Bushkill'n

We head eastward for our second day of outdoor excursion. Eastward to the "Niagara of Pennsylvania", a state that apparently doesn't take itself too seriously. Bushkill Falls is a lovely place, 6 or 7 quaint yet beautiful falls throughout, but trust me, ain't no one trying to go over these in a barrel.

Our estimated time of arrival was set for opening hour, 9 am. Our actual time of arrival: 1:30. Early birds are for suckers. Fran had to return some moccasins purchased on a pass-by a week earlier and then we checked out the Native American exhibit.





I could totally live in a longhouse.

They also had an old sifter from the mining days. I took a picture of that.



We hurried on to the falls. Lots of trails and we wanted to see them all. We're training for a big hike. Seeing the Main Falls first is kind of unavoidable since they're right there when you come down the first trail. Lots of great vantage points spiraling thru steep staircases and winding paths. Very cool. I would build a longhouse here.






We headed down the river to check the Lower Gorge Falls, crossed some bridges, some bridges with strangely low weight restrictions for their size, and climbed a few rock formations. The paths were getting more rugged.






The next part of the trail was for hikers only, and that is us. I mean we had our new hiking shoes on and even had backpacks with water bottle pockets and carabiners attached. We were hikers. We stuck close to the river as to not get lost, and climbed ourselves thru the rocky terrain while we ate blowpops.





We were happy to see the man-made trail reappear, and knew we were close to the duet of Bridal Veils & Bridesmaids Falls. These were small but aesthetically pleasing sights nestled into the corners of rock formations. We liked them. We scouted places to build a longhouse.






We came to a fork called Peter's Corner. We could go south back to base camp or head east thru Pine Grove Forest and see some more falls. We chose more falls. And apparently were the only ones who did because we didn't see a soul between there and Pennel Falls. A good size falls, more flat ripples than straight drop, that flows just below a footbridge. Nice.




A tight path wove between two tall mountains and a running stream created quite a nice shady hike before we entered the heart of Pine Grove, where pine trees grew far as the eye could see, hence the name...






We arrived at the Upper Canyon, home to my favorite of the day, Laurel Glen falls. A system of bridges and walkways along the sides of the mountains make for a nice finale to these wonderous works of nature. Water flowed quickly towards the Main Falls from here and we stopped to take more than photos.






We were back at the beginning, but one more climb up the center of the falls would bring us to the Delaware Valley lookout, so how could we resist.







From atop the mountain we ate lunch and made another trip around thru Pennell Falls, thru the Pine Grove and across Laurel Glen. Another good day. We're 2 for 2.






click any photo for full album

All Thorpish & Maizey

Fran has a week off before she transfers to the new & nearer store in Mt. Olive so we've been able to plan a few little days trips, the first of which occurred yesterday...

Only recently have I learned what an amazing story is the life of Jim Thorpe, but now I know the town that bares his name is equally as intriguing. Known as "Switzerland of America" and renamed from it's original Mauch Chunk to Jim Thorpe sometime after his death in the 50's, this minute little town rests in a valley between four or five sprawling mountain ranges that stretch thru the Lehigh Valley (which we learned means "Where there are forks" so now we call the utensil drawer "Lehigh") and has been drawing a good bit of tourism for quite a few decades. The only downside is the one highway that goes in & out of downtown, but the view from within the gridlock is more than enough to divert your attention (in a good way) and the absence of traffic while walking the streets is ideal.




So on to it...

We parked by my old pal the River Gorge and navigated a few rock beds to get a closer look and draw with some charcoal rocks. That's when we knew we had a beautiful day ahead.




One of the things Jim Thorpe is reknowned for is its railroad. It has a running Reading & Northern rail line that creeps along the mountain ranges (we didn't go), a large model train museum & display (we didn't do that either) and quite a few antique train cars throughout various spots in the city (we saw those).




Jim Thorpe is also known for its stylish architecture and picturesque landscape from within the city itself & tho I feel a few shops have unfortunately modernized themselves a bit, most of them still have their original paint jobs and crooked floors you wouldn't wanna be wearing rollerskates on.








We did a fair share of antiquing which got out tummies rumbling so we looked for a restaurant of some sorts. Fran couldn't decide if she wanted Tex-Mex or Italian. We stood in front of the two stores for about 20 minutes.



And pizza it was! BLT pizza & cheese fries.




From there we were ready for more and had walked both streets in town. Yup, small visit. So we hopped back in the car, off roaded over some mountains, and headed south to New Tripoli, the site of none other than the infamous Bear Rock Junction, where we would find ourselves lost inside miles and miles of some of the tallest corn mazes (or maIzes) you'll find this side of someplace where tall corn grows.



We got there just as the sun went down so we had the unique experience of maneuvering most of the course in the dark, which is creepy enough even before they Halloweened the place up.











Good day. Go find yourself a corn maIze before it's too late!

click any photo for full album