What a good time we’ve had in Pennsylvania!  Our campground, situated  between Gettysburg and York,   is a working farm, complete with gardens, animals and fields of corn.  The last time we were here, Bear had a flock of turkeys following him around and fighting for his attention.  No such luck this time, but I had a great time petting the goats, they are so funny.  The farm’s garden also provided us with fresh produce available at the Trading Post.  There is nothing like fresh-picked tomatoes!  I found out that yellow tomatoes are less acid than red ones and easier on the stomach… live and learn…

2 weeks is enough to acclimate to an area, and by now, we have our favorite meat shop, hardware store and grocery store, along with a few favorite restaurants. For home-style cooking, try Yesteryears in East Berlin.  They also have the mother-of-all-breakfast-buffet on Saturday mornings.  I highly recommend their Ham and Bean soup, you won’t regret it.  Not far from East Berlin, in Abbotstown, the Hoffbrauhaus serves authentic German cuisine, one of Bear’s favorite.

Yesteryear's Ham and Beans soup, yummmmmy!

A 1700's house in East Berlin.

Of course, the fact that we are just a few minutes from the “Mecca” of all fiber shop  was not lost on me…  “The Mannings” started about 60 years ago as a weaving school,   but since Carol and Ron Woolcox bought the business in the 1980’s, they added  knitting, crochet  and spinning to the list of the shop’s offerings.

Carol Woolcox, owner of "The Mannings" and Chicken... of course...

Carol is a knitter and a crocheter at heart, although she says about weaving “there is something about throwing a shuttle back and forth and beating the threads in place that is satisfying”.  They offer and incredible array of tools, books, patterns, kits and equipment for the fiber addict.

In need of yarns? patterns? tools?... if you need it, they have it!

Just a few of their weaving looms!

The whole set-up is gorgeous, like a typical Pennsylvania farm.

The grounds even include this old-style barn, painted "Sang de boeuf"(beef blood) color.

Check out their class schedule… wow!  It does not hurt either that Carol and Ron are RVers and we ended up having a good time chatting about traveling and motorhomes.  Their dream is to retire one day and travel full-time in their motorhome. Of course I did hurt my wallet (well… bear’s wallet huhummmm) while there (it’s hard not to) and I signed up for a “Beginning weaving class” in October, so we’ll be back in this area soon.

Our day in York didn’t go so well, it turns out that parking in York is really not for the faint of heart.  Bring a lot of change for the parking meters if you come here, that’s probably your only option, they do have parking lots, but most of them are for monthly permit holders.  Since we were short on change, we did not see much of York.

We were a bit smarter when we went to Gettysburg and brought a bunch of quarters with us.  I love downtown  Gettysburg , the square offers historical buildings, museums, shops, restaurant and bistros, everything for a good time. Of course, there is a rich history here, and you can go visit the battlefields and the museums, but we did that 2 years ago, so we just enjoyed a nice day in town and a delicious meal this time.

Downtown Gettysburg

Bear getting some pointers from Abe Lincoln himself. (Bronze statue of Abraham Lincoln called "Return Visit" by J. Seward Johnson Jr.)

The Wills House. Now a museum, Abraham Lincoln slept there on November 18 and 19, 1863, the nights before his immortal Gettysburg Address.

Since I am into weaving these days… I really enjoyed finding the American Crafts shop which displayed fine examples of handweaving, lots of good stuff for inspiration!

Handwoven blankets for sale at the American Crafts Shop.

We also took time to do a bit of maintenance on the coach, and I finished a project I had been working on FOREVER!  It took me nearly a year to complete the afghan I had promised to knit for my aunt Thérèse!    Whewwww…. it was about time!

My aunt's afghan, finished and drying on a picnic table.