Father's Day, Hersheypark

Blog time yet again! Last post left me going to sleep in Stroudsburg, PA, I think. A sixty-five miler to Schyulkill Haven followed. In my mind right now it was pretty uneventful, either because it was actually uneventful or (more likely) because it's getting to the point where all the days are blending together into one big fun crazy biking building blob. One thing I do remember is that several of us Pennsylvanian riders (and there are actually quite a few of us) had parents who drove out to meet us, either on the route itself or later in the day. One girl's (Jill's) parents brought a whole bunch of fresh fruit and veggies to our lunch stop- a welcome, nutritious change from the standard bagels and bananas.


This just happened to be Father's Day, and it so happens that my dad was able to come up to hang out that night and ride with us the next day. And get this: the bed and breakfast my dad stayed at, the only one in Schuylkill Haven, was literally right next door to the church house we were all staying in. And if this wasn't all coincidence enough, he needed to be be in the area anyway for a business meeting in Hershey, which was a stop on our route the next day! How 'bout that.

So that was a fun night in Schuylkill Haven (which, incidentally, is pronounced with an obnoxious Dutch accent) catching up with the old man, just walking around town and chatting. The ride to Hershey the next day was rainy and cold buta great way to spend Father's Day, albeit a little late, and the real, sit-down lunch at dad's hotel with our riding mate for the day, Kyle, was amazing. To cap it all off, one of the trip leaders got us free tickets to Hershey Park for the day. Two water slides, a roller coaster and a final ten miles later, Harrisburg was finally in sight.

Quick summary of the next two days: Tuesday was Harrisburg to Chambersburg, PA. A good route, about fifty-five, pretty flat with some rolling hills. Today though, to Hancock, Maryland, was kind of hell. Only fifty-seven, but it was 95+ degrees and very very hilly- apparently we rode over a few Appalachian peaks. Apparently we have more tomorrow, so I'm going to leave off here with some pictures. Among them (in no particular order): my eagle buddy, one of the big flowery welcome signs to Hershey, the Wildcat coaster at Hershey, Pete K. biking some free pizza he scored to lunch, the small town carnival we went to in Chambersburg, the goldfish someone won at said carnival, the state capital in Harrisburg, a tractor on a rural PA road and a group of us taking a rest in a miraculous air-conditioned ice cream shop en route to Maryland.