We visited the Christopher Reis Studio in Tunkhannock, PA this weekend. It was an amazing working studio for what can best be described (at least by me) as lead crystal sculpture. The artists there were very gracious and showed us the process and then the final products, some of which are 3+ feet high (and sell for $100,000+!). We won’t be displaying any of them at our house, but it was a very interesting visit!

Saturday we drove to Binghamton, NY – mostly to check out the Home Depot (always good locate the closest one of those!), but also to try a Spiedie Sandwich – a Binghamton delicacy. We checked out a local tavern that was in our Road Food book, and did our own taste test. It’s a pretty simple sandwich, but very good.

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Since I haven’t been cooking lately (meals are graciously and deliciously provided here), I’ve set up the sewing machine on our table and have been catching up on loads of sewing projects. It’s felt good to wrap up some UFOs, and to also begin some new ones! I’m on a roll now – I may never give up the table ;).

So it was a good weekend. A little culture, a little shopping, a little work, a little play.

Hope yours was a good one too!

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Well, our Fourth was a Good Day – how was yours? It played out a little differently than we had planned, but nonetheless, it included a little patriotism, a little comradery, a lot of great food, some good entertainment and fine display of fireworks. We had planned to take the day off, but we offered to help out with the Chicken BBQ that was held here, and that was probably the best part of the day. Sitting around a campfire with friends watching the fireworks on the next hill was a perfect ending!

I reorganized our desk “stuff” into our new desk unit. I figure a little organization is good for the soul! And yes, you can even do renovations when you live in a 40 ft long tube!

Oh – the chambermaid thing? Monday was spent stripping beds at the conference center and today was spent making them up again. Ah, the life of the Sower!

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Greetings from Montrose, PA. Parts of this area were hard hit by recent flooding, but where we are is high and dry. We have had showers of hard rain almost every day, so I am sure that the folks around here are very ready for some dry time! This conference center offered to take in “refugees” and we are getting to know a local couple who are staying here while they regroup – their home moved several feet off its footings and they have much work to do just to salvage their belongings. They don’t know yet what they will do about permanent housing. But they have themselves and they are thankful for that!
We started work today. And tomorrow we get the day off =)! Apparently the Fourth of July is THE holiday in Montrose and we have been promised a wonderful parade, a town square full of crafts and food vendors plus a community Chicken BBQ and concert back here at the Bible Conference. And to end the day in true Independence Day style, we can watch the fireworks from our own parking space!

This is a beautiful area of PA – the Endless Mountains (and if the sun shines again I might even get some pictures taken!). And Montrose is a lovely older town full of regal vintage homes. Yesterday we took a great hike along the “Rails to Trails” –I’m sure we’ll do that again. We’ve also scoped out the favorite ice cream shop in town, but have not begun any research on that front!

Have a great 4th!

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We’ve had some pretty nice days on the road. Tuesday we made it to Phillipsburg, NJ where some friends that we hadn’t seen in years retrieved us from the Walmart parking lot and had us over for dinner. It was great to catch up with them – and I know we’ll make every effort to connect again when we’re in the area. Wednesday we moved all the way to Easton, PA (about 15 miles!), unhooked the truck and took a spin down to hometown to pick up our mail and a cabinet – but more important to have dinner with the Ikoniaks, son Josiah and his girlfriend, Abigail. It was a good visit, and we were glad we made the trip. Today was our appointment to get Lizzie inspected, so we ended milling around the Easton area while she was in the shop. We had hoped to go to the Crayola Crayon factory, but it was closed due to all the flooding. So instead we headed to Nazareth which was founded in 1740 by a group of Moravians. We did a little walking tour around town and then went to the C.F. Martin Guitar factory. Now I know very little about guitars, but that was one impressive tour. Each guitar, whether it sells for $200.00 or $15,000.00, is essentially handmade. It takes, on average, three months to make each guitar. The process is so labor intensive that I actually find it hard to believe that any of them sell for even $200.00. If you are ever in the Easton area, make sure you stop in for this (free!) tour. It was great.
Tonight is a “Flying J” night – and then tomorrow it’s into the project we go. I’m glad we got here early. It’s beginning to rain again, just what this over-saturated area needs!
Ah, life on the road!

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