Sizzling Summer

And it's hot. Today not so bad as others but it still hot. I was so looking forward to yesterday because we were supposed to have thunderstorms some of them severe. I really wanted to use my new LED lantern but the storms never came and my tomatoes can use the rain. The haze is thick like someone plastered a fine coat of white all over the world and I live in the mountains. Down by Philly in Lancaster County was a lot worse.

Last Monday was my birthday. After much discussion I decided on going to eat at the Good and Plenty Restaurant. Honestly, I would have eaten at the Plain and Fancy but I got a free meal at the Good and Plenty (which saved like 20 bucks). We left after my husband got done work and slept over night at the Sleep Inn in Mountville because I had a coupon and it had an indoor pool open till 10. With traffic we didn't get there until 9:30 so we had  half hour for swimming. We threw on our swimsuits and into a heated pool. Afterwards we drove down to Lancaster and stopped at Jennie's diner. It was open 24 hours it was posted on the sign but I didn't see the sign and I asked the crazy waitress anyway. She was a little nuts and according to my husband she was going to stab out his eye with a fork because he wasn't paying attention when she brought coffee. Besides her, the food is cheap and good. Hell unlimited coffee was only $1.35 and my pancakes were huge. Our bill came to 20 bucks you can't find places like that too much anymore.

On Monday, I got a free game of mini golf from the place right next to the hotel we stayed in. We made sure to wake up early so we can enjoy more swimming and take more showers. We checked out about 10 am and played golf. It was already sweltering. I knew I should've  bought a case of water at Sam's. I brought the cooler along because we wanted Amish baked goods. By the time we left golf, I looked like I was just in the shower- with my clothes on.  We had a brief reprieve driving on 30 toward places like Bird-In-Hand and Intercourse. Our next stop was a buggy ride.

I have been to Lancaster many times. My grandmother on my dad's side has lived there forever so the Amish are always interesting but we didn't do the tourist stuff when I was growing up. I always wanted to go on a buggy ride. I chose Aaron and Jessicas at the Plain and Fancy because I had a coupon to save $2. Our driver wasn't Amish which would be okay but he didn't really talk about the Amish. In fact, he said about three things. It was nice to ride through Amish farmlands, it was quiet and beautiful. Corn stretched high into the sky. The driver's horse was plain tired but he kept tapping on her hind quarters to keep her going. It was over 90 and the sun was hot. He tried to say his horse was fine but we thought otherwise. Even the other family said about the horse being tired. I may not have lived on a farm but I know when an animal was tired. If I was a horse, I wouldn't want to be outside pulling a buggy full of people. On the ride, we didn't see any of the Amish working the fields maybe it was too hot for man and beast.  The highlight was stopping at a home and we bought homemade rootbeer and cookies.

After the buggy ride, we drove to Intercourse for Kitchen Kettle for jams and such. I really love jams and jellies.  After that we went to the Amish Village where the guide who is not Amish but actually had Amish friends growing up offered a lot of information and knew a lot of stuff. Finally it was dinner time.  Thank god for air conditioning. I am not a big fan of air conditioning but there are days where AC is heaven. Since it was Monday, it wasn't busy. We were seated with folks from New York and New Jersey. The folks from Jersey must be close to New York City because they had the accent where as the folks from New York didn't have the city accent. I felt like a stranger in my own state since most of the people at the restaurant were from another state.  We found another motel for the night that didn't have a pool but had a deal with another place up the road to use their indoor pool. After swimming, a stop at WAWA for coffee. MMMMM WAWA coffee.

It looked like it was going to storm in Lancaster, the sky grew dark and fearsome but soon the fading sun shone again. It was a great birthday adventure!

Speaking of heat, if I had a damn pool at my house, I would be in it all the time. I have three neighbors who have pools.  And no one is in it. Maybe you will see the kids in the one pool for like an hour and that is it. The rest of the time they are running the streets. Why spend money on chemicals if you aren't going to use it. I want to a pool to be in it, not for a status symbol.

Oh yeah, I just got over a 24 hour virus which made me nap all freaking day long and my tonsils swelled and I had a fever. It was just so much fun.