Day 17

Hello from State College, PA!

I had a great send-off from John, Muriel and David this morning and made my way north. Fiona the GPS routed me through the hills and back country giving me a wonderful view of forests and streams. Although not virgin timber, many areas had large, old hardwoods that kept the forest floor clear of undergrowth - much like our ancestors must have experienced. Along the way I met several Amish women in their buggies with highly motivated, high stepping horses. I was impressed - the horses moved along with little direction from the women who were talking up a storm, looking at each other and not the road. Maybe it is good they don't have cars. :-)

I have noticed that Pennsylvania is much rockier than Ohio which may have been some of the motivation for our farmer ancestors to move from western PA to the more verdant floodplains of the Ohio. I will have to investigate further.

Once in State College, Louise's good directions took me straight to her house. It looks much the same as I remember from my visit in the 1950s, although the trees are much larger. We spent the afternoon looking at Davenport and Tukey photos. Many were similar to those found at U of I or with Lois and Ann. But Louise had some great photos of dad as a child and of Hudson, NY. (I would add them here but am using Louise's computer - hopefully tomorrow I will upload photos.) Thanks to stories from Lois and Ann plus research I had done, we were able to label some of Louise's photos, sorting out some mysteries. Tomorrow - on to the next 10 boxes and lots of surprises, I know.

On our way to dinner Louise showed me the AAUW used book center she has created to sort, store, and price the 4,000 boxes of books they sell at the annual sale. This is a 2 day a week effort for the entire year and this year's sale netted $134,000. More impressive - this is Louise's 49th year as head of the sale. Give this lady a medal for tenacity!