It's a Wrap!

24 June 2022--We left Caja and Jeannie 2 days ago to start our journey home and are staying in Ashland, VA over the next couple days for some sightseeing in Richmond.  So this is the last of our Sugar Lake, PA area pics.

I mentioned before that this area is very rural, and these 2 pics pretty much sum that concept up.  Of course, the 1st is telling us to be careful driving as there are some Amish around.  We didn't see very many, but one day right before we left, a horse and carriage drove down the street in front of C&Js place.  I have always been fascinated by their lifestyle, so that was very exciting for me (lol-what an idiot, huh?)  Believe it or not, the 2nd pic with the trash cans shows what used to be the neighborhood bus stop--lol.  I would have thought Caja was pulling my leg when she told us this, but above the entrance are the letters CCSD--for school district.

 

Almost everyone who lives here has a "gator", and they seem to travel in packs.  They are very loud.

 

Just out walking.

  

Here is a turtle, directly outside our window, seemingly digging a nest, but check out the little chipmunk who  comes in from the left.  He gets surprisingly close to the turtle--like he was checking out what he was doing.

 

More flowers.  Jeannie said the 2nd one, which is on their property, was called a "firecracker plant".  Don't know the names of the others.

    

More young geese.  In the 1st pic they are more like the equivalent toddlers, I guess, while the other 2 pics show very young babies.

  

This field has just been harvested, while the next 2 just make for pretty pics.

  

Cathy and I had to drive to go to Meadville one day and passed this house on our way to get my blood tested.  We had to go back to get the pic.  Blow it up and see how pretty it is.

  

These 3 pics are different spots of the same field.  I couldn't decide which I thought was the prettiest, so I posted them all. lol  You really have to blow them to appreciate how pretty they are.

   

We had quite a few cold and overcast days, so we played a lot of Rummicube.

 

But we also had a some really nice days.  Jeannie and I took on Cathy and Caja in what I thought was a bag job for Jeannie and I.  Jeannie is definitely the best golfer, and I am the worst, but we played "best ball" so I figured we'd always be playing Jeannie's ball. lol  Well, Jeannie decided not to show up this day and we got slaughtered. lol  But at least we saw a baby deer.

  

After golf we went to a late lunch at a place about 150 yards from their place.  It's a combination restaurant/bar/hotel--I call it the No-tell Motel!  Caja was clearly exhausted after all the days activities--too much fresh air I guess! lol

  

Here are some very pretty pics of the lake area on a very sunny day, at night, and a very foggy morning that Cathy took.

  

  

Out fishing a couple days.  Jeannie and I took the kayaks out one day and I caught a monster!  The biggest fish of the trip, a bass about 18" long and about 3 lbs.  I let Jeannie hold it before we released it just so she'd know what one felt like. lol

   

And we're off!  Thanks to Caja and Jeannie for a wonderful 3 weeks at their place, and 2 weeks of fun sightseeing before we got there.  It was a great trip and visit!

 

Ok, so now for a little reality.  We have seen some horrible billboards over the years, and it seems they just keep getting worse.  This 1st one I was able to take on the fly in Georgia, while the rest were taken at one spot in Worthington, PA.  Cathy and I had just been talking about how so much of rural America seems to be so pissed off at the rest of us, and BOOM--we run into this.  I actually had Cathy stop the car so I could take these--they are so outrageous!  

I got on the google to see what I could find about the demographics of this town, and found that over the past 10 years their population had dropped from 800 to just 644 people, but also quite a few articles about the electronic billboard posting these messages.  The 1st article went back to 2019, so this guy has been at it for a while already.  He owns the gas station behind the billboard, is a retired Army Infantry Aviation Pilot, and was quoted in one article as saying, "I will not bend, I will not give in.  They can take my business.  They can do whatever the hell they want.  I don't care.  I'm going to stay focused.  I'm going to perform God's work.  God wants us to be united."  WARPED!

      

OK, enough about that.  These clouds forming over the mountain ahead of us look like a wave ready to crash in the ocean.

 

The roads were mostly good on our way here, but these are just a couple of bridges we crossed.  I checked it out and PA has the highest state gas tax in the country...hmmm.

 

We've gone from rural to the forest in Virginia!  Have I ever mentioned that we are RVers, not campers!  lol  I really like concrete under my feet!  Thank God this was just an overnight before we got into Ashland.  Check out Cathy cutting away to clear the air conditioner--she's my hero!  lol

  

   

We are heading into Richmond today to catch some of the sights.  TTYL