I went to the Central Velley last summer for the first time (Fresno area) and I too was blown away by the incredible Crape's growing all over the place. The entire region is irrigated, even the strip of land between the local interstate lanes! It was all very lush and yards were filled with everything from palms to paper birch trees! Yes..paper birch in Fresno. But, in those areas that no longer received irrigation...forget about it...not a green thing in sight...totally dead. I guess unlimited sun + unlimited irrigation + great soil = grow anything you want.

I second Milmont's on Rt 340 south---very clean and fair prices, also. There is also Waynesboro Garden Center on W. Main St. in Waynesboro----very fair prices, ask ANYone ANYthing and they can answer it for you, or will find someone who can, pretty quickly. #1:They're never too busy to help customers. #2They are friendly. #3 They have good mulch---I watch EVERY PU-load I see, like a hawk---prettiest I've seen so far is from Churchville. #4 If you walk in there 5 minutes before closing, they are still just as patient as they were when they first opened that morning! #5They have a great tree selection. #6---They've had nice displays over time----even in the dead of winter..... If they ask who sent you, tell them 'The crazy gardener with the grandson who loves to collect the little stuffed toy birds! (He's bought one of every variety they've had!)

I purchased the book, which is a hardcover with many color photos, and asked the author to sign it. I saw him write my name with a short inscription and of course his signature. As he had written with a Sharpie on the glossy cover page, it needed a few minutes to dry. I told him I would pay for it and come back. The check out was only a few feet away. As I paid for that book and the others, the clerk said she would retrieve the signed book for me. So you can probably guess the ending of the story - I got home and discovered that she had given me an unsigned book. I don't mind about that, but now there is a perfectly good book that can't be sold or even given away. And not a cheap paperback either. I called the bookstore (the sales were handled by a local shop) and left a message. Also, if someone wanted to find me, it wouldn't be too difficult as I used a credit card and gave them my phone number. Obviously my first name is in the book! I have been looking through/reading all the books since I got them yesterday, they are all wonderful. I can't wait to go to another book fair!

Although my primary home has been in NJ for over 35 years we're only about 15 miles from Center City (Philadelphia). Both of us are originally from the Pittsburgh area where we attended college and we've spent countless hours on the PA Turnpike or our preferred Route 30 traveling back to see family. We even had a 2 day honeymoon in a historic hotel in Bedford, just off the turnpike. We've always owned property in upstate PA and honestly consider PA to be our home state. We're much more familiar with PA than NJ. DH went to med school here and his practice was in Bucks County. We'd move back across the Delaware but this is a closer to our kids. One of our favorite activities in the fall is to take a Leaf Peeping trip around the state. The northern part of the state is about 10-14 days ahead of the lower part. We'll leave from our place in Pike County and take a slow, meandering drive west, stopping at various sites along the way. One year we stopped at the headwaters of the Allegheny River which surprisingly is just a tiny stream in a farm field on Cobb Hill but that is the northereasternmost drainage area of the Mississippi watershed. Eventually it joins the Monongahela River in Pgh forming the Ohio and then into the Mississippi. We usually spend a few days visiting old friends in Potter county in NW PA before heading south toward Pgh. If we time it right we manage to catch peak foliage for most of the trip. We take our time and stop for the night in scenic areas like the Laurel Highlands and spend the final days in Gettysburg, Lancaster and Hersey. Like dedtired - I haven't been to Independence Hall for decades, not since chaperoning my own children on class trips. My DS and DDIL have asked me to join them on some excursions this fall and they're looking at places for kids like the Zoo, the Franklin Institute, the Please Touch Museum. We had planned to include Fallingwater and Kentuck Knob on our fall trip last year but decided not to travel during Covid. Our visit to the Flight 93 memorial in Shanksville is something that will remain with me. I haven't been to Penn State either and my son attended college not far from there. Maire