HISTORIC FLOODING

All Wednesday evening we were pounded with one deluge of rain after another. The sound in an RV is rather deafening with these down pours. Thursday morning we walked around the campground to see the Conestoga river. This is the field by the sewer plant, the stream isn't usually seen from here.

We didn't have water this morning and this sink hole is the cause of the problem.

The waterline had been bent so they were working to fixi it.

The baseball field is way under water.

The road to the site down along the stream. now the road is under water.

The stones from the side roads were washed out on the roads throughout the park.

All the sites along the stream are under water. The picnic tables were floating by.

Signs at the lower campground. The road is way under water.

It is amazing how swift the water is flowing. We saw lot of debris floating by. They are calling for these streams not to crest until tomorrow.

They are saying this flood could be higher then it was in 1972 from Hurricane Agnes. Our RV is on high ground so we are safe and we do have water again.

FAIRE AND FLOODING

The Renaissance Faire is only a mile south of PA Dutch campground. The E-tickets on Labor Day were buy one get one free. Our friends Sue and Jim had never gone so we all ordered our tickets on line and made plans to go together. We have been there several times, so we knew what to expect and always have a good time. Unfortunately the weather was to be rainy. Sue and Jim moved their RV to Hershey in the morning and waited until 2:00 to get a nice site in H section. Larry and I went to the fair when it opened at 11:00.

Many people get into the fair and come dressed in period costumes.

There are about 10 different stages throughout the grounds with different performances occurring throughout the day. There is a lot to see and do.

Audience participation is often a part of each show and usually full of laughs. You have to be a good sport and try not to be to embarrassed when you get "volunteered" to be part of the show.

A little axe juggling.

The queen was walking by.

We always enjoy these two crazy ladies. Looney Lucy and Ploppy. They were in the adult only stage for they get comically vulgar at their X rated show.

This group of gentlemen were the Roving Rouges. They had nice voices and there songs were very entertaining and a little suggestive. (as much of the entertainment is). It was about 2:30 and it was starting to drizzle and Sue and Jim had just gotten here.

The Mud Show is always a dirty show (in more ways then one). Ploppy poses for a picture before the show (not yet covered in mud.) Much of the show takes place in the mud pit behind her.

That is Larry's beer in her hand. The glass came back a little emptier.

It started to rain quite hard. We waited for a show but no one appeared( audience or performer) so we decided to go out to eat. We are sorry Jim and Sue didn't get to experience much of the Renaissance Faire.

It continued to rain all night and is to rain the next few days. We are getting the rain from Hurricane Lee. After the rain from Hurricane Irene last weekend there is no where for the water to go and there is a lot of flooding.
Tuesday we moved back to Circle M (in rain) and it has been raining very hard today . The Conestoga River goes around this area. There are sites along the stream, but we never saw the water this high. We have had a lot more rain this evening so these sites may be under water by now.

PROPERTIES

In August the 2nd floor tenant gave us notice that he was moving out in Sept. We put a for rent sign up on the property and had about ten calls right away. With a little screening we think we have a great new tenant who is moving in right away, so we only had a few days to do some maintenance work.

To brighten the kitchen I painted the lower cabinets white.

The bathroom tub took a little scrubbing of the shower doors and walls to make it look new again.

We had a carpet cleaner come in and clean the rugs in the bathroom , dining room and bedroom.
Now it is ready for its new tenant.

We had to co sign for Mystique to get her mortgage, but we didn't have to put in any money. She was so excited about getting this house. She had settlement on August 31.

Mystique talking to her real estate agent at the walk through.

The house has a lovely new kitchen, now she has to start cooking!

The new bathroom.

A nice fireplace in the dining room.

The garage in the back yard.

They back of her home.

The tree by the alley lost a large limb during the hurricane. The seller's insurance is taking care of taking the tree down and cleaning this up.

It just missed the neighbor's garage.

Now we have another place to stay if we come north without our RV.
(It has three bedrooms, we just need a bed).

HURRICANE IRENE

Friday evening on the way back to Hershey TT we saw the most amazing cloud formation. The sun was shining up from a hole in the clouds. It was raining hard before we got back to our RV.

Saturday we were working at our rental property and didn't know we had to evacuate from Hershey TT until our friends called and informed us. We got back to Hershey at 3:30 and were to leave by 4:00 because of Hurricane Irene. Most of the big rigs were gone and the trailers that were left had no one at them.

We were allowed to leave our rig but we were not allowed to stay. So we decided to leave the rig and go stay at Larry's sisters in Lebanon for the night.

It rained a little Saturday night and around 3 a.m. Sunday the wind really was blowing. At 8:00 the electricity went out. We went out for breakfast (had to find a place with electricity) and then we sat around in their garage for awhile.

We came back to Hershey Sunday afternoon. The entrance was blocked with downed trees, so we went in the lower entrance (knew about it from the tornado two years ago when we were parked in here). They told us the park was closed and that we had to be at our site and not walk around if we stayed for the night. They had some trees down in the park, but no damage to campers or buildings, but there was no electric. On Monday they told us we had to leave because they were not going to get electric back on for a week and they soon would have no water.

We were able to make a reservation at PA Dutch an Outdoor World park. It is nice since many of friends from Hershey are now in here. (Hershey opened on Friday at noon)

This park is close to Larry's parents home so we went and picked them up on Tuesday and had them come see our new rig and have lunch.

We are very close to Mount Gretna, a real artsy area. We met friends at the Jigger shop, a good place to eat - especially ice cream! and then we went to Philosophy Hall for reading of new short plays from the Playwrights' Alliance.( for free) The plays were very interesting and we had a fun evening. There is also a playhouse at Mt. Gretna that has good performances and is a place we really need to attend more when we are in this area.

A FASCINATING COUPLE

Jane and Billy ray turner live in Carlisle,PA and in May their property was hit with a tornado taking down 12 large oak trees in their back yard. Luckily no structures were damaged. We went up Aug. 24 to visit them and to lend a hand at chipping some of the wood.

A new experience for me. You really get vibrated holding the wood.

I better keep my gloves on.

We worked for a couple of hours and chipped up two big piles of wood. We hope it gave him a little help, but what a project!

Billy Ray loves to tinker with machines so here is his leaf collection wagon he has modified.

He started his own hydraulic business in his garage and then had this building built..

We had a tour of the building and met all of his family. His son now owns the business. Larry loved seeing all the work that was being done.

They make the lifts for all of Sam Clubs and Walmart tire centers and they also make a lot of the lifts for stages for performers like Beyonce and even Michael Jackson.

The business is expanding and now employs about 40 people and has added on another building.

We really enjoy visiting with them and seeing their business. They are really a fascinating couple.