We went to the less developed side of the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania. We did some minor hiking in addition to seeing the canyon. It really was very impressive, much more than I anticipated. The trees and general environment were pristine and what a state park should be. My cynical nature, no pun intended, is characterized by states and tourist offices describing their attractions in an embellished way. By being born and raised in West Virginia, embellishment is fine with me as long as I am the one doing it and I do it exceptionally well on occasion - that's no kidding or as my father used to say, "I'm not pulling your leg" on this one. If embellishment is being used to sell me something, that is another story.
We used the rest of the day to shop in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania. It is a nice, quiet, interesting place to shop. Gin really liked the different types of merchandise sold in the unique shops and probably would have liked to spend more time there. For me, it was okay. I bought a seven piece screwdriver set for a buck - my kind of shopping. When asked why it was so quiet, a salesperson said that Wellsboro is really busy during a music festival and again during the leaf changing season.
We like to eat in local places rather than chains. On a back street, we saw what looked like a family restaurant that was somewhat busy. To be off the beaten track and thriving is usually a good sign. I had a real hamburger for the first time in well over a year, not the 93% fat free cardboard that we usually eat, and french fries. Actually, the hamburger was split between Gin and me as prearranged and negotiated before ordering. One of the great dilemmas in life as one gets older is being full before dessert can be ordered and eaten. Normally, when we eat out, it is usually lunch, we do not eat dinner or just have something very light. We resolved the dessert issue, I saw that this restaurant had real home made pies, by coming back later in the day and ordering a piece of pie apiece to appease us personally. The pie was good, but not amazing considering that we deprive ourselves of that goodie as a rule. Oh well...
The owner of the campground advised Gin that the canyon was spectacular at sunset. We went to the more developed side. This is a much easier side to see the canyon with much larger views and we enjoyed it very much.
The drive home was relatively uneventful. With less wind, it was much less stressful. We did return to the same gas station as on the way, an independent one, to get cheap gas. It is amazing to me that there was as much as a thirty cent difference in prices along the way and with the rv getting about 8 miles to the galleon, this was important.
When stopping for the gas, I dutifully started the car as had been done on the way up. The manual said to do this as part of the towing procedures.
We were concerned about having a dead toad when arriving at the storage lot for the rv. I ignored Gin's advice for the direction of the rv in relation to the toad. Bad, bad move... The toad was dead and sitting at an angle which put the hereto told release handles for the tow in a locked position (see the previous post for the details. By putting the toad in park once again in desperation, I now had an rv sitting in a position that could not be turned around and a toad that could not be moved. Woe is me. It was hot in the late afternoon. We could have called a wonderful neighbor for assistance, but preferred not to bother him if possible.
So I did it with an Army solution. If something does not work, bang it with a bigger hammer. I will spare you the gory details, but one tow bar side was eventually disengaged from the toad which led to the other one having the pressure taken off and we were free. The rv had to be driven home and another car picked up to bring back for jumping the battery for the dead toad. Mission accomplished. However, something has to be done about the dead toad after towing for more than five hours.....
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