The 'Burgh

Okay, so I'm going to split my vacation blog into segments. I started thinking about all of the pictures I have that I want to put on, then I started contemplating what order I would put them all in, then I just became overwhelmed and decided to blog the PA trip over several entries. SO you are reading the first installment.
We had a fantastic time of course. We took a few trips to the local park, on our first visit one of the girls needed to go to the bathroom. I see a Porta A Pooper (dread) across the way, so I start towing her in that direction. On the way I'm mentally preparing myself for the mountain of TP, wee wee, and brown sludge piled up inside the hole that my precious child will soon be dangling her once healthy hind end over.
As we approach, I notice the sign on the side of the den o' doody...

WHAT?!! I had never heard of such a thing! I opened the door and was NOT immediately overpowered by the foul odor of excrement! The bowl contained nothing but blue fluid I could only hope and imagine was disinfected water! And by my feet....

Who would smoke in a turd tank?....Anyway, I still held her over the can (obviously) while she did her business, then I hit the foot pedal. It's not the kind that flushes in one go, you have to push it 4 or 5 times and pump everything through. But I was TOTALLY impressed and wondering why I hadn't come across one of these beauties until now.

A few days later, we returned, and had to make use of the facilities again. Have you ever put Hershey's chocolate fudge on ice cream? You know how it freezes as it's oozing down the scoop, waves halted in mid-flow? That's what the ENTIRE back of toilet seat looked like. I guess the flushing feature is pointless if the colon blow never actually makes it IN the receptacle.

My parents live in a town generously populated with what they refer to as "special people". This is my parents' kind and non-judgmental term for the folk I like to call "total nutjobs." As my dad explained, every area has its fair share of "special people" but where they live they actually COME OUT.

So my daughter, my stepson, and I are waiting outside of a local shop for my mom, my husband, and my other daughter. As we're hanging out, a lady shuffles by- probably mid 50s, matted hair, hunched forward, a wild look in her eyes. Suddenly her attention shifts to her right, and the wild look in her eyes becomes downright crrrrazy. So I follow her gaze to see what has her all riled up. My stepson is leaning against the store front, dollar bills fanned out in front of him as he's counting his money. She passed without incident ( I was really surprised), and I started CRACKING up. I told him he might want to keep his dough out of plain sight from now on. Seriously, I wish someone else could've seen her, it was hilarious. I was afraid if I tried to point her out while she was still close by, she might turn on me and pounce like a mountain lion. When I told everyone about it later, my parents knew exactly who I was talking about. Apparently she likes to scream at and kick telephone poles. I'm glad I didn't draw attention to myself- unlike those obnoxious telephone poles..