The RV and I headed north to Pennsylvania after the boat show. It was time to relax and rest after the full activities of "Boat Show!" My first order of business was to catch up with my granddaughter and her parents, Paul and Kelsey Murphy.
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| Avery and family join me for Sunday dinner |
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| Avery tells me she is going to be a big sister! |
The big news is that Avery is going to be a big sister to a new sibling joining the family in May 2018! I really enjoyed the time spent with Kelsey, Paul and Avery and now I'm excited and looking forward to their new addition.
Autumn in western PA is a grand time, especially outdoors with the leaves changing colors. Here are some photos from a hike at McConnell's Mill State Park.
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| A huge rock hangs above Slippery Rock Creek as Margy looks on |
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| Looking south along the Slippery Rock below the covered bridge |
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| Looking back at the bridge from the same spot as above |
The Rose Point Park Campground was home for much of my PA visit. It is an older campground and they tell me they even have sites open and available through the winter!
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| Rose Point Park Campsite |
The campground borders on Slippery Rock Creek and a canyon-like run that empties into Slippery Rock Creek. I enjoyed a wonderful hike through the run and took a few pics.
I enjoyed many evenings with family and friends, so western PA provided the R & R I was looking for. Of course, just as with boats, full-time cruising with an RV is lots of maintenance and repairs in exotic (and not-so-exotic) places. While in western PA I got several maintenance, tires and systems projects completed, including a new water heater that can run on both propane and electricity. The old one only used propane, even when plugged into shore power, so when it failed, it seemed a good idea to replace with an upgrade.
The next stop was visiting the "Columbus Murphy's." We had a very nice time watching football games on TV and engaging my brother John and his three kids in various conversations. As nephew Patrick is graduating early from college in December, he and I enjoyed a good talk about the job market for new grads.
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| Patrick and John enjoying an Ohio State game |
As my fellow classmates and fraternity brothers know, the most important football game every season is the "Oldest College Football Rivalry West of the Allegheny Mountains,"
Wabash vs DePauw. This segment of my trip enabled me to catch up with several longtime friends that I've only rarely spent time with since graduation, so this was very special to see everyone again.
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| Randy Allen and I enjoy a coffee at the venerable Scarlet Inn |
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| Roger Wilson, Bill Hill, CaptMurph, and Randy Allen enjoying the wrestling match. Pic by Rosann WIlson |
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| Wabash College wrestling team WINS! |
This year's big football game was hosted by DePauw at their Blackstock Stadium in Greencastle, IN. Bill, Roger and Rosann have considerable experience hosting the Wabash football tailgate parties and this year's
Monon Bell Game was no exception.
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| Rosann Wilson prepared terrific food for tailgating! |
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| Roger, Randy and Murph |
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| Roger, Rosann and Bill enjoying the tailgate party. Selfie by Bill Hill |
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| Wabash Wins come-from-behind-victory, 22-21! Murph, Roger and Randy |
The next morning, the RV took me west towards Colorado and my older son, Allen IV.
