I think if we were Americans we might decide to live in Pennsylvania. (And if we were at this time I might move to Canada….) It has for us, some of the most interesting places in the country and the rolling hills, lush fields, large forests, and rushing rivers make it such a pleasant place to be in. The east highlights the lives and farms of the Amish and the east has been home to the great coal industry and many of those towns and cities are now suffering from the lack of business in that industry.

When we are in the east we have tried to spend some time in Pennsylvania. This year we decided we would pause around Grove City, about an hour south of Erie. Nearby is Volant PA which was at one time a mill town, that is at the bottom of the main street flows a creek which powered a mill with the typical wooden wheel. The mill is of course no longer working but the building is a lovely store, still displaying its original working parts.

We were here before the pandemic and we wondered how this small village had faired, and it is clear not every business survived that economic tsunami for some were gone. We did stop and we bought a few small items before heading on and the rain encouraged us to get away from a spot that required walking between properties!

I have to say, each day in our travels we were looking for a great place to have supper – a kind of “comfort meal” kind of experience! We had steak, butter chicken, Italian and this night we had a fabulous Mexican meal! Yes Mexican – not TexMex.

Is there anything better than enchiladas? The rice, the refried beans…mmmm… I’m getting hungry just describing it! Sorry, no pictures of that great meal.

Wendy has been watching Gloria Horn’s You Tube channel. Gloria Horn is one of the top ten vendors that sell Baby Lock machines and they have a strong sales department and ship out hundreds of packages a day. All this to say when Wendy suggested that we weren’t far from her sewing studio, we decided to make a quick trip to Pittsburg to see this remarkable little shop.

Have you been to Pittsburgh? Wow… St. John’s NL has nothing on this city of hills, rivers and twisty roads. We found ourselves driving through downtown and passed by the home of the Pittsburgh Pirates! Sorry no picture, we were trying to find the next turn.

And then we arrived at…well, an old house. Really?! Turns out there is a second building on the same street, but at first we were rather surprised to see such a small location for this business.

Meanwhile back at home… our place was being looked after by Philip and Amanda, watering the garden and our plants. Now if you know these two, there is usually a picture or two sent our way to assure us that they are looking after things!

Those kids!!!!!!!!

And if you are in Pennsylvania, or many other parts of the USA you need to stop in at Love’s. Need a snack, a drink (of almost any kind hot or cold), or headphones, chicken, hot dogs, gloves, hats, coats or the occasional stuffed raccoon, well this is your place! And they now have spaces to park your RV with full hook-ups! You wouldn’t want to camp here but a quick overnight or tank emptying exercise might be very welcomed in some parts of the country.

We stopped at many of these places…over 9000 km. Oh, glad you asked. We paid anywhere from $3.65 to $3.15 for a gallon of gas, that’s 3.5 litres for a US gallon or somewhere between 87 cents to $1.04 per litre. And add to that we averaged 29 miles per gallon or 8.2 litres per 100 kilometers and that is a really good cost! Our 3.8 l 280 hp Toyota engine linked to a 9 speed electronic transmission is a wonderful combination.

Whatever you’re doing this summer, I hope it is as good as our small adventure.