MANSFIELD — When the Sisters on the Fly called for reservations at a campground, the owner thought a group of nuns was jetting in for a visit.
“Sister” Janine Pettit laughed as she recalled the phone call.
No, they aren’t nuns, she told the perplexed man. Just a group of women that enjoys camping, fly-fishing, antiquing and, most of all, touring the great outdoors together.
Pettit, of Hamilton, and her friends Carol Thompson of Mansfield and Jody Malloy of Yardley, Pa., talked of the fun they have on their adventures as they sat in Pettit’s camper, parked in Thompson’s backyard.
The tiny camper offered all the comforts of home, with its pretty curtains and teapot on the two-burner stove. The bedding area was decorated with wallpaper to match that in Pettit’s actual home.
Thompson’s camper was parked nearby. It was decorated to look like a log cabin on the outside and just as cozy inside.
Both women will have their campers displayed May 21 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Divine Word Seminary at 101 Park St. in Bordentown City, along with those of other members of the Northeast chapter of the Sisters on the Fly as part of the Vintage Car Show, which benefits the St. Mary School PTA.
Spectators can tour the campers for $5.
The Sisters on the Fly was founded in Montana by two siblings on a fishing trip. They decided to start an organization in which women who enjoy camping could get together without husbands or children tagging along. Sort of like Girl Scouts for grown-ups.
Pettit saw a story about the group in Country Living magazine and decided to check it out. Her husband, Rick, didn’t grow up camping, as she did, and isn’t into the activity.
“ ‘Join that group right now. I’m never going camping with you,’ ” she said, describing her husband’s reaction when she told him about it.
Pettit’s brother, Greg Hill, an artist, came from their hometown of Chicago when she held a camp-out in the yard of the hobby farm in Mansfield that she and her husband recently sold before moving back to the home they owned in Hamilton. Hill spent the night entertaining the women with his guitar.
“If ever there was a group custom-made for you, this is it,” he told his sister.
Not only does it give her a reason to camp, but it also lets her enjoy her hobbies of decorating and antiques shopping.
The women say they still rely on their men, who enjoy getting the campers ready for the trips.
But the women glow as they describe how proud they are of their ability to tow the campers themselves to the campsites. Pettit and Thompson caravan on the journeys and have promised their husbands never to stay out in their campers until they meet up with the other women in the group. They stay at motels until they reach the campsite.
Malloy, who does not own a camper yet, will rent a cabin.
“I wish I had one of these. I could hide … once in a while,” the mother of three said, laughing.
“You don’t have to own a camper. The girls in cabins have just as much fun,” Pettit said.
The organization has close to 1,400 members nationwide. Pettit has belonged for five years and Thompson for three. They say they have met some very interesting women on their trips, including an FBI profiler, police detectives and a pediatric hospice nurse.
“That got me hooked. The people you meet are fabulous,” Thompson said.
Plus, she’s gotten to see some sites she never anticipated visiting.
“Who would have ever thought I’d go to Dollywood?” she said, referring to singer Dolly Parton’s resort in the mountains of Tennessee.
The Northeast group is planning a trip to York, Pa., for the weekend of May 13-15. The members will meet up with Sisters from Pittsburgh, Ohio and the Baltimore-Washington area.
“It’s not a killer drive,” Pettit said, just a nice trip to get together and possibly do some antiquing in the Lancaster area. “We’re trying to drum up more recruits.”
For more information on the Sisters on the Fly, contact Pettit at neene43@hotmail.com.
Peg Quann can be reached at 609-871-8057 or pquann@phillyBurbs.com
Copyright 2011 phillyBurbs.com . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
how do you recall text messages from lg phone
Source:
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий