I’ve not even moved to my final destination in the southwest yet & I’ve got friends from Alaska already making a point to visit. Having the full luxury of retirement at his disposal, and needing to spend some time in PA anyways, I convinced Ray to meet me at my parents house in southwestern Pennsylvania.

We immediately hit the road for photo opps at some of my favorite local places.

It also just happened to be Ray’s birthday, so my mom whipped up a birthday cake for the occasion & a special dinner (that may or may not have coincidentally been my favorite meal).

After dinner, and with daylight quickly fading, we hurriedly picked up my brother and headed off to Mt. Davis – the tallest point in Pennsylvania. We arrived in the parking lot to find a man with the hood of his car popped scratching his head. My brother, knowing a bit about cars himself, stopped to help the guy out while Ray & I wandered off to snag a few quick photos and pick up a couple nearby geocaches. When we returned to the parking lot my brother was loading stuff from the stranded car into his. Turns out, it was going to need a tow back to New Jersey so my brother was kind enough to open his home up to a total stranger and his traveling companion: a full grown mastiff. (We grew up in a very small town in a more remote part of the state – getting a hotel for the guy wasn’t an option and getting him to one would mean driving a few hours round trip for us). This brought back strong memories to a time when I was stranded in the middle of nowhere Canada and a strangers kindness saved me from disaster. Or at least further disaster. So I wanted to take a paragraph and humble brag about my brother & him proving that there are still good people out there in the world. Also, what are the odds that there would be two serial killers in one car?

Before Ray left on Sunday afternoon we biked a 15+ mile section of the Allegheny Passage in order to eat some ice cream cones and not feel quite as bad about it. Worth it. Thanks for stopping by Raymonzelle!  I look forward to adventuring with you again in the south west!