We spent about two-and-a-half weeks in Erie, where Ray lived the first 19 years of his life (minus his first couple of months in Montana, which he is very proud of and refers to often). We didn’t actually stay in the Cruiser for this part of the trip, but it was parked in front of Ray’s dad’s house for a bit (and then in an RV shop to replace some slide-out toppers, for a while). So, the RV was in PA, and we were in PA – we just weren’t in the RV. But, it still counts! We are putting that PA sticker on the US map on our camper door.
This was a great stop, because we got to spend time with family. The girls were able to hang out with Grandpaw! We also got to spend lots of time with Ray’s sister, Mariah, and baby cousin, Ollie! We got to catch up with Uncle GJ and have a few dinners with him while in town, too.
Aside from getting to spend time with family, Erie is a nice place (especially when it’s still pretty warm out). It was so warm the first week we were there that Rayne wondered, “Why is it so hot? Isn’t there supposed to be snow here?!” It’s coming: we just won’t be there for it!
We were there for a pretty fantastic wine festival, though. The North East, PA Wine Fest brought lots of local wineries (mostly in North East, Pa, which is actually in the Northwestern part of the state – but Northeast of Erie…) together at two parks in the area. We were able to taste from over 100 wines (we did not try them all), and we also got to enjoy shopping, as there were tons of vendors out there. The girls were a little bored and hot by the end of the day, but they had a good time for some of it.
Something the girls enjoyed a little better was the Port Farm Fall Festival, which was in Waterford, PA. This was their kind of party. No wine for us, but plenty to do for them: corn maze, playgrounds, jumping, slides, and more. They also got to do all of that with little Ollie.
Also with Ollie, they spent time at the zoo, the ExpERIEnce Children’s Museum, and Chuck E. Cheese (their fave). They got lots of baby Ollie time.
We spent some time taking in the beautiful sights in the area, too. Presque Isle and Lake Erie are gorgeous spots. We visited the Pymatuning State Park, where we went to a fish hatchery, fed some geese and ducks, saw some gigantic carp, and enjoyed nature.
It’s always hard to leave a place when family and/or friends are there. It’s easy to go to new places, check out what they have to offer, and move on down the road, when we aren’t leaving people we love! But, it’s tough when you have to say ‘goodbye.’ PA was hard to leave, and we hope to see Grandpaw and the rest of our Erie family again very soon!
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