The first week in May was set aside for vacation. My father was in the Air Force when I was younger and we did not grow up in PA. When we would come to PA to visit my dad's parents, they would take us camping. I remember going to the state parks, the things we did like put apples out for the deer, and Grandma telling us we would pee the bed if we played in the fire. I wanted to start building these memories with Baylor and my parents. I know he is young but I had him pretty late in life and we are not getting any younger. We rented a modern cabin at Black Moshannon State Park, because we are not really into roughing it at our ages. Lori was not able to go because of work and working on the basement remodel. So I packed up the car and on Sunday away we went.
He had no idea what was coming but was happy to get started. He knew we were going camping but at two and a half camping for a week does not mean anything to him.
On the way up it started raining and continued raining off and on until Thursday. We did not let it stop us from having fun on the porch and in the camp ground. Baylor was excited to get out his own chair and carried back and forth from the porch to the fire ring all week.
The cabin was really nice and even had a microwave! Baylor had even packed popcorn so maybe he knew something we did not! There were two bedrooms and the bathroom with a shower. It was spare but clean and enough space for all of us.
See the chair moved from the porch to the fire ring. And the frog boots were on. I bought him rubber boots at the recommendation of a cousin. I liked the frog on the boots and he did too. We started a fire in the rain on the first day because us Miller's are pyromaniacs and we needed a fire! It was a bit rough getting started and Dad resorted to lighter fluid. But we had fire and went to dinner smelling like camp smoke. It was a good thing.
On Monday we started the day with a walk around the camp ground. There are several modern cabin and even more rustic cabins at the park. The drive went in a loop that was a good walk with a little guy and in the center were the restrooms for the rustic cabins and also a play ground. It was dreary and rainy so the uniform du jour was the yellow rain jacket.
Baylor was having fun picking up pine cones and other bits to put in the fire pit. He really loves being outside and it was great to give him such a large place to play! We spied this old pine tree with huge holes drilled in it. Dad and I showed it to Baylor but I don't think he understood what we were telling him. They are wood pecker holes and we did see several woody peckers that week pecking away on the trees. I found it very interesting to see the holes up close. You could see how they chisel out the hole at an angle and the ending hole was cone shaped and quite deep to get at a worm or two. Our woody peckers stop at our feeders nearly every day and the red bellied also like to hammer at our siding!
We found these bat boxes on our walk too. Later in the week we found an information board that showed these boxes could hold 200 bats and the bat condos could hold over 1,000. Only one of the houses was inhabited and we could tell by the guano underneath it. We tried to look up inside but it was dark. We knew they were in there because they squeaked at us when we got too close. Baylor loved to hear it an would run under it every time we went past them.
Back at camp he dumped his collection in the fire pit. There was no fire going so all was safe.
After our walk we headed out for a drive to Elk County and the surrounding area looking for elk. We found some in a field but they were very hard to see. This lovely lady was in some one's yard, right next to the road. Dad and his dad used to come here often elk spotting and it was a trip down memory lane for Dad. He seemed to remember every field they ever saw an elk. When we were young and here on vacation camping, they would take us deer spotting. My brother was not much older than Baylor at the time and got into the swing of things. He would yell 'Buck deer' all the time whether he saw anything or not. He just knew that they would get excited when they spotted deer so he was spotting them.
On top of the mountain was a new visitors center that opened October 2010. We stopped for a photo op and checked out inside.
It had a lot of learning displays and Baylor tried out most of them. He gave the bear a kiss! They had outside cameras that we could control and look for elk but we did not see any during our visit.
Back at camp we had anther fire. My family are known pyromaniacs going back many generations. Baylor and I brought back a lot of branches to burn. Some I could break by stepping on them but Dad had to bring out the ax at times. I tried a few times too but only on small stuff. I am too short to split anything wider than a few inches. I don't have enough leverage for the big stuff.
I did not bring too many toys for Baylor but I did grab a shovel on the way to the car. It turned out to be a good last minute choice. He loved moving the stones around the camp. I brought a few cars, a small ball, bubbles, and it was plenty for him for the week as there was much to do.
We made fried apples for our pancakes for breakfast. Everything tastes better when cooked outside on a fire.
Dad, Baylor and I went for a walk and found a trail down to the lake. We walked the road along the lake looking at the beautiful trees, stumps, water, plants, and such.
Ok I was looking at that stuff, Baylor just wanted to find the fish. We did not see any much to his dismay but being an optimistic lad, he did not fret about it for long. Later he took his net and fished in the air and put them in the woods. He has quite an imagination for a young one.
Dad was teaching him how to use a walking stick. It was a bit much for a two year old to coordinate but he enjoyed swinging the stick regardless.
We went to Penn State creamery for ice cream. Baylor choose white with sprinkles. The sprinkles were blue and white of course. The sun was out for a bit. But not for long.
Wednesday Mom, Baylor and I walked th bog trail. It was all boardwalk through the bog with information boards throughout the walk. Baylor loved being able to run ahead and test his boundries.
We learned this land was logged in the 1800's and those 'islands' out there are really old pine stumps with grass growing on them. There is a lone canadian goose in the center of the picture too. The peat in the bog releases tannins as is decomposes which preserves anything in the water, like the stumps.
The swamp sparrows were all over the camp and Baylor loved them coming around us. We eat peanuts and pistachios, in the shell, all weekend long. Baylor would ask us to shell a peanut and then through it down for his birds. We did buy bird seed for them too and he sprinkled it all around the porch and picnic table.
Something caught his eye!
The bog is covered by wild blueberries that were in bloom. I would love to go back in late June or early July to eat some of them!
As we were leaving the trail, he leaned against the sign and asked me to take a picture.
Right outside the park was a bison farm. Most of the time they were out in the fields but a few times we caught them in the barn yard. It was like guaranteed wild life spotting and Baylor loved seeing them. The bison had a little gray donkey friend. Sometimes he was in the same field but once he was not. Baylor thought it was hilarious the donkey was in the wrong field. He told the story over and over again every time we saw them.
We went to Altoona to Horseshoe Curve. Dad had been there before and we knew it would be a good place to take Baylor. We took the tram up to the viewing area. It was a big hit with all of us as none of us wanted to walk up there on the stairs.
We were told if we were up there at least 20 minutes we would see one or more trains. The first was a 126 car freight train. We saw two sets of two-engines go through and there was a train working on the curve with a crane on the last car. The crane was picking up bundles of rail ties. All the engineers blew the horns and waved at us. We were the only people up there so Baylor loved the personal attention.
See him waving? I am sure the drivers get lonely on their runs and I would think it would be fun to have that interaction along the route.
The tram ran every 30 minutes and we only stayed for a half hour. It was pretty cold and a bit misty at times. Baylor wanted us to find a train for him to ride and was very disappointed we could not find one for him. It did not help his mood that he was tired from not napping much that day. But we got through it and back in the car with the help of the distraction of some construction vehicles in the parking lot. He loves seeing diggers and rollers and always asks if they are working.
Thursday we saw the blue sky finally. We were in Penn State country after all. No, I am not a fan. We decided to stay at the camp all day. No road trip listening to the same three CDs was a good idea by this time. We all knew just about every song by the end of the week. He loves to sing so I cannot complain about it.
Our yard has many push and pull toys at home. All he could find at camp was the cooler. He took it all over the camp and once to the playground.
Of course there was fire, we were going to be at camp all day so we started one early.
Baylor and I spend most of the day together. Spending Mommy and son time was nice. I loved this old tree with all the holes bored in it.
Baylor loved the little play ground. It had a steering wheel on one of the landings. He pretended he was driving the mini-van. We took several trips going backward and forward and all around. After lunch we had a proper nap for the first time all week. I napped with him too! We went to dinner at Hogs Galore. Does that not sound wonderful? The pulled pork and ribs we had were wonderful!! We stopped at the park in town after dinner. He made a little friend with a boy who was about 6 or 7 who stayed with Baylor for most of our time there.
Friday we went to Woolrich on our way to Wellsboro. It is a really nice store, but quite big for being out in the middle of nowhere! Baylor hugged and kissed all the lambs and bears they had there.
And he went camping for a few minutes in the tent!
We went to Wellsboro for lunch at the diner there. Mom and Dad have been to the town but not the diner. We window shopped on Main Street and then headed to the PA Grand Canyon. My grandpa always said he wanted to take us tubing there but we never made it. It was nice to finally see what it is. I have been to the real Grand Canyon a few times and this was a bit disappointing. Kind of like when we moved to PA when I was 12 and drove through the PA mountains. I lived in Denver, CO for many years and that hill in the background is not a mountain in my opinion. They are pretty when they are covered with trees and interesting to look at when they have been blown apart to make a road through them but they are not mountains. Glorified hills is how I see them.
There is a dark spot about the date stamp and it is a turkey buzzard. There were three or four riding the winds in the canyon. My grandma had a strange love for turkey buzzards and even had a hand painted shirt with a buzzard on it. She would have loved seeing them flying around.
A boy and his bubbles! We had dinner back at camp and hung around the fire after the sun went down.
Yes I kept him up past his bed time without more than a 30 minute nap that day but it was our last night and last fire.
Mom and Dad went in before it started getting dark so I had to deliver their smores to them inside.
Baylor asked me to teach him how to cook a marshmallow. We put it on the stick and he tried his hand at roasting a jumbo marshmallow. It ended up covered in dirt and soot and I had to sacrifice it to the smores gods. I took charge of the second one. The jumbo marshmallows are a bit hard to toast perfectly on the outside and meltingly wonderful all the way to the center. But I found I could slip the golden jacket off the center and toast the middle again. Like a never ending marshmallow.
I think he agreed it was delicious!
Saturday we were packed up and out of the cabin by 9:00. We said good bye to the swamp sparrows and the fire pit and headed home.
Baylor was so excited to be home. The only day he did not ask to go home was Thursday, the day spent at camp. We played outside all day in the yard until Lori came home from work. Baylor was so excited to see her but all he really wanted to do was their 'thing'. Which is a tractor ride with him in his car in the wagon behind the mower and a drive down to the firehall to buy an orange soda. It was raining and she was tired but he was so excited that they went anyway. He cuddled with her for a long time on the couch when they came back and I showed Lori the pictures. We were both glad to be home with Momma and Eddy! It was a good vacation, and I know we will do it again and try the other parks in PA too. Maybe later in May or in September, when it is not usually so rainy!
