An Outdoor Adventure, a History Lesson, and a Whole Lot o' Shakin' Goin' On!

 Tuesday was a gorgeous day here in S. Central Pa.

This pic was taken from the driveway as I was
 leaving for my adventure!

 I had decided to pick up my niece and nephew and spend the day with them  since I don't see them very often.  They live very close by, but you know how it is.  Our lives are busy-too busy!

Our first stop on our little adventure was Thornwald Park.  Thornwald is a town Park.  Its just a green place (with both woods and meadow), a gazebo, an amphitheater, and some park benches and picnic tables.  On the property is an old mansion that is currently under renovation.  With the exception of the construction noise, it is a very peaceful place on the fringe of town.

Nestled in the woods of Thornwald, is a geocache.  So I thought it was a great place for some hiking and to turn these two young people on to the sport of geocaching.    

After a bit of searching, we found the geocache treasure.  Wedged between 2 rocks was an old lemonade container wrapped in camouflage tape.  Inside most every geocache is a sign in sheet and if possible, some trinkets that people leave behind.  The rule of thumb is that if you take a trinket, you must leave one behind.  We signed the paper inside and left behind a small turkey feather even though we didn't take anything from the cache.   

We placed the cache back the way we found it and headed to the local grocery store to grab some goods for a picnic lunch.  From there, we put the top down on the Mustang and headed up the mountain (with the wind blowin' through our hair)!  

In about 15 minutes, we arrived at Pine Grove State Park, a sweet place for hanging out in the summer time.  As the name implies, there are lots of pines, as well as 2 man made lakes and an old iron furnace.  But there is much more.  Pine Grove is rich in history.  The lakes were once iron ore pits that were mined and then melted in the furnace.  There are several furnaces along the South Mountain.  This chain of furnaces played an important role in the Underground Railroad.  

(Keep in mind that on the other side of this mountain is Gettysburg!)

I tried to slip in a history lesson about the area during lunch (at the Furnace picnic grounds).  But I'm sure the ol' (retired) homeschool mom in me was shining through.   

Though we didn't go swimming.  We did visit the lakes and take time to do some snooping around.  These kids live about 10 minutes away but had never been here.  (at least not that they could recall)

A goose enjoying the water with some floaters

Our day concluded as we meandered a little further down the road to my daughter's  new home.  I wanted to show the kids my new grandbaby!  

While I was holding and ooing over
 Miss Rhea Amelia, 

THE HOUSE BEGAN TO SHAKE!

YES, it was that infamous earthquake that shook the East Coast.  About 2 seconds later, my son in law phoned to report that he too had felt it at his job (in Gettsyburg)!  

After some smooches for the wee one, we headed next door to a popular ice cream stop....
And with cones in hand, we headed home....our bellies full......
and our feet tired.

Twirly Top

Trying to keep it simple and deliberate,

Tammy

http://lancaster.cityvoter.com/twirly-top-drive-in/biz/41373#more

Scavenger Hunt/Migraine Guard

Have you heard of GEOCACHING?  

Have you ever gone GEOCACHING? 

I have known about geocaching for some time now 

but just recently decided to finally take the time to investigate.

So after searching the geocache website, we decided to give it a try.  We started simple and very close to home.  The geocache we chose was entitled 

Migraine Guard.  I downloaded the info from the website onto our GPS (easy peasy)  and off we went.

 Here's what we found....

Our GPS took us to this bridge (and excellent fishing hole)....

We searched for the cache and found it (as the title implies) in the end of this guard rail.

The cache was actually an aspirin bottle.

Tucked inside the bottle was a piece of paper to sign and verify you found the cache (not to be confused with cash).

If you have never heard of geocaching, you can find out more about it here. It's a scavenger hunt of sorts.  It's for individuals and families; it's for the young and old alike. The geocaches range from easy to find, to more difficult to find- easy terrain to difficult terrain.  Check it out!  Give it a try! 

 I'd love to hear about your geocache experiences!

In case you're wondering, we used the hand held GPS (Garmin rino) that my husband uses for hunting in the mountains of Virginia.  In my opinion, this is a complicated piece of equipment.  However, it was fairly easy to use after downloading the data  from the internet.  

Last week, I ordered this Geomate Jr.  It is specifically for geocaching.  When you turn it on, it immediately gives you the closest caches.   I'll keep you posted on how this works.  I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival.  I am hoping to get it and use it over the 4th of July weekend.   

And speaking of anxiously awaiting a new arrival.....we are getting anxious for the arrival of our 2nd grandbaby.  Can't wait!

Our daughter, due in mid August

Again, for more info on GEOCACHING, 

go to https://www.geocaching.com/default.aspx.

If you live in, or plan to visit South Central Pa. (like an upcoming visit to Gettysburg), go to

http://smgeotrail.blogspot.com/ to find out about the 

South Mountain GeoTrail.

Until next time.............

Happy Caching!