It is 9 AM Tuesday - just waking up after a whirlwind trip north. We originally went back to Pennsylvania for a wedding but extended it to so much more.
It started out by leaving home on Thursday around 9AM. We drove our Honda Van to Jacksonville - about 3 hours away. Why fly from Jacksonville - when there is an airport 5 minutes from our house? Price. Southwest Airlines was having a sale and Nancy bought tickets from Jacksonville to Philadelphia for $49 each way.
The trip started out well - when the airline offered us a bump - that is they offered us a free flight and $500 in vouchers if we would give up our seats and take a later flight. Usually we take the bump but Nancy was eager to get North - so we declined. You know the Everharts have gone "mainstream" when they turn down a bump. So that was the first highlight - turning down a bump.
We left Jacksonvile at around 2 PM and arrived in Philadelphia at 4 PM. Nancy had a rental car booked with Alamo. We got a very nice car - a Pontiac G6 - except for one thing - it was bright highway yellow. Everywhere we went - folks would gawk and comment about the color. There was no hiding in this car.
We pulled into the home of Dan and Ann Novey in Fogelsville. What a beautiful new home they have. Their 3 kids grew up with our kids and they are all gone and successful. Bridget has her doctorate in audiology from Duke - Brad is an eye surgeon - and Courtney is a physical therapist. Ann still teaches first grade at Tamaqua - and Dan has been the Assistant Superintendent at a Parkland for 4 years. Since we had not visited them in almost 4 years - and passed them up on several previous trips - we turned down the bump to see them. And the visit was truly worth it.
We spent Thursday night at Nancy's old homestead. The weather dropped into the 50s at night and only reached the 70s in the day. The weather was a nice change from the 100s we were having in Florida.
All day Friday we spent visiting old friends. Jean Freed's kids are grown up - and Jean has done some really nice things with her home. Daughter Jamie works in the fashion industry in New York - and Jody is married and has a son. Jean has a dog and a pool and they keep her busy. She will teach and coach tennis one more year at Tamaqua and then retire.
On Saturday morning - we had breakfast at the Tamaqua Diner with the Taylors and Jean. The Tamaqua Diner has been renovated in an early 50s motif and is very nice. The food is still great and the prices still seem out of the 50s too. After breakfast - Nancy went to a wedding shower for her cousin's daughter. It gave me a chance to sneak off for lunch with Charlie Depuy and Jay Hoffman - two dear friends that worked with me for over 30 years at the Panther Valley Middle School. Jay is retired - but Charlie has a few more years to go. His kids are grown - Amy is a pediatrician - and son Charlie is an accountant. Jay is getting ready to drive his motor home to all the Penn State games. When Jay retired - he had over 360 days of unused sick leave. At 180 days a school year - he could have taken 2 full years off sick - and gotten full pay. But a person that saves up 360 days would never do that. In a twist of fate - Jay is the only person I ever knew at work that had a sick day challenged by a principal - but that is typical PV. :-)
Saturday afternoon - was wedding time - the real reason for our trip. Nancy and Bussey Jones were two of Lulu's high school classmates. Their son Ryan - a Villanova grad and electrical engineer - was marrying Liz Frace - her Mom was the former Beth Rarick - a childhood neighbor of Nancy in New England Valley. The wedding was in Zions church in town - and the reception was at a country club in Ashland. Ryan is an engineer for PPL. Liz finished first in her nursing class at the University of Florida - yes - she is a Gator! They will live in Harrisburg.
At the wedding reception we sat with several of the kids' teachers and Nancy's fellow workers at Tamaqua. John Bachert - Tom Bonner - Suzy Bonner - Sally LeMasters - Ruth Perilli - and Joe Perilli entertained us. The Perilli's son was one of my students that went on one of my trips to Florida - the one where my bus broke down and we came home on a Greyhound bus. Yes - it seems everyone in the Valley is connected somehow.
We didn't drink anything at the party because at 9 PM Saturday night - we left the reception to drive to Syracuse to stay 2 nights with Drew and Robin. Drew is a doctor now doing research at the medical school in Syracuse. Robin has about 2 years left before she is finished her PhD in clinical psychology. They have a cute house on a street near the campus. It took us about 3 hours of driving our yellow race car to arrive there after midnight.
On Sunday morning - a trip for Nancy to Syracuse is not complete with some "dumpster diving" at the Syracuse China Outlet. They have bins and bins full of odd lots of china. Once again - this stop is a barometer of our visit north. All that was left was to figure out how Nancy would get her booty home.
Sunday afternoon included a trip to Skaneateles - a beautiful little resort town on the northern end of one of the finger lakes. The water in the lake is so clear and clean that Syracuse uses it as their water supply without needing to add chemicals.
On Monday morning - our time had passed too quickly - and we headed south. It started to rain and temperatures dropped into the 50s. We stopped in Honesdale to see my sister Gail. She is a nurse there - and lives with her daughter Suzie. Suzie has a log home - and several very active dogs. Gail is doing great - and I won't say her age but she has always been 6 years older than me. Gail often performed the duties of a mother to me - when Dad was at the mine and Mom was at the mill - and we were left home on the farm in the early 50s. She has always been a good friend we could rely on as we grew up - especially after Nancy and I married.
From the Poconos to Philadelphia was a 3 hour drive through an overcast - rainy - day in the 60s. Before we went to the airport - we visited the Italian Market in South Philly for supper - where Rocky and Invincible were filmed. We also visited the three new stadiums - homes of the Phillies - Sixers - and Eagles.
We got to the airport at 5 PM with plenty of time to return the "yellow bird" to the rental company. Alas - no bumps were offered on the trip home. Due to weather - our 7 PM flight did not leave Phildelphia until 11 PM. We got into Jacksonville around 1 PM - and drove the Honda Van home at 4:30 AM.
While we were away - Keith had paid a 4 day visit to our home. He was returning from Michigan to Washington and was able to schedule his flight through Tallahassee - long story leave it to Keith. He enjoyed a long weekend in the tropics - going to the beach - using the pool - driving the scooter and sports car - meeting old college friends - and just hanging out in 100 degree weather.
The trip was great - if I had a choice - I might change 4 things. First - I would have taken the $500 bump in Jacksonville. Second - I would have preferred the rental car in any color but bright yellow. Third - it would have been better if we didn't have the 4 hours rain delay in Philadelphia Airport. Fourth - we would not have missed Keith's stopover in Tallahassee. Aren't we Americans jaded when we even highlight such silly things on an otherwise perfect trip?
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