Dual-purpose Road Trip

I finally finished painting the table and chairs I’ve been working on for my Dad. So yesterday, I decided to make a delivery.

He moved into a new home back in mid-June. The kitchen is not quite as large as his old kitchen, so he needed a smaller table. I told him he should let me find one for him. Knowing I have a knack for finding cool, old, bargain-priced furniture, he agreed.

Now, Dad can be sort of impatient. I told him it may take a couple of weeks, to hang on to the table that the former occupants had left behind. But a week or so ago he told me he’d gotten a temporary table. Aunt Bertha, who lives five houses down from Dad, told me that she hoped he would pass the temporary table on to her when he was finished. She said she was envious, that he always finds the coolest stuff. Neither of them would elaborate on where this table had come from.

Of course, the whole time I was working on his “new” dining set, I was worried that he might not like it. I mean, I do realize some people prefer plain wood as opposed to painted furniture. So I started worrying that the temporary table would be nicer than the one I was repurposing for him.

I was quite anxious to get the new set finished and see this mysterious replacement. After I arrived at his house, I told him I had to see the temporary table before I unloaded his “new” set.

This is what I saw…

They’d both been yanking my chain the whole time! It’s not often that folks can pull jokes off on me, so they were both quite tickled to have succeeded with the ruse. That’s why they’re still laughing in that picture shown above.

The table is the perfect size. And the leaves, when raised, will make it possible to seat six people.

Dad likes his new kitchen set. I’ll tell you more about the table in another post. I’m anxious to show y’all the transformation. But first, I have to explain the other goal for yesterday’s road trip.

We adopted K through the National Brittany Rescue and Adoption Network (NBRAN) in November 2009. She’d been living with a wonderful foster family in Lititz, Pennsylvania. It’s rare enough for adopters to keep former foster parents updated with pictures. Rarer still are actual visits. Since Lititz is less than 10 miles from Dad’s new place, I knew one day I’d take K for a visit. Yesterday just happened to present the perfect opportunity.

K is a very good car-rider. Unlike Meg who bounces all over the place, snorting, huffing, and puffing. And Belle, who is nervous in the car and pants constantly. K just curls up in her seat and rides along. She gets up every now and then to look out, but quickly settles right back down.

Before we left Dad’s house, I walked K over to meet the neighbors.

She wasn’t nearly as interested as I thought she would be.

I think the smells overwhelmed her. Not just the cow smells, the aromas in general. She doesn’t get to visit farmland often. In addition to the farm scents, there were road apples along the way, too, from all of the Amish buggies riding past. (None rode past while we were walking. I bet K’s reaction to that would have been interesting to see!)

The weather was absolutely gorgeous yesterday. During our visit with Dad, it was in the low to mid 70s and breezy.

I’d told Jenn I was stopping in for a visit, but I didn’t tell her I’d be bringing K. She and Matt, her husband, were happy to see K. As Matt explained, K’s pictures (I share lots) are nice, but she always looks grumpy. Or serious. Stoic is a word I’ve often used to describe her, too. You can see just how happy, loving, and sweet she is unless you see her in person.

Jenn and Matt have three dogs of their own (Bella, Hannah, and Maggie) plus a foster, Eli.

Jenn’s Mom, Ann, stopped over to see us, too.

They were kind enough to take K and I on a walking tour of Lititz. I’d driven through on previous visits to Jenn’s house, but had never stopped to look around.

It’s a cute town. Of course, I took a bunch of pics to share here…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the heart of downtown Lititz is Lititz Springs Park. As you can see, a creek runs through the park. And the creek was full of ducks.

K was only a tad curious at first. I’m not sure if she’s ever seen ducks. I told her they were floating birds, but she didn’t seem to care.

Jenn was quite keen to get her into the water. And I really wanted to see her get excited about the ducks.

Our perseverance paid off.

I wish I’d had a video going when the ducks started quacking and flapping right in front of K. The look on her face was priceless.

We all had quite a laugh once she finally became interested in the ducks.

 

 

She almost pulled Jenn into the water there.

I’m not sure if K had more fun stalking the ducks or if we had more fun watching K. We laughed a lot!

All in all, it was a lovely day.

It was really nice seeing Jenn, Matt, and Ann again. And Jenn, thanks for taking pictures of me. It’s rare to see a post with this many shots of me, since I’m almost always the one behind the lens.

We will definitely be back for another visit.