March 31 (Grange Fairgrounds, Centre Hall)
We are staying at the Grange Fairgrounds, just outside Centre Hall and 15 minutes drive from State College.
The Grange Fair is our local county fair, which is held for 9 days each August. It has the somewhat unique feature that families actually camp at the fairgrounds for the entire period. There are 1000 tent sites and 1500 RV sites. The fair has been held since 1875 and I suppose that the first campers decided that it was too far to travel back home if they wanted to be there for more than a day.
In any case, the tent sites have been held by families for generations, and many local families with the Grange Fair tradition hold an annual family reunion at the fair, with members coming from across the nation. Families have been on the waiting list for 50 years or more to get a site. When a site became available 2 years ago, it was big news locally. (Of course, the first family on the waiting list got it, so it was gone immediately.) There is also a long waiting list for the RV sites, but of course that is a much shorter tradition.
During the fair, forget about getting a site. The rest of the year, there are trade shows, horse shows, revival meetings and the occasional music festival, but the camping area is really not all that crowded. In fact, we are the only people camping here right now. There are a lot of RVs on the site for storage, but otherwise – just us. It is a bit spooky after the staff leave. But it is great for Rumple, who can run around off leash. The staff turned on the water and set out a garbage can just for us. However, the bathrooms, showers and laundry are closed until later in the season.
We have been running back and forth to State College to check out our house, do the laundry, collect 3 months worth of mail, see friends, get some work done, see doctors, vets, accountants, dentists, see more friends, etc. To list it all: Chuck has been to the accountant twice, met with work colleagues twice, went to the bank, renewed his driver’s license and went to the dentist. Naomi has been to a faculty meeting, had two student meetings, and went to the doctor and dentist. Rumple has been to the vet.
As usual, we forgot to take photos with most of our friends, but I am posting the ones we did take: Naomi and Becky on a hike at Shingletown Gap and Naomi, Chuck and Susie at Mario’s Restaurant. My apologies to everyone who we forgot to immortalize on the blog! You are nevertheless in our hearts.
We are coming back in late April for more appointments and we hope to see anyone we missed.