Pennsylvania Vacation, Day Seven, June 5, 2008

Randy took off Thursday morning to visit his parents and friends in his hometown, so we were on our own! We took a late morning road trip to see more of Job Corps Road, and get more information on fishing for Dylan.

Our trip up the familiar part of the road was muddy and messy from recent rain. When we finally stopped for a bit, we were stunned at how filthy the van was!

We came across a planted black cherry forest, and saw some chicken hawks perched on the fence by the road. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough on the draw to get any good pictures. They were large, they were brown, and they were majestic.

The real gem of our little road trip was finding the Beaver Meadows Recreation Area just north of Marienville. There is a modest dam, a scenic lake, with a boat access ramp, fishing, miles of hiking, and nearly twenty primitive camping sites, complete with parking areas.

I've already decided that I want to spend a day hiking the trails next year when we come again. I saw a couple of the trailheads, and the trails seem to be well marked and well maintained. It will be a good time.

Dylan spent some time fishing, but was not able to secure anything. We saw a lot of butterflies, and I caught a video of a swimming snake. Katelyn and I went on a little sidebar trip, and she insisted on taking a parasol for protection from the sun. She was rather cute running around by herself with a red umbrella.

I caught a couple of good nature pictures. First off, I snapped a flying bug crawling on a yellow flower. I also found a giant mushroom of some sort that was as large as my shoe. I swear the thing was an abandoned loaf of round bed when I first saw it. I even rattled it to make sure it was not alive or hiding a creature in it.

We stopped in town, and got some advice, bait, and maps at a local bait and tackle shop. Afterwards, Katelyn and I wanted to take Heather and Dylan to the bridge at the waterfall to see the snakes.

We were not disappointed! We had more snakes at our disposal than the previous day. Heather was able to get some really great shots for herself, and seemed really happy that we shared this place with her.

Katelyn and I had tried our best not to disturb the snakes. Heather was more aggressive in working with them, and we even got some of them to leave the warmth and safety of the rocks. One slithered across the footpath leading from the road, and that was a thrill to see a snake in motion.

I did not take any pictures the rest of the day, but we had plenty of activity. After lunch, we went back to Tionesta Creek for fishing. Dylan found one of the most beautiful spots on the large creek, but I was too worn out to run back and get my camera. Hey, we need to keep some secrets for next year. I also dug up some lilies along the creek to take home and transplant. That was a lot more work than I had anticipated. Planting them here at home was the easy part . . . prying these suckers out of the ground, and hauling them back to the road was a bear. Well, I am prepared for next year, at least.

After we got back to camp, I took the kids down to the creek for some fun. The creek was not so swollen at that point, so it was safe to wade through. The water was only shin high, but the rocks are quite slippery from the moss that grows on them. Crossing was a challenge! I fell a couple of times, but I had intended to get wet anyway. I had worked up a nasty sweat from digging the flowers, so getting wet in cool spring water was welcomed.

I was on one side of the creek, and the kids were on the other. We took turns throwing rocks in the water to see who could splash whom. The kids liked the idea of seeing who could throw a rock the closest to me without actually hitting me. That seemed like fun until they actually started pelting me with the rocks. Ouch.

buck on 06.22.08 @ 10:05 PM EST [link]