Way North

When I got home Thursday I tended to all of those time sensitive list items that needed to be done prior to leaving.  It actually did not take as long as I expected and by 9PM I had most things wrapped up.

I left my normal Friday morning 5:30 alarm in place so I could get a head start on things like washing the sheets, running the dishwasher and a few other things.  However I again found myself done sort of early, I had a good 90 minutes of time to kill before I left to pick up Ali at 10:30.  I said goodbye to Elsa which made me a little teary eyed even though I knew she was going to have a great time with Ali and Shugs.

I got to Ali’s work a little before 11:30.  I had her drive so she got some more last second Tesla training in.  She dropped me at the airport right about 12, the adventure was officially beginning.  I had not been in an airport in a very long time.  I would be hard pressed to tell you exacty how long ago it was without giving it some considerable thought which I don’t feel like usiing right now.  My rough guess is at least four years. It didn’t take long for things to get interesting.

I went through security and noticed they were taking a long time with my laptop bag.  I had a bunch of stuff jammed in there so I just figured they were trying to identify it all.  Well the bag then got moved to the secondary screening station.  Two women opened the bag and started digging through it which seemed odd.  They call me over after they extract a pocket knife, something I threw in the bag years ago and had forgot about.  They confiscated the knife as I felt pretty dumb about not checking the bag thoroughly before bringing it.

The flight to Charolette was great.  The American Airlines 737 we flew on seemed very new.  I also paid extra money for a emergency row seat whcih is a godsend for someone with legs as long as mine.  I spent the majority of the time in the air reading one of my books.  It made me drowsy so I took a few breaks dozing off using my hand as a support.  Repeatedly my head would slip off my hand snapping me back to being alert for a few moments.  I was surprised we got a full can of coke and mini-pretzels, it almost felt like first class.

We arrived in Charolette on time but I only had about an hour until the connecting flight to Allentown was scheduled to take off so I had to hustle as the gate was far away.  It turned out I could have taken a much more casual pace.  The crew for the flight was delayed so they didn’t start loading the plane until close to half hour later than scheduled.  Then we waited on the runway for at least another half hour because of storms to the north of the airport.

This flight was on a much older plane.  Even though I was once again in the exit row I was less comfortable as the seat was narrow and the recline mechanism did not appear to work.  I again alternated reading and sleeping during this flight.  I had a feeling the guy next to me was eager to have someone to talk to but when he got short responses from me he instead engaged with two women across the aisle talking nearly non-stop with them.

We wound up landing around an hour late.  I couldn’t believe when I took my phone off airplane mode and had an actual text message from my dad, the first one I can recall in my entire life.  Evidently the flight info in the airport never reflected the delay in my flight so he just sat around and waited.

The Allentown airport looked like I remembered from close to 30 years ago, the last time I was there.  It was like arriving in a time capsule with style and decorations straight out of the 70’s or 80’s.  It was quaint but certainly nothing resembling the ultra-modern airports you see in larger cities.

I got to ride in dad’s Hyundai Sonata hybrid for the first time.  He loves getting 50MPG, especially with current gas prices. We stopped and got dinner at an Asian Fusion restaurant.  We both liked our food but the AC was cranked down uncomfortably low, I was quite chilly in shorts and a t-shirt.

We arrived back in Lenhartsville around 9.  My stepmom was getting ready for bed but came down to catch up.  I got to reintroduce myself to their three cats who also got to visit me in my bedroonm during the night.  I was tired and took a shower.  I got a status report from Ali that all was well at the house which was a relief.  I also talked to Gladys, filling her in on how the day of travel went.

I had a decent night of sleep all things considered.  I woke up without an alarm before 7.  I got to walk around their property a bit, saying hi to their sheep and taking in some of the beautiful, serene rolling hills around them.  It is so peaceful there.  I took several pictures trying to capture how it felt.

We packed up the Hyundai trunk to the max before pulling out around 8:30.  Dad started out doing the driving.  He hates modern navigation assistants like a smart phone has which easily gives you the fastest route from point A to point B.  He wanted to take the scenic route where you got to see more things and experience the area which was fine by me.  I am up here so rarely it’s appealing to me to stop and smell the roses a bit.

We grabbed breakfast at the Beacon diner which was established in 1941.  Some parts of the place looked like they had not been touched since the 40’s but that was also part of it’s charm.  All three of our breakfasts were completely consumed, the food was that good.

Somewhere around 100 miles into the trip I took over driving which I think was a good thing.  My pace was a little quicker and I could tell my dad was getting sleepy after the big breakfast.  During one pit stop we saw a guy pull up in a beautiful restored 1964 blue GMC pickup.  The owner said he spent around four years restoring it, doing almost everything himself except the paint job.  It was awesome.

We had an odd moment at a Dunkin Donuts in Utica NY.  We wanted coffee but we also wanted to use their bathrooms.  When we went to the bathrooms they were both locked with a sign saying you have to ask for a key.  The women’s bathroom also had the occupied flag flipped so we assumed someone was in there.

So I asked the guy if we could have the key.  At first he said he was going to look for it.  Then he said only one bathroom was open, the women’s that had the occupied flag flipped.  Um ok.  So we got our coffee and waited another 5 minutes and nobody emerged from the women’s bathroom.  At this point we didn’t know what the hell was going on but our mutual feeling was if someone has been in a bathroom for 10-15 minutes, you probably don’t want to go in there.  The entire situation was weird, so we walked out.

The final push to Camp Waldheim was long.  My dad had said the mapped the drive out as roughly 265 miles.  It turned out to be just under 300 miles.  The tail end of it was on mostly rural roads with slower speed limits, making things drag out a bit more.  We wound up arriving between 4 and 4:30, a long day of driving.  About 30 minutes from our destination my phone lost signal competely, meaning I was completely unplugged, which I will talk about more later.

We met up with my sister Meghan, her husband Paul and their two adorable kids Cadence and Kennedy.  From the second we saw them they were on fire wanting to show us around their cabin and then engaging us in all sorts of funny interactions.  They are so cute and I had not seen them for over two years.  Kennedy is now 3 and Cadence is 6.

We then went to our cabin and unpacked.  Our unit was older and not as nice as Meghan and Paul’s but was in a better location.  Meg and the gang came over to our cabin before dinner to hang out a bit.  The girls played this funny game where they were “selling” us things.  The money was leaves and mini-pinecones, the items being sold were bigger pine cones.

A little after 6 we went to the dining hall.  All meals are prepared and included with the fee for staying.  I neglected to mention my brother Patrick wound up not coming because he caught covid down in Florida while traveling for work.  I was disappointed to hear this as I looked forward spending time with Pat and his girlfriend.

So anyway, dinner was good with the the girls providing most of the entertainment.  They are so funny without even trying to be.  They were both very happy to see my dad.  Cadence stuck to him like glue.  After we finished up Meg, Paul and the girls headed to their cabin.  I went to the library which is the sole source of connectivity in this place.  They have a small wifi network set up which can be used by guests.

I checked in with Ali and Gladys while there but it felt disorienting to not be able to use the internet on demand for both personal and work scenarios.  Not being able to be contacted if some sort of emergency comes up at the house or from work is not ideal so I will be trying to get plugged in a few times a day to just stay updated. For some people it may be nice to just totally yank the cord and be offline during the entire trip but that just isn’t a reality for me with what I do.

I was freezing walking back to our cabin.  I was glad to see my dad started a fire as the temps may dip all the way into the 40’s tonight.  The single size bed could prove to be another challenge as well.  Typically my feet will hang off a bed of that dimension.  I am punching out this entry on the sofa in front of the fireplace.  My dad and stepmom have already gone to bed for the night.

It feels a bit strange and isolating to be here but that was to be expected.  I know it’s good to put yourself into situations where you are immersed in something foreign.  To me it serves two purposes. You get to experience something new and beautiful.  This area is so different than what I am used to and I appreciate both the uniqueness of this place along with the opportunity to spend extended time with my family, which is a rarity.  The other purpose is to deepen the appreciation I have for certain things in my normal everyday life that I am seperated from, even if only for a short while.  I’m looking forward to seeing how this time will enrich my experiences going forward.