"Pennsylvania Sister" weekend 2026

 Ahhh!!  June!!  My favorite month!  I know I say this every year, but I will say it again.  It's my favorite month because of the long days, the warm temps, and the knowledge that we have all of summer ahead of us.  Hallelujah!!  That's how I feel!

This past weekend was glorious!  For one thing, the weather was sunny and warm (not hot) all weekend long.  And for another thing, my Pennsylvania sisters came for the weekend!!  They arrived around noon on Friday, and they brought our lunch!  A leafy salad that we topped with chicken salad, freshly picked strawberries, Mary Ellen's homemade applesauce (still partially frozen just the way we like it!), and some desserts.

Of course we talked and talked and talked, eventually cleaned things up, then left for the Penn State Arboretum.  I was driving, but alas, I can't talk with my sisters and think about where I'm going at the same time, so I took them the L-O-N-G way there.  I told them to think of it as a tour of State College.  

The gardens and flowers were not as beautiful as when we were there other times, probably because of the freezes we had this spring, but it was such a lovely day to walk around and to sit in the sun.  There was a wedding there!  That was fun to observe, although we tried to not stare. 

I promise I was not kissing Doris's hand!  She said her lotion made with tallow smelled like roast beef, so of course I needed to check if it really did.  It DID!!  Just like coming home from church when there's a roast, carrots, and potatoes in the oven!!

You can see the wedding reception tent behind the pool. 

Below the pool is a boardwalk with benches.  We always love to sit there in the sun and "solve the problems of the world."  At least that's what we used to say.  Unfortunately they are harder than ever to solve.

When we got home Mary Ellen got busy making rhubarb crunch.  She had brought fresh rhubarb!  Meanwhile I made grilled Italian sausages with sauteed peppers for hoagies.  While we ate dinner Mary Ellen brought out two diaries - one that had been our mom's and one that had been our dad's.  They were really fun to read, especially our dad's entries about asking girls for dates, breaking up with them, then asking our mom for a date, etc.  I think he had 12 girlfriends over those years, and he got married when he was 20, hahaha!  I guess they didn't last long!  

We had thought we would watch a movie that evening, but it was getting too late, and we all were sleepy, so we decided to postpone the movie and go to bed.  

On Saturday morning we took our good old time drinking coffee and sitting around talking.  Dick was turkey hunting over at Anthony and Lori's. It was around 12 noon when we left to go to Sowers Harvest Cafe for brunch.  

The line was out the door!!  It is such a popular place for students.  Their mission statement is beautifully written above the grill -

"Creating a peaceful space around coffee and cuisine to cultivate conversations that change the world."

Just before we ordered, a place to sit inside opened up - right at the front window facing the outdoor seating.  As usual, our food was scrumptious.

From there we went over to Anthony and Lori's place to see the beauty and relax by the pond.

Then we were in the mood for a bit of thrift shopping, so we went to St. Vincent DePaul.  It was fun looking, but Mary Ellen was the only one that bought anything.

Next was the Berkey Creamery for our ice cream cones!!   I think I had already smushed my cone up against my nose before I took a selfie!

Then we went back to our place and got ready to watch a movie.  Our choice was "Remarkably Bright Creatures."  We LOVED it!!!  And we want to watch it again because the ending was so surprising.

Of course throughout the entire day we never stopped talking and laughing.  One more thing we did before bed that evening was listen to Mary Ellen read a couple of letters our mom had written to her when she lived in Mobile, Alabama.  She said Mom wrote to her every week over those years!  Doris and I found out things we didn't know, even though we had lived nearby our parents! 

On Sunday morning before church we took time to sit on the side porch for our sister picture, which is a tradition each time they've been here since 2012 maybe.  We should have had coffee mugs to keep the tradition, but we had already done that and it was time to leave for church.

It was a full house at church, and the whole praise band was there. It was a great service!

After church we went to Hi-Way Pizza for a really delicious lunch. Then we went to see Whipple Dam.  On the way there we stopped at the overlook at the top of the mountain.  It seems every time we're there it's hazy, but this time it was gloriously clear.  We could see all of State College.  Unfortunately we didn't have binoculars.

Then we went to the dam.  I decided to get my feet wet!

It was interesting to watch the water gently falling over the dam.

We decided that the setting was too beautiful to pass up getting some more sister pictures.

Then a couple picture.

Then a guy offered to take a picture of all four of us.  What a gorgeous day it was!!

We went back home and did one more fun thing.  Since Dick and I now have a turntable and a good sound system, we pulled out the unopened albums of the Witmer Trio that Dick had saved and listened to both of them.  That was fun!  If only Barb had been here with us!  The trio was Barb, Doris, and I.  We had a really good bass player, Dick played his 12-string guitar and sometimes added his bass voice, and I played a portable organ.  Eventually we added teenage sister Rose to play tambourine.  We made two records and sang at lots of churches and banquets and weddings.  So many weddings!

March 1976

March 1978

They packed up and we said our goodbyes.  We have a big trip to look forward to next month!  We three Pennsylvania sisters, plus Betty (New Hampshire) and Rose (S. Carolina) will be going to Barb's place in Idaho!!  She has lived there since 1993, and I have never been there before!