It's All Happening . . .

At the Zoo? 
Not exactly

At a wildlife park?
Nope, we didn't go there either.

Yet, we did see a LOT of wild animals, all in a single location within 6 hours from our VA home, and someplace we had never been to before (there are more than 1 of these). Here's a sampling . . .

Do you know where we were?

(Yes, the location will be revealed soon.)

Ridin' the rails again

Saturday turned out to be a double header for us. Our first stop was a visit to the Middletown and Hummelstown RR. Even though no train excursions were on their schedule for the day, we decided to visit anyway. Were we surprised as we pulled in and found that excursions were running that day to support a local Cancer Care group.  The M&H, or Milk and Honey Route, is a short line freight business that also runs weekend excursion trains manned by volunteers. The passenger coaches for the excursion trains and the passenger station are maintained by volunteers. They also have a colletion of "Interurban" cars that were used in and around Philadelphia and are waiting to be restored. 

For our ride, we were pulled by a restored ALCO S6 in a restored coach for a 5 mile trip along the Schuylkill River. I got to talk to Wendell who is head of track maintenance. I complemented him on how good the road bed looked compared to some we have seen. He told me hurricane Lee had flooded out a portion of the line and was just now being replaced. When completed the M&H will be able to interchange with Norfolk Southern again.

Next was a stroll through their yards. Their other locomotives are General Electric 60 Tonners. These were built as switch engines in the 40's and 50's

THey have a nice consist of vintage "Multiple Unit" coaches that have had their motive units removed. Hopefully we will ride with them again in July for a full excursion.

Next stop was the Reading Railroad Musuem in Hamburg run by the Reading Railroad Technical & Historical Society.

Like so many organizations involved in railroad preservation, these folks are trying desperately to save what they have been able to acquire.  Like most of the preservation society's, they depend on donations, grants, but most importantly volunteers. There are no rides here but it sure would have been fun to take a run in that RDC car in the lower middle. The Reading was one of the major lines to use these cars in commuter service in the Philadelphia area. As a kid i remember seeing them on the Reading Seashore Lines in NJ.

i hope you've enjoyed sharing our adventures in railroading. The next station stop will be at the Amtrak Station in Providence  RI on Thursday. So stay tuned.

Grenville

When Things Go Wrong

Ever have one of those days or worse yet several?

We've had a few lately, starting with last week's report from the NTSB (national transportation safety board) that certain year models of Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty were prone to catch fire and explode in rear end collisions. Jeep maintains the vehicles are safe and so far has declined any recalls.

Both Grenville's Grand Cherokee and my Liberty are among the vehicles/years cited. This was NOT the sort of news we needed to hear before heading out on a family visit(s) road trip. Wonder if a rear sticker "Fire Danger — Stay Back" or "May Explode on Impact" would work to keep other cars at a safe following distance?

Then came the GPS unit that didn't want to stick to Grenville's windshield. As it came unglued, so did he and ranting and yelling at it didn't seem to work. So, we wondered, what would YOU have done given these choices — all of which we tried, except one.

(1) tape it with duct tape?
(2) try masking tape?
(3) use a glove to hold it in place? (this worked once)
(4) throw it out the window? (remember to unplug from the car or it could come back and injure you)

In the end, NONE of these worked this time — NO we didn't try #4 as we really needed the GPS for our trip. What DID work was using the dash mount from a previous unit and cleaning it and the GPS suction cup with window cleaner and then it finally held in place — who knew?  We do, NOW.

That problem solved, then came the road trip from VA to PA and as luck would have it (or not) we were driving in the path of tropical storm Andrea. It was a weather day not fit for cars or horses.

We safely made it there safely. Thankfully the weather cleared enough for us to do visiting and train exploring which Grenville will be posting about later, of course.

Checking in at our PA hotel, we were informed that the internet connection worked well with PCs and Mac computers, but not so with iPhones, iPads, iPods. As luck would have it (or not) we were traveling with the last 2. No problem that a call to the hotel's internet provider could not solve we were told. And, it did — some 30 minutes later as we learned that the provider's servers were having problems with recent iOS updates. YES, we had the same opinion — that the hotel should get a NEW provider.

THEN, as we reached out next stop in NJ we discovered that we had forgotten our small cooler at the last place we stayed. Now, of course, we could easily replace it with a new one, but this is a favorite that has travelled on many road trips. A phone call to the PA hotel solved the problem. Yes, they found it and could mail it to our home at a cost of about $10. Sometimes, things are just worth the cost with NO logic involved.

Today, was another rainy ride with the news of tornado warnings back home along the VA eastern shore and the east coast as well.

We hope that this bad weather is NOT affecting your area  — things are getting better than for us as. Our next stop will be RI to visit with the grandkids and other family as we celebrate a milestone event — more on that to come.

A Boy's Delight

No matter the age, all boys love trains...... and most girls too!!!!!!
The ride up to Lancaster this past Friday was less than great. It started with the GPS falling off the windshield, refusing to re-stick, and TS Andrea following us with drenching downpours. As we got closer to our destination Beatrice had the great idea to kill some time, have an early dinner, check in and stay in our hotel. Sounded fine to me..... and i just happened to know a place to kill some time..... The National Toy Train Museum in Strasburg Pa.

This museum is fairly new but the collection covers almost every manufacturer and just about every era and gauge of model trains.

HO Model RR Display

The museum is a mix of operating layouts of different gauges, and static displays of trains from Marx, Lionel, American Flyer, Marklien, Ives, Dorfan, Carlisle&Finch, and Hafner. Now some of these i have never heard of, but they must have been popular around the 1900's, and in different parts of the world. Here are some of my favorites that i had as a kid.

Like most kids back in the 50's i always looked forward to December and the unveiling of the latest, greatest window display of Lionel Trains.  For weeks before the display was ready we, my father and i,  would thumb through the Lionel Catalog. I would pick out all the stuff i thought we should get for our layout and my father would just nod his head. It was quite a while before i realized that that nod didn't mean we would get it. Finally the day of the unveiling of the annual Lionel Display would get here. We would head down to Star Auto in Irvington (3 blocks away from the Lionel Factory on 21st St), and i would spend the next hour or so memorizing everything in the display.

the hardest part was waiting for Christmas morning to see what our new Lionel additions would be. One year was a gang car, one year a trolley, the big year was the New Haven "Little Joe" locomotive to pull our passenger train.

SOOOOO if you are in the Strasburg Pa. area, home to the Strasburg RR, Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, Choo Choo Barn, and the Caboose Motel, stop by for a visit to The National Toy Train Museum, and a nostalgic trip back to childhood..... i know i did.

Grenville

Blooming at the F&P

Colorful blooms abound in several wildflower gardens around The Frog & PenguINN where Grenville spread packets of wildflower seeds a few years ago. Not only do these flowers re-bloom annually, but they self-seed now without any effort on our part.

Some collages of front yard blooms that have come and gone in recent weeks, irises and a peony plant. It was fun to experiment with this one and change the colors.

More from the backyard blooms. which include a lot of cornflowers, day lilies, dianthus, coreopsis and some wild onions too.

FREE Donut . . . Yesterday

Sorry, but that was yesterday, June 7 WHEN the 76th annual National Donut Day was observed, always on the first Friday in June. And, it was news to us too until we stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and Grenville (happily) saw this sign posted at the register.

This now annual event marks an event that started in the 1930s, when donut was spelled doughnut, and it has since become an occasion for donut chain eatery giveaways.
Curious about the origins of this day, I searched online and learned that National Doughnut Day (the original spelling) was first celebrated in Chicago by the Salvation Army in 1938 to help those in need during the Great Depression. It also honors Salvation Army female volunteers called “doughnut lassies or doughnut dollies” who served deep-fried rounds of dough to soldiers serving in France during World War I. What began as a small celebration in the Windy City has since been celebrated nationwide and internationally every year on the first Friday of June. And so on Friday, June 7, thousands of participating donut shops countrywide observed the day by offering free donuts to customers. Some chains reportedly had customers waiting in line.

In Chicago, National Donut Day is also a fundraiser for The Salvation Army. And, IF you missed this year's free giveaway, there's always next year on the 1st Friday in June.

Friday Funnies

Scene on a back road drive . . .

 vines that overtook over a house.

Lazy Days & Mornings

These turtles found the best way to spend a sunny day.
Some weekdays, we laze around too — THIS is really late for us . . .
What about you — YOUR best way to spend a summer day or lazy weekend ?

Taxes, Rainy Day & Movies

Yesterday was a taxing day here. Our county property and personal property taxes are due semi-annually in June and Dec (town taxes annually in Dec). There’s NO benefit to paying early as in NO discount. But, there is a surcharge for those who pay with a credit card. There IS the choice to pay the entire year’s taxes at once – again NO discount. 

So NO benefits (or discounts) for early payment, means we procrastinated on purpose and paid at the tax office a day ahead of the due date. There are penalties for being late, so we avoided those.

Shortly after leaving the tax office and heading to the county library, the rain started and soon turned into downpours that consumed most of the day. This was the first rain we've had in a couple of weeks, so it was not unwelcome. Sadly, many areas of the U.S. have TOO much rain and we hope they do not get more. 

Our county library is near the tax office. A rainy day was a great time to select some films. The library only had a VHS collection until recently but s-l-o-w-l-y acquired some DVD movies. There's now has a drop box where folks can donate them. I found some favorites to re-watch. We didn't get to ALL of these in 1 day, but will the next couple of evenings.

Maybe you've seen some of these films too?

Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason is a 2004 comedy sequel to the 2001, Bridget Jones's Diary with Renee Zellweger again in the title role  and with romantic interest provided by co-stars Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. The plot isn't the best, but it's lightweight fun.

Calendar Girls is a 2003 comedy based (true) story of how a group of Yorkshire women become nude calendar pin-ups in 1999 to raise money for Leukemia Research. Veteran actress Helen Mirren heads the ensemble cast, so what’s not to like.

The Thomas Crown Affair is a 1999 heist film and (thankfully) not  the Steve McQueen version, but a steamy remake with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo that is nothing like the 1968 version. This sexy crime caper/seduction film just happens to include pricey artwork theft. Favorite scene is the seduction on the steps ... (you'll have to see it to know WHY).

Chariots of Fire this 1981 British historical drama tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics. Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian, runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, a Jew, runs to overcome prejudice. Nominated for seven Academy Awards, it won for Best Picture and Best Original Score by Greek composer Vangelis. (If you have not seen the 2006 film,The Holiday where Jack Black hums the theme to Kate Winslet in a video store, do yourself a favor and watch this one too, if you enjoy romantic comedies, as we do.)

Tax paying and rainy days don’t usually go together. Rainy days are OK, but the tax ones can stay away, at least for another 6 months.

Sharing a Loss

Many of us have formed friendships through blogging. We become friends online and a loss is always deeply felt.Losses are experienced as profoundly as when we have lost a family member or personal friend.

Sadly, last night, I learned that a UK blogger, Sandra, aka Technogran (Technogran’s Tales) died after a long battle with cancer. Technogran shared her computer and photo know-how through several blogs. Her personal posts candidly related her battle with cancer and raising Kerri, her daughter, who has Downs Syndrome. They shared many adventures.

Sandra’s blog and photo albums remain online as of today when I revisited them. Be forewarned that if you visit, you might find yourself spending several hours there. Sandra was a prolific blogger, except in recent weeks.