Fun facts

How many beans does it take to make a pound of chocolate?

How many almonds are in Hershey milk chocolate with almond bars?

Where did HB Reese start his candy company?

In what year did Hershey acquire Reese's company?

Day of tours

We began the day with a tour of America's oldest brewery. Pottsville, PA is on a hill and quite quaint. We toured tunnels where it is a constant temperature and a bit humid. This area was selected because of the spring water and ease of digging the tunnels.

We then toured Hershey!! The tour is like a ride at Disney! Great fun and learned all about chocolate.

Wednesday

oday Bettye and I attended a seminar about all our cell phones are capable of doing. We got some interesting apps and new ideas to try with the phone. We walked our ten thousand steps while looking around the vendor area.

The Atkinson Tavern is a late 18th century building moved to this historic area. We had drinks and a delicious prime rib dinner there tonight.

Entegra

Our new motorhome

Tuesday

Today Duf and I walked the entire grounds of the Big E and then we met the others for a tour of an historic 1800 village. The tour ended with a pint in the ale house.

It is Mark n Bettye's anniversary! Bettye spent the day with us while Mark got the run around all over town looking for a battery. He is now scheduled to have one put in at 7:30 AM tomorrow.

We had a huge happy hour with people we have met. We teased Mr Romance Mark because he was so frazzled by all he has been through that hordorves were the anniversary dinner!! 

Caravan to MA

Today we leave for West Springfield, Massachusetts with 7 other coaches. The first rest stop was in an hour and all was fine. The second rest stop was two hours down the road but things went wrong before we got there. The first four coaches took an exit but coach five passed the exit and coach six and us ,in coach seven, followed. We had a bad feeling when, through the rain, I saw the other coaches headed away from us! As it turned out coach 5 didn't see them exit until it was too late but we got lucky because we took the shortcut and got to the stop before they arrived. Another problem was that the Reststop was to small for all of us and as the coaches began to leave we noticed Mark and Bettye were missing. 

We remained at the stop and contacted them and they were on a harrowing adventure. They took a wrong exit and ended up in a neighborhood with low hanging trees. Neighborhoods and coaches don't mix well. They got out of the neighborhood and then they had to deal with a very low bridge they barely fit under!!! Finally they got back on the highway and to the Reststop about 45 minutes later. 

We traveled together and Peg texted me great directions for the remainder of the trip.

Once in W. Springfield they had us unhook and parked us by our group. Poor Mark, when they unhooked their car it would not start. Luckily Earl had jumper cables and got their caddy started.

Duf and I took a walk and then we sat with Mark and Bettye for a relaxing drink. Peg and Earl came and we all went to dinner.

Pictures

Horses

We checked out the horses at the barrel riding competition and found one in his compression suit! Who knew!

Later in the day we went downtown Syracuse to the Craft/Art/Food Fair. This street fair was huge and I'm sure contained anything you could want!

We stopped at a grocery store and found out they only sell alcohol in Liquor Stores.

We drive through Syracuse Medical School and saw

Rally

After breakfast today Bettye, Mark, Duffey, and I decided to explore the Finger Lakes and some of their winery's. We tasted six wines at each place and purchased some great tasting Reislings.

After the tasting we headed for Watkins Glen International Raceway. This track is in a beautiful setting on a mountaintop.

Next we took a hike at Watkins Glen State Park were there are 800 steps to the top! We walked up steps behind a waterfall, over a hanging bridge and by a pond of lily pads and then hiked down.

On our drive back to New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse we stopped at an Amish grocery store, Sauders Foods. They were making delicious  peanut butter and butter. We purchased both of them and some sausage. They were also making Moonpies and we purchased one per couple! Delicious!!

We got back just in time for a fantastic dinner and a bit of entertainment.

MI Rally

Today was the volunteer breakfast at 7 am, but we slept through it. We ate at home and then took a trip to Costco and Walmart with Mark and Bettye. This Costco was great because it was not busy! The four of us hung out all day and went to the tv and aqua hot seminars and then  to the coach preview and picnic. It was a very nice night and we sat outside with a group and talked for a few hours. It's a small world with one couple from Canada having a place right down the block in FL from Peg and Earl.