Southerly Wind

This past weekend was a real pleasure spent with my dearest RGBisMe. My week had been filled with early mornings spent volunteering at WPSU radio pledge drive. The fund raising was going really well but the early hours, 6 AM until noon, were starting to wear me down.

The week prior, Maga11 had alerted me to the fact that our South of the Border letterbox seemed to be missing so a run down to Juniata County to replace it would make a nice drive. I had carved up a new image and with a a replacement log book we could make sure everything was in order for future seeker.

We decided to add a few detours and extend our trip to make a day of it. RGBisMe really wanted to find the Lewsitown Narrows Canal Park letterbox that I had hidden with the help of Maga11 and Toolman Luke the past summer. That would be our first stop.

The walk along the Juniata would have been very lovely with all of the early spring flowers except a fierce wind blew steadily. We saw some low lying lightly colored Dutchman's Breaches here an there along the trail as we started out. The trail had some other visitors and we got to meet the president of some Juniata trails society who told us that this was set to be the day of their annual walk on the trail.

RGBisMe found the letterbox without any problem and he picked up a really cool hitch hiker there. We were able to move it, as well as 3 others, along that day. We walked out the canal trail the way we had come in, packing out two huge bags of trash but barely making a dent in all of the river and highway litter.

We maintained a mystery box of ours that was in good shape but quite lonely and went on to replace South of the Border. RGBisMe determined that rock was still in place and went to find another one or two. As I brushed some debris aside to seat the replacement letterbox I touched what felt like another rock. It turned out to be the original letterbox! No one had logged in since 2007 but it was in great shape. This was a terrific surprise and now we have a replacement for it... just in case.

We then stopped for lunch in Newport in a cute coffee shop Toolman Luke had told us had vegetarian menu items. Although Espresso Yourself Cafe is not entirely a vegetarian restaurant it has an extensive vegetarian and vegan menu. RGBisme and I both opted for the 1/2 sandwich and cup of soup. He got a Santa Fe wrap and I got a vegan Reuben. They were both amazing! Along with the Potato Rivel soup we were stuffed with some of the best vegetarian food we had from a restaurant in a long time.

We drove on to check on Torchlight. The 4Rhines (now Loyalsock Skippers) had a report that it might be missing since Monday. Because we had been with Mososo Kruppe who had found it just a week prior we really thought it should be in place. We told them we would take a replacement log since the old log book was quite full. It was as secure as when Mososo Kruppe found it and we swapped out the log.

We toyed with hiking up to check on our Uncle Wiggily letterbox but opted to press on to Harrisburg and plant our new Miss Penn urban microbox. On the way to plant it we checked on one of Silent Doug's Capitol Tiles boxes because we wanted to hide a hitch hiker in it but that box seems to have gone missing. Natty Bummpo's 4th @ 3rd is still in place though.

After planting Miss Penn we drove on to Hummelstown to enjoy letterboxing in Shank Park, Gelder Park and on the Hummel Nature Trail. We sadly were again unable to leave the hitch hiker because the Hitch Hiker Hostel we went to seems to be missing. It was our second visit to it so we are pretty sure it was gone.

Some ticks made themselves known in Shank Park and we checked over our pants as we exited. The wind still was pretty strong and we were getting hungry by the end of the day. We weren't as familiar with the roads we were on as we left Hummelstown but had two restaurants in mind as we drove through the Harrisburg area. The one that we ended up stopping at was the Macaroni Grill.

After a huge supper and carrying away many left overs, we started for home. It was about 10 PM and we phoned DaBraLady as we were passing through her area. She insisted that we get together and we picked her up. We started at J. P. Edward's and ended dancing to Johnny Unit at our old haunt, The Bierhaus. I pulled out my cards and read for a bunch of kids before we left town.

We didn't make it home until after 1 AM and that is when I found a tick deeply embedded into my thigh. Much fun and jumping around to the music at The Birehaus had caused it to dig in pretty far. It was not fun getting it out but RGBisMe got it head and all. It was a very full day and a real change from sitting and answering a phone for hours.

Sunday was a sunny day but quite honestly we just recovered from the day before. Laundry, gardening and yard work was the theme after a morning of answering emails and trying to get the Miss Penn clue to work. I am still having some problems with links but decided to blog our weekend before I went back to that frustration. The day ended with a happy text that Ravenboy is back in the country. Welcome back and I am looking forward to a new week of adventures after helping WPSU meet their goal of $85,000.

True Emerald Adventure

This was a day of a 20+ mile bike ride to Milheim, PA. I stopped frequently and aimed to partake of something green at every establishment. It took me a good 15 minutes to actually get my butt out of the door and on to my bike and I still forgot things I meant to take with me. RGBisMe's rear view bike mirror sat idle on the back porch while I could have used it all along the 18 miles of rt 45 between Boalsburg and Milheim.


The day started off on a sad note as I saw the old body of a stray cat I used to know along the highway. Poor Woolly Bully died sometime this winter down on College Ave and her body is there now. She lived a rough life and was a real icon of toughness. I wondered where she had gone.

RGBisMe suggested I cut around Nittany and go through Lemont to make the ride less elevation but added a few miles. This was a great choice and I got a breakfast sandwich at the Pump Station Cafe. My "green" choice was the flavor shot of Irish Cream sweetener in my coffee. I took my own mug. Does that count as green too?

The valley along Nittany was mellow and chilly. I stopped half way to check the time and it was almost 10 AM on the nose. I stopped to peep at the round barn and buzzed into Old Fort about 10:30 AM. Snappy's was a great place for a break to finish my breakfast sandwich and purchase my green Spearmint gum.

Next stop, although it took some time to get there, was Spring Mills. I actually slipped on my regular pants over my biking pants to pop into the Frosty Hook for lunch. This location used to be called the Spring Mills Hotel and Quick Lunch (or as Toolman Luke likes to call it the "SMH & QL"). The shoulders of rt 45 deteriorated just upon entering the town so I was glad for a break. No Corned Beef nor Cabbage for me but a nice green salad and Guinness. The crappy part was it was served in a can - on St. Pat's - come on! Some guy tried to enlighten me about the dart league he and his son are in. Ho hum.

I wanted some desert and couldn't get the Water Street Grill out of my head. I tooled around the block, not changing out of my pants, to the location. Although lights were on inside and out this place was closed at 12:30! I was really disappointed and I got grease on my good pants! I called it the "wearin' o' the grease." Grrrrrr.

Back on the road for a bit, I made calls to family and friends to let them know I was making progress whenever I had cell phone reception. I took another nice break at Burkholder's grocery and got a Granny Smith Apple and a Turkey Hill green tea Mojito flavored. The tea was a mistake, the lime was very artificial tasting.

Elk Creek Cafe was my goal and I knew they had opened at noon. Their web site and email boasted "vegan offerings" as well as a "Trout Oat Stout" as long as it lasted. My goal was not to sit and drink my day away so I spent extra time in Burkie's trying to find a better green treat. Although the white chocolate deviled eggs were shocking and hilarious, they were not green. No more green treats were to be had so I biked into Milheim and took some photos.

It was sometime around 3:00 PM I walked into the Elk Creek Cafe and ordered my first Oat Stout. Smooth and dark it reminded me of why people choose oatmeal baths to comfort those with skin irritations. DabraLady wasn't getting off work until 4:00 PM so I nursed this drink and came up with the plan to make Milheim the completion of my my "Biking Bar Tour." I was done biking but there was the Milheim Hotel to check out yet.

I chatted with Kathy and Tim at the Elk Creek for a while and Tim asked if I was going to include Brownies Valley Tavern in my proclaimed tour. I told him that I thought the place looked too spooky and he didn't try to encourage me to make a visit.

Off I went to boldly bust into the regulars sitting at the bar at the Milheim Hotel.
No balcony parties were planned buy it was finally nice outside and my walk up the street had allowed me to take a couple of photos as I checked on my parked bike.

I had no idea what to order since the guy at the Frosty Hook gave me the hairy eyeball when I asked for "something green." I thought that the same bet was just to get a Jamesons Irish Whiskey on the rocks and ordered that up. This was the most festive of all locations as it turns out. they were adding color to their beers and wearing flashing necklaces and hats and leprechaun ears! Holy cow, when the lady added green to my little drink I was afraid my teeth would turn green!

This bar also sported a bore who wanted to talk about his amazing camp near Hyner and how he can't get there until the ice melts in April. Ho Hum. The weirdos all kept joking about my biking and biking drink even though I told them I was done biking and meeting friends soon. I quickly finished my visit with a shot of Bailey's Irish Cream and scurried back to Tim at the Elk Creek Cafe.

The place was just as slow at 4:30 and DaBralady had not yet arrived. Tim saw me come in and said, "If you really want to complete your tour now is the time. Half of my staff just went over for a quick break at Brownie's." He told me to leave my bag, that he would watch it even when I checked to see what money I had left on me he assured me his staff would cover me. Amazingly gracious in an odd imposing way on his staff.

I walked catty corner to Brownies and opened the door expecting all of Milheim's cretins to greet me. It was just the staff from Elk Creek and they all cheered when they saw me. I has a very small drink just to say I had been there and hurried back to Elk Creek so I wouldn't miss my friends' arrival.

They came up the valley as soon as they could and joined in for a St. Patty's drink and a little vegan chili (really the only vegan offering). A band started up about 5:30 and I have no idea if they were good or not. I was a little giddy, not too bad though. Part of my elation was that I actually accomplished my goal of biking to Milheim. The other was that my muscles were not sore. I am wondering what tomorrow holds. Today Emerald, tomorrow, black n blue?

Dr. Kulakowski Memorial

The third annual ride in memory of Penn State professor and avid bike commuter Bohdan T. Kulakowski was held on Bike to Work Day, April 25 at 5 pm. Dr.Kulakowski was killed in March 2006 when he was hit by a van while riding home from his office on campus. We departed the PSU gates at College and Allen with a police escorted ride to the crash site in Boalsburg.

The ride did not start until well after 5pm so RGBisMe wouldn't have had to leave work early but we had a chance to chat with other bikers as we waited. It was nice that the thunderstorms held off for the entire ride. The mood until the actual crash site was serious but in a friendly respectful way. We were all enjoying the first really awesome week of bicycle commuting of the spring. Getting together to remember Dr. Kulakowski was a good way to end the week.

Over 30 local citizens participated in the ride. There were students, families pulling children in trailers, couples on tandem bikes, racing bikes, double century bikers and regular joes like us. The Penn State Six Pack, Bob Swaim's inline bike for six people graced the front of the procession by leaving one seat empty in honor of Dr. Kulakowski.

Residents stopped their gardening to wave at us as we rode past. Fraternities saluted us with Friday evening brews in hand. One woman nodded to us and clearly stated, "He used to bike this way to work every day."

It was different from a couple of years ago when the news of Dr. Kulakowski's death was young. Two years later, more people seem to be understanding. This was the third memorial ride for him and although the ride through the beautiful neighborhoods has the same welcoming feel to it, this time there was clearly more recognition of why a mass of bicycles were being escorted to Boalsburg.

Gas prices edge ever closer toward $4.00 a gallon. There can not be but an increase of bicycle commuters for those of us who can, will. RGBisMe and I helped place flowers on the ghost bike that has been in place for 2 years. It's visibility has made many more residents aware of the cost of the life of one bicycle commuter. I hope it is reminder enough that we have to share the road.

Mid-week Delights

It's that time of year when RGBisMe & I revel in the bike commute. For years he would come home everyday for lunch and about 3 years ago he said he would like to start biking onto campus during warmer weather. The only thing that he felt conflicted about was not making it home for lunch. This dear man came home for years so I have no problem spending my spring lunch hours bringing lunch to him - via bicycle.

It really only doubles the commute time and is so satisfying. I know our bodies thank us for it. We have added a little more gear every year to make things easier and enhance our safety. This year even I got a head and tail light. Okay, it was really bought for finding the geocaches in the abandoned turnpike tunnels but I have used them on the road one rainy day this past week.

Today, I took a route so that I could check out the area where I thought I might gather some clue information for finding a new letterbox by Angrist, I Need Some Food! I was so pleased at solving his challenging geocache clue, Listen to the Music, just the day before. His first letterbox plant was more straightforward but still had some interesting twists to it.

First I had to check on my Hitch Hiker Resort to see how it weathered the Blue White game traffic. It was just fine. Off to campus. I was glad for a change of direction because it allowed me to photograph a Red Tail hawk chasing birds in and out of Beaver Stadium.

I decided that the theme of the letterbox was making me so hungry that I better get some lunch before I started hunting in earnest. I biked on to the HUB and got us 2 hot & sour soups in hopes that we might find a nice picnic location while seeking this new letterbox. The clues were very engaging and it was hard to say just where we might end up.

I biked to an area that had some potential and phoned RGBisMe to meet me when he was able to get off for lunch. I checked some places that seemed to make sense but wanted to wait for my dear friend so that he could enjoy the hunt also. While waiting for him I took a walk to get a vegetarian strawberry yogurt. This was just in case we were successful in finding the letterbox, we could have it as a celebration treat.

We met at the arranged place and with only one muggle around just nodded to each other in agreement as we walked by a landmark. We parked ourselves in a sunny spot, pulled out our soups and started to slurp just as the muggle left. We probably looked like crazy people, running for where we thought the letterbox was before anyone else could come into view. We were not disappointed and neither would you be if you saw the time and care put into crafting this beauty.

We cracked open our celebratory yogurt and enjoyed it (and our soup) after stamping in and returning this special creation with care. It's so exciting that even more quality letterboxers are blessing our area with their efforts. Well done Angrist.

RGBisMe had to bike back to his office and I had to get back to work at home. On my way home, I was (as I frequently am at this time of year) overcome with the beauty of the area I live in. I just love my commute.

Ride of Silence

Last evening I participated in a Ride of Silence sponsored by Centre Region Bicycle Coalition. Nationwide, cyclists took to the roads last evening at 7pm in a silent procession to honor cyclists who have been killed or injured while cycling on public roadways. Although cyclists have a legal right to share the road with motorists, the motoring public often isn't aware of these rights, and sometimes not aware of the cyclists themselves.

Relieved to not be the only off-road cyclist there, the group of centre region cyclists was diverse in age and cycling focus. Wearing arm bands of black (to honor bicylcists killed by motorists) and or red (to signify incurred injury by motorists while biking), 40 of us gathered at the College and Allen intersection in downtown State College. With police escort, we made our way single file through 5 miles of downtown's most congested streets. We kept the pace slow, 10 - 20 mph, as we made a silent statement of what I hope makes the public more aware consequently eliminating the need for another Ghost Bike to be erected locally or anywhere.

The ride took a little over a half of an hour in the chilly spring air. The rain graciously held off and allowed me to sometimes take in my surroundings instead of dodging puddles or blinded motorists. Some onlookers may have thought it was a protest against the price of gas or to unify biking commuters. Some cheered "Yay bikers!" or "Hold out your hand, I'll pass you a beer." Riding toward the end of the line of bicycles, it wasn't until we made a slow gentle curve along Westerly Parkway that I realized the visual impact such a long string of cyclists made. It helped me understand why the majority of the onlooker's stood in thoughtful silence as we made our way past them.


Waiting for the police escort to arrive at College & Allen

Twenty-five Mile Weekend

Nothing beats the scent of a freshly carved stamp in the Spring morning air!

Fire Tower atop Third Mountain near Dauphin.


A nice Easter Exchange with Music Woman, Lit Chick, Archaeobirder, RGBisMe & true idigo.

The Thrill of Letterboxing

This past weekend held some real highs and lows for us on our letterbox searches. We reached out to some of the closest letterboxes to us; north-central PA and the closer western PA boxes. Both days were filled with gorgeous weather for driving and viewing some of the most beautiful wild areas of this majestic state.


Saturday found us near Apollo, PA where we went looking for quite a few boxes. The highlight being Aroostook Sleuth and Little-Tag-Along's Childhood Adventure Club series. This is a series of 6 letterboxes that first tickle you with there very names. Our favorites were Robin Detective Girls and Star Trek Spy Club. We chose to bike the route and were not sorry for it. We spooked a groundhog from his lunch and he blindly ran off with a leaf in his mouth.. right into a deep puddle! SPLASH! We were not the only people exploring the area and came across 4 women riding horses and a couple of fellows on 4 wheelers. We highly recommend this series!


Sunday we thrilled to traveling along the Quehanna Highway along Wykoff Run. This road has been recently improved and because it is in the middle of nowhere takes you through a splendid area.

Not all of our searches were successful. We bombed on finding Qarre's God's Country mystery box even though we were really certain we had a good chance of finding it having visited the area last October. We also came up empty handed at Austin Dam where all was left was half of a soggy log under a rock. Tired and hungry but not defeated, we continued on. It took us trying multiple times to buy ourselves some lunch with the third time being a charm just before 5pm in the calm town of Smethport.

There were highs and lows through out the weekend. We grumbled at the section of ripped post-it-note log that was saturated with the ink leaked from the stamp pad. We let our spirits soar as 8 young turkeys followed their momma. We sobbed as a chipmunk died after one of us hit it with our bike. We held hands gazing across a golden field of wheat. Store bought self inking stamps that were not matched to the box's theme and highly detailed hand carved masterpieces. Too many blow downs to find even the clues mentioned for one box but first to find another.


We didn't realize until today that sandwiched somewhere in the middle of all of this craziness, we hit our 100th find. We think it's fitting to remember the entire weekend when thinking of our 100th. A blend of awesome and mundane, terrific and expected, challenge and ease; a letterboxing roller coaster.

Wonderful Week

My family just had a very nice week of visiting. We had a picnic, put up our May Pole, and went on a rail trail bike ride.



We picked up Ravenboy last Tuesday and got to hear bits about his tour to Kansas City, Chicago, and Los Angeles. It's amazing some of the things that they had to deal with. The week he was in Chicago, there were few food options left open nearby when they were done for the day. They had the choice of either room service ($68.00 for breakfast for 2) or a local 711. Ravenboy and his friend are trying to save money and opted for the 711. They don't have too many vegetarian choices so the poor guys ended up eating egg salad sandwiches for 5 - 6 nights in a row. His friend started to get a stomach ache because of it.

He also told us of cool things he saw in LA. He reunited with a very good friend on the west coast and she took him around the city sight seeing a few times. He got to see Hollywood and spent an afternoon at the beach. Ravenboy's skin never gets to see sunlight so this meant instant burn and a quick search for aloe.

While he was home, we had our annual picnic for friends at Spring Creek Park. It was chilly but we had fun playing games and eating.

We also did a stretch of Lower Trail on our bikes. There are sections that are closed due to the damage Hurricane Ivan did but we found a nice section to pedal and chat and goof around on. We passed snacks from person to person without stopping, took photos of a mysterious outdoor cafe, and discouraged Ravenboy from doing his Jet Li moves on a speeding bike.

We took Ravenboy back to NYC yesterday. We were going to go to an Indian restaurant for a meal but found we needed reservations. We decided to go to our favorite place, Zen Palate. We jumped into a cab and got to Union Square in just a few minutes. As we were going into the restaurant, we saw that a group was on a stage and we decided to check it out. They were speaking and giving some type of award and Morgan Freeman was standing up there smiling. Ravenboy's radar kicked in because Morgan Freeman's last movie was "Unleashed" with Jet Li (set to be released here in the states in about a week.) Sure enough, there on the stage was the man. Ravenboy was able to snap a couple of photos of Jet Li before he got into a car an zoomed uptown. We were lucky to have a approached the stage from the back, just at that moment.

Pine Creek Trail

What a glorious weekend spent with my most favorite person in the whole world, RGBisMe. We packed up our bikes and went north to bike on the Pine Creek Trail. It's a 54 mile rail trail between Ansonia and Jersey Shore. We only did small sections of it but what we did was terrific. We also stopped at to view PA Grand Canyon near Wellsboro (photo above) and were able to see the rafts and kayaks that were floating down Pine Creek all day long.



We biked most of the northern section starting at the Darling Run access. Most of the rafters early in the day seemed cheery and waved to us as they floated by. We were able to find a couple of letterboxes and RGBisMe almost pocketed one of the stamps for keeps. We had to take it back when we found what had happened.



Later in the day found us near the Rattlesnake Rock access. After hiking a small section of the West Rim Trail we enjoyed lunch there and found a few more letterboxes. I won't print the pictures from the restroom but let me say it had some of the funniest graffiti.





By the end of the day, we had made it as far south as Cedar Run and Hilborn. We loved this section and ran into a couple of nice fellows who showed us where they had seen an otter family playing last year! Upon returning to the car, RGBisMe read the menu outside of the Cedar Run Inn. They had a wonderful vegetarian entrée! We dined there and drove home talking and scheming about biking the entire length someday. Join us? We snagged 8 letterboxes along the way and planted one.