17 Days in Pennsylvania

We arrived to Raystown Lake on a Saturday, chaos everywhere. Long lines at the boat ramps, 30 vehicles deep waiting to launch their boats. I am tempted to set up a lawn chair with a cooler full of beer and watch the show at the boat ramp. Talk about entertainment, as these weekend warriors try to back their boats in the water with the pressure of all the other vehicles behind them. On top of that, their spouses are frustratingly giving them directions on what to do.

We got set up in our campsite at 7 Points Campground, sat in our chairs and just absorb everything that is going on around us. It is far from relaxing. Kids screaming, dogs barking, loud music blaring and the constant drone of all types of watercraft on the lake coming and going. Total chaos. Why do people subject themselves to this? This cannot be fun and relaxing. Fun and relaxing is a quiet peaceful campsite with the murmurs of your neighbors talking around their campfire as you watch and listen to the birds flit from tree to tree.

Slowly, I begin to realize how spoiled we really are. Although this may not be our idea of the ideal weekend, the people around us are having a good time and thinking to themselves, it does not get any better than this. This is their escape from the realities of life. This is their relaxation time. This is their opportunity to make lasting memories with their families. This changes our attitudes entirely and we begin to enjoy seeing everyone else have fun and enjoy their weekend away. The screaming kids, the boats and all the activity no longer bother us. Well, except for the barking dogs that is. 

Jessica and Shane fall into this group. This is the week that they have been looking forward to for months. They arrived about 5pm on Sunday afternoon for their 5-day escape. By then, most of the families have moved, gone back to their homes and to work. What remains is the older retired couples and the odd family taking the week off to enjoy the lake.

The next 4 ½ days were a blur. A blur of boating, swimming, fishing and tubing. 

The tubing is the reason I groaned every time I got up for several days. It was an effort to stand up then it took me a good 2-3 seconds before my body catches up with my brain and actually moved. I used muscles this week I have not used in years. I am certainly no teenager anymore!

Speaking of which, tubing certainly has changed in the last 40+ years. When I was growing up on the lake our tubing consisted of a repurposed black tractor tube filled and dotted with patches. We would tie a ski rope around it and away we would go! I can still remember getting wacked by the loose end of that ski rope handle as it bounced in front of our faces. Then there is the dreaded valve stem that will invariably leave a lifelong scar as a reminder.

Today’s tubes have connectors for the rope, seats and handles, yes, handles!

Me with Jessica

We tubed for hours several days.......

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                      Dylan and Kendall                                                          Barb and Dylan

My old tubing skills came back to me and they made it their mission to dump me, but no one was able to do it. But I am paying for it now! Here is sample video of our tubing adventures....

I did pass on the cliff-jumping however. The thought of Barb spoon feeding me and changing my diapers the rest of my life left me an observer safe in the boat.

Shane making the big leap!

The girls (Zoey and Dakota) swam every day. At first, we only let Zoey wade in the water. French Bulldogs are so front heavy they have a hard time swimming. In fact, many of them cannot swim at all. That just reminded me of a miniature Dachshund we had named Mario when we lived on the lake in Wisconsin. I was going to take him swimming, so I carried him down to the end of the dock and gently lowered him into the water. Before his little paws ever hit the water, they were doing that whole dog-paddle thing. So, I set him in the water, he proceeded to flipped over on his back and sink! I can still visualize him sinking, upside down, with his little brown eyes staring up at me as he sunk to the bottom.  Apparently, Dachshunds cannot swim either. But I digress.... 

Dakota was out in the depths retrieving the sticks we were throwing for her and poor Zoey was on her leash in the shallows whining because she wanted to swim with the big dogs. So, I went and got her life jacket and it was game on! She took to the water like....well, a French Bulldog in a lifejacket took to water! 

She swam and swam and swam. It was like she found a whole new playground and just swam around with no apparent destination, just meandering around the lake. It was hilarious. So funny in fact, I made this minute and a half video for my good friend Harry!

All too soon, our 4 days were up, and we had to pack up and head to Jessica and Shane's place in Greencastle. 

The next week went by in a blur. Jessica and Shane had to work during the week leaving Barb and I home with the kids. Well, Barb mostly, as I went to work with Shane most days as he worked on remodeling a local house for an investor. While Shane was remodeling the bathroom, I was busy with smaller projects. Like replacing hardware and hanging cabinet doors.

Changing the faucet in the kitchen sink 

Power washing the house.

and putting a new ceiling on the covered porch. 

As you can see this house is rough with a capital "R". But the investor only wanted a couple things done before he rents it so that is what we did. 

A couple other of the more memorable events were eating a 1/2 bushel of blue crabs we picked up one afternoon, going to an "all you can eat" snow crab restaurant, Shane smoked some delicious rubs and Barb made her world-famous potato salad. And of course, there was pizza on the patio night, complete with begging chickens!

And a visit to the Cushwa Brewing Company. 

Kendall getting her ears pierced.....

Kendall having ice cream....

We got a lot of grandkid time. In fact, several nights we had sleepovers where Barb spent the night with Kendall in a nice cool airconditioned house, while Dylan and I spent the night with the dogs in the camper. Dylan loves sleeping with the girls. 

Dakota has her nose out the window and a fan in her face!

We made a trip to Gettysburg to do some antiquing and a visit to two distilleries. A friend of Shane's owns the Mason Dixon Distillery. Lunch there was very good. One the way back we stopped by the Lake House Distilling Co. in Waynesboro for a cool and refreshing drink. 

We also had the opportunity to play Dylan's virtual reality games using his goggles. Never again. I played a war game, Barb rode a rollercoaster. Both of us were sick to our stomachs after that experience. 

We closed out our visit with an afternoon of bowling in Hagerstown. Jess was the overall winner with a high score of 132. None of the rest of us even came close to beating her, a personal best for her.

So now we say goodbye to everyone including their ginormous black lab weighing in at a whopping 125lbs. and Cash who recently turned 18. Poor Cash'ers has cancer and is not expected to make but maybe a week or more. They were waiting for us to leave before making any decisions. Cash has been a part of Jess and Shane's life for almost 1/2 of their lives and all of both kids' lives.

Tomorrow morning, we begin the last leg of our journey. We will be home in less than a week! Although we have really enjoyed the past 4 months, we are ready to get home and just plant our feet in one spot for a while. But the adventures are not done yet, we have big plans for the next few days!