Road Trip Part 1: Encounter With A Large Rabbit

The husband/lover/travel companion and I decided we needed a little break from the homestead, so we set out on Saturday morning on a two day road trip to parts South.  The main goal of the day was a rendezvous with both a cute little girl and a large rabbit.

We started by traveling southeast and had brunch at a little out of the way cafe in Middleburg, Pennsylvania, which I have written about before - The Common Grounds Cafe.  I had lunch there already and had vowed to return someday with the hubby to try their Saturday breakfast.  Rumors had reached me extolling the excellence of Saturday breakfast, that it is worth going for and even possibly waiting for a table.  As I had been promised, our meals were delicious, and indeed we were lucky to snag a table.

We then had about a two hour pleasant sunny drive (did you catch that?  SUNNY drive in central Pennsylvania!) to reach our destination.  We were meeting granddaughter Ellie at our family's pretzel manufacturing facility, Tom Sturgis Pretzels. She was on her way to visit with the Easter bunny although she did not know that yet.  And, in fact, if she had known that, she would have most definitely campaigned loudly to change the plan.

We arrived at the pretzel store which is appropriately decorated with pretzels outside on the property and is packed with many varieties of delicious snacks inside.

This large pretzel greets folks along the highway as they approach the pretzel store.  Standing approximately eight feet high, this pretzel has been a well known landmark for several decades beckoning locals and tourists alike.  Many, many families have taken pictures with their children seated in the three holes of the pretzel.

When we arrived, there were quite a few families with young children who were there to visit with the Easter Bunny.  Granddaughter Ellie had not yet arrived, due, we were told, to a late starting nap.  There are just some toddler routines you should never mess with, and one of those is nap time.

Daughter Lindsay (Ellie's mother) was working in the pretzel store, doing crowd control and general customer service during the bunny visitation hours.  We all wondered how Ellie would handle a visit with this bunny, due to a recent terrifying encounter with a mascot character who showed up at her daycare facility.  She DID NOT CARE FOR THAT MASCOT AT ALL, and in fact, cried in such terror that she had to be removed from the area.

Well, unfortunately, today's rendezvous with the bunny was not much better.  There were tears.

There was much quivering and quaking and clinging onto Mommy.

And there was the red bloom of fear on her cheeks.

Ellie wanted to be as far away from that beast as possible.  And so, of course we didn't force the issue.  Later Lindsay held Ellie at a distance so she could watch the bunny lady shedding her bunny costume.  Ellie was quietly processing what she was seeing, yet keeping an eye on that bad pile of bunny fur.  She just wasn't quite buying the whole "those are just fuzzy bunny jammies" story we were all telling her.

Later we had a discussion about those parents that we've all seen at Christmas and Easter holidays, forcing their terrified children to sit on the lap of a Santa or a Bunny.  All the while the children are screaming in terror, just wanting to be safe in their parents arms.  Is any of this worth it, just for a photo?  I say no.  Of course not.

Well, the good news is that Ellie's and our day took a turn for the better, when we all headed into Reading, Pennsylvania to see the 2013 Pet Expo.

News on our road trip will continue tomorrow, accompanied by lots of happy Ellie smiles.

I promise.