Three great things have happened to us in the last two weeks that we attribute to letting the day wash over us – a luxury we now have and for which we are extremely grateful.
First – On Saturday morning, August 16th, we were just ready to pull out of our campsite when Fred struck up a conversation with the couple we saw pulling into the site next to us the evening before. It was an hour before we actually pulled out, for we starting talking to Ron & Tina – a couple from eastern Pennsylvania with whom we seemed to share a lot of commonalities. It turns out they live 30 minutes from where we were heading next! We traded contact information and vowed to get together in the following week. Five nights later we were having a fabulous dinner with them at their house in the woods and six hours went by just like that as we traded advice on everything from places to visit and trails to hike to camera tips & equipment. We now have friends we really hope we can see again somewhere on the road. Thanks, Ron & Tina, for a wonderful evening at your place – we really enjoyed getting to know you and look forward to meeting up again!
Second – About a week ago we took a nice morning walk on the towpath along the Delaware River, then stopped at the local General Store where we ordered some breakfast. We found a table outside, and while waiting for our egg sandwiches we started talking with a couple we had seen biking along the towpath. It turns out Stan and Pam are from Vermont where we’re planning to be this fall! We whiled away the next two hours very pleasantly with them on the patio next to the towpath, traded contact information, and now we look forward to seeing them up in Vermont where they have graciously offered a parking spot for Charley while we’re enjoying their lovely state. We’ll see you soon, Pam & Stan!
Finally – This past Sunday, August 24th, we were moving on once again – this time to Ricketts Glen State Park in Pennsylvania where we’re currently staying. We were aware of the Cinderella story of the Chicago-based Jackie Robinson Little League team that kept winning and winning, and had made it to the Little League World Series. Well it turns out they made it to the championship game which was being played at 3 o’clock that afternoon less than an hour from our campground! We hurriedly set up just the basics of our camp, then hopped in Toad and drove 40 miles to Williamsport. We missed the first inning, but joined some 20,000 spectators, most of whom sat on the hillside around the outfield, and watched six more innings of a hard-fought game in which the team from South Korea had a little more firepower in their pitching and a little more bounce in their bats. Little Jackie Robinson, underdogs all the way, was now known as the USA team, and chants of “USA-USA” could be heard from all around the stands and field as people waved American flags. A 3-run 7th inning wasn’t enough to get the job done, and Jackie Robinson ended up losing 8-4. Still, we got to be there, thanks to allowing the day to wash over us instead of having it so rigidly planned, and we got to share in the excitement as this fighting little team from our big city of Chicago had the whole country cheering for it.
