Into the Past: My Road Trip to Scranton

August 12, 2026

Wake Up! Back Up! Don't Lose Your Blog Content

Boy did I get a huge wake up call last week! For about 24 hours I lost access to all my Blogger content: published and draft posts, comments, statistics, etc. I nearly had a heart attack when I got this email: I thought it was a scam but at least I had the presence of mind to not click anything in the email itself. Instead, I went to the Blogger dashboard I already had open and clicked "View Blog." They really had taken it down! I quickly read through what they considered "Malware and Similar Malicious Content," and was confident that there was no way I had violated the terms. My only recourse was to click the "Request Review" button. Reviews were said to take an average of 10 days but could be longer depending on the issue. I never received a confirmation email that I requested the review. Nothing! All I could do was wait. I went to the GeneaBloggers Facebook page to ask if anyone else had experienced anything like this and how long it took to resolve....

I am participating in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks, a writing challenge encouraging genealogy researchers to write about their ancestors. The challenge is hosted by genealogist, blogger and podcaster Amy Johnson Crow.

Here's my post for Amy's Week Eighteen prompt: Road Trip

By Nancy Gilbride Casey

Part preparation, part dumb luck, part generosity of others, part serendipity. These things equal success on a genealogy road trip, in my recent experience. Scranton and Wayne County, Pennsylvania were my road trip destinations in March 2019—the places my Gilbride ancestors first called home in the United States.

Facebook was the perfect medium to share my discoveries while on the road in Pennsylvania, and I reported back each night to my family and friends in a series of posts I'll share here. They create a neat road trip timeline, while capturing the thrill of the find, somber closure, and other emotions which may only come by actually walking where our ancestors trod.