Crayfish, turtles, and snakes— they were as much a part of our camping weekend as the campfires, tents, and trains. For the second June in a row, our family camped on the banks of the Juanita river for a weekend. This year, because of the dry spring, the river was much lower than last year. My nieces and nephew spent hours wading and swimming in the shallow water. Cordell said, "Almost every big rock has a crayfish under it if you turn the rock over." Several of us were standing … [Read more...] about Return to the River
Nature
Alexander Caverns
We stood in the thick darkness deep in the earth, only feet away from an underground river. We knew the water was flowing, but the surface was still and there was no sound. Normally, I don't descend into the depths of the earth any deeper than the cellar. But earlier this month, when my friend Regina arranged for us to visit Alexander Caverns in the Kishacoquillas Valley, I was an enthusiastic proponent. "It's on a Nebraska Amish farm," Regina told us. "They don't have phones, but I … [Read more...] about Alexander Caverns
A Weekend at the Lake
Raystown Lake is the largest lake totally within Pennsylvania— an S-shaped, man-made reservoir in Huntingdon County that's just far enough away from home for the denizens of Lancaster County to make it an ideal vacation spot. Well, for the some of the denizens, anyway. Until this summer, I had never been there. In fact, I couldn't say I'd ever spent more a few hours at a lake. So when my friend Regina invited me along with friends to go camping and boating at Raystown Lake, I was happy to … [Read more...] about A Weekend at the Lake
A Wrong Turn to Sunflowers
A week ago, I made a wrong turn and discovered thousands of sunflowers— golden fields on gentle rolling hills. I pulled off on the side of the road to stare at the beauty. I was less than ten miles from home, but I had never seen sunflowers grown on a large scale before. Most sunflowers grown in the United States are raised in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota, not Pennsylvania. Later I went back to the sunflower fields with my sister and nieces to take more pictures. We parked at … [Read more...] about A Wrong Turn to Sunflowers
Between a Railroad and a River
A few days ago, Pearls Before Swine ran a comic strip where Goat tells Pig and Rat he's going camping the next day. "What does that involve?" asks clueless Pig. Cynical Rat answers. "It's where you deprive yourself of all the nice things you have for no particular reason." Last weekend, I went camping with my family on private property near the borders of Juanita and Perry County. My sister had found the Juanita River Escape on social media last year. "You will have the 3 acres to … [Read more...] about Between a Railroad and a River