493 miles to New York City

That's right, when you enter Pennsylvania on I-80 from Akron, the highway signs say 493 miles to New York City. No mention of any cities in Pennsylvania... We thought it was odd, until we realized the only cities of note in Pennsylvania are Philly, Pittsburgh, and
arrisburg, none of which lie on our chosen path. So, to the middle of nowhere we headed. 

Side note - We saw this sign and thought of Erin and Kristen!

Side note 2 - We saw this sign and wondered how the heck to pronounce it. Any native Ohioans think they could spell it phonetically for us in a comment? Gee thanks!

On the way to PA, we listened to The Invention of Hugo Cabret, because Finn says it's a better book than movie. The audio recording was interesting because there were sound effects every so often, like Hugo running through the streets of Paris, or trains coming into the station. Other than that, neither of us felt the book had any significant differences. Anyone else who has read the book and seen the movie care to share their opinion?

Pennsylvania was awesome. We got into Lykens ridiculously earlier than planned, because the GPS loves detours and when I make driving mistakes. It shaves minutes upon minutes off the ETA. No complaints here. We had some delicious lasagna and garlic bread for dinner (Thanks Judy!) and then got to celebrate Kate's mom's birthday with her :). We had raisin cake for dessert. Ashley and both really enjoyed it, but Dianne, Judy and Linda all said it is MUCH better when made with puffed seeded raisins. I'm not sure about all that, but it was the topic of much discussion.

Oh, Kate and Mike were there too. We sat around the fire in the backyard for a while after dinner, just chilling and chatting. I missed the Knorrs!!! Kate and Mike have been married a year, which means it has been a whole year since I have seen her family and been to the PA house. In college, it was never more than 2 months! We heard some odd noises outside, which Mike decided was a chupacabre. I don't think I spelled that right at all, but that is okay because it doesn't really exist. It lives in the land of the Loch Ness Monster, Sasquatch, and Chimera. Watching the History Channel show about it to describe its bloodsucking violent tendencies did not help me walk outside by myself in the dark though.

It is bedtime, up early to eat some baked oatmeal (It is exactly what is sounds like, oatmal that is baked!) and get on our way to New Jersey to pick up Carol and say a quick hello to David :). Don't worry, we didn't add a location, we are stopping by his camp to get Carol and heading straight to NYC to spend 4 days with Elizabeth in the city. That's right, 3 Hawkins in 1 day! Woohoo!

Goodnight to all, from Elderberry Hollow Farm in Lykens, PA.

 ~Ali