Sunday, January 17, 2010

Adventure #2 Take a Left

My adventure for the week:

Daughter Delaney and I went to buy cheese. Not just any cheese. We went to Windy Ridge Farm on Mountain Top Road, in Wellsville, Pennsylvania. We tasted their cheese at a Crafts Fair and decided we wanted more.

They make their own hickory smoked cheddar and swiss. You have to call ahead to make sure they are home.

We drove north through Wellsville to get there. Wellsville is the home of the Warrington Foot Beagle Club and the Warrington Friends Meeting House. Turn left on Mountain Top Road. The third farm on the left.

When you get to the barn, you notice the docile black angus. They have wet noses and long eyelashes. Homer apologizes that there are only three blocks of cheddar left. We bought the three cheddars, two blocks of swiss and three jars of Sylvia's Sweet and Sassy Mustard. Homer gave us a bottle of Sylvia's sausage sauce. They use this at the Franklintown Fireman's Fair. Everyone loved it, so she is selling it now. He wanted us to try it, convinced we'd soon come back for more.

After we exchanged a few niceties, we took our leave. I drove down the long blacktopped lane to Mountain Top Road. Homer has an amazing view. Across the patchwork of rolling farm fields you can see the beginning of the Blue Ridge Mountain range. These are the rounded mounds of mountains that begin conspicuously in Dillsburg, Pennsylvania. These mountains grow taller as you travel south into Appalachia. Think John Denver and Deliverance.

When we reached the bottom of Homer's drive we were supposed to take a right, back through Wellsville and the known road home. I decided to take a left. Mountain Top Road ended at the intersection of Kralltown Road. We passed a round house with an airplane in the driveway. We passed Kralltown Elementary School. Kralltown is part of our home school district. There is one classroom per grade. Everyone in the third grade at Kralltown was proficient in the PSSA assessment tests.

We continued on Kralltown Road until we felt like we were going too far in the wrong direction. We made a U-turn. Delaney suggested we take a right onto Doe Run. We traveled along the Doe Run creek until we reached Harmony Grove. Harmony Grove takes us past the Jesus barn, across the Conewago Creek and back to Blackberry Road. We were home. Thank goodness for Delaney's sense of direction.

It took a little longer, but we saw things we wouldn't have seen. I wish I'd brought my camera.

8 comments:

Shazza said...

Sounds like you two had a nice adventure together!

Kat Mortensen said...

Neetzy, I'm a little confused about the proficiency of the third-graders. What's the PSSA test. Were they all really smart kids. (After the Deliverance comment I was expecting hicksville. Are you saying this area is the opposite?
The cheese-buying kind of reminds me of Kevin's and my summer trip to the organic farm.

Kat Mortensen said...

I forgot to use question marks! ??

neetzy said...

Shazza,

A small adventure, but a nice one.

Poetikat,

PSSA is the bane of my existence. The Pennsylvania State Standards Assessment given to third, eighth and eleventh graders. All schools are judged by them. Kralltown is indeed a tiny little town, in the middle of nowhere. They were the only school in the county to reach 100% proficiency. The Blue Ridge is Appalachia when you go south to West Virginia and Virginia. We're still on the outskirts!

Katie said...

Mmmm, local cheese. This is my sort of edible adventure!!

neetzy said...

Katie,

I love cheese! Except American! Homer and Sylvia make good stuff.

Maria said...

I could eat goat cheese all day long. One of my favorite lunches is a goat cheese sandwich, an ambrosia apple, and a cup of chocolate milk.

neetzy said...

I'm with you Maria!