Saturday, April 26, 2014

Pit Hole City - a look at a ghost town

 We left the house today with one thing we wanted to do and then it was wherever the road took us. We completed what we set out to do and then stopped at a Sheetz and picked up some beverages and snacks and headed home. It was not a direct trip home by any stretch of the imagination. Sometimes those turn out to be the best trips. Today was one of those days.

We saw many things, some sparked memories from long ago, others were interesting and sparked conversation for the present.

Our random choice of roads and directions led us by the road to Pit Hole City, PA. In no hurry to get home, we made that right hand turn. This place is out in the middle of no where. If it is in the middle of no where now, it seems it is no wonder it is now a ghost town. There is some good reading on Pithole. Here is the Wiki entry and the Roadside America entry.  Like other towns in this area, Pit Hole was founded on oil. At it's peak, the population was 15,000-20,000. In less than three years, the population had declined to roughly 300. Pit Hole wasn't, almost as fast it was.



We weren't sure what we would see or find. There isn't much left. Most of the city was destroyed years ago. Some buildings were moved. There is a visitor center on the site. The visitor center wasn't open today, we were a few weeks too early. The streets are "mowed." There are signs telling what buildings once stood where. Today was a gorgeous day for some of the expansive views.


A look at what once was.


A look at the entrance to the visitor's center.


If I had taken a photo of the whole thing, you would see this display is in a state of disrepair.
It makes me sad to see such things happen.



Hard to picture a booming town here isn't it?


Such a pretty sky.
Today was supposed to be a rainy day.
One of the prettiest rainy days I've seen. ;)


Easy to be "touristy" with no one else around.
(Why, yes, I'm wearing purple because we visited friends at a Relay For Life function!)


A look at those blue signs that always intrigue me when I am driving.
I do think it would be fun to set out on a trip with the purpose of reading all of them as you pass.


Yes, that is Small Town Guy. 
{{{heart}}}


The Presbyterian Church stood here.


The sheet telling what once stood here is gone.


The Methodist Church stood here. This church was the last building to go.
The stones you see, were placed at a later date as a memorial sort of thing.

Not much else to see here today. I wasn't wearing shoes fit for walking the "streets."
We are hopeful there is a brochure somewhere that might allow a little more information.
We did see they had a lantern tour last year. That could be neat. We just might be back. If we make it back, I am sure there will be a follow up post.

We decided to keep going in the direction this road was going to take us.
"We don't have anywhere to be...."

Not long after getting back on the road, we saw a real life Woody The Woodpecker.
No really, we did. A Pileated Woodpecker flew across the road. 
It was spectacular to see.
The red, white and black.

 We didn't get a picture, but this is what they look like.

This unknown road was a really pretty drive.
We saw lots of dirt roads, moss covered rocks and trees and scenic streams.


We saw a "beaver tree"
We did stop and look, but we didn't spot any beavers in the immediate area.
I'm sure they saw us.


A little further up the road was this spring.

It was a great day. We supported some friends.
We had a fun road trip, shared some great conversation, and just enjoyed being able to spend the day together.

I hope you did something fun today. Did it include going down the "not so beaten path?"

Thanks so much for stopping by.
I'd love some comment love so I know you were here.

Til next time...
xoxoxo
Just A Small Town Girl ~ Jen

Easter Cards

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping in. I made a couple Easter cards this year. I used my Changito rubber stamp. I used my Stampin Up colored pencils to color him in. I also used the watercolor blender to smooth out the color. I love this monkey!



One stamp, 3 different cards!
I always stamp my envelopes with a little something. I loved this "Keep Calm and hop on"
I hope you will leave some comment love to let me know you were here!

Til next time
xoxoxo

Just a Small Town Girl

Friday, April 25, 2014

Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back. A RFL display.

Ah YESSSSS!!!! The sound of the Cricut. It had been farrrrrr tooooo long since I had that sound. If you are one that creates using a Cricut you know there is some sweetness to the sound of it cutting.


You can almost hear it can't you?? Like I said, it had been way too long since the "buzz" of creativity had been heard. Those long overdue cuts were being made on purple glitter paper. Plenty to smile about there.

There are three pieces to relay. Celebrate. Remember. Fight Back. Maybe it is the teacher in me, maybe it is just how my brain is programmed, but I wanted, okay I needed an information table at the dart tournament. The table had all the necessary forms for many things, but my information needed something that would get your attention. Off to the store we went for one of those tri-fold display thingers.


Aw, yes!!! Purple and silver glitter paper and cupcakes. You have to smile at that.
Yes, yes, it isn't straight, but this was a picture taken and sent off for "what do you think?" purposes.


Getting closer.
The tri-fold display was perfect.
I had three parts I wanted to touch on and it had three sections.


Getting closer yet. All the pieces have been adhered.
Now we just need to get the center section figured out.
This may or may not have been on the table for a couple days as I tried to figure it all out.


PROJECT COMPLETE!

I used some of our luminaria bags for the "remember" piece.
I had battery operated tea lights in each one.

Plantin Schoolbook and Stand and Salute were the cartridges I used for the cuts!

I think it turned out pretty cool!

Thanks for stopping by.
Until next time...xoxoxo

Just a Small Town Girl
(i need to learn how to do one of those signature things!!! ;) )


Thursday, April 24, 2014

Dart tournament to benefit Relay For Life

Back in March our team held a dart tournament as one of our fundraisers for Relay For Life. Small Town Guy and his buddies are on a dart team. Since getting involved with Relay, I have thought a dart tournament would be a great way to raise money for a team. Those thoughts were great, but I was lacking a few things to make that happen in an efficient and productive manner. Not any more!!!!

That being said, we started planning a dart tournament. Emails, phone calls, and in person visits a plenty were made with local business owners (and regional too) asking for donations and support. I think we had great support from our community!


A look at our Chinese Auction.



 Some of our door prizes.
Most of the mugs had something inside them...candy, t-shirts, gift certificates


 A look at part of the room.


Picture time!
Just having some fun and goofing off!


1st and 2nd place

The tournament went well for our first one! We do need to get it on the calendar for next year.
We raised over $1100 for our relay team THE PEANUT GALLERY!

Darts and relay. Combining our hobbies into one event!
It was a great night!

We had plenty of people that helped and we couldn't have done it without them!

Thanks for stopping by.
Til next time....xoxoxo

Just a Small Town Girl

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Life is...GOOD!

I miss blogging. I do! I have, however, accepted the fact that my life is good and it is ok to not blog. When I started blogging at Creating With The J's, I had lots and lots of free time on my hands and a void to fill. Life and I are in someplace altogether different now. It is, well, awesome!

My "free time" was previously spent creating and blogging. I met some awesome people in blog land. Some of you have been awesome enough to check up on me in my blogging absence. I think that is way cool. My "free time" is now spent doing many things that I enjoy. I still enjoy blogging and creating. I just don't find the time to make it happen like I should or would like. That isn't a bad thing. I get to see my family more often now. The trade off to that is I don't get to see some of my friends as much as I would like, but we can't have everything...especially when my world is split between two counties, and they are NOT neighboring counties. My husband's friends have become my friends and that is way cool too! Time previously spent creating and blogging to fill a void is now time spent with the man I couldn't live without and am now married to. Some still think it was a crazy move on my part, but all is well inside of me. My soul has stopped searching and I am in an amazing place in my life! (haters are gonna hate, don't let them bring you down)

There was plenty learned during the creating and blogging time frame. I am a true believer in all things for a reason. That includes things not working out between Small Town Guy and myself the first time around. It is truer than true that you can't convince your mind of something when your heart feels another.

My "free time" also includes involvement with our local Relay For Life event. I did volunteer with the local RFL when I was creating and blogging. That is how I got hooked. Creating With The J's was a whole different world than where I am now. I am thankful for the people and the memories and sorry for the pain caused, but...all things for a reason. Here is the link to the Relay For Life Christmas tree.

I am the "online chair" here in Warren County as well. It has been interesting and awesome and frustrating to see how a different relay works. It has been a great experience overall though and I will be back next year. In addition to being on the committee, I have also taken on the role of team captain. Have you done the math? Yes, my brain runs NON-STOP -- just ask Small Town Guy. Yes, we are busy (I haven't mentioned that Small Town Guy throws darts in a league, so we are busy there too). No, I wouldn't change any of it.

I am starting to find a balance between it all. The Cricut has been cutting and cards have been getting made. Ok, so they might be relay related projects, but I have to start somewhere right???

Life is great here and I hope all is well with you too! To learn more about our relay or a relay close to you, please visit www.relayforlife.org/pawarren

I will leave you with a picture that I think is cool.  If you read the post about Starbrick, PA, then you know about River Road and know it can have some neat sights. Last week was no exception.


I do hope all is well! Until next time...

xoxo Just a Small Town Girl