From the category archives:

Outdoors

Tunnelview Historic Site

by Jenny 27 February 2016 History

Jonathan wanted to see how much water the Army Corps of Engineers let out of the gates at the Conemaugh Dam after this past week’s storms. That’s why today’s adventure took us and  Jonathan’s mom, Fran, to the Conemaugh River Lake. Then we drove down the road through the park to see Bow Ridge and […]

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For the Cabin’s Logbook

by Jenny 16 February 2016 Outdoors

“This place has no WiFi and its boring.” “There’s nothing to do here. We can’t get WiFi.” “This cabin doesn’t have WiFi.” “PLEASE GET WIFI!” Last October my in-laws rented two cabins at Kooser State Park. My husband and I joined them for dinner to celebrate our nephew A.’s first birthday. After dinner my sister-in-law […]

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What I Didn’t Say About the Blizzard

by Jenny 14 February 2016 Outdoors

My sister K. followed Rip Van Winkle. She moved from our hometown in the Allegheny Mountains to a camp in the Catskill Mountains. She stayed there for two years. On Valentine’s Day 2003 (a Friday), our Aunt Sue and I went to visit K. Sue drove. She always drives. I am the bum who sits […]

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The Mountains in My Backyard

by Jenny 7 February 2016 Outdoors

“He’s wearing my jeans!” A woman walked up to me at the register of the menswear store where I worked and pointed to the man with her. We were right off of the Somerset exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The couple was from Florida. The man had packed absolutely no warm clothing for himself. That’s […]

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Someone Else’s Road Trip

by Jenny 26 December 2015 History

This is our Christmas card photo. Shawnee State Park in Bedford County. A Gaffron family favorite. The Pennsylvania Turnpike passes Shawnee. So does Route 30 – the Lincoln Highway. And Route 31. I used to hear the purr of late night traffic from my parents’ campsite. Did you ever travel this part of PA? The […]

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Is This An Eagle? (Adventures on the Clarion River)

by Jenny 29 November 2015 Outdoors

Jonathan and I saw this bird flying around the morning after our nephew Peanut was born in early November. The Clarion River drew a line between us and this bird. We were in Elk County, Pennsylvania and the bird was in Jefferson County. Jonathan was driving. The bird landed high in a tree on its […]

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Holiday Cooking Story

by Jenny 14 November 2015 Outdoors

Not my cooking. I wasn’t there. I heard this story from my dad. Decades ago – I think that this was during the 60’s, when my dad was a teenager – one of dad’s uncles got hold of a decommissioned school bus. My relatives installed bunk beds and painted it white. Voila – they had […]

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This Place Could Be Haunted

by Jenny 7 October 2015 History

3 Things about this photo: 1.) Jonathan took this in the aftermath of a severe thunderstorm in early July 2013.  2.) This is the former site of the Grandview Point Hotel. I, personally, always just called it the Ship Hotel. Because it looked like a ship. The lettering on its front said “SEE 3 STATES […]

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Pennsylvania Water Platters

by Jenny 29 September 2015 Outdoors

I guess that tonight’s hard rain put me in the mood to blog about water platters. I saw them at two different conservatories / gardens on opposite sides of Pennsylvania this summer. Yesterday I discovered just how much they had in common. Jonathan and I have a membership to Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens in […]

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Vultures

by Jenny 15 September 2015 Outdoors

I can’t believe that I’m blogging about vultures. I’m no raptor expert. I learned almost everything that I know about vultures from Jim Henson’s “The Dark Crystal.” (BTW, I fell in love with “The Dark Crystal” when I saw it on the big screen years ago when I was a very small child. Last Thanksgiving, I made […]

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