For one whole week we spent a wonderful time up in a cabin, on the top of a mountain, on 350 acres. It was one of the best weeks we have ever had. Grandpa came with us as well. It was a nice cabin, with several acres of mowed grass around it, many more acres of unmowed grass – the size of a landing strip for a plane, which, on occasion does land there, and hundreds of acres of just forest. I think the only thing we would try to do different is to take more opportunity to explore the gorgeous forest and not wait until the second last day.
Since the cabin was a long ways away from any electric lines, the owners decided it would be to their economic advantage to install solar panels and have a backup generator instead of having to pay for the electric line ($40,000 vs. $80,000!) That was to our advantage for several times we got to fly our new kite. 
Unfortunately, only one new kite was able to be flown for there was not enough wind for the other two, but we had a lot of fun sharing. When you get the kite up several hundred feet, you just need to sit there holding the string, the kite flies by itself for there is a lot of wind up there.
Monday we went exploring in the van. We found out this week that one cannot always trust a map. We had two different (both detailed with contour lines, etc.) maps, and they both showed a road going into a state 
forest. However, when we arrived at the state forest, no road! The GPS on the phone said there was no road, and the road sign said it was a dead end. We know from experience that GPS’s are not always reliable either, and normally we just use them to see where we are. We decided to take the only other possible road, which turned to the side. We thought that might be the state forest for there was gate there and sometimes state forests and parks have gates. We opened the gate and drove on. Well, the road was not conducive to vans, but we drove on. At one point we decided to turn around for it did not really look like a state forest road and then got stuck! After walking around we noticed a house not too far in front of us and figured we were not on a state road, but how to get out? Lots of man power, and B”H we had as many people as we did for even one less person and I don’t think we would have made it. Lesson learned: Trust road signs.
As we were making our way back home, trying hard to stay on the real road, we come across signs that state it was a real road, but that 
the bridge was closed 1000 feet ahead. Grandpa wanted us to stop, for the bridge was closed – read the sign! So, we did, and most of us got out and walked the 1000 or so feet…… only to come to another sign, for cars coming the opposite direction that said….. bridge closed 1000 feet…. Uh, well, we just walked right on through and there was nothing wrong with the road. Lesson learned: Can’t always trust the road signs!
Tuesday we went touring the Amish region. It was interesting to see that people really do live a life almost identical to life 100 years 
ago. We saw the horse and buggies (though that is nothing new for us where we live, but still neat to see it anyways,) wheat that was cut and stacked in the fields – 7 bundles to a stack, men plowing, men cutting up wood into boards and all the wood craft and quilt shops. We stopped in a wooden toy shop and a couple of boys bought something there.
Wednesday was a trip on a steam engine! TOOT TOOT! Look at all that black smoke coming out of the top! It was a nice, relaxing time for me. 3 boys wanted to sit with Grandpa, and that left me with just 1 and it was the 
perfect time of day for on the way back that 1 boy just wanted to lay there almost falling asleep. 🙂
Thursday we did some geocaching. We found most of them. We actually did a bit of geocaching the entire week, but this afternoon was dedicated mostly to it. We also learned that not all state forest roads are maintained. We came across one that had a fallen tree in the middle of it. All 5 big boys went out to try to move it. Unfortunately it was just too long, however, DH being adventurous as he was, decided we took 
enough of the top away that he could drive around it, over the mud hole, and that is just what he did. However, he was smart enough to know that we had to find a different route out of the park 🙂
Friday it rained, and the boys ate popcorn and watched a few National Geographic DVD’s about pirates! Challah and cinnamon buns filled the air Erev Shabbos, as well as the lack of electricity (B”H the oven was gas and still worked!) To their credit, the owner showed up within minutes and got the generator started (it was 
supposed to start automatically when the solar energy ran out but didn’t.) DH spent time doing orienteering work with the boys. They learned how to read the map, and the contour lines on a map, along with other compassing work.
The rain was a nice welcome, for Shabbos was nice and cool. We had all the windows open (like we had all week), but we did not need to have any fans going, so Shabbos morning we woke up to the sounds of birds…and quiet. It was so peaceful! We made our first trek into the 300+ acres of forest and saw butterflies and moths and bumblebees and even a snake! DH and I walked around the whole grassed area. It was pretty 
cool to be at one end and look back at the cabin – yellow flowers all over the grass, I just about ran right through pretending to be Laura Ingalls in the show from Little House on the Prairie. 🙂
Sunday morning, the sun got up early, and so did I. I spent most of the morning packing up. We decided to walk down a path to a road and since Grandpa did not want to walk with us, he got to pick us up. Such a beautiful trek – about half of the walk was done solely on property we rented, and most of the rest was in what seemed an “alley” between properties. GPS was great this time!
On the way out, we stopped off at a Scandinavian festival outside of Jamestown, NY and got pictures of a life size replica of a Viking ship
(a small one, more of a fishing boat – not the size of one crossing an ocean). We ending up in Niagra Falls for pizza for supper and finally made our way back home. All in all, we had a good time, and have lots of nice 
memories! We even got to finish off Grandpa’s visit with a birthday supper for my now 3 year old. Happy Birthday MA!