QUOTABLE: “You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ~ C. S. Lewis

Our arrival back at the barn on August 12 threw us off a bit. We are almost never there when it is HOT!! We set about taking care of a few chores and doctor’s appointments and got back into a rhythm with our church family and friends. On the top of the list was getting the property bush-hogged. It was a mess!! Thankfully we have a guy for that…Jason! He is amazing and keeps us from having to drive up and down the cemetery hill!!

EXACTLY THE PROBLEM: I receive a couple of news feeds in the morning, both of which have small blurbs and some links to news channels, articles, etc., to get further information. I cannot remember the teaser, but one of the links led to an article in “Psyche” magazine. The article was talking about whether an honest, moral person can be friends with a scoundrel or worse. This quote caught me off guard: “Perhaps it’s come to light that this friend cheats on their spouse, or abuses their employees, or voted for a certain candidate in the last presidential election, or is the culprit behind a massive Ponzi scheme.” OMGosh!! This is exactly how the media fuels the mania on both sides of the political spectrum! The writer is directly lumping adultery, physical and/or mental abuse, and unconscionable theft in the same moral boat as VOTING FOR A DIFFERENT CANDIDATE!! People that put crap like this out there should be fired.

OKAY THIS IS CRAZY: I saw a meme on Facebook during the heat that showed recommendations for thermostat settings to conserve energy. When you’re home = 78; When you’re away = 85; and when you’re sleeping = 82. As a woman of a certain age…nobody make any negative comments…I can safely say that those numbers are INSANE!!! I could possibly get behind the “away” number, although whether it would actually save energy is suspect after I crank it down to 74 or so upon my return. And let me just say, scientists have been saying for years that the temperature should go down when you go to bed in order to actually get good sleep! Maybe AI wrote this particular little tidbit and that is how they are going to get us in the end…roast us in our own homes!!

One good thing about being home early was getting to attend the Mountain Memories Hancock County Fall Festival that happens in early October every year in Sneedville. There are lots of vendors, some great music, and fair food, but the highlight for us is the tractor parade!! I think the oldest one was from the 1930s, and it runs like a top! Tractor guys are like car guys (and gals), they have their work tractor and their show tractor(s).

I really don’t enjoy cooking, so I’ve been trying to figure out a way to cook more without feeling like I’m cooking more. I know, tough to do. Way back in Florida and even later in Greensboro I enjoyed cooking for a group, but now it is just the two of us. Boring!! I ran across The Family Freezer online and checked out the site. They put together meal plans for prepping for a variety of methods (e.g. slow cooker, air fryer) that include recipes and shopping lists. I did one of the slow cooker sets, and so far we are really enjoying it. Almost everything is done at one time for a dozen meals, and each set contains a good variety of flavors. It took me about 3 hours to prep and get them all into the freezer. You can print out labels for the freezer bags with final instructions. I put a little dry erase board on the inside of one of our cabinets and keep a list of available meals. When it is time to cook, we just pick something off of the list and pop it into the PossibleCooker. I’ll let you know when I try more.

One of the things Mr. Wonderful (MW) had on his TO DO list for this winter was checking out the Mountain Home National Cemetery in Johnson City, Tennessee. We’ve visited several national cemeteries, and he has been thinking about being buried in one. We headed over there in early October to talk with them and get the appropriate instructions. Now he just has to build his coffin. Don’t worry…there isn’t anything wrong with him except the fact that he wants to build his own box! (Well that and possible injury from the temptation that comes over me when he is snoring! Just kidding…mostly!!) Before heading back we had lunch at the Blue Moose, which was good, and stopped in at Sleep Number to try to solve an issue with our bed.

CLEVER: Church sign seen on Facebook – “Adultery is a sin. You can’t have your Kate and Edith, too.”

The BIGGEST thing happened on October 9th. I got a brand new, shiny body part. I’d like to say it was something cool like the web-shooters of Spiderman or Ironman’s energy source, but alas…no. It wasn’t even really an upgrade so much as a repair…no bionics or anything! My right hip is now titanium to match both of my knees. I’m slowly becoming a droid. When the last of the bone is replaced with metal, AI will take over my brain. Then y’all better watch out!!! The surgery was super easy, and I was back at Priscilla just after lunch the next day. Initial physical therapy consisted of a list of exercises from the hospital and walking, and I used my hiking stick off and on for several weeks. They used internal stitches and glue, so I didn’t even have anything to remove. At first the site was a bunch of skin bunched up that looked a bit like a large worm. I was really surprised when it smoothed out and became the tiniest little line of a scar. I really thought I was going to feel that worm line forever! The worst part about the whole deal was sleeping, because I am just not a back sleeper. I spent a lot of time in my recliner! My friend Jimmy did send a picture of his belly button to make me smile, though! LOL I was going to share pics from the surgery, but some said that was a little too much information!!

I was back at church and Bible study in less than a week albeit with a chauffeur, but my first big walking outing was the Halloween Trunk or Treat in Sneedville about 3 weeks later. They shut down Main Street and businesses and individuals set up tables/tents to give out candy. Lots of people dress in costumes, and the kids run around on a sugar high having a blast. We met Jovonni at the church, checked in with those handing out candy there, then walked the loop down Main Street and back. Our friend Eric had his hot dog cart out, so my fair food was a slaw dog. Yum! By the time we made it back up towards the car, it was time to get home and rest a bit. Walking was not terribly painful with my hiking stick, but it was absolutely exhausting!

While I was convalescing, MW tried his hand at a Burnt Basque Cheesecake after seeing it on the Great British Baking Show. It was a rousing success! The top gets dark and has a caramel flavor, plus it is not as sweet as a traditional cheesecake. This one was a pumpkin, and I loved it!.

In early November we invited our friends Don and Janice to go to Tennessee Jack’s for supper and then check out a rodeo at the Great Smoky Mountains Expo Center in Morristown. Don had never been to one and was a bit skeptical at first, but he seemed to enjoy it after the action started. He said repeatedly that those bull riders were CRAZY, though!! LOL It had been a little over a month since my hip surgery, and thankfully, I did pretty well getting around, even up and down the arena steps.

November also brought our annual Thanksgiving trek. The week before we were to leave, MW noticed that one of the trailer tires was flat. The good folks at the Co-Op in Sneedville made easy work of the repair. It must have been a REALLY slow leak to take 3 months to be visible! It is definitely a blessing to find something like that at home rather than when we are heading down the highway.

We hit the road early on the Saturday before Thanksgiving and had an unremarkable drive on familiar roads before setting up camp in our regular site at Rocky Mountain PFA. As with all visits to my parent’s place, the week mostly consisted of a lot of talking, a little working, some eating out, and some shopping. To change things up this trip, MW and I went to Antioch Baptist Church, which we enjoyed. It is just down the road from the campground, and bonus…the Pastor’s name was Alex Jones!

On Monday the four of us took a ride up to Summerville, Georgia, just about 20 miles north of Mom’s place. The main reason for the drive was to check out James H. (Sloppy) Floyd State Park as a possible alternative to Rocky Mountain PFA for our visits. It looked pretty nice, but we’ll let you know more when we stay there. While in town we had lunch at Jefferson’s, which was very good, then walked around a bit. There is a terrific little place in town called Sweet Beaux Mercantile that is worth a gander if you like to peruse, too.

Tuesday was rainy and nasty, so MW and I took the opportunity to visit Oak Hill and The Martha Berry Museum just down the road from Mom’s place. The weather kept us from enjoying the gardens they are known for, but we did take the house and museum tours. Martha Berry was the founder of Berry College in Rome, and by all accounts, quite a woman. Here are some things I learned:

  • Martha’s parents were Thomas Berry and Frances Margaret Rhea Berry. Frances was from Gadsden, Alabama, and was raised on a cotton plantation. Thomas was born in Virginia, but moved to Chattanooga where his father was a politician. Shortly after their marriage, Thomas left to fight with the Alabama 31st Volunteers in the Civil War. Like most officers from the south, upon his return, his fortune was pretty much gone. He was smart, though, and became an entrepreneur, both with a grocery store and a cotton factor business in Rome. By 1871, he was able to purchase Oak Hill on the Oostanaula River just outside of Rome.
  • The house is beautiful in every detail. Martha was apparently quite the lady. She had the oak leaf and acorn moldings custom created for Oak Hill during a renovation. The single-person elevator had a chair with a book. Martha said that there was no point in standing idle while waiting for the long lift!
  • Martha Berry became a teacher in a little log cabin on the Oak Hill grounds. Built long before the mansion, Martha originally used it as a playhouse. Then, with dreams of becoming a writer, she set it up as a study where she could write and read. Once, while she was there, she found three young boys from Lavender Mountain peeping in the window. She began reading to them, and word spread. Before long, she was teaching Sunday School lessons to more children than the cabin could hold. That cabin would become a symbol for Martha and eventually take its place on her school’s seal to represent simplicity. The seal also has a lamp representing learning, a plow for work, and the Bible. All four tenets would be the foundation of what is now a thriving institution. The cabin meant so much to Martha that she had it rebuilt in 1910.
  • The first formal iteration of Martha’s school was the Boys Industrial School, which opened in the early 1900s. School took place in Brewster Hall, which was the first building built on what is today the Berry College campus. Unfortunately it burned in the first part of the 1900s. In 1909, the Martha Berry School for Girls was added.
  • The first graduate of the Boys Industrial School was Clayton Henson in 1904. He went on to attend the University of Georgia, graduating in 1908, then became a lawyer establishing a practice in Cartersville. He assisted in the creation of the Berry Alumni Association and served as its president from 1909 to 1915.
  • In 1914 the Berry schools began a mandatory work program as part of the students’ education. They performed a variety of jobs on campus, which had the dual benefit of lowering administrative costs. To this day, students are given job opportunities on campus. One of the young ladies that gave our tour was a senior. In the 1960s, the system changed from crediting student accounts to paying wages.
  • In 1915, the Mountain Campus on Lavender Mountain, an elementary school for boys, opened. Martha sent Berry School alumnus Grady Hamrick, class of 1912, to run it. He remained at the campus for 40 years. Today that campus is the base for the Chick-fil-A Winshape programs. Called Berry Academy, this school which grew to include day students and girls, was the closest descendant of the original boarding school Martha built. It closed in 1983 due to a decline in enrollment and rising costs.
  • Eugene Gunby applied to the Berry School and was refused. Martha was concerned that the young man, who had polio and was unable to walk without assistance, could not participate in the mandatory work program. Eugene was persistent, and eventually Martha gave in. To help him move about the campus, he used a 3-wheeled cart built by some of his classmates. Gunby would graduate from the Berry School in 1921, then go on to the University of Georgia and Emory University Lamar School of Law, graduating there in 1925. He practiced law for many years, then became a judge in Fulton County, Georgia, in 1944.
  • In the mid-1920s, the school became a junior college, and then shortly thereafter, a senior college. The first graduating class from Berry College was 1932.
  • With the success of The Berry Schools, Martha’s reputation grew both in the United States and abroad. In 1934, she was invited to London to be presented to King George V. Now, when you are going to be in the presence of royalty, the proper attire is critical. Most people would go out and pay for the best evening wear that they could afford, probably purchasing something that would never be worn again. Martha Berry, however, was not most people. She put together an inexpensive silver lace ensemble, then RENTED a cape! Unlike the stars and politicians of today, she then wore the outfit for many years afterward to formal events and looked plumb regal.
  • “Aunt” Martha Freeman began working for the Berry family shortly after the Civil War, living in a separate house on the grounds with her family. As the years passed and the two grew old, Martha Berry often called “Aunt” Martha her “next of kin”. Less an employee than a friend, “Aunt” Martha baked cookies for the Berry students and gave counsel to Martha. She lived in a little house right next to Oak Hill later in life. Henry Ford, a close friend of Miss Berry’s, was also very fond of her “kin”, even spending time repairing “Aunt” Martha’s treasured mantle clock.

Our Thanksgiving gathering included Mom, Dad2, MW, me, Aunt Pat, cousin Bill, sister Lisa and brother-in-law Bo. It was too short, but lots of fun.

I’ve talked about Rocky Mountain PFA several times before, and you can read the review here. For this visit in November 2025, we paid almost $31 per night for 7 nights.

On Saturday, November 29, it was time to head north, but this time we were making a couple of stops before Sneedville. The first was at Cane Creek Park in Waxhaw, NC, which put us close enough to visit with my sister’s family. We arrived fairly late in the afternoon, so just met my sister Kate and her son Peyton at Chick-fil-A for a quick bite and visit before heading back to Priscilla. The next morning MW and I started at West Monroe Baptist Church where Pastor Eric Nixon gave a pretty nice sermon. Thankfully today my brother-in-law, Patrick, who felt puny the previous night, was better. That meant we all got to hang out for a while and have a good lunch at Shake Shake Seafood in Monroe. The weather was fairly dreary for most of the visit, but we enjoyed seeing family.

Cane Creek Park is a Union county park located a few miles southwest of Monroe, North Carolina. On 1,050 acres surrounding the 350-acre Cane Creek Lake, activities center mostly around the water. Amenities include a camp store, office, amphitheater, activities center, pavilion, gazebo, bike wash, boat ramp, beach, ball fields, basketball court, playground, disc golf, miniature golf, and multi-use trails. Camping options include a group campground and the family campground. The latter consists of more than 100 sites, including some wilderness, some with full-hookups and others with water and electric, some reservable and others first-come, first-served. Some are paved, while others are gravel, and most appeared to be fairly level, although ours was a bit rutted in areas. They also had picnic tables and fire rings. The biggest issue with this campground is that they put one faucet for two sites, at least in our area. Our water was located between us and the site on our door side. They were widely spaced, so it took almost 75′ of hose to hook up. It wouldn’t keep us from coming back, but would be very irritating for someone with only 50′ of hose onboard. For this stay in November 2025, we paid $37 per night for two nights.

Monday we headed a little further west, arriving at Dan Nichols Park in Salisbury, North Carolina, by mid-afternoon. Then we spent a couple of days visiting with BFF Tina and Keith. There was yummy food, including some delicious cooking by Tina and grilling by Keith. You don’t go hungry in that house, and most of the time they caught it, hunted it, or grew it, too! We did go out one night to Back Country Barbecue in Linwood, NC, which was pretty darned good. I always enjoy getting in some Tina time!!

WEIRD THING: As we headed over to Tina’s on Tuesday, we passed the marina on High Rock Lake and saw vultures…hundreds of them. Many were on the ground drying their wings, while lots of trees were filled with them, too. Then I noticed the dock was covered and upon further inspection, found that to be lots of white-breasted cormorants. This was hundreds of birds gathered in a relatively small area. What the heck!!

Dan Nichols Park is a Rowan county park located on the 10-acre Lake Murtis in Salisbury, North Carolina. This place has a lot to do for families including a playground, train rides, Hayden’s carousel, paddleboat rentals, gem mine, miniature golf, nature center, water plaza, hiking trails, tennis, basketball, volleyball courts, aquarium and nature center, and animal habitats. Amenities include pavilions, a camp store, and 2 bathhouses. You can stay in one of 6 cabins or a variety of sites in the wooded campground. The latter are mostly 110/30/50-amp, some pull-through, 11 waterfront, and all with picnic tables and fire rings. This park looked like it would get a lot of use in the warmer months, but only had a few folks during our visit. The sites were not terribly level, but they were very large and spread apart in the woods. Ours was quite muddy from the recent rains and in need of fresh gravel. There are things they could improve, but we will stay again for Tina time. It was a little higher than typical county park campgrounds we have found, though. For this stay in December 2025, we paid a little over $48 per night for three nights.

We made it back home on December 4th, and Lori and Jimmy arrived on December 6th. The Bristol Motor Speedway in Lights just might have become an annual thing for us four! They drove all the way over from Paducah to spend a couple of nights and go. It is always a blast with them, so we were happy. We hung out Saturday night and played Phase 10. Then Sunday after church and lunch at El Azteca in Sneedville, headed over to the speedway. While in Bristol we made another regular stop…Southern Churn downtown. On Monday morning, after a bit of breakfast at The Diner, they hit the road back to Kentucky. That was my birthday, and Lori brought me a cool trivet that she made. Love it!!

December 10th MW took me for my birthday present…John Denver: A Rocky Mountain High Experience at the historic Bijou Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was Far Out! We headed over to town early that afternoon and checked into the Courtyard by Marriott. Later we walked over to the Bistro at the Bijou for dinner before the show. That was excellent! MW had Bourbon Brined Pork Chops, while I went for the Ginger Glazed Salmon, and we shared the Crispy Brussels Sprouts. Not only was everything delicious, but the prices were awesome…$16 for MW’s dinner, which included TWO huge chops and two sides! We will definitely be back. The show was absolutely terrific, too. Rick Schuler, who looks and sounds quite a bit like John Denver, sings songs and tells stories about the late musician. It’s just him, his guitar, and a microphone for about 1-1/2 hours, with a 15-minute intermission. The audience is singing along and having a great time, too. It was a terrific birthday gift for me!

WEIRD, I THINK: As we headed out of Knoxville, we popped into a Walgreens. In the body wash aisle, I ran across locked cases that held the majority of the Oil of Olay bath washes and some Dove and Aveeno too. Is someone trying to make crack cocaine out of this stuff or something?? I mean, it is body soap!! Why would that be a high theft item? And why not all of the other brands?

Saturday, December 13th, was time for the MOST IMPORTANT football game of the year… Army-Navy. Navy started strong out of the gate, but then gave us heart palpitations for much of the game. In the end, though, they pulled it out by just 1 point. That ending came with a LOT of luck, because they did some seriously bonehead stuff. BFF Tina’s youngest son, who is in the Army, texted me when Army took the lead, talking some smack about “superior team”, yada, yada, yada. He’s young. He’ll learn. It ain’t over ’til it’s over! *Evil laugh..wahahahah!*

While I was convalescing, MW managed to take care of a few chores between bouts of seriously cold weather…single digits! He put a new post on the cemetery gate, delivering a load of split firewood to a local charity, replaced the trailer brakes, and cutting a bunch of small cedars on the hillside by the driveway. Unfortunately, the weather was such that a burn ban was in place up until we left.

On Saturday, December 20, MW and me, plus friend Aaron from church and his son, Bentley, headed over to Knoxville to spend time with John and Cotton at Calhoun’s on the River. Our church has an amazing jail ministry and a couple of our guys were finishing up their time at a half-way house over there. While their lives may have taken a different path than mine, these young men teach me so much about the grace of God. It is truly a gift that I can get to know them.

On Monday, December 22, it hit me…the Flu!! Because we had plans on Thursday to head to Pennsylvania to spend time with two of the Boogers, I immediately got in to see our doctor. Although I tested negative for both flu and Cove, she said a flu and pneumonia were running rampant in the county, so got me on some meds quick. Apparently, the flu strain strongest in our area this year was not covered in the flu shot. Figures! Her solution did the job, because I was well on the mend except for a bit of congestion by the time we left, which was actually backed up to Wednesday.

UNBELIEVABLE: I was in a parking lot in Tazewell before Christmas when I saw this guy abruptly pull over to the side of the road, then run back and start gathering wood that was spread all over the place. So he went to the trouble to put a red flag on the end of the wood, but didn’t apparently see any need to actually secure it in the bed. It was really just shoved into the bed with about 2/3 of the length hanging out. Who does that?

Our plan was to head north to pick up our PA Boogers on December 26, but an imminent snow storm threatening 10″ in their area pushed us into traveling on Christmas Day. Bummer! That is NOT a good way to celebrate the birth of our Savior!! The roads weren’t too crowded, though, so that was a blessing. There was also a Buc-ee’s conveniently located along our route, so we picked up some brisket sandwiches to eat later for supper. We drove as far north as Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, then stopped for the night.

After a quick breakfast at Waffle House the next morning, we hit the road. The forecast was for snow to start in the afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to get the kids and head west. Problem was, we would be driving right through the storm to get to our destination…Pittsburgh. About 90 minutes into the drive, a rain/snow/sleet mix started and temps dropped to the mid 20s. We kept moving except for a quick stop to break the ice up on the windshield and wipers and another bathroom break. When we thought we were mostly out of it, we stopped for lunch at Dunny’s Pizza in Cresson, PA. The worst roads came after that, though, with a tractor-trailer and a bucket truck both wrecked coming up the other side. We were all thankful to get out of the mess just east of Pittsburgh. After a quick grocery run we parked Big Bertha at the Comfort Suites in Monroeville, PA. Supper was munchies while we played games and watched a little TV.

Saturday started our touristing in Steel City. It was very grey, but we were undaunted. First stop…the Museum of Illusions downtown. Aiden found this in an area search, and it turned out to be pretty cool. It is filled with optical illusions, some interactive. We spent a lot of time playing around. It ended up being Aiden’s favorite thing about this trip.

Afterwards we went over to The Strip to check out Primanti Brothers, considered a Pennsylvania must. The boys tried the signature sandwiches, which are ridiculously huge and have a wad of French fries as a topping. They weren’t too impressed, and I took a bite of MW’s and have to agree; the fries just dulled the flavor of the meats. Madolyn and I loved our wings, though. Afterwards we walked around The Strip a bit before heading back to Big Bertha. I know you aren’t going to believe this, but MW found a bookstore along the way!

Next we were moving on up on the Duquesne Incline. What is now a posh neighborhood on top of the hill was once a coal mine. There were multiple coal hoists that brought the ore down to the river level to process and ship. By the late 1800s, some of those tracks had been replaced by four passenger and/or freight inclines serving Coal Hill. It wasn’t the fancy area it is today, but once mining stopped, residential development began to take over those views. Renamed Mount Washington, the area today is home to those with enough jack to buy the coveted spots. The Duquesne Incline operated from 1877 to 1962. After a 2-year shutdown, the Society for the Preservation of The Duquesne Heights Incline took over operation and has been running it ever since.

Then it was time for a different ride. On the Gateway Clipper riverboat you get to traverse portions of the three rivers and see the city from the water. It was cold, so I was happy parking myself inside at a window. The other three spent some time up top enjoying the views, though.

A longer drive was coming up, so we took a break for a little ice cream at Churn south of the Monongahela in the Southside Flats area. Then we took the drove to another state…West Virginia. Before checking out our objective, we had a quick supper at Chick-fil-A while waiting for it to get good and dark. Then we took the long drive through hundreds of acres of The Festival of Lights at Oglebay Resort Park in Wheeling, West Virginia. It was pretty well done and worth the time. There is a Santa’s Village, Christmas at the Zoo, and a train, too, but it was a bit too cold for us to enjoy those. This light show has been going on for 41 years, and 300,000 people make the 6-mile drive every year.

Sunday started with church at First Baptist Church of Monroeville near the hotel. As we got out of the car, MW said we would have to get out right after services to make our next stop. When we walked in the door, we were confused by everyone sitting in the lobby room. Turns out there were two baptisms, which they do before services out there. After that everyone relocated to the sanctuary and the service began. However, it was Pastor Thomas Pesci’s last Sunday preaching after 16 years, so there were gifts given, stuff said, and a luncheon planned for afterwards. We agreed that we would need to sneak out the side door by 1:10 or so, and that is what we ended up doing. We did get to hear almost all of his sermon about unity, though. Man, do we need a lot of that now!

We made it back to downtown Pittsburgh for our 1 PM tour at Acrisure Stadium. This was a lot of walking and pretty darned cool. Our tour guide was Carter, and he was very funny and particularly nice to the kids. We got to go through parts of the concourse, see one of the old Heinz bottles (throwback to Heinz field) now installed at one of the gates, check out the locker rooms for the Panthers (college team) and Steelers (who share the facility), and walk out through the tunnel to the field. The coolest thing, though, was seeing something that most don’t see…the field without the grass. They were in the process of re-sodding, something that typically happens twice a year. Since the Steelers were still in the running, they were doing it a third time, just in case. There is one grower for their sod, and it costs about $500,000 every time they do it. Underneath the dirt you see are lots of pipes that circulate warm antifreeze, which is how you can keep grass growing in the winter in Pittsburgh with all of the snow. It was a very interesting process. Surprisingly, this tour ended up being Maddie’s favorite thing on this trip.

By the time we made lunch at 3 PM, we were famished. The kids chose the Fortune Star Chinese buffet, which was near the hotel. Then we drove to a movie theater about 25 minutes away, only to find that the show we wanted to see, Zootopia 2, was sold out. Our next option wasn’t for a couple of hours and closer to the hotel, so we went back there for a little bit, then headed to the theater. The movie was funny, but by the time we got back to the hotel, we were all exhausted and pretty much went straight to bed.

Monday we slept in a bit, and I spent some time trying to get rid of a migraine. After the storm on Friday, the weather had warmed up some, but all of that changed overnight. We walked out to temps in the 20s and 35 mph winds! I nixed the afternoon plan of the National Aviary, which was partially outdoors. We went to lunch at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, then headed down to the Kamin Science Center. After hours of walking Sunday, I headed to the Cafe to sit and wait for MW and the kids to check out the 5 floors of stuff. The main reason Aiden and MW chose Kamin, though…the submarine tour…was closed for cold weather. They were bummed! Aiden said it was a really good museum, though. He and MW particularly liked the giant train village. MW said there were lots of little things scattered throughout that made it particularly well done like a figure actually swatting a rug on a clothesline, children on swings that were swinging, and a couple dancing on a porch. Here are a few of his pics:

Before heading back out of town we drove by to check out the site of The Immaculate Reception, often called the “turning point for the Pittsburgh Steelers”. For the uninitiated, on December 23, 1972, as the Steelers were at 4th-and-10 in what would be the final play of the game in Three Rivers Stadium, Terry Bradshaw launched a pass downfield to Frenchy Fuqua. Unfortunately the ball and Raiders’ safety Jack Tatum arrived at the same moment, causing a horrible collision. The ball was then snatched out of the air by Franco Harris who outran and stiff-armed his way to the end zone. Steelers fans went wild! That was the first playoff win in Steelers franchise history and turned the tide for Pittsburgh football. Three Rivers Stadium is no more, but when they tore it all down, the exact spot and yard lines for that important play were immortalized in concrete and bronze. Before going back to the hotel, MW found Full Throttle Adrenaline Park, which was an INDOOR racing go cart track. Aiden and Madolyn LOVED it! Afterwards it was time to do a little relaxing, play a little Phase 10, and watch some TV before bedtime.

Tuesday we reluctantly had to point Big Bertha east and get back across the mountains to Avoca. The roads were mostly good, with the exception of one section just east of Pittsburgh. We stopped for lunch at Five Guys in Wilkes-Barre, then we had to take them home. It is always very hard to say goodbye to these boogers. We have a lot of fun and laughs, and it is time that we treasure. After plenty of hugs and goodbyes, MW and I hit the road heading south. We had supper at the Copper Still in Martinsburg, WV, then sacked out at the Comfort Inn down the road. Wednesday we pointed Big Bertha towards the barn and only stopped long enough to eat at the Mason Jar Restaurant in Dublin, VA. We made it home, exhausted and in time for our New Year’s Eve celebration…bed! LOL

Well, that wraps up 2025. Next up…More Sneedville, John Boy, and Texas! See you on the path!!

Talisa