andipantz

I had been wanting to get in at least one more camping adventure before the really cold weather arrived.  Chris and I were planning on going to Hawk Mountain over the weekend…a place that both of us had wanted to go to for a while, but had never been.  It’s currently the season for raptor migration so it’s definitely the best time to go.  I managed to convince him that we should go camping at Locust Lake State Park, about 50 minutes from Hawk Mountain.  I’d never heard of this State Park, but the photos looked nice.  After running some errands on Saturday morning, we were in the car on our way to the park.  Everything was about an hour and a half to two hours from Philadelphia so it wasn’t that far away.  We picked out a campsite and set up our tent before heading out to dinner.  We didn’t think that we’d find a good restaurant anywhere nearby, but we had a fabulous dinner at a somewhat upscale restaurant in Pottsville called The Greystone Restaurant.  Honestly, it was probably the only upscale restaurant in Pottsville or maybe even a 30 mile radius.  After we had full bellies, we headed back to the campground to start a campfire and make s’mores for dessert and being geeks with our headlamps.  It was a cold night, but I prefer that.

In the morning, we packed everything up and then headed out for Hawk Mountain, stopping at a small old hotel for some breakfast.  It was a beautiful day outside and we were ready to see some raptors!  We arrived there and hiked to the first lookout….and then the second.  I was in a crabby mood.  I didn’t find Hawk Mountain as appealing as I thought it would be.  Granted, the weather wasn’t right for birds, but even on a bad day, I’ve seen more birds at hidden gem lookouts closer to Philly.  I guess there are some other perks about Hawk Mountain, but I couldn’t see that it was all that much better.  Maybe on a good day.  Nevertheless, the weather was nice and it was really funny (and cool) to see so many people looking for birds.

We made a stop at the New Bethel Cemetery that I had first visited with Albert and Steve.  It was a sunny day and not nearly as spooky as the foggy, cold day when we had visited in May.

We stopped at Cabela’s on our way home.  Neither of us had been there either.  Chris bought thermal pants.  I bought…FUDGE.  Yes, FUDGE.  Who would have guessed that Cabela’s has awesome fudge, but they do.  So if you go there, go to the fudge shop because it’s AWESOME.

That is all.