On Saturday, our longtime friends Madonna and Jim made a 2.5 hr. drive up from Rockville, MD to visit with us. We rarely get to see them, but they try to come here when we are in town to catch up on things and for Madonna to do some shopping in the area. I'm sure Jim was tired, as he just got back from NC after moving his 97 yr. old mother into an Assisted Living facility. That's a major undertaking right there.
Madonna and I met in the 1980s-1990s when we both worked for Salick Health Care. I was in West Palm Beach at the Comprehensive Cancer Center at JFK, first as a Certified Medical Dosimetrist and then as the Admirative Director of the Cancer Center. Madonna lived in Miami and was the Chief Dietician for Salick Health Care, South Florida Division. She over saw the other Dieticians at the various Salick Cancer Centers and would come to ours to meet with our Dietician Lesley). We met and discovered that we both liked to knit, and I think were the only ones we knew that liked to knit and we have had a lifelong friendship ever since. We have gone to knitting conventions together and I have visited her in Rockville. She retired from Health care after she and Jim moved to PA and then to MD. Jim works for the US Dept of Education in as an IT Specialist and since they have no children, they travel often. It's always fun to catch up on what they are doing and where they are going next. They just got home from Scotland where they took a trip on the Royal Scotsman Train. Next, they will be going to an Estate outside London for a wedding. Madonna has always been very active since she moved to Rockville. She was a docent at Washington Cathedral, at the Library of Congress, a volunteer at the White House (during Obama and Trump Administrations) and now volunteers with the Smithsonian. She stays plenty busy.
She came up to visit and we visited in the motorhome for a while. I put the cats away in the bedroom because Madonna is allergic and at least 2 of ours would be all over her. Then we went to lunch at the New Holland Family Restaurant. I can't believe I didn't get a bunch of pictures of our day. The lunch was good, and their menu was huge. It was definitely a local restaurant and away from the tourist area. We had a great time catching up. Next, we went to Burkholder fabric in Denver, PA. It's a great fabric shop and we both bought something there. After that we headed for Zincks Outlet. I had discovered it the other day and wanted to bring Madonna there, since I didn't think she knew about it. She was absolutely blown away. She bought several fabrics for some charity bears she will be making. The prices there were incredible and there was room after room after room of all kinds of fabrics.
After that we went back to the campground and said our goodbyes.
What a wonderful time. They both love this area too.
Sunday was a quiet day in New Holland. The stores and restaurants are closed here and in the surrounding Amish communities. We had a nice breakfast that David cooked on the Blackstone.
We sat outside with Bentley since the weather was perfect and enjoyed the day. There were squirrels and chipmunks to entertain us.
We also went to the laundry room and did some laundry. At 5pm we decided to go to Ronks for dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse. That area has an outlet mail and chain restaurants and those are always open on Sunday due to the tourists over there.
Sunday is the day the Amish go to church. They don't have a church building, but each family takes turns hosting church at their house. They also spend the day socializing with each other. There were tons of buggies on the road today. We passed several areas where you could see groups of Amish in the yards having their get together or playing ball. Also, couples of teenagers on buggy rides together courting.
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