<– Day 23 – Mon. May 21st: From Summer Santa to the Police Academy | Day 25 – Wednesday May 23rd: Steel, Strings & Sellersville –>

Jerry and the MB he turned into a Follow Me Jeep years ago.

Day 24: Tuesday we drove from Hershey to Drum, then south to Bethlehem.

On Tuesday we drove from Hershey to Bethlehem.

We began the day with a visit to Hershey’s Chocolate World. It’s a place we’d tried to visit back in 2013, but it had closed in anticipation of the construction of a new and improved(?) Chocolate World. Ann spoke fondly of the the place and her disappointment at not sharing it with me in 2013. So, you can imagine that she was pumped to finally be getting to see it again, something she hadn’t experienced since she was a kid. What could possibly go wrong with that scenario??

With entrance photos taken, perhaps the best part of our adventure was about to take place. As Ann walked toward the front doors, one of them suddenly opened, followed by a voice, “Ann, it’s so nice to meet you.”

Now, it’s important to know that one of the things damaged when Ann suffered her TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) is her ability to recognize faces. So, she has a really hard time remembering faces. Thus, when confronted with an unexpected welcome, she quickly get’s confused, wondering if she should know the person or not. And, given we’d just come from the reunion, she wasn’t sure if she should know who this stranger was.

In this case, she wouldn’t have, as the stranger introduced himself to me as Gordon. According to Gordon, he hadn’t realized we were going to be in town (he’s from Carlisle and is a fan of John’s Restaurant as well). Since he’d read that we’d planned to stop at Chocolate World, he thought it would be fun to stop and say a quick hello while on his way to Walck’s in Bowmanstown, Pennsylvania, to pick up some parts for his CJ-5. Ann and I were both humored by the gesture.

Continue reading →