Here we are in PA

We arrived in Coatesville, PA on Tuesday.  I had intended to upload some photos of our journey here (all 130 miles or so of it - I don't really remember exactly how many miles it was) but that wasn't to be and the complaint department aka/King says to stop mentioning issues with photo loading and how many days between posts ... so I won't go there)

We went into Lancaster  ... which is pronounced differently in these parts than we/I have pronounced it (but then again, what the hell do we/I know about PA pronunciation of these towns??  Actually, they are "townships, which I don't understand but will try to figure it out before we leave) The locals pronounce it with a soft "a" and I guess the emphasis is on the second syllable??? - HELP me here Maureen.  Anyway, we went "there" yesterday.

This is such beautiful country side, so it was a marvelous ride - all 25 or so miles of it through "Intercourse", "Bird In Hand" and "Paradise" ... Unfortunately "Blue Ball" was north of the route we traveled .... perhaps we will be there before we leave the area.  Aren't you so glad there aren't photos of each Township we went through!?!?

The photo above is a "side" street in Lancaster ~ it so much reminded me of Chelsea, MA (is that where Al Fresco stopped the duck for our loved ones to run in and get a celebratory beverage ... these great "side streets" with beautiful old "brown stones" ... nicely kept, so clean, neat and welcoming....

The photos below are of the Elks Lodge in Lancaster ~ what a treasure it is (no we are NOT staying there) but we sort of stumbled upon it ... what a marvelous old building - originally a "house" on one of those terrific "side streets" ... The lodge has four stories ... the lower most being the "bowling alley" (shown in the fourth photo below) the next is the main bar area and a terrific dining room off the bar (that dining room probably seats 100 or 125?), and an awesome "library" room (the photo directly below) the next level has two function areas ... probably seating 200 each ...

Check out the window where we did the tourist stuff in the photo - which was my first attempt at self timing on this new camera (or any camera for that matter --- I tried to observe Kimberly doing self timer at the "sister weekend" October 2007)  This photo doesn't really do the Lodge justice ~ the window is so much MORE beautiful than this photo shows ... I've done a bit of stained glass work and I DO appreciate what is involved, and this photo is NOT a good representation of the skill involved in THAT window.

A beautiful stairway, with a lovely window above the door ~ wish I could have eliminated the "exit" sign and still kept the integrity of the stairs and door area of the photo...... Chad, will you teach me some of these skills when I am north..... not to mention PLEASE give me a ""dummies version" of HTML so I can move around this blogger site with a some ease....  

Our travels here, including our journey from Maryland, (with the insane, aggressive drivers - THANK YOU KIMBERLY FOR CONFIRMING THAT) have been so "scenic" and calm (calm once we got the heck out of the suburban DC area - UGH that was awful) I had no idea how beautiful Pennsylvania is ... but then again, my Pennsylvania travel has only been on our return from either Daytona or Myrtle Beach in about 2006 or 2005 on the way back from a rally (either M.B or Daytona obviously) from vacation.  On that trip we stopped in Gettysburg for a few days - do I need to remind anyone how much I dislike "history" but I dutifully followed along (but NOT singing a song, day by day).

This area of PA where we are at (Coatesville) is just great.  I will try to post a photo or two of this lovely property ...

As is often the case, we thought we'd be here for two or three days, but we are going on our fourth night (I think) and I would be very happy to be here for another week.  

I'm not sure I've mentioned this, but we are headed to New England ... we had planned to be there for a few (three or four) weeks at some point this summer, but we may be there a bit longer)  There is a "sister weekend" planned for the Peck girls mid July and a Peck family Christmas bar-b-que  and Yankee swap - I can't wait  ~  and  Rick thinks he will be doing Laconia bike week with the "Amigos" ... not to mention doctors and scan appointments in July .... and we HAVE to be in Middleboro for "old time's sake" ... for campfires and vacation drinks with umbrellas etc.