The first day we took my dad's old canoe out for a spin on the Allegheny Reservoir. We packed our lunch and spent the afternoon on the water. It was a beautiful day! We did, however, feel a bit bombarded by the large number of speed boats zooming by as we putzed along, hugging the shore, at 2 mph.
Then we had a campfire and made PIZZA PIES! YUM!!
On Saturday I woke up early to do my long run of 13 miles. I ran 6.5 miles down a long country road, and 6.5 miles back. John met up with me at mile 9 in the car to make sure I was alive. It was refreshing to have peace and quiet. I just ran and observed the sounds and sights of the woods. I saw a red fox running through the woods, heard several different types of woodpeckers, watched a buck run across the road, and found a few tadpoles in the roadside puddles.
After a short nap, we set out for a hike at Heart's Content. It is an area of the Allegheny National Forest that has never been disturbed by man (meaning that the trees have never been harvested). Some of the trees are GIGANTIC! About half way down the trail we ran into the coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters that John and I worked with at Geneva! It was nuts! We just happened to both be on vacation on the same weekend in the same area AND hiking on the same trail at the same time! SO STRANGE! Nice to see ya, Melanie!
This is the root system of ONE tree that had fallen down!
And we concluded that day with ICE CREAM in Tidioute. And, yes, they did have an option entitled the "Tidioute Twister." Nice.
Oh, and then we learned how to make 15 dominoes balance on ONE DOMINO!
Sunday was pack-up day, but we had a nice cinnamon roll breakfast and mowed the lawn before taking off. It was my first time on the riding mower! Just a ways down the road after departing, we saved yet ANOTHER turtle from the middle of the road! This time it was a baby snapper. We have indeed found our calling. :) SAVE THE TURTLES.
PS-Speaking of baby animals, just after we started the lawn mower, a baby mouse ran out from underneath! It missed the blade, but was not old enough to survive on its own. So sad. It could not even open its eyes yet. I actually held it (weird)...I hate mice, but this little guy was so tiny that he was kinda cute. He slowly stumbled his way into the woods. I'm sure something has snatched him up by now...
PPS-Again, speaking of baby animals, there is a baby bunny living near our building and he is the cutest thing I've ever seen (sorry, little mouse, but he is cuter than you). We have named him Benny the Bunny. I wanted to take him in, but we decided that might now work out so well.
Wow, I've never been such a sucker for baby animals.
2 comments:
Wow, Leah. I've never heard you speak so well of the lovely flora and fauna of the forest! I'm slightly wierded out by this new development of yours...too much Discovery chanel???
It's so nice to know that you enjoyed the cottage and all the surrounding beauty.
It was fun to see pictures of where we've wanted to go for quite a while now. We love you guys.
Mom and Dad
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