World United States Pennsylvania State College

RVING WITH SUE, JOHN, ARNIE AND ANNIE Summer 2006 - Atlantic Coast to Newfoundland

Alexandria, PA Sep 27, 2006

My dad was born and raised in Alexandria. This is the first time that we have been back in about 40 years and we are really enjoying it. It has been fun to reacquaint myself with this delightful town that I visited often with my family in the 1950s.

Aunt Shirley, my dad's youngest sibling, her husband, Allen, and their two sons, Doug and Denny are all here (photo). We also had a chance to spend time with Denny's wife, Elaine and my dad's brother Austin, who we always called, "Uncle June" for "junior".

We parked the See Ya in the front yard of Shirley and Allen's manufactured home overlooking farmlands with mountains in the distance. I had not observed or perhaps forgot how beautiful the countryside is in this part of the country. All of us went a couple of valleys to the east to visit the Amish country of Big Valley and have dinner in Allensville, PA.

Although Shirley, Allen and Doug left on Sunday morning for an extended visit to Kansas City, we had a great time visiting with Denny, Elaine and June during the rest of our stay. In fact we had such a good time that we extended our stay several days beyond our planned departure.

On Tuesday, Sue and I drove to State College for a visit to Penn State where I graduated over forty years ago. From there we drove north of the nearby town of Phillipsburg to a small town called Winburne. This is the town where Sue's mother was raised and where Sue had visited her grandmother's home fifty years ago. When we arrived in Winburne, we called Sue's sister, Helen, for help in locating the house. Although much had changed, and despite a couple of missteps, we finally located the home (photo). As an added bonus Sue went to the door, knocked, and found her Uncle Francie (photo), her mother's youngest sibling. It was a nostalgic and fun day.

On Wednesday Uncle June took us on a tour Raystown Dam (photo) and Raystown Lake (photo). According to two other travelers, we were just a few seconds too late at the lake overview and missed seeing a bald eagle fly by at close range. The lake is near Huntingdon, PA about 15 miles from Alexandria. The hills in this part of Pennsylvania provide one beautiful valley after another. It's been a great time in central PA!

We are leaving tomorrow and plan to move east to Hershey Pennsylvania for a chocolate experience!