Day 13
Tuesday
24 August 99
Washington, Pennsylvania - Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

My mother saw a wild turkey mom, with her four baby turkeys when she went running this morning.   It makes us proud to be vegetarians.   My mom said she ran up and down the [very long] driveway to the hotel 5 or 6 times this morning, and that each car that passed looked at her like she was nuts.   I can only imagine...

My mother told me that when she grew up, they had Mark's Big Boy, and she was surprised to learn it was Bob's big Boy, when she moved to Southern Cali.   I had never known that there was anything besides Bob's until we began passing all the signs for Frisch's Big Boy.   Frisch's?   Well, today we moved into the land of Elby's Big Boy.   I personally thing Bob's has the best ring to it (alliteration and all).

We headed towards the highway, and saw another sign my mother didn't approve of.   My mom is not the Busy Beaver's biggest fan.   Then we got on the highway to leave and then got off at exit 6 in Washington, Pennsylvania because we saw a sign for an antique store.   I said to turn left on main, and we drove for a long way.   We finally decided to give up, but we realized we were at last at Main.   The place was a total find!   We walked in and I pointed to the green blob at the end of the store.   I'm near sighted, and my mother is far sighted with age, so she could see the blob perfectly.   She clutched my arm and breathed, "It's the three sided nude vase!"   I walked over with her, as she silently prayed that it had no chips or cracks, and there it was, in perfect condition, and for much less than she expected to pay for it.   This vase is one of only two pieces she really "needs" for her collection (not that she hasn't bought lots of other lovelies on this trip).   I also got a fantastic beaded purse, and my mother got a full set of antique silver.   I know that I am going to get a lot of use out of this purse, becuase it delights me so.

"That's right, Hersey Chocolate is from Pennsylvania."   My mother sometimes says things out of the blue that you can tell are from an ongoing dialog in her head.   She said the factory is supposed to be fun, so we looked on the map, and saw that Hershey was just past Harrisburg, so we will probably make an excursion there tomorrow morning.   My mother is a total chocoholic, so this visit will be a real adventure.

Now that I no longer have my thesis to work on, I am back to my family tree investigations.   I got some good information off the gravestones in Oshkosh, WI, so I was able to find my greatgrandmother's Social Security number and will be sending away for several death certificates as well as a copy of her Social Security number application.   Her name was Agnes, and I knew nothing about her when I began my investigations, and I am so excited to be getting closer to discovering her information.

"Well, if you have to travel, it's not too bad in a new Bimmer."   My mom has been doing most of the driving, at her request.   She is enjoying it, and we are both a bit surprised that our journey will be over soon.   This statement comes after my mother concluded that the worst place to live would be Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.

We are staying right along the river in Harrisburg.   The view wes pleasant enough.   The place was quite lovely, and led to an evening adventure...

One of my mother's finer moments: she decided that we would walk to Rite-Aid so that she could buy some packing tape so that she could mail home the seventh package of antiques.   Fine.   So we pulled into Harrisburg, right along a beautiful river, and I convinced my mother to stay at the Days Inn because it had been given a three star rating in the AAA book.   We passed by the Jade Chinese restaurant (one block away), and had decided that we would dine there.   So my mom went to the front desk, and got directions to the Rite-Aid from the restaurant.   So I donned my walking shoes and we made our way to a vegetarian feast at Jade.   Then my mom whips out this map and begins navigating.   She said it was only a block and half away, which I found highly doubtful, and as we began walking she changed the story to two blocks.   I grabbed the map and counted: it was nine blocks.   Fine.   So I am teasing my mum about how far we are going, saying, "Do you still think this is two blocks?" and she replies "Two very long blocks."   Then we cross the railroad tracks.   We have seen so many, and I finally have a physical meaning to the expression "the wrong side of the tracks."   We are on some main thoroughfare, and there is not sidewalk, but there hasn't been one on many of the streets in Harrisburg (and certainly not one big enough for two people to walk side by side), so we don't think much of it.   Then we reach an Interstate onramp, and make the brave decision to cross it.   We must then cross two different offramps.   At this point we reach some street, and I consult the map again.   It is not on there.   I am studying it, and realize that we have miles to go (we have already walked nearly two) and that the map is not drawn to scale in the slightest.   It is pitch black, and my mother gets very worried, and although I said it would be fine if we pressed on (especially if we took a cab back), my mother decides that we must turn around.   So it is back across the onramps and offramps.   My poor mother felt as though she wasn't taking good care of me, but I told her it made for a good story to write about.

 
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