Riding the Wind to Gettysburg and Points Beyond

I've just now made a decision to pull the plug on Duppy and me going to Ohio. My Tom Tom says 390 miles to Leesburg, which is kinda funny because I drove 330 miles to get here from Connecticut. Sometimes stuff, like the way the crow flies, is surprising! I've been looking at possible routes from Niagara Falls to Leesburg, and can see that's going to take some doing. The Falls are 133 miles from here, and I don't like to back track. We'll see. I-81 to VA is a pretty straight shot, though.

We were planning on leaving Wolcott today, but decided to put off leaving and wait for better weather to visit the Falls. The weather made a boomerang turn from a few days of heat wave to a high today of a soggy, cool, 61 degrees. Got laundry done today, and am hoping to get to make a disc of the pictures I've taken since we've been here since my firewire is in absentia.

Last night Duppy and I took Vicki to dinner with Marsha and Norm - two really nice folks I really hit it off with. They both worked for the sheriff's office before he left and became a judge, now retired. He hunts and fishes, and she loved my little camper and asked me, "So, what time are we leaving?" It took me a minute to wrap my mind around that before I saw her grinning at me, and Norm guffawing. There was no shortage of banter at the dinner table. I don't usually have drinks at dinner, but Norm and Marsha are in their 70's and 80's - like Pop, they think every really good meal starts off with a cocktail so I ordered... (drumroll here) an old fashioned! Anytime I drink one of them I toast Dad and remember all the great dinners we shared meeting up on Wednesday nights at the Gris, Copper Kettle, Steak Loft, The Armory - all the terrific places we went. Last night's meal was a memorably wonderful prime rib - just maybe the best rib I've ever had, save the standing rib roast Dad and Barbara made for Christmas a few years back. Marsha called this morning to wish me "Happy Trails," and said that WHEN I come back they'll take care of me. Very sweet!

People are funny when they realize what we're doing is riding the wind with my truck and camper. During conversations I can read the changes of expressions in faces as they piece together exactly what it is we're doing. ALL the ladies think the camper is "cute," and it is. Guys pull over and ask me "What year is it?" There haven't been many people who weren't wistful that they were doing what we are. Yep. Pack the dog, hit the road and keep it simple.I'm surprised at the number of people who say that their family camped in pop top campers in their youth, and can see why the sight of the camper makes them reminisce. Music, ghost towns and metal detecting all sound good to people I've been talking to.

From the Falls I think I'll try to camp at Gettysburg - spiritually, I feel like I need to. I can't explain that; it's just a fact. Historically, they teach us something less than the truth in school, but I, too, believe it was "The War of Northern Aggression" after studying about it as an adult. My great-grandfather, Captain Lawrence, fought in the "Civil War," but I'm embarrassed that I know none of the details. You have to write that down for us, Mom!

Duppy,Vicki and I ate breakfast out where he is now recognized and adored as a "regular" to be fawned over. He had his usual pieces of my ham and eggs and Vicki's bacon. The waitresses often comment that they wish the children brought to the restaurant were as well-behaved. He's really got the "service animal" act down to an impressive art. When I die, I wanna come back as an animal anywhere in my family.