Fun in Allentown, Recap of our Trip

 

11/21/20

Sandy and I have been at my parent’s house for few days and enjoying the time.  More on this in a bit but I can say there is no shortage of conversation and laughs over old stories.  First is a recap of our journey.  I am doing this more for me to remember but some of you that like to see the numbers you will relate. 

Leave San Jose:   31-October

Arrive Allentown:  16-November

Total of 16 days

Total Miles Driven:  3,935 averaging 246 miles per day.  If we went direct as Google Maps would suggest the drive would have been 2,876 miles.  I guess we add +1000 miles of fun.

Long Driving Days:  Death Valley to Sedona, Sedona to Amarillo TX, Amarillo to OK, 2 days from TN to Allentown.  5 long days of driving (6+ hours).  In between we had several days of 2~3 hour drives.

Logging:  11 days of camping, 5 nights in a hotel

We spent the first two nights in a hotel.  At that point we were exhausted from moving out of our house and I wanted to get to Lone Pine to ride Onion Valley Rd.   We also spent the last 2 nights in a hotel trying to get to my parents and stay out of a cold front that dropped temperatures into the 20’s and rain.  In between we spent 1 night between haul-ass days to do laundry and shower.

For camping, we stayed at 5 camp sites:  Death Valley (2 nights), Sedona (3 nights), Natural Fall State Park in Siloam Springs AR/OK (2 nights), 101 Marina in Gamaliel AR (3 nights), Fort Pillow State Park in TN (1 night).  While camping we showered in Death Valley and Sedona in our portable shower, we were lucky that Natural Fall’s had showers.  The other locations were to cold at the end of the day to bother.  It was just Sandy and I so no one cared.  While camping we cooked for ourselves.  We had every intention of finding good local restaurants but at the end of the day we were tired and found the camp site comfortable.  As near as I can remember, while camping we ate at 1 restaurant.  The weather got cold in AR, so we had a campfire for the 1st time.   

Now on to current events; we have been with my parents since Monday (11/16).  We toured around town to refresh my memory of home, ate at my parent’s favorite restaurants and got my Dad back to riding his bike (I hope he keeps it up – please stay in the middle of the path).  I was able to catch up with a high school friend, Mike and his wife Bev Handwerk.  We have not seen each other in 15 years.  It was amazing how simple it was to get comfortable and start telling stories.  We filled 5 hours over dinner with full on conversation.  I guess after 15 years you should have 5 hours of stories to tell.  Mike treated us with home made Philly Cheese Steaks.  Best Cheese Steak in 15 years – thanks Mike. 


On Friday, Mike treated me to a bike ride to Jim Thorpe, PA.  What a treat.  When were is high school we would spend time in Jim Thorpe climbing the Glen Onoko Falls.  Mike let me know that the area has been closed for a while after a number of people got killed falling off the falls.  How did we ever survive as kids. 


On the way to Mike's house we passed where I grew up - 1880 school house.  The place has not changed much other than the Christmas tree farm is now a forest of pines.  

Picture from dirt road (back of house), my room is the dormer on the second floor.

Front of the house from Bake Oven Road

My Dad built the garage, the side of the house is the kitchen and sun room.

Sad to say tomorrow is our last day and we will be heading to Blairsville GA for a meeting with the Architect for our house on Monday.  After that we will be off to Jacksonville for a few days (and Thanksgiving) at Bradley’s house.  Solid plans after that, well they don’t exist yet.  The general idea will be to stay around New Smyrna Beach until January, ride to Key West late in January, go to Bobby Ertle’s wedding in February then head to San Diego for a bike ride. 

So Bessy is not left out, she has been resting.  We had her our a few times but not to much stress.  We will give for food and water day so she is ready to ride tomorrow. 

More in a few days…

Comments

  1. Steve HusseyNovember 25, 2020 at 10:08 PM

    Can’t wait to see you guys in Dallas. Thoroughly enjoyed all the stories. Have a great Thanksgiving with family and friends.

    ReplyDelete

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