Selinsgrove PA

October 28, 2009

Day One of the Adventure ended in Selinsgrove PA at my friends' Dave and Joanne Wilson's home.  The drive from Monterey to Selinsgrove was Very Stormy.  Little visiblity and much anxiety.  All part of the adventure, I reminded myself.  Along the way I fell hard for NPR, which I get on satellite radio.  What a great way to pass the time!

As the pix above shows, Dave and Joanne and I were joined by our friend John Mathias for dinner at Elizabeth's, a long-time favorite restaurant in Lewisburg.  John's wife Sue was out in Seattle babysitting 4-year old Bobby and 18-month old Margaret.  We missed her.

Joanne and Dave have been members of the Susquehanna Valley Chorale and Orchestra for the last six-seven years.  Their latest appearace was October 9 when they performed in the premier of "A Monument to Memory,"music based on stories of Alzheimer's victims and their families.  The Wilsons said the first time the chorale went through the piece, everyone broke down in tears.  I wish I'd heard it.

John Mathias, a longtime entrepreneur and do-gooder in Lewisburg, is now one of three Union County (PA) commissioners, a job he's enjoying enormously.  It was a lot of fun to hear him so energized about local government and business.

Dinner at Elizabeth's was even better than I remembered from years past.  The miso glazed scallops over potatoes mashed with edamame beans was thrilling.  The portions were so large that we all skipped dessert, a rarity in my dining experience.

The bad news--that damned GPS doesn't work. 

Another farewell party

Leaving town isn't so difficult when you're lucky enough to have friends who hold good-bye parties for you.  Tonight my friends Amy Rudnick and Ben Hillman had me and a few others over for a tastilicious Moroccan chicken dinner.  Robin's delish shrimp appetizer, my parsnip puree with sauteed Brussells sprouts, and BZ's intensely intense flourless chocolate cake all contributed to a tasty evening.  Hostess Amy and guest Jonathan are smiling at the thought of all that good food.  But I think some friends are saying "Enough already.  Be gone."  Well, okay.  Tata

P.S.  My friend Steven Haas spent many hours programming my computer with the latest Garmin maps so I could download them onto the Garmin for my car.  And then I spent many hours on Sunday creating "waypoints" so I could easily get maps from here to there, wherever I was. 

Yesterday, though, when I took the Garmin to the car, it was stuck in Waukegan Illinois, and nothing I could do would let me out of there. Much gnashing of teeth.  But this morning--very very early--Steven came over to see what the problem was.  Diagnosis:  dead battery.  Hmm.  Silly me. 

A Farewell Party

My friends Alice and George Wislocki hosted a lovely farewell dinner for me on Friday night.  They go away every January for six weeks of tramping in New Zealand, so they know full well how exciting but sometimes intimidating it is to leave home for weeks on end.  As always, I had a lovely time chez Wislocki, and Alice cooked a delicious meal, highlighted by chicken with dumplings.  Photo credits go to Jonathan Hankin.