(A big “Thank You” to my little buddy, Harvey, who wrote a post for me. He’s a little smart-ass, just like his Dad!)

Guess who’s headed to Lambertville, NJ, New Hope PA, and Peddler’s Village for a long weekend!

Yup, these guys:

And WHY, pray-tell, would we be doing that? To celebrate the 55th Anniversary of this guys birth:

The BFJ arrived last night and we had a pre-birthday cocktail, pizza, and gift opening, which my Mom invited herself to. Then we had a lazy relaxing morning before packing and hitting the road.

First stop was dropping this little guy off at the puppy spa for the weekend:

This, of course, was the hard part of the trip, not made any easier by Harvey’s refusal to follow the Spa staff back into the dog area, looking at us pleadingly to take him with us, breaking my heart into a billion pieces. *choke* To ease our guilty consciences, we scheduled every single service we could for him, play time and walks and extra visits all weekend. I hope he actually winds up having a great time with the other puppies. He used to have to be separated when his sister was with him (Rita did not like other dogs coming near him) but now he can have play and walk time with the other dogs which I think (hope) he’ll love!

We only have one scheduled plan this weekend: we have tickets to the Grapevine Express Saturday at 5:00, departing from the New Hope Railroad Station. It’s a 45 minute wine and cheese excursion. The ride is described as follows:

“Wine & Cheese will be served as you travel along the same railroad line passengers did when it was built in 1891 connecting New Hope with Philadelphia, taking you through the beautiful hills and valleys of Bucks County, along once vital waterways and streams, and across numerous trestle bridges, and will take place aboard one of the railroad’s lavishly appointed early 1900s first-class parlor cars.”

That sounds like a great experience, doesn’t it?Otherwise, we’ll be exploring and patronizing the local restaurants and shops.

As you may recall, this is our second visit to New Hope. Our last trip was on a whim, just a couple months ago, and we had just enough time to see a little of New Hope and fall in love with it. We have a little more time to explore Lambertville and Peddlar’s village this time around. And, of course, we’re dragging the BFJ along this time to pop his New Hope cherry.

It should be a fun birthday weekend excursion and the car (where I’m writing this) is bubbling with eagerness and anticipation at the days ahead.

Also, here’s hoping this is my return to regular blogging again. I miss writing and interacting with you all, so hugs all around, with a special nod to those who reached out (you know who you are) to check in on me. Sending special touchy-freely hugs to you.