Yesterday and Today

Monday was gray and cold, but we had a mission. Bob needed a couple of batteries for his drill in Doylestown, PA. That’s the only place he could replace them as they were under warranty. But the best part was that the Mercer Museum right there and Bob suggested we see it. Henry C. Mercer was a lawyer, but never practiced law because he believed that the story of human progress and accomplishments should be told by the tools and objects they used, so started a museum. The collection was fabulous, but the real treasure was the museum itself. I wish I had my camera to be able to take some photos of the outside and inside. Hanging in the center of the great hall were boats, huge machines, carriages, conestoga wagons, cradles, a well draw made from two great tree trunks stretching 30 feet high and 25 feet long and all kinds of old stuff. There were six floors, with cubbyholes, tiny dormers and balconies, curved steps up to the very top turret. The whole museum is made of 6500 tons of cement, yet by 1916 at completion, it cost $38,944.99. Awesome!
We stopped in Stockton for lunch at Meil’s, the place I mentioned we ate with my other brother, Kirk and my niece, Jennifer, crossing into NJ over the Center Bridge. We won’t be driving Bella over this bridge. Here are some shots from the city triangle. I made my delicious Mexican Chocolate Chile for dinner. It’s, believe it or not, a Weight Watchers recipe, and dark chocolate smooths the heat. I have three of their ‘magazine’ cookbooks, and love every recipe in them. And two books are 15 minutes cooking time and five ingredients; not fancy ingredients, either. Go ahead, save a calorie or two. They’re in drug stores as well as Borders. We are still recuperating from last week so we hit the hay around 10 pm after watching Addams Family TV series DVDs. You understand, I’m sure.
Today it dawned bright and warm planning to be in the 80’s. Yahoo! Bob will start work again on Thursday, so today was road trip day to Trenton. We wanted to grease the coach underneath and see if we could attach an air hose to the airtank under the chassis. That meant that Bella had to be raised up high enough for Bob to fit. I was in charge of the hydraulic jacks on Bella, and Bob and Gary managed the stable jacks under her chassis. As you can see, I was not a happy camper with her in this position. The greasing took 10 minutes, and then Bob opened the hood and found an outlet for an airhose right there. Whew. We let her down, stabilized her, leveled her and put her slides back out. Happy camper once again. We drove to Trenton making a couple stops along the way to get decal remover, fuel additive, tire valve covers and another antenna that hopefully will fit. We also need to carry around a fuel filter and wrench just in case. In case of what, I can’t remember. In my opinion, it’s extra weight and a space user, but hey, it’s a guy thing. Bob got what he needed and we headed home. I grabbed my camera and headed down the road to the mill stream for which his road is named A few deer were grazing in the field, and this dead snake must have just been hit. This yellow house overlooks the stream and there is a single lane bridge over it. We won't be going over this bridge either. . Wild strawberries grow along the road, and this ‘quaint little cottage’ is for sale. Anyone? Anyone? Here’s to another gorgeous day in the life.