We're from Pennsylvania!

  

A month ago, we travelled to sunny southern CA ( Newport Beach ) to spend a week exploring old haunts and visiting new locations we missed last year. I've been wanting to write this post since we returned, but got side-tracked trying to help some folks get the word out about the continued degradation of Bradford County by the natural gas industry and its allies in Harrisburg.

That's now behind me.

On the second or third day of our vaCAtion, we took a boat ride to Catalina Island. It was truly an awesome experience standing next to the bridge and feeling the catamaran glide, ummm... bounce across the open ocean. We were almost alone on the top deck, for as we later discovered, most folks stayed within the enclosed seating area below upchucking their breakfast.

Glad I missed that.

When we arrived @ our destination (Avalon Harbor), even though I had checked out a map of the island the night before, I decided that after grabbing a quick lunch ( bison burgers, what else? ), we were going to take a walk to visit the island's famous Chimes Tower.

This could be a very long post, but as I'm off today, I have a bunch of things to accomplish. Suffice it to say that in a span of ~4 hours, we walked from sea level to an elevation of ~1,500' and back again.

And folks, once we got out of the touristy area and started climbing the hillside...we were the ONLY folks walking up the mountainside.

Below: The Chimes Tower is almost directly above the woman's head halfway up the mountainside. 

 

Below: Back of the Chimes Tower. Note the slight incline...and think ~2 hours of climbing the same.

Below: That "boat" is one of the Carnival Cruise ships outside the harbor.

Above/below: This is the beginning of the zipline tour. I walked another ~15 minutes uphill before turning around. My son & his friend continued another ~30 minutes past this point.

As stated earlier...we were the only people walking up and down the hill the entire ~4 hours. Everyone else was in a bus, golfcart or these two-wheeled thingies. 

Is there a message here? From my perspective...there is.

Anyway, I hear it's gonna be a hot one today. After 17 years of doing without...I decided it's time for a vegetable garden again.

Me and a mattock have a date in my backyard.

10' x 18' x 2' deep into SE PA's stony red clay in excessive heat?

Piece of cake. Know why?

   

 

'Cuz I'm the grandson of coal miners, and I'm a native born son of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania.