GA and Travel to Pennsylvania Oct 2011

Well, we did it!  We sold our house!  In the last minutes of the day we began loading up the van to leave.  We took that load to Darlene's folk's house, went back, loaded up the van (again) and then borrowed our neighbor's truck and loaded that too.  Where did we get all of this stuff?  An unexpected yet very enjoyable 10 days staying at Darlene's folks’ house brought on a lot of purging, Goodwill runs, some continued interior build out, mechanical and other maintenance completed on the van to get her road ready.  It wasn't all work though.  We got in some play time too!

Nicole has always wanted to drive a tractor!

A few instructions from Darlene's dad and off she went.

We also took a break to go four wheeling in the Cub Cadet.

Alas, on the 10th, we were finally ready to depart Georgia.  So, we threw what we had left (essentially everything we owned at this point) in the van and head toward Nicole's Uncle's house in Pennsylvania. 

Did we mention that we 'literally' threw everything into the van before leaving?

The drive to Pennsylvania was just in time for the changing of the leaves.  Since we shunpike (take back roads instead of turnpikes or expressways) we had some awesome views along the way.

In Tennessee we stopped at the Eusebia Cemetery to stretch out and eat lunch.

Darlene woke a few of the residents with this one.
It was louder than we expected it to be!

A super cool headstone design.  A tree with the bark pulled back for the inscription.
It also has fungus carved into it and the footstones are small tree stumps.
Perhaps this guy was a logger?

Not really sure?  Didn’t stick around to find out!

We spent an awesome 10 days with Nicole’s Uncle Al and all of her Pennsylvania family.

Uncle Al and Nicole goofing around.

 

Uncle Al has quite the animal farm in his front yard. Loads of bird houses and a few set ups designed just for the squirrels.

This is the one Uncle Al calls ‘wise ass’.  The plan is that the squirrels will jump from the tree or the ground to get the corn that hangs down on the springy wire.  This one has learned to hang upside down by his back feet and pull the corn to him despite the heavy weights that have been attached to the bottom of it.

 

Despite the wonderful food we were eating and great company that we were keeping in Pennsylvania it was soon time to move on.  South Dakota weather doesn’t hold out for long and we had residency to gain and miles to go before we reached the desert.

 

So, off we went.  Here’s a few random shots from the trip to South Dakota.

 

                                              The Basket Building.

We’re guessing not a lot of excitement goes down around these parts.

 
It was cold when we woke up!

 
Ice = Proof of cold

 
Annie standing tall.  Darlene can barely reach the back windows on her tip toes.

Ever wonder where your corn comes from?  We’re pretty sure we know!

Oh yeah!  Annie is down by the river.

Darlene contemplates life down by the river.

Nicole looks happy having just done her business down by the river.

Look familiar movie buffs?  If you build it, they will come.

Shoeless Joe?  Naw. Just Darlene.

Time for lunch.

 
We ate lunch, walked the bases and played in the corn fields at the Field of Dreams.

 
Super big strawberry making a point.

 
Um….?  Time to leave this town.

 
We couldn’t be bothered to stop here.

 
South Dakota was very windy!

Nicole was a bit wind blown after she got out to check the chairs on the back because we heard something rattling.

She tightened a screw on the ladder they were strapped to and we set on about our way.  Another 30-40 mph headwind / gust and we heard it again.  Perhaps we should check the AC unit says Nicole.  We’re only 30 minutes from our SD destination.  Surely, it could wait. Just then an older gentleman appeared quite emphatically beside them, then he sped up, stuck his hand out the window, put on his brakes, pulled over to the side and waved at us frantically.  “Your AC unit is hanging off the back of your roof and about to blow away!”  I guess it can’t wait.

A few tie downs later and we were back under way.