Today, in theory was a \u201cfree\u201d day. It didn\u2019t seem like it though. Barbara\u2019s parents were thinking of not taking Granny with us today because our morning events conflicted with her house cleaner \/ companion\u2019s time with her (paid for by the government, since Granny had no money. Barb\u2019s parents also hired the pastor\u2019s wife to take care of Granny because Granny had not been taking care of herself). Granny begged to go, and the cleaner\/companion had other plans so it all worked out. Our first stop was in Bethlehem to see Granny\u2019s friend Wally. Wally was a cheerful nephew who had taken care of Granny until his health had deteriorated to the point where he needed to be in assisted living. Wally wanted to take us out to lunch, so after a fire drill at the hospital where he now lived, we did. The thing is, we found out, Wally can\u2019t walk. He\u2019s about 350 pounds and his legs no longer work. Several of us had to hoist him into our van. Once in, he navigated us to the diner, but only after an impromptu visit to the funeral home he used to own. The home was in the middle of the funeral, so Wally\u2019s nephew and son were patient with him up to a point, but then sort of shooed us out of there. At the diner, we met up with Barbara\u2019s other cousin, Sherry, and her mom. Ken and Ruth showed up there as well. After lunch, we all said our good-byes since my family would be moving on tomorrow, and then we were \u201cfree.\u201d Well, today, being Monday, NOTHING was opened \u2013 no museums, no parks, nothing. The only things opened were the amusement park (roller-coasters) and a fish hatchery. We went to the fish hatchery. Courtney loved it. While texting, on the way back to the motel, we discovered that my sister and her traveling softball league was at the amusement park. We were now too far away to visit them, so oh well, a missed opportunity. For dinner, I wanted pizza, so we went to the best pizza place in town and it was closed. We decided to go to Cracker Barrel instead. Wouldn\u2019t you know it, my sister and her softball team were dining there! They had missed the exit for the closer Cracker Barrel in Allentown, so they went to the one in Hamburg (ours) instead. What are the odds? We took pictures, ate, talked, and then my family headed to an ice cream shop (good ice cream!) while Mindy took her softball kids home to West Virginia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today, in theory was a \u201cfree\u201d day. It didn\u2019t seem like it though. Barbara\u2019s parents were thinking of not taking Granny with us today because our morning events conflicted with her house cleaner \/ companion\u2019s time with her (paid for … Continue reading