieved to get somewhere with a better signal for peace of mind!
