7:47 PM |
Today I'm off! I had a slip from the post office for a signature required parcel. I was hoping it was my imaginary boyfriend. I had to go across the street to Stolfutz's (hardware and agricultural equipment store) to get a water pump wrench (the big honkin' kind) and a small gas can (see previous posts). Back to the post office: the box was the right size and shape-- flat. Slowly, I opened it. He was covered in opaque plastic (garbage bags). Yowza-- he's one sexy dude. This is Brad.
Even after packing Woody with all my stuff, including the Girl Scout cookies, it took until 11:30 to get everything checked out. This is Josh and Daryl, auto restorers extraordinaire.This is me and Woody:
Well, about half an hour in, I stopped at the Gap diner for lunch. It has another name, I don't know what, but we just call it the Gap diner. Gap is a place. It is next to Paradise, Intercourse, and Bird-In-Hand. The lunch special was chicken corn soup and grilled cheese for 5 bucks. You would not believe how good the sandwich was, with puffy white bread fried in butter. The soup is the usual in these parts.
In the parking lot I had my first encounter with mutual travelers. Here are the truckers at Gap. I told them my policy is that if they take Woody's picture, they have to let me take theirs. They are going to Coco Beach after Boston.
Not too far from here is the Amazing Maize Maze. "The Original and Still the Best... Getting People Lost Since 1993". It has been an annual tradition for us, even after we got divorced. We did ride the choo choo from there to the museum and back. We didn't get off. Also, there is punkin' chunkin' (yes, should be chucking, but it's not). The kids use slingshots. I do it too. It's fun.
Delaware has the world's most important punkin' chunkin' competition. Grown men devise catapaults, cannons, and monster trucks to hurl pumpkins across a field. The world record was set in 2008: 4,483.51 feet. Spectator tickets are $9, children under 10 free. You can drink alcohol. Adds to the ambiance, sorta like NASCAR. The website counts down to the next competition. It's 276 days, 13 hours, 18 minutes, and 32 seconds until the first chunk. There are whole pages detailing the founding of the event, forums, and applications on the World Chamption Punkin Chunkin' site. Here is their anthem:
It was the end of October, the beginning of November.
The air was cold and clear and I said, Boys listen here,
I think I can make a punkin fly.
John said, Cannot. I said, Can too.
So we put that punkin in a bucket, swung around, away it flew.
John said, No fair. We said, Hell, it's in the air.
So the challenge was made and the gauntlet was laid
To build a machine to power a punkin through the air.
John said, Springs are the way to go. Bill said, I don't believe so.
It's Punkin Chunkin time again.
Come on, all you neighbors and friends.
I'll show you how to make a punkin fly ... rain, snow or blow.
Them punkins are gonna go!
Here are Alex'sPictures. I don't know Alex. She takes pictures. So do Mary, Mike, Tom and Tom G. It's a cozy group.
Anyhow, after leaving Strasbourg, I got caught in the miles of outlet malls. It was at that point that I abandoned the smaller roads. Hit the highway. Needed to pee so got off at a McDonald's exit. The place was about 3 miles from the highway, so I kept on driving on that road. I ended up going through York, another place I've gone by a million times and never gone into. Not missing much but Maple Donuts, the hoppingist donut place I've ever seen. There's a big sign in the window: Faschnaut. These are special donuts for Lent (and whenever you want them that they have them). Apparently I had hit the hotbed of Faschnauts. I wish I had stopped.
I was getting the hell out of dodge, and couldn't bear another bought of shifting on the three on the tree. Speaking of shifting, I always hated getting out of first in my midlife crisis sports car. I'd roll up to a stop, hoping either the light would turn or no one was coming. Woody is only three speed (five if you count reverse and coast), and he takes a bit of time to get to third. Third is really the only gear for driving, the rest is foreplay. You do need second, though to go up or down mountains. I found this out the hard way, with smoke billowing out from beneath the hood. Here is my fully equipped dash. Note GPS and video cam. You can't see my XM boombox, but it seems to be pretty good with my 70's on 7.
The pain in the ass two lane road had about 500 stop lights, but I was committed to my route. I seriously thought about rethinking my plan of only going on the roads that are red or gray on the map. Maybe it'll be different in the south. If I hadn't have gone that way, though, I would've missed the Mobility By Design store. It had a red leather recliner on a large plank in front of it. Cleopatra theme?
At last, I see Gettysburg. It's early (3:30), but I don't want to drive in the dark. Took a room in the nicest hotel in town, The Gettysburg Hotel. The sign says since 1797, but I can find nothing from 1797, or even 1897. 1997? I asked for the cheapest room possible. $79, but next to the elevator. It's okay because I'm a chronic insomniac and take pills for it. I spent 10 years of my marriage sleeping, sort of, on the sofa. The room has practically no light, so I am blogging from the only somewhat dim Tavern. I'm drinking a local beer that is called something like Google. I'll have to Google it.
I hadn't been to the Gettysburg Battlefield Visitor's Center since it had been redone. It's terrific and LEED certified. I was also the only one there. It was 3:30 on a January afternoon.
The cyclorama is the best part. It's this amazing 360 degree painting of Pickett's Charge. As I watched the enhanced version with narration, I was sure that it was a scrim that faded away, revealing actual figurines. It's not. It's amazing. I asked the docent about how day do dat. Apparently Paul Phillppoteax, a somewhat notable artist at the time, 1883, did four copies of this thing, each about 20 feet tall. This is the only surviving one. There is some sort of bend in the middle of the painting, his secret sauce. Apparently, this has something to do with the suspension at the top and weights at the bottom. It started out flat and was shipped from Paris. Some of the figures are of real guys, the artist included. I walked the fields with the Trail Club about 10 years ago, and the cyclorama looks just like the battle was described.
Cycloramas were the IMAXs of the day. It cost 5 or 10 cents in 1883, but you could get a season pass for $5. As movies were developed, cycloramas died.
Email to my ex-husband re phone: I think I lost it again. Had it in Strasbourg. Went to bathroom in some McDonalds. Went to bathroom in Lancaster. Got gas, went to bathroom. Went to Gettysburg Visitor's Center. Went to bathroom. I'm going to have to retrace all my bathrooms!