I’m back from Peters Valley! It took over 5 hrs to drive home. It was a horrible storm and I couldn’t find anything that was open on a Monday and near the highway to stop for lunch so end up snacking on Goldfish cracker and dark chocolate M&Ms on the road.
The above was a small wooden bridge I had to pay $2 cash (unexpected!) to cross.
I know people like to say that Covid is over but really nothing is back to totally normal, especially restaurants and businesses. I don’t know if it is a staffing issue or a safety issue but so many places no matter where I am or how busy or touristy the area have very limited hours. Like only being open for breakfast and lunch or takeout only or only open Thursday-Sunday or no Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. I can see on their social media, websites and physical locations that this is a change. Or they have gone takeout only. This makes travel lot tricker than it used to be!
The plan was for Matt to have a real dinner at home I didn’t have to think about since I didn’t know what my meals away would be be like and might be takeout-ed out. He made steaks with roasted mushrooms, zucchini and potatoes. I was so hungry! No leftovers.
Last day of class! I finished three small projects which was my goal! I left a little early and went to an alpaca farm which was cute. I got some fiber to spin.
I stopped at an antiques store but there was a whole display of racist “memorabilia” and I just turned around and walked back out. Why do people think that’s okay?
I just snacked for lunch so I picked up a super early dinner. I got an assortment of appetizers. It was really good! I liked the imli baingan but I wish it had more of a description because it was very similar to the chaat I got. Both were good but samesy. I would have ordered something different. Still the best food I’ve had here so far! The worst part of take out when traveling is that I can’t keep the leftovers!
Heading home tomorrow morning. It’s supposed to rain so I might try to plan around that. My car is so dusty from the fires and the dirt road rain will be welcome! Free car wash. But it would be miserable to drive all the way home in the rain.
Wasn’t a bad night in the motel! It wasn’t noisy until I had to get up anyway. I did get a weird cramp in my leg that woke me up and still doesn’t feel 100%. I’m assuming it’s from the driving and then weaving today for hours and being dehydrated and not a deadly clot or something.
Lunch was a bust—it was included but only one option and nothing I could eat. It was too far from anything to get lunch.
After class I went to a supermarket and got some ice packs and Haribo and am going to stop and get a sandwich in a diner on my way. I think that will be okay a few hours until lunch.
For dinner I went to this Thai/Lao place and got the fried rice with the Lao sausage and tofu but it was so bland. Maybe rural NJ isn’t into flavor? The dumplings were okay.
Long day! I drove up to the Lehigh Valley in all the smoke after having a hard time getting Dottie to come in the house so I could leave. Long drive!
Lunch was at a Russian deli and so good! The smoke cleared enough that I was able to sit outside. It had great garlicky spread on the bread. Rasolnik is soup with pickles, I’ve had it before but this version had chicken and rice.
I went to a couple yarn stores and Costco to go to the bathroom (they sold tomato pie, we don’t have that!) and then one more store on really rural route to my motel. That one was super cute and I got some fiber to spin. I was excited to see it, I honestly didn’t know it was there but I had seen a picture online when I was looking for yarn shops and recognized it. It wasn’t the way I meant to go initially so it was good luck.
Then I went and picked up dinner at this little town’s Main Street. There are not a lot of options nearby but I got a good pulled pork quesadilla and coleslaw.
I knitted and finished my audiobook. Tomorrow is the first of three days of weaving classes!
Drove back from York but stopped at the arboretum to go to the Maryland Daffodil Show before heading home. Both York and the arboretum are right off 83 so it worked out! I hate missing the daffodils.
My thought had been to pick up lunch and eat it at the arboretum but I didn’t see a good place that was right off the highway and open. Matt said he’d heat up some red bag chicken for sandwiches so I texted him when I left the arboretum and he had it ready when I got home. The arboretum was super packed so I’m glad it worked out that way, I wouldn’t have had a place to sit and eat; there were school groups (?) every where including the benches and picnic tables and getting some sort of instruction. It was too warm to sit in the car and eat. Normally it’s pretty empty during the day during the week. Lots of people were there looking at the daffodils too!
Everyone was excited to see me when I got home but Lulu pulled my clothes from the trip out of the hamper and knocked over the bathroom trash can—two things she has never done in her little dog life—while I was outside with the other two dogs reading in the hammock. I think she was a little upset I went away! I hope she copes when I go away in June for another class. I think that one’s four days.
We had planned the chicken for dinner so Matt dashed out after lunch and picked up some food at Lidl. I really needed some actual food after two days of basically only having one not so balanced meal each day and some tiny snacks.
He made steelhead trout, broccoli and wild rice for dinner.
I got my third migraine in as many days and went to bed early but can’t sleep.
It was a yarn spinning class. My journey to this has been long. I had ordered a wheel before our vacation in September to take a class while on vacation but it didn’t work out. Then I took a class at a local yarn store but it was awful and they never actually let me touch the wheel. This why I finally decided to take a class over 90 minutes away and book a hotel.
The class was great. Very long (although we ended a little early) which was a little rough but better than spreading it over two days because now I’m done!
We went from preparing cleaned fleece with combs to spinning it and then spinning roving and plying it into yarn. Then we wet set it and we were done!
I sort of snacked for lunch and was so hungry when I left! I stopped at a cute market called Dottie’s which I had wished I had known about before the class because they were open at 6 am and had a huge grab and go section. I got some PA style whoopie pies and potato salad and then picked up a sub from Jersey Mike’s right near my hotel.
I had never had Jersey Mike’s before but it was good. A very earnest young man made it very carefully and told me how much he loves working there.
I did not have the energy to drive around York looking for food again. It was a very well assembled sandwich.
This is my third trip in a year! I wish more businesses and restaurants were open in York but it was nice to get away and learn something new.
I thought I’d head to York early to make a day of it and kind of wish I hadn’t. I went right to the big, aptly named, Central Market which was open but most of the stalls weren’t. I got a ham sandwich at a place that had “ham” in the name so I thought it would be really good.
It was not. I should have known when she told me I was “lucky” she had cheddar because cheddar was a pain to work with. What? It was kind of soggy. I couldn’t finish it. At least it wasn’t too expensive?
I did peek in a yarn store but didn’t find anything I wanted. It was cute though! Just mostly knitting stuff and I’m still too beginner.
It was chilly and York really is a ghost town so I didn’t walk around much. I was hoping to find a cute park to hang out in but no luck.
I drove to an all popcorn store and I got some dill pickle popcorn. The man behind the counter said it was the most popular cheese based flavor. He also told me that nearby Dillsburg has a pickle festival and drops a pickle on New Year’s Eve. Who knew?
Then I drove 20 minutes to this bakery/deli that we had gone to before and got fancy bread and cheese on our way home from Harrisburg earlier in the pandemic. Last time they had a lot of fresh made to order and grab and go options but today the woman at the counter told me they were out of food and the refrigerator case was empty. All they had was a pizza and some slices of quiche. It was still lunch time! They are open until 8 pm. I was hoping for a sandwich and something for tomorrow. So strange.
Since that was a failure, I drove to the deli I found online to get some tuna salad for tomorrow’s required bagged lunch and there was a notice on the door that they were closing early today and not serving dinner. I’m glad I stopped, the whole reason I had decided to go there was because they were open late and I could pick up food after dinner. I was just bored and went earlier.
The staff was really weird and I tried some of the tuna and it was really salty. I don’t know what else to do for food though. I can’t even find a place that has fresh food to serve me today, much less something I can refrigerate overnight for tomorrow. I hate that we have to pack a lunch.
This happened to me on my trip to Asbury Park last year too. All these places that were supposed to be open according to their own social media and Google maps would be closed or if they were open, out of food. What is going on? Update your socials! It’s not that hard.
My hotel out in the suburbs seems fine and pretty empty. I’m still glad I got a room and don’t have to drive up here tomorrow (although it’s still a 20-30 minute drive to the class) at like 6 am. Going home will be nice because it’s only about an hour back.
I hung out in the hotel for a while, then realized I lost my keys and panicked. Luckily I found them in my car. I think they must have fell out of my bag when I lifted things from the passenger side floor. I can’t lock my hatchback without them so I reached through the trunk. Yay 2004 cars with manual car locks! I did not want to call roadside assistance twice in one week.
I stopped at a couple grocery stores for something to do and got crackers and snacks for tomorrow and some cake flour I need for the book. Our local store hasn’t had it lately. I also bought a plant which is really jazzing up my hotel room. It’s supposed to be really cold tonight—not too far above freezing—so I felt like I shouldn’t leave it in the car.
I tried two different places for dinner in downtown York and they were also unexpectedly closed (???) so I ended up getting tenders and fries at the first place I saw open. They were actually really tasty and fresh! I asked the teenager taking my order what sauces were good and he hooked me up. Very pleasantly surprised. Maybe it is the universe teaching me a lesson about trying to find fancier food? Ha! I had hoped for more veggies than coleslaw but it will do. Can’t beat dinner for $13!
I noticed that very few people mask here. At home most people are still masking indoors in public places and I still see masked people walking down the street, getting off buses etc all the time. How trapped must immunocompromised people feel here? Their community has completely left them behind.
I’m a little headachy (probably because I had very little to eat today until after 8 pm) but I took my migraine meds and am planning on watching tv on my iPad and going to bed early. It has been a long day with way too much driving.
Tomorrow is going to be a long day too but hopefully a successful one!
Rachel Eats Dinner 