Day 007 – Mt. Joy, PA to Otter Creek Campground, PA

I’ve decided to take it easy on the miles today to get a chance to catch up on my video editing. So only did 28 miles, but with 2000 feet of elevation gain.  The hill leading into Otter Creek was a 9% grade – downhill 🙂 !! Straight into camp it was all about setting up camp, taking a shower and getting my laundry done. I only brought a bottle of Dr. Bronner’s soap (peppermint), but it’s good for just about everything – so far used it for showering, shaving and doing the laundry. I’ll find out if I used too much once I put on my underwear and start tingling a little too much down there.

As I was getting ready to lay down for a nap my neighbor – Joe came over and introduced himself and asked if I wanted a beer or some coffee – how cool is that? After I woke up I spent the rest of the night with him and wife, Carol, and son Michael talking. Joe is lineman for Amtrak and manages the crew of guys that maintains the catenary (overhead electrical wires). If the power is down in the Baltimore area of track Joe and his guys get it up and working again.

It was great to hear Joe and Carol’s perspective on some issues – that their family insurance costs went up under the ACA (Obama Care), they couldn’t keep their old plan (a common complaint and misstatement by Pres Obama) and their new plan – slightly cheaper per month, but much higher deductible and the challenges that that Maryland website has had enrolling people. I haven’t heard a concrete example of higher cost for comparable insurance. We talked about gun control, government assistance, dissatisfaction with government leaders, over regulation of business, taxation… I like hearing conservative positions on things that are informative and not emotional – something I haven’t found a way to come across in NYC.

It’s giving me good stuff to think about and also some experience talking to people that hold different views than I do. I’m expecting the conversations to get more challenging as I head south.  I want to be aware of not forcing consensus where there is none and not blunting my own views for the sake of easy conversation.

I was also sharing about my marriage with Rachel and hearing the challenges that Joe and Carol have faced with theirs. It makes me think about how hurt/angry I am at Rachel for not letting us have more time to work on our marriage. It just didn’t seem like our differences were that insurmountable, but I could also be romanticizing the past and there was no chance.

I have to end on dandelion jam. Carol does a lot of canning – venison (Joe shoots it), various – fruits, vegetables, jams. This year she is going to try making dandelion jam and I’m curious what that would taste like besides the obvious – dandelions. Anyone had it before?

 


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2 responses to “Day 007 – Mt. Joy, PA to Otter Creek Campground, PA”

  1. Michael Henry Avatar
    Michael Henry

    Good luck on your trip….Joe & Carol are our neighbors at Otter Creek but we could not be there this weekend. Dynamite people the Frontera family. Another friend of mine Doug Warabak just completed a trip similar to yours from California back to Pennsylvania and he loved it. He raised money for our mutual fraternity (Moose Charities) and our childrens school. He has shared his numerous pictures and it looks like you are embarking on a truly fantastic. Good luck and Godspeed.

    1. adampomata Avatar
      adampomata

      Thanks for posting Michael. I can see the appeal of seasonal camping with good neighbors. Do you bike at all?