The Odell Era

Reported by Mom

Photo credits: Katherine Millen

Last week, the two youngest Odells joined the million-dollar mouth club, of which their older brother, Andrew, is the President in Perpetuity. So far, there have been no issues beyond very sore teeth for a few days, and the occasional lip snag.

Cameron decided to have his wire attached to his brackets with red and blue fasteners in honor of the Phillies. The rest of his family was horrified that he did not pay homage to the Orioles. When asked about it, he said flatly, "Look, the Orioles are a losing team."

This afternoon, Mom made a chocolate angel food cake for Dad's birthday, and in the oven it appeared it would be a smashing success. Out of the oven too, it appeared to be a smashing success.

See how beautiful it was? But turn the cake around...

And this is how it looks. Mom had followed the recipe, turning the cake pan upside down to help it keep its height. Shannon wasn't convinced the cake wouldn't fall out, but Mom was convinced and assured Shannon it would be just fine. Mom turned her back to the cake, working on the rest of dinner and Shannon continued to work at the counter, with her eye on the cake. A little later, Shannon calmly turned to Mom and said, "Hey, Mom, half your cake fell out." She whirled around to see half of her beautiful cake laying upside down on the counter.

No one really cared, however. It still tasted fantastic.

Cameron Odell received a belated birthday present today. He has been looking forward to receiving this one for a long time: a Shelby GT 500 convertible.

The birthday boy looks exceedingly pleased. He did not, however, get to drive it off the lot. The salesman did it for him, and took him for a long-anticipated ride in the hottest car he could think of.

Weeks ago, Cameron spotted this beauty on the lot of Keller Brothers Ford in Lititz, PA, and asked if he could go in and look at it. His mom said yes and allowed him to inspect the vehicle as long as he did not drool on it. While he was admiring the car, Mr. Marty Rineer approached Cameron and engaged him in conversation about the Shelby. At some point in the conversation, Cameron told him that the Shelby was his favorite car, and the salesman offered to give him a ride in it sometime. That sometime came about today.























Mr. Rineer took Cameron and his dad out on the country roads nearby and hit it. "I was crushed to the back of the seat! I couldn't have moved, even if I had wanted to!" he exclaimed. "This machine went from zero to 60 in 4 seconds! It was incredible! And this car can hug the curves. We went around the traffic circle barely slowing down, then we hit it again." However, a dinky Dodge Caravan was in the way and the speed demons had to slow down.

It appeared that Mr. Rineer was enjoying it, also. He was more than happy to oblige Cameron. When they pulled back into the lot, he gave Cameron a tour of the car under the hood and let him sit in the driver's seat. It will be a few years until he will be tall enough to see over the dashboard.

In late June, the Odell Family took a long weekend camping trip with their friends, the Herrs, to a lovely place in the Laurel Highlands in southwestern Pennsylvania called Ohiopyle State Park. The crowing jewel of the area is the Youghiogheny River, or "the Yough" as it is affectionately named. This beautiful river carved out a pristine valley and boasts some of the best whitewater in the eastern United States.

The two families rode bicycles on the Youghiogheny River Bike Trail, enjoyed outdoor cooking, ate ice cream in the town of Ohiopyle, and rafted the whitewater of the Lower Yough. They also spent alot of time in the screen tent due to an amazing amount of rain.

Although it did not rain the entire time they were in Ohiopyle, it always seemed to rain right about the time they were preparing meals. Some meals were prepared under an umbrella, or under the porch roof of the Herr's pop-up camper. It often rained at night, which made a soothing sound on the rooves of the tents, enabling Mom to actually get a decent night's sleep. And it kept the campground pretty quiet, too.

But generally, the weather was good enough to pursue all the outdoor activities. One day, they biked part of the trail, admiring the Yough and all the rafters from a former railroad bridge 100 feet above the river. After the bike ride, the families enjoyed ice cream in the tiny, but busy town. The young man in the front on the right is Evan Howard, a cousin of the Odell children. He is from Florida, and all this was brand new to him.

The next day was the big expedition down the Lower Yough. In two rafts, each manned with an experienced guide, the families plowed, smashed and splashed their way through each set of rapids on that incredible stretch of river. The rapids had names such as Snaggletooth, and Double Hydraulics. Through the calm stretches, they swam, rolled with kayakers by clinging to their boats, and jumped 20 feet into a deep hole from a rock known as Jump Rock. Fortunately, everyone stayed in their rafts, one only barely. No names mentioned.

The campground was deep in the woods, and lush and green from all the rain that season. One morning early, a luna moth was discovered resting on the window of the bathhouse. The area is rich in bird life, and the highlights were indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, and views of flocks of cedar waxwings, but this time, the birders were looking down on them from the railroad bridge over the river. Redstarts, Veeries, Common Yellow-throats, Hooded Warblers, Wood Thrushes, and Black-throated Green Warblers were also spotted. A family of Common Mergansers was observed playing in the whitewater.

And there was plenty of time for fun and silliness.

Margaret, who once had an unpleasant run-in with whitewater on the Snake River, was not the least bit hesitant to launch off on this adventure. "Next year," she says, "it's the Upper Yough for me! Class V, Baby!" Never mind that it is Class IV and V rapids with a 5-mile stretch of continuous whitewater, and that she won't be old enough for that trip for another 3 years, one has to admire her spirit.

Reported by Mom