2010
ANNUAL ROAD TRIP NORTH
1500 miles driven, a
dozen households and thirty-seven people visited, countless smiles, laughs, hugs
and stories traded
May 12 through 21, 2010
SHENANDOAH
VALLEY – OLD DOGS AND RASPBERRIES
This year’s
pilgrimage started in the Shenandoah Valley with Glen Rodes and family and then
on to Keezletown where Catherine
Armentrout stands beside her wonderfully fragrant peonies and talks about her
garden. She confessed that her husband Mark may be right about her having planted too many
raspberries. You can see them waving boisterously at us from along the fence to the
left of the garden. Click on the picture for good look at those bad boys.
Mark Armentrout wasn’t in so we sat awhile and talked, gave
their dog a good petting and drove over to where Catherine told us he was doing some
work with his older brother.
THE TOOL
SHED
Here’s the
field where several generations of Armentrouts have been storing their old farm
vehicles and equipment. It has long been jokingly referred to as the
“Tool Shed.” One thing’s for certain; this side of
the family has a great sense of humor.
TWO
HUNDRED THIRTY-ONE YEARS OF ARMENTROUTS
The first thing
these three Armen/Armantrouts do when they get together is start swapping
stories and jokes. Ticky (short for Paul) is ninety-five, his youngest
brother Babe (a.k.a. Mark) is eighty-five and Bob is fifty-one. Bob asked
Mark if he thought they were going to have enough raspberries this year just to
see his reaction.
A JOB WELL
DONE
Catherine gave us
good instructions and we were pleased with ourselves for finding Babe and Ticky.
The timing was perfect being because the hard work was already done. We
are impressed to see these two still working so hard. Click on the photo
to the right to see details of their load.
MELVIN AND
BETTY
Next stop,
Harrisonburg. We stopped in for a chat with Melvin and Betty
Armentrout. They farm a piece of land not too far from Mark and
Catherine’s place. We found them in good humor and got all caught up.
MATT AND
JENN
A few hours later
and we were in Pennsylvania to visit Matt and Jenn at the Dickinson College Farm.
We wandered around the farm picking
produce and enjoyed a lovely dinner and an overnight stay.
SHIPPENSBURG
The next day, we
went to Shippensburg to visit Camille’s family. Check out Cumberland Valley Family Visit 2010
for photos of our stay with John and Darla, a shopping trip with Mom and a nice
Sunday hike at a State park.
NEW JERSEY
SHORE
After three days
in Shippensburg, we drove to the shore where we went for a long walk with
Camille’s cousin Mark and brother Jim. That evening we went to dinner at
cousin Frank’s and the next morning spent a little time in Camille’s childhood
neighborhood. There’s more story on this page: Sandy Hook and West Long Branch, 2010
CAPE
MAY-LEWES
FERRY
Bob loaded car and
wife onto the ferry for the trip to Delaware after a quiet evening in Cape May.
OUR GOOD
FRIEND, NED
We are always
tickled to spend some time with Ned and take the obligatory sunglass
photo. This year we did a little gardening, some cooking, went for a walk
and invited Frankie
and Jessica over for dinner. More at: Hanging out with Ned in Cabin John – May, 2010
TLC FOR
BLANCHE
Along the way, Bob
fueled up with Biodiesel whenever possible. We only had to make one fill
using petroleum diesel. We were already humming down the home stretch when
Blanche began choking on a clogged fuel filter. We pulled off into a little
town and Bob swapped it out in minutes!
[ Home ] [ Up ] [ Annual May Road Trip North ] [ Dickinson College Farm Visit ] [ Cumberland Valley Family Visit 2010 ] [ Sandy Hook and West Long Branch, 2010 ] [ Hanging out with Ned in Cabin John – May, 2010 ] [ Sunken Gardens of Moncure – May 2010 ]