When I was a kid, all of our vacations required traveling by car, er van (that's what it takes when you have a big family). Preparing for a trip didn't just mean getting packed and putting the house in order ('I don't want to come home to a messy house and sink full of dishes') - it also meant getting the vehicle prepared as well.

So early this week, I had the oil changed and a minor repair made to my 2-piece front bumper.  Every day this week that I drove the car (which was a lot for me since I work from home) I made sure to clean something out of the car.  Today I treated myself to the 'elite' services at the local car wash (vacuuming, waxing, etc.) and that means my girl is ready to help me hit the road on another adventure!

I'd like to say it is for fun, but like most of my trips - it is for work and hey, I do prefer to drive over flying, so I'm kinda looking forward to this jaunt despite the fact that Nick won't be along this time - he has been on every one of the work trips over the last year and it won't be the same without him!  However, I'll have a co-worker & friend with me who, besides being a multi-time road trip companion, also just happens to be a professional photographer, so I may actually get some awesome photos to post here for a change!  (keeping the fingers crossed!).

I have thought about making the traditional road mix, but she and I usually end up talking so much that we never really get to listen to the mix so and I have Kara Cooney's new book about Hatshepsut on my audible, so..... anyway, I have a few hours to think about it!

Anyway - Nick - the posts on this trip are dedicated to you!  We will miss your looking out for us, the conversations we have while you smoke cigars in front of the hotel, the laughter & hard work and the kind little things you did to help us feel not so far away from home while traveling for work.  Thank you for everything!

    My parents live in western Berks County, almost into Lebanon County. It is 75 miles from my house to their house which can take anywhere from an hour and a half to two hours depending...so I love to leave early in the morning to drive there - its all about the open road, a definite decrease in bad drivers and this feeling of peacefulness I find driving early in the morning.
    So I left about 6:00am and my first stop was in King of Prussia at a local WaWa for coffee and a toasted bagel and then it was the Pennsylvania Turnpike West! The Turnpike is lovely early in the morning - many days you can see deer frolicking along the verge and further out, horses and cows grazing in fields and meadows of the farms that become more frequent then housing developments.  My first turn is at Morgantown, where I take 176 north towards Reading - but I don't go all the way because I just can't stand driving through Reading (and when you don't like driving on a particular road or through a particular area, it doesn't make for a great road trip); from there I weave through beautiful Berks county and pretty little towns like Shillington. Then its 422 and on to Womelsdorf!  
    Usually when I visit my folks, I like to go with my dad to Horning's Market in Bethel, and as I mentioned in my last post - Hornings needs a post of its own! This time, I needed to hit the market before getting to the farm, so I headed to Bethel first and was in line waiting when the store opened. I got my shopping done and headed back to Windy Knolls (my parent's place).  The girls helped my dad fill the bird feeders (dad has a special garden for the birds, bees & butterflies). I printed the directions to the park from the internet and then we packed the cars and headed out for Knoebels!

Side note: my family might argue that my parent's place isn't a farm - but to me - any place with a house, several acres, a barn with a working farm tractor, and plots of growing things (say a garden) makes it a farm. Thus - my use of farm to describe Windy Knolls.

    Now, I had been listening to my mix all the way up to the farm but I really began to appreciate it on the drive to the park.  It was a beautiful day - sun shining, breeze blowing - perfect for a road trip!  And my mix was PERFECT!! 
    My dad was leading and it was great to just follow and not have to navigate or fuss with directions. It was just over 50 miles from the farm to the park and many mountains to cross, so we had some fun driving to do. Now while the mountains may not be as high as the Rockies we crossed on a family trip when I was a kid, they are still high enough to make your ears pop!

    In a little over an hour and a half, we arrived at the park and I have to admit I was shocked at the huge number of acres filled with parked cars!! But the first awesome thing about Knoebels is that you don't pay to park. Not a penny.  There are also stations set up through the parking area and a regularly scheduled tram drives through the parking lot to take people to the park entrance (no cost for that either!).
    As soon as we got to the park entrance, my dad found a ticket booth and purchased tickets for the rides - see, there isn't a fee to get into the park - you just pay for rides and concessions, gift shops, etc.  My dad had a great time going on some of the rides with my nieces (the root cause of this great adventure).  It didn't take us too long to meet up with some of my other siblings and their families who met us there to enjoy the day.  The adults took turns taking the kids to various rides and all my nieces and nephews in attendance had a great time.

    Other tidbits about Knoebels that I found impressive:
    $2 for a 20oz bottle of water
    $3 for a cheeseburger (a DELICIOUS cheeseburger I might add)
    Didn't catch the price for fries, but I had some of my brother David's and 
    they were also delicious!
    CLEAN! The park was really clean!
    Lots of places to sit both in the shade and in the bright sun
    Everyone was treated with respect - be it adults, children, people with 
    disabilities, etc.
    The lines at the rides moved incredibly fast - no agonizing waits
    Dogs on leashes are allowed in the park, but their owners are responsible for 
    cleaning up after them at all times!

    We spent hours in the park and when it was time to go home, we had a pack of exhausted and soaking wet children so again, that tram to the parking lot came in supper handy! 
    The only drawback I could mention about the park is its location - which is way out in the middle of somewhere Pennsylvania (actually between Danville and Bloomsburg) so for folks closer to the Philadelphia area, it will take quite a long time to get there but I cannot stress enough how worthwhile experience it was - for everyone of all ages.  The clincher? I am not fond of amusement parks - but I am very glad I went along on this adventure and I can definitely say I would visit this park again (only this time I want some of that delicious ice cream I saw people eating along with my cheeseburger!)!!

Do yourself a favor and make this road trip and have a great time for yourself!  
http://www.knoebels.com/

Music has always been a huge part of my life.  We didn't really have a television growing up but either at home, at my grandmother's and even when we were at the barn doing farm work, music was always playing.

To give you a picture of the impact on music in my life and the diversity, know that my special ringtone for my dad is The Bristol Stomp and for my mom it is the William Tell Overture.  I dated a drummer in a punk band and later a guitarist and one of my brothers is a drum corps instructor.  I've taken belly dance classes and loved going to clubs of all kinds.  So you can see, my mental musical file is rather full of all sorts of juicy bits.

Bearing all this in mind, you can see how important it is for me to have just the right music for a particular road trip and since I have no ipod doc in my car and since I cannot haul around every cd I own (or my laptop for that matter), I often make a special mix to bring along because one can more easily sit in traffic if there is a good song playing.

Back in March of this year, some of my closest friends got together to celebrate 4 birthdays in the group that are close together.  Much driving was about to ensue so the perfect mix was a requirement.  We like a wide range of music styles so this mix was going to be tricky to meet the tastes of the group.  I was pretty pleased with the end result - leave a comment and tell me what you think!

Big Birthday Weekend Mix 2013
1. Fast and Beautiful by Dope Stars
2. When You Sleep by My Bloody Valentine
3. All The Things She Said - by t.A.T.u
4. I Remember by Deadmau5 & Kaskade
5. Walk Into the Sun by Dirty Vegas
6. 6 Underground by Sneaker Pimps
7. Bitter Sweet Symphony by The Verve
8. Son's Gonna Rise by Citizen Cope
9. Extraordinary by Liz Phair
10. Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy) by Big & Rich
11. Feva for the Flava by Hot Action Cop
12. Bring the Noise by Public Enemy & Anthrax
13. Blow me One Last Kiss by Pink

PS - the numbers on the cake should read 118 - which is the total combined ages of those having the birthdays! That cake was pretty tasty!