Tubing Down the Yellow Breeches...

A few weeks ago my cousin Nick, an avid tuber, invited Rebecca and I to go tubing down the Yellow Breeches. Unfortunately, we were unable to go that day but did decide to meet up later in the week. We met Nick at his apartment and then dropped one car off and began our tubing trip on the Yellow Breeches at Messiah college. There was a large parking lot next to the sports fields at Messiah college and although I am not 100% certain I believe we ended the tubing trip at the Lower Allen Community Park. Then again, it may have been somewhere else. All in all it was a few hours of tubing and taking in nature.  Anyway, here are a few photos from the tubing trip!

(Right before we left for the tubing trip...)

(Nick had a special pump to blow up the tubes using his car)

(Here we are getting ready to embark)

(Rebecca was happy)

(Then she wanted to get a photo of me)

(And we are on the water)

(It was a bit chilly but the sun definitely helped)

(Angel rays on an angel...)

(Just relaxing as we tubed down the creek)

(Nick and his lady friend as they made their way down the creek)

AT Weekend Hike around Duncannon, PA

A few weeks ago we hit the AT again for another few days of camping.  We were supposed to go for 3 days and 2 nights but due to a few blisters we had to cut it short.  There was a nice little campsite a few miles in and we spent the night there with a great fire.  The next morning we woke up and hiked across the bridge into Duncannon, taking a stroll down main street.  

We were just about to head up Hawk Mountain to see if we could find the camping site but decided after a few minutes it was a bad idea.  So, we turned around, walked back through Duncannon, passing the Doyle Hotel, and made our way back to the car.  The trip was a great time and we had a lot of fun!  Enjoy the photos from our camping excursion!  

(Passed this guy on our way to the campsite)

(Photo op)

(Sometimes it amazes me how great a view a person can have after only a few hours of walking.  I think that is part of the reason I enjoy hiking so much - the views.)

(After we set up camp we headed up the stove and had a bit to eat and made some hot coffee)

(Then we played some cribbage)

(Fire time and Rebecca is showing off our tasty treats)

(Had to make sure I had my head lamp on for when it got dark outside)

(Rebecca got an artsy shot of the smoke coming off the fire)

(I warmed myself up by the fire)

(We had a nice little fire going)

(Shot in the tent before we hit the sack)

(Rebecca making some coffee the next morning)

(Definitely on the Appalachian Trail)  

(Hey oh - Maine to Georgia)

(Rebecca had to take her shoes off...)

(View as we crossed the river)

(Me walking across the bridge)

(Stopped to get some water and take in the view)

(Rebecca was doing a bit of blister work)

(Hey!  Look at that Hiker in front of the Doyle Hotel)

(Entrance to the Doyle Hotel)

(Passed this as we made our way down North Market Street - the Old Sled Works)

(Perry County Hilton)

Hiroko and Her Dad Visit Gettysburg

On Day 2 of their stay we made our way to Gettysburg.  It is harder to plan a 2 day trip rather than a 2 week trip.  With 2 weeks you have lots of time and can go lots of places - and there are a ton of cool cities around:  Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington DC, and New York City.  However, you don't want spend 3 hours in a car there and 3 hours back when you only have 2 days together.  So, Gettysburg it waas.  Plus, it is a very historical place and many consider it the turning point in the Civil War.  Also, it is the place where Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address, perhaps the most famous speech in US history.  

We also ended up meeting Jesse, one of the many people who have stayed with the Aochi family.  Jesse was from Baltimore so Gettysburg was about half way.  I think Hiroko and her dad had a good time although there was a lot of English, which was probably hard for her dad.  We ended up going to the museum, watching the movie, checking out the cyclorama (a 22 ft high 279 ft circumference painting [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gettysburg_Cyclorama], going through the museum, grabbing some pizza for lunch, and checking out some of downtown Gettysburg before stopping for ice cream.  I am a history geek.  I loved Gettysburg.  

Afterwards we stopped at Cabela's on the way home before having some Pennsylvania Dutch food for dinner - pigs in the blanket, which is sausage and porcupine meatballs (meatballs with rice) wrapped in cabbage and cooked in a tomato sauce.  We spent the evening checking out deer and chitty chatting outside.  And that concluded their stay in Pennsylvania.  Otousan did invite Rebecca and I to stay in Japan for a month before going to Vietnam so we are going to take him up on that offer!  Otousan, see you in Japan!!!

(Otousan at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum and Visitor Center)

(The gang hanging out with Abraham Lincoln)

(Unfortunately Rebecca wasn't feeling so hot and ended up spending that night and the next 2 days sleeping...)

(Checking out a few artifacts from the Civil War)

(One of the views of the cyclorama.  Can you imagine how long it took to paint a 22 ft high 279 ft long painting?)

(As you can see, it is pretty detailed.  I think they said the artist had 22 assistants helping him with the painting...)

(Ammunition box)

(Old Flag)

(The bucktail brigade)

(Old cannon)

(Fused Bullets - that's a lot of lead being fired)

(Otousan being happy!)

(Deer in the front yard...)

(How can I get a good picture???)

(I have an idea...)

(Otousan stealth crawled over behind the bushes to get a closer shot of the deer)