Where have I been?? Road trip!!

Hey all! We have been on a road trip!

We took off last week for a short road trip. Aaron, Austin and I jumped in the car early one morning around 4 am and headed out. Our plan was to go to New Jersey first. We got to go thru Washington DC. We missed our turn and got lost for a while. Being that I was so involved in the map and trying to get us going in the right direction, I did not get any pictures of the White House but the boys did get to see it. Our plan was to go right by the Pentagon but that didn't happen either. We did however see these cool houses in the downtown DC area. I love the way they are all painted a different color.
What a great way to show originality. Later as we came in to MD we came to our exit for the Harbor Freight Bridge. I had been told about the underwater tunnel bridge in MD and I was not sure if this was the one or not. As we started to go under I started to panic a little. My heart was racing, I was sweating and feeling hot. Aaron was laughing at me and kept telling me that we were not under water. Austin was rubbing the back of my neck telling me to calm down. I could see the water dripping down these tile walls. Finally I could see light at the end of the tunnel and then I was ok. We were only on it for a few minutes and this was not even the long underwater bridge that I was so worried about! Thankfully I did not need to go on that one.

As the sun was going down we reached our first destination....Six Flags NJ! This is the ride that Austin so badly wanted to ride.

King Da Ka.

This thing is just amazing to watch. It shoots you off at around 120 miles per hour then twists you to the top and back down again. This is the tallest one around. Here is my view from the top of the Ferris Wheel. That is about as brave as I get!Another coaster.There is Aaron on the end second row from the back.That is Aaron and Austin in the back left. This ride would have made me puke :(Wow, I braved the carosel! Dancing in the park with the Looney Tunes.There is also a zoo at the park and you can take a safari ride. Here is one of the tigers.After we left NJ we headed over to PA. I stopped in to visit with two of my aunts. Here I am chatting with my great aunt Margaret. I didn't get a picture of my Aunt Pat. We spent the night with her and she took us out to eat. I just love these two women!Here is a veiw from my little town. You can see the city of Harrisburg across the river. It is so pretty at night. The main reason that I have not been blogging much is because I have become a little addicted to Facebook. I have reconnected with all of the kids that I went to elementary and middle school with. I went to a small private school so our classes were very small and close knit. It has been so great to be back in touch with all of them. Some of us decided to get together for a night out since I was in the PA area. We had a blast!
It is so amazing that everyone looks just the same. Well, except for Sean's gray hair! LOL!

The next day we took a trip over to Lancaster to visit the Amish country. See the buggy crossing sign? It was raining just like the last time we went there. But we still got to see many horse and buggies. I know that the Amish do not like their pictures taken so I try to be respectful of that. This farm had a line full of laundry hanging out. It would have been a great shot except for the rain on my window :(Amish farm.More farms and houses.One of the stores.Horses everywhere.I hate that we were not able to see all the children playing outside. They are so cute in their dresses and hats.Aaron in the back seat wondering what my fascination with the Amish is. He was a little upset that I would drive more than an hour just to get some whoopie pies. Well Aaron, they are worth it! YUM! Yes they are!We ate at a place called Plain and Fancy- from farm to table. The food was so good. I got some chicken corn chowder. Austin got this huge roast beef sandwich smothered in gravy. He had fresh green beans and mashed potatoes. Aaron got a chicken sandwich. It took a very long time to get our meal and the boys were wondering if they were out back cutting off the chickens head! We picked up some special treats like these whoopie pies and shoefly pie.I also got this HUGE non-parrell. Snow caps are my favorite movie snack so I just could not resist this large version. I also got these great cookie jars. We then went to The Lollipop Shop. They had all kinds of great candy and so many varieties of gummies. We found gummy eggs......
gummy army men....... some really neat stuff.Later that day we went over to Hershey to tour the chocolate factory. No matter how many times you go it is always still just fascinating.

The story of Milton Hershey and the beginnings of his company are so neat. This man really took care of the people that worked for him and even built the town so they could all live close to the factory. I wonder what he would think now about them sending all the work out of our country? :(

When he died he gave millions of dollars to build the medical and teaching hospital. He was also involved greatly with the orphanages. (He and his wife were never able to have children).

Here are the cocoa beans coming into the factory.Then the beans get sorted.And roasted. Ahh, nice and warm in there.The chocolate gets conched. The milk gets added.Mixing the chocolate. Can I swim in that???Here are all the little kisses.Look at these giant pieces of chocolate! Yum! Molding the bars.Hershey make more product than you could imagine, including Bubble Yum.
This one is my very favorite. Gotta love those cows for giving all that good milk!
Bye bye Hershey! We are headed home. I see the Virginia mountains in the distance.

Billy was glad to see us. I think only because we brought back some Martins chips! Look at him. One empty bag beside him and already eating the next one.Oh and by the way-----GO TARHEELS!! YEAH!!!!