I typed these off-line into my phone when I had down time and while the thoughts were fresh in my mind. The raw notes have been refined for posting.
FIRST... Road Travel and AirBNB
1. My bedside Glock 21 with Streamlight TLR-4 laser/light combo came with me. It was unloaded and locked in a hard steel case that was tethered to the seat mounting and hidden way up under the back seat. The ammo was locked in a separate hard steel case and inside my luggage, following the rules of "no quick access" set forth by F.O.P.A. Travel across the 71 miles of Hochul's Hellhole (NY state) on I-84 to PA and back was uneventful. Traveling through PA was not a worry. Although more direct, I chose to completely avoid NJ for the obvious reasons. Those fuckers will arrest and jail anyone that dare cross their imaginary line at the state border with a firearm, regardless of how it is stored and secured. The weapon was loaded with Hornady Critical Defense 185gr .45ACP with a spare mag and placed by my bedside every night. For the entire vacation no one knew including wife, and they still don't. It keeps the subject off the table for possible future vacations. In the morning it was unloaded and secured. The only place to keep it secure when not at the house was in my vehicle, locked in the lock box and secured the same way I traveled. The ammo container stayed at the AirBNB house locked and hidden in my suitcase. AirBNB does not forbid weapons on either side; rental or renter. If you are renting out your property, all weapons must be secured and out of sight of renters. Renters are supposed to get prior permission to bring weapons onto a rental property. FUCK THAT! I don't beg for permission to exercise my right to self defense. I think AirBNB's would be the perfect target for home invaders, especially if criminals were to just use the app to locate them and then prey upon unsuspecting folks on vacation when occupied. If no one breaches my perimeter, no one gets hurt and no one will ever know I was armed. Since PA dos not honor my pistol permit, I carried an assortment of blades while out and about. Better than nothing.
2. AirBNB house: I live on a quiet rural back road. This rental house was on a very busy road that had traffic (including trucks) 7/24. The first night was tough but we quickly got used to it. Our first house was in a busy neighborhood. The next door neighbor has what looked like an old classic bike in his garage. I only saw it at night in low light inside his garage while the door was open. I waited until I saw him outside and went over to say hello and talk bikes. The guy and his wife are nice friendly people. It wasn't a 40+ year old bike but a nice 2005 Kawasaki Concours with really low miles. In low light the twin exhaust and shaft drive had me thinking something like a 1980 Suzuki GS850. Plus he had the removable saddle bags off so that also gave it a retro look. I showed him photos of "The Beast." Turns out his wife doesn't ride much either.
SECOND... Hershey Park
1. No weapons allowed. PFFFFT! I carried my Gerber GDC money clip with discreet blade and my Blackie Collins "CIA Letter opener." On Wednesday I accidentally also carried in S&W Border Guard in a belt sheath. I only got stopped on the way in Tuesday because of my metal eyeglass case. The guard wanted a looksee at my glasses. He said people use eyeglass cases to sneak stuff in. They never knew about any of my blades.
2. OMG! Talk about the oversexualization of children, particularly young girls. Most girls were wearing the same basic outfit from about age 8 to early 20's; high tight shorts with crop tops or baby tees. I spotted girls as young as 12 sporting cameltoes while walking around with their parents. I saw one girl of about 12 or 13 repeatedly in a ride line so I know what I saw. Too many mentally ill tranny weirdos as well wandering around instead of being committed to a facility. Day 2 at the park was a combination of roller coasters and several hours in the water park. It wasn't as warm on the second day and we froze getting off water rides. But the rides were just too much fun to care.
3. There was plenty of black and brown people but the parks were not overrun and everyone behaved themselves.
Trip to Amish country 8-24-23
Amish Marketplace: I'd never been to one before and it was a feast for the eyes. The meat cases were incredible. A young Amish man asked if I needed anything, but I said no, I was just enjoying the sights and how delicious everything looked. He said "We are blessed!" and I heartily agreed. Then there was the breads, pies, candy, and canned goods. Everyone was so nice and lots of samples. I bought stuff I liked; fruit preserves, some bacon jam, and some pineapple salsa. Both of my Grandmothers had these wall mount folding wooden drying racks in their houses. When I saw these for sale I had to get one for my own laundry room. $37 and NOT MADE IN CHY-NAH!
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Fully extended and ready to use. No need for paint or poly
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Folds down flat against the wall for storage
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Fisher Farm: We stopped there because of the homemade root beer. I met what I assume was the family patriarch Elim Fisher and had a nice conversation with him. He was curious where I was from and what I did for work. He told me Amish are being pushed out because of high land prices. I have never interacted with The Amish, only viewed from afar. I really like and respect them and am just a bit envious of their way of life. While I could never convert myself, I would enjoy living among them as their neighbors.
Kettle Village: outdoor market place with more good eats. My wife picked up a couple of jars of spicy pickles, and a pot holder for the handle of a frying pan. She makes delicious frittatas using a large oven safe non-stick frying pan, so that will make it easier handling the hot pans.
Shady Maple Smorgasbord: I am not normally a fan of all you can eat because I never feel I get my money's worth. We went on a Thursday which is their Wing/Rib Night and was reasonable at $21.99 per person with senior discount for three of us. So I just ate what I liked in normal portions. I started with a good salad loaded with my favorite veggies, toppings, and super chunky bleu cheese dressing. For my entree I got the "burnt" end of a juicy, tender brisket. A helping of smooth mashed potatoes and gravy, a heap of string beans, and a hunk of cornbread, all washed down with some ice cold chocolate milk. For dessert a serving of cherry cobbler and a cup of coffee. I was definitely satisfied without feeling stuffed and bloated. After dinner we all returned to the house to play Marbles. Guys against the girls, and the XY chromosome team dominated.
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The other side is for four players. Two decks of cards for moves.
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8-25-23
Most of family left this morning, but we stay until 26th. We took a ride to Bird In Hand for a horse and buggy ride at Abe's Buggy Rides and took the longest ride they offer at 6 1/2 miles. Our driver was a delightful Amish girl in her late teens/early twenties named Naomi. She had been driving horses since she was very young and made it look easy. She is getting married at the end of November and we wished her well. She clarified what Elim Fisher told me about the Amish being pushed out. She said because of land prices, it is very hard for young couples just starting out to get a place of their own. Midway through the ride is a stop at an Amish bakery. I got a pecan sticky and an ice cold chocolate milk. So good! I took some great photos of the countryside with my Nikon D5600. After that we went to a place called "The Amish House and Farm" for their on-site tour of an authentic house and farm. It is surrounded by shopping plazas but once inside you don't see them. A stop for ice cream at the Strasburg Creamery in Strasburg and then over to the Tanger Outlets and the New Balance store for new sneakers. We headed back to our AirBNB for a dinner of leftover pasta that my wife turned into a cheese covered pasta bake. After supper we started making preparations for the trip home tomorrow.
8-26-23
Check out time is 10:00 AM, so we got up early to pack and clear out on time. We pulled out at 09:30 and headed to Gus's Keystone Family Restaurant in Mount Joy for a big breakfast. Holy shit they serve a full plate of food. I got one of the day's specials.... a Mexican Omelet. Charizo sausage, peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and melted shredded cheese. It comes with salsa and sour cream and a side of fried sliced potatoes and toast (I opted for raisin toast). Everybody's breakfast was absolutely delicious and filling so we would not have to stop for lunch on the way home. The only traffic we hit was in Kommiecticut at the NY border that went almost to Waterbury due to the shitty highways we have that are a total choke point when coming into New England. A stop for gas at BJ's and we were home by 4:30 PM. Vacation is great, but returning home to my own bed and the peace and quiet where I live feels real good after being away.
I am not very active at work because we are stuck at the station on standby most of the time, and then most of our calls are for EMS. My activity level goes way up when I have days off catching up on yard work. For all the eating I did on vacation, I also did a lot of walking and amazingly dropped a couple of pounds. All the walking did my knee good too.
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