The reality of life on the road

Consort and I left Maine earlier this week.  Our travels have brought us to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.  The locals say you pronounce Wilkes-Barre one of two ways, either as a fruit or an animal:  Wilkes-BEAR or Wilkes-BERRY.  There's nothing more definitive in the way of pronunciation except that you never pronounce it Wilkes-BAR.  Fascinating piece of information, eh?

Our travel itinerary included a two-day stopover in Wilkes-Barre to see a list of different things, including an abandoned concrete city and the ornate décor of the Luzerne County Courthouse.  However, as we were pulling into Wilkes-Barre, the truck decided to do a shimmy-and-a-hop as it was going down the road.  Consort and I really weren't sure what was going on, and in my mind, I was certain we were losing our brakes -- as if I know, I am completely ignorant of all things automotive, but my mind always goes to the worst case scenario.

Luckily, we were less than six miles from our destination.  We cautiously exited the highway and headed over to a vacant Kmart parking lot we spied from the highway.  After pulling in and setting up, consort immediately got on the phone to make an appointment to get the truck checked out.  With the first phone call, he hit pay dirt:  A shop that could check the truck for problems and issues first thing the next morning.  

After a thorough examination by mechanics this morning, it seems we are in need of shocks, a hub, and ball joints -- at least that's my understanding of it.  Unfortunately, the body shop that diagnosed the problem was not able to repair the truck.  Consort got back on the phone and, after about a dozen phone calls, located a mechanic who was confident he had the necessary parts and could repair the truck today.

Living on the road, we sometimes lose track of days.  It was only after making five or six calls that consort and I woke up to the fact that it is the Friday before Labor Day.  Think about how impossible it would be to get your vehicle into a mechanic on the Friday before a long weekend and the greater impossibility of getting your vehicle back on the same day.  We think the problem is resolved.  I am sitting at the kitchen table in the trailer with the wee mangy mongrels; consort is at the body shop.  Fingers crossed.  *Update:  The truck is repaired! We're back on the road in the morning!

In the meantime, I thought you would enjoy the sights of our current location.  The pictures at the top of the blog showcase the empty parking lot of the defunct Kmart where we are parked.  Kmart is situated in a strip mall.  At the other end of the strip mall, there is a smoke shop and liquor store.




Back behind the Kmart store is a combo adult bookstore and movie theatre.

In front of the trailer and off to the left, in the same parking lot, there is major construction going on.

In the past three months, each morning consort and I have awakened to the sounds of babbling brooks and chirruping birds, waves crashing on the shoreline and the cries of seagulls.  That was not the case this morning.  Today's morning sounds consisted of rows of dump-trucks unloading, jackhammers breaking up concrete, and heavy-duty Caterpillar bucket shovels dropping to the ground and digging up the crushed pavement.

During our travels, it has become habit for me to look for the silver lining in whatever cloud happens to be hanging over our heads creating less than pleasant circumstances.  The silver lining in our less than favorable boondock site?  Mom & Pop's Pierogie is right across the street.

The word "pierogi" is plural for the Polish word "pierog," pronounced pye-ROOG.  Pierogi are said to be the most recognizable Polish food in America.  They are half-circular dumplings usually made from noodle flour dough, but can also be made from pastry dough.  Pierogi are stuffed in a similar fashion to many other types of dumplings, for example, Italian ravioli.  The most common base filling for the pierogi is potato.  After the potato, all manner of things can be added:  cheese, bacon, jalapenos; they even had pizza pierogi.

While I have been home waiting on consort to return, I decided to make the most of my time.  I walked across the parking lot to go shopping at Mom & Pop's.  The picture above is of the father-daughter team that runs the shop, really nice people.  I purchased pierogi, pasties, and kielbasa that are ready to be cooked, and four different types of already cooked pierogi.  You can boil, bake, or deep fry both the pierogi and pasties.  The four pierogi I purchased that had already been cooked had been boiled, and they were wonderful.  If you click on the link above, you'll find the homepage for their miscellaneous menus.  I could not begin to list all the deliciousness available for sale in the shop or the delectable scents emanating from the kitchen.  They will ship their delicacies anywhere within the US, so check out the menu and place your order.  You can thank me later.

Last notes and pics.

These cookies remind me of the beautiful pressed cookies
my friend J made for special events at our church

A shop in Bar Harbor with more colored glass in one place than I've
ever seen before.  These days I am satisfied with simply seeing and not owning.

Before we left Portland, nearly three weeks ago, I
stopped in a hair salon and asked for a trim.
This is what it looked like when I left.

In the Native American culture, cutting one's hair can symbolize separation from a life which is over and gone with the new hair growth representing the beginning of life after the separation.  Apparently, the stylist was determined that I should separate from my old life once and for all.

In my opinion, my haircut is very similar to that of Beaker, the shy, long-suffering assistant to Dr. Bunsen Honeydew of The Muppets.