Sweet Ride Ice Cream (Lititz Fire and Ice Festival, Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, Li’l-Le-Hi Trout Nursery)

February 18, 2024

Sweet Ride Ice Cream, West Reading, PA

I have been to Sweet Ride Ice Cream before – it’s one of my favorites -a beautiful, friendly, nicely designed and decorated shop with great, homemade ice cream in plenty of interesting flavors – what more could and ice cream blogger ask for?

When we walked in to the shop, we were greeted by the folks behind the counter and given all the time we wanted to peruse our choices. In addition to ice cream, signature sundaes and plenty of topping choices, they also had vegan ice cream, ice cream drinks and ice cream cup cakes. They even have an ice cream truck if you want Sweet Ride Ice Scream at your next event.

I chose a sampler of 4 flavors – Banana Peanut Butter Chip ( banana flavor with peanut butter chips – great creaminess), Espresso Blast (they were not kidding with the blast! Great coffee flavor with chocolate chips), Cupid’s Milk and Cookies (pretty pink color, lots of flavor), and Fluffernutter (a throwback to my younger years). I loved all the flavors, but much to my surprise, my favorite was the Cupid’s Milk and Cookies.

For seating, there are two bars, one by the front windows and one near the ice cream counter. There are also plenty of tables inside. I assume that there are outside tables in the summer, but I am not sure. This shop is a must visit if you are in the area.

In the area: Initially we planned to visit the area to possibly see snow geese, but we found some more interesting things to do when we arrived..

Lititz Fire and Ice Festival, Lititz, Pennsylvania – to sculpt ice, artisans normally start with specially prepared ice blocks made with very clean water with few dissolved gases. Using special tools, they then slowly and carefully cut and chisel the block into a rough form. The artist finally painstakingly makes fine details to create a beautiful, but temporary, masterpiece. The Lititz Fire and Ice Festival featured many beautifully carved ice sculptures situated in Lititz Springs Park and around the town,

Ice sculpture in Lititz, PA

The day we visited The Fire and Ice Festival in Lititz, PA, was the perfect day, cold enough for the ice sculptures to remain intact, but warm enough to walk around and enjoy the sights. The town’s ice sculptures. most 3 to 4 feet high, some larger, were situated around the town. It was a lot of fun walking around and looking at them. Many were instantly recognizable, others required some thought. Some needed to viewed from different angles to truly be appreciated. All were works of art with fine details to be enjoyed – my favorite was the North Wind God that had ice wind swirls coming out from the sculpture.

Queen for a minute

As we were leaving, we saw smoke coming from Lititz Park and thought we finally got the ‘Fire’ part of the ‘Fire and Ice Festival’. There we a group of scouts offering smores with with fires for roasting marshmallows (a really nice groups of scouts handing out the makings for smores – don’t miss this stop!), but the scoutmaster assured me it was not from them. He thought the “Fire’ was from a chili cook off that happened the night before,

We very much enjoyed our visit here – it started to get crowded by early afternoon, so come early to avoid crowds.

Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, Elverson, Pennsylvania – Historic iron furnaces are common sites in much of the northern US, but the process and the lifestyle of the folks who ran them has always been a bit of a mystery, At the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site, the process is explained and can be envisioned in the historic structure. The process of obtaining iron requires three things: a fuel source (charcoal), flux for removing impurities (limestone) and iron ore (magnetite). The charcoal was obtained by slowly burning wood harvested in the vast forests near Hopewell. The limestone was abundant in the area and magnetite was mined from near by surface sources.

Hopewell explains how the iron furnaces were filled, smelted and the iron obtained. Much of the iron was either used for wood-burning stove plates, or made into pig iron bars to be shipped to other locations. It was fascinating to follow the process from start to finish, to see how the furnace was loaded in layers, heated and the product removed. This is a great site for folks interested in the history of technology,

The site also shows the lifestyle of the charcoal workers, laborers, and site supervisors, There was even a historic farm with animals. Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site has something of interest to almost anyone.

Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, Stevens, Pennsylvania – if you search for snow geese on-line you will find a plethora of videos showing snow geese migrations where thousands of snow geese migrate in late winter and congregate on lakes in places like Middle Creek, I did not really believe that I would see this kinds of migration, but I had to try. We arrived late afternoon at Middle Creek Wildlife Management and toured their visitor center which was very well done – plenty of interesting exhibits and a bird watching area with volunteers helping to identify what we saw. The white board in the visitor center said there were 8,000 snow geese observed that morning. After the visitor center closed, we explored the park more and eventually went to the viewing area where the snow geese were supposed to congregate. Either we were too early, or the geese did not get the memo. I think I did see 5 snow geese when we were driving around. Fortunately the park and visitor center was interesting enough to make it worth a visit the park.

Li’l- Le-Hi Trout Nursery, Allentown, Pennsylvania – This was supposed to be a quick stop on our way home, but I include it here because it was an interesting stop, and not as quick as we expected.

trout hatchery, covers are to stop birds from eating the fish

Trout are freshwater fish that are native to the area, but not spawning in sufficient numbers for sport fishermen. This hatchery grew trout from fingerlings until they were ready to be released. With placards explaining the process, we walked around the large tanks learning about the process and admiring the fish.

There was even fish food in vending machines, so we could feed the fish in certain tanks and watch the crazy feeding fenzy,

Scandinavian Shave Ice, Kona, Hawaii

October 14, 2023

Scandinavian Shave Ice, Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

Kona Hawaii is a delightful town on the Pacific Ocean with plenty of shops, historic sites. and breath- taking scenery. It was here that we found Scandinavian Shave Ice.

Hawaiian Shave Ice is a traditional dessert in Hawaii in which a block of ice is shaved into small pieces and flavored with syrups. The creations are colorful, usually quite large and often include a scoop of ice cream in the middle of the ice. I happily partook of the wonderful traditional food while in Kona watching the Ironman race. It always feels a little ironic that while our daughter is doing an intense race, burning calories,, I enjoy watching while eating lots of calories.

Tasty and fun to eat

Scandinavian Shave Ice is a small shop with a menu that gives options for ordering the perfect treat. They start with a plastic dish the shape of a an ice cream cone and fill it with shaved ice, flavored with your choice of syrups and a scoop of ice cream is placed on top. This is then covered with a thick layer of shave ice to make a large and beautifully colored snow ball. Eating it is fun – the texture is more of snow texture than a sno-cone. For the ice cream, I ordered Kona joy, and for the shaved ice I ordered lime, grape and mango, With over 60 flavors for the shaved ice and numerous ice cream flavors, there are so many combinations to try! This is a not to be missed treat in Kona.

The shop had small tables to eat at, but being in downtown Kona, we chose to sit along the beautiful waterfront to enjoy them. I definitely want to have this again.

In the area: Kalua Kona has a chill and fun atmosphere, enhanced by the Ironman athletes and their supporters who were there for the race. Among the athletes was our daughter.

Ironman Woman’s World Championship Race, Kona, Hawaii- Ironman races are challenging – athletes swim 2,4 miles then bike 116 miles and finally run a marathon.  Probably the most challenging Ironman race is the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii where the swim is in the Pacific Ocean, the bike ride is over hot, dry and windy volcanic terrain and the run is hilly and long. Athletes must qualify for this race usually through placing in a previous full Ironman race – the competitors are all amazing athletes. In previous years, the race was the championship race for both male and female athletes, but this year the race was split and the women’s championships were in Hawaii and the men’s were in France (this will switch nest year and the women will be in France, the men Hawaii). It was nice for the women to have their own race. We spent the day enjoying and watching all the amazing athletes.

Our daughter finishing the Ironman World Championships!

The Queen’s Bath, Kona, Hawaii – separated from the Pacific by a rim of rocks, the Queens Bath is a great place to enjoy and relax, It is calm, scenic and warm, with waves spilling over from the Pacific from time to time, We took some time to enjoy this while our daughter was biking at the far end of the island. The bath is easily walkable from town, but a bit tricky to find. A local person both recommended we stop there and gave us directions. 

Gypsea Gelato

(Big Island Abalone. Greenwell Farms, Kona Salt Farm)

October 16, 2023

Gypsea Gelato, Kealakekua, Big Island, Hawaii

Gypsea Gelato was an interesting place where one could come for the ice cream (or gelato) or expresso and stay to play Connect Four or corn hole, shop for a new hat, look at artwork or sit on a comfortable chair to read a book or play on their cell phone – an ice cream shop that has it all! Seating included a wooden boat with plenty of children’s books, large tables for groups, and padded throne-style chairs.

Seating to make you feel like royalty

There were plenty of frozen treats to enjoy including Hawaiian favorites such as “Macadamia Nut”, “Tom Kha” (coconut), “Kona Coffee” and “Lilikoi” (passion fruit) and more traditional flavors including “Just Chocolate”, “Just Dark Chocolate” and “Salted Caramel” , I went with Lilikoi. I found texture to be creamy, but the flavor a bit weak. We enjoyed our treats inside since it was drizzly outside.

Gypsea Gelato

In the area – today we went on two factory tours and one farm tour, All were wonderful and I highly recommend them,

Big Island Abalone, Kona, Hawaii -Abalones are edible mollusks with ear shaped shells. In addition to being an important food source in many parts of the world. their colorful, iridescence-lined shells make them attractive for use in jewelry. Big Island Abalone aquafarrm is an abalone grower that offers tours of their facility. 

Abalone life span

Our tour began with an introduction to our tour guide – a very interesting and knowledgeable scientist from Japan. He introduced us to the abalones by showing us the life cycle from eggs to the harvestable mollusks. We then walked through rows of tanks as he explained how the fish are raised. As the abalones grow, they are moved between tanks until ready to harvest. They are fed seaweed, which is grown in separate tanks which we also shown.  

After the tour of the abalones and seaweed growing area, our guide brought us to a tank with other interesting sea creatures that they keep solely to show tourists, The tour was followed by the tour guide preparing abalones in two different ways and giving us samples to try, with sea grapes for garnish. I never had abalone before, and I liked it, but the the rubbery texture would take some getting used to. The sea grapes were fun to eat.

Kona Salt Farm, Kona, Hawaii -Sodium chloride, often referred to as “Salt” is an essential component of our diets -we need it to live, but too much is obviously not good for us. Salt used in cooking may come from a variety of sources, such as underground salt beds and seawater extraction. Today we toured Kona Salt Farm, a seawater extraction facility . 

Kona Salt Farm final drying step, with our great tour guide

Due to the volcanic formation of this area in Hawaii, the ocean becomes very deep very near the coast. It is here that the Kona Salt Farm gets seawater for salt – specifically 2200 feet below the ocean surface, where the salt is cleaner and richer in minerals than salts mined closer to the surface. 

    solar evaporation system

Our tour guide started by showing us the scenic Pacific Ocean coast by the farm, and taking our pictures by the beautiful back drop, Then she got down to explaining of the technical side of salt production. We saw from a distance where the clean, cool salt water was brought up from the deep ocean, and then headed to the drying facility. The deep sea water went through a series of evaporation steps to obtain the pure, healthy salt. 

The different qualities of salts including finishing salt, coarse salt and first flake salt were discussed and shown to us – all chemically the same, but with different textures. We were then given a chance to try and buy the resulting salts at the end of the tour, including flavored salts where additional ingredients were added to flavor to the used in cooking or serving.

Our tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable and very happy to show us the amazing process. a tour I highly recommend.

Greenwell Farms, Kealakekua, Hawaii – The volcanic soil, the climate and the winds and weather patterns on the Big Island of Hawaii all come together to produce some of the best coffee in the world, known as “Kona Coffee”. We stopped at Greenwell farms for a tour of coffee-growing plantation. 

The coffee plants produce white flowers followed by green berries which happened before we arrived. The green berries then produce red fruit called “cherries”. Our tour guide gave each one of us a cherry and we removed the outer fruit to reveal an inner seed known as the coffee bean, covered with a slimy layer. Commercially removing the outer coating is done using a “pulper”, which our guide he showed us, The next steps in the process are a short fermentation, rinsing and sun drying. We saw the beans going through each step ending with beans drying on big trays in the sun. We learned about the different grades of Kona Coffee and challenges in growing the crop. We were able to sample some of the various coffee products in their small store.

But Greenwell farms did not just grow coffee, they had several other crops that thrive in the warm. moist Kona environment, the most interesting to me being bananas and black pepper. 

Black pepper plants (foreground) and banana trees (background) at Grreenwell Farms

The bananas grew on a row of very tall trees with a common root system. Each year all the plants were torn down and regrown. Fascinating that they could grow that tall in one year. The rows of black pepper plants with the clumps of peppercorns were in the process of ripening were also present.

Dave’s Ice Cream (Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Pearl Harbor National Aviation Museum, Dole Plantation, Kaiwi State Scenic Shoreline, He’eia State Park)

October 19, 2023

Dave’s Ice cream, Honolulu, Hawaii

Dave’s Ice Cream “Made Fresh in Hawaii” has multiple locations in Hawaii. We drove into the parking lot (free and coinvent parking -score one for Dave’s) parked and walked in to the shop where we were met by both nicely painted walls and friendly employees pleased to let us try their ice cream. I was happy to oblige them. First I tried Ube Ice Cream which is a purple yam flavor, I did not expect to like it, but found both its flavor and texture pleasing. Next I tried Kulolo Ice Cream, which is a taro flavor, one of their best sellers, this too was much better than I expected.

Dave’s Ice Cream wall mural

I decided to order other traditional Hawaiian flavors: Haupia (coconut pudding flavor) and Lemon Custard Ice Cream. What I liked best about Dave’s ice creams was the smooth and creamy texture. Their flavors were all new to me, so I had no baseline to decide if I liked them or not. Don ordered mint chocolate chip which was a flavor I was more versed with, and it was great.

Dave’s also sold novelties, shave ice and Icees. There were picnic tables outside and small tables inside. We sat inside to avoid the heat outside and to read the whimsical sayings on the wall. We really enjoyed the friendly service and great ice cream at Dave’s.

In the area – Dave’s Ice Cream is located in Honolulu close to Pearl Harbor historic sites. I have included them here along with some of the other sites we visited on O’ahu.

Pearl Harbor National Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii – On December 7, 1941 Pearl Harbor, a United States Naval Base was bombed by the Japanese, resulting in the loss of more than 2,400 American lives, and numerous naval vessels including battleships and airplanes. This was America’s entry into World War II. This National Park site educates visitors on what actually happened and why and what the after effects were. It brings the horror of the situation to life as well as the unification of the country after the attack.

The USS Arizona was hit and sank, taking over 1700 lives with it. Their watery grave was left in place and the National Park provides a shuttle to visit a viewing platform over the ship. It is a sacred spot, and being there with the volunteers telling stories about men who died brought the tragedy to life.

The USS Oklahoma was also bombed resulting in the ship turning on its side trapping men inside. Rescuers were alerted to the location of trapped sailors when they heard sailors tapping from inside the inverted ship. Only a small percentage of the men were able to be freed when rescuers cut through the hull of the ship. Many more tragically drowned.

USS Arizona Memorial – volunteers gave interesting accounts of the ship and men who perished when the ship went down,

The National Park Service put together a fascinating memorial recounting the Pearl Harbor attack – its causes, what actually happened and its aftermath. I was so impressed with how well this museum was put together – it is something everyone should see. it includes several buildings of exhibits, a boat ride to the USS Arizona, a movie and numerous outdoor exhibits.

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii – a shuttle ride away from from the Pearl Harbor National Memorial is the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. This is a great place for military history buffs and aviation fanatics to explore, There are plenty of airplanes and helicopters on display with stories about their combat missions. Former president George Bush was a military pilot and some of the types of planes he flew were on display. Although I know little about aviation, I was impressed with the breath of aircrafts and information provided. The aviation experts walking around (including Don) were very pleased with the museum.

The aviation museum includes a hanger which was in service for airplane repair when the Pearl Harbor bombing took place. The windows still have bullet holes sustained during the battle.

Dole Plantation -We spent a week exploring islands of Hawaii and found only one total rip-off tourist trap – the Dole Planation. Over-crowded, too expensive with tired staff going through the motions. I do not recommend visiting here.

Kaiwi State Scenic Shoreline – The east shore of O’ahu, Hawaii is unpredictably rocky – a bad thing for ships travelling in the area. To reduce the number of ships lost here, the Makapu”u Lighthouse was built in 1909. Today a 1 mile paved Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail allows visitors to walk to an over look above the lighthouse. A great scenic walk, all uphill (downhill on the return trip) with amazing ocean views is so beautiful, it is worth the stop. The lighthouse is not available for tours.

View from the overlook on Makapu’u Point Lighthouse Trail

He’eia State Park is on the Pacific Ocean with nice walking trails and rental Kayaks. Being on the beautiful, calm Pacific Ocean, I could not resist the renting a kayak.. As recommended by park attendants, I paddled out to a sandbar a bit over a mile away, The entire way was breathing scenery with shallow turquoise water, coral reefs, and darker deeper water. Sea turtles floated around enjoying sunny day – one actually passed right under my kayak.

When I got to the sandbar, I jumped out of my kayak and enjoyed the warm, clear, salty water. When I went to return, I was not too successful at figuring out how I got there (note to self- you always map your run in the woods, perhaps[s you should always map your kayak rides). I eventually had to call the state park because I had no idea how to get back (glad I had a cell phone to share my location!). I somehow got miles away from both sandbar and the state park. Bonus – to get back to the kayak rental place I got to ride on a pontoon boat with a park personal as my private tour guide. Worth the trip, just keep better track than I did of where you are going, and bring a charged cell phone. Beautiful water, wonderful staff, nice walking trail.

Widnoon Soft Serve (Redbank Valley Rail Trail, Scripture Rocks Heritage Park, Panxsutawney, Bilger’s Rocks)

July 8, 2023

Widnoon Soft Serve, Widnoon, Pennsylvania This was our second stop on our Scooped Ice Cream Trail challenge. Widnoon has only soft serve – vanilla, chocolate, twist and a special flavor each day – today it was peanut butter.

The customer in front of me got a small Turtle Sundae which looked huge and tasty. I decided to copy her so when I stepped up to the window, I ordered a small Turtle Sundae. Don ordered a milkshake.

Their slogan is ‘Where portions are big and prices are small’. When they said big portions, they were not kidding! A customer in front of us got the biggest soft serve cone I have ever seen – enough for two hungry people.

There was a spacious lawn on the side of the building with plenty of outdoor seating to enjoy your ice cream.

Bilger’s Rocks, Grampian, Pennsylvania – most rocks are old – Bilger’s rocks are

Bilger’s rocks

Redbank Valley Rail Trail – a wide, crushed cinder trail along a scenic creek with lush vegetation, interesting tunnels and soothing creek sounds – this rail trail has it all.

Brady Tunnel

States Trail of the year in 2020We ride our bikes from New Bethlehem to St. Charles passing through both the Climax Tunnel and the Brady Tunnel.

Scripture Rocks Heritage Park

Panxsutawney, Pennsylvania – every year, when Groundhog’s Day rolls around, folks flock to Panxsutawney, Pennsylvania to see if Panxsutawney Phil will see his shadow. Phil is a groundhog and according to legend, if he sees his shadow, we will be in for a late spring.

The town is decorated throughout with woodchuck states that are creatively themed and decorated. Phil takes visitors some days, but not today.

Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream (Bridger-Teton National Forest, Grand Teton National Park)

August 2, 2023

Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Jackson Hole, Wyoming is known for its skiing, hiking, fishing and other year-round outdoor activities. Our visit there today included some hiking and a stop at Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream.

We walked into into the shop and immediately realized that we were not the only ones with this idea. There were display cases with chocolate candy and light up boards with espresso stuff, cold drink stuff and fruit smoothie stuff, and then the important stuff – ice cream flavors and make-your-own-sundae choices. Moo’s had plenty of interesting flavors including Gingerbread, Buzz Bomb (strong coffee) and Creme Brulee.

We had a fun server who encouraged us to sample whatever we were interested in. I tried the Creme Brulee (a desert I have never really liked, but I wanted to see how well they could catch the flavor – they did pretty good) and White Chocolate Raspberry (creamy and tasty). I also tried Gingerbread (not a flavor for me) and Mint chocolate chip (off white color, quite tasty and creamy). I then ordered a half scoop of English Toffee and a half scoop of Jamison Irish Whiskey Pecan. Both were quite good, The Jameson was interesting because I could barely taste the whisky flavor, but others in my group tasted it quite strongly. We all agreed on the great taste of the English Toffee.

I liked the way that Moo’s offered two half scoops in double cone. I have not seen these cones in many years, so it seemed sort of nostogalic – one scoop on each side. This option was particularly attractive since their scoops were large, We sat at their indoor seating area due to rainy weather outside, and enjoyed our ice cream, and our great company,

Moo’s Gourmet Ice Cream

In the area: North western Wyoming is very rural and beautiful with large flat farms and natural areas between not-so-distant mountain peaks. Despite our best efforts, we did not see any moose, except moose statues everywhere.

Elk Antler sculpture over roadway in Afton Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, Wyoming – When we drove out of the southern of Yellowstone National Park, we drove right into Grand Teton National Park – not even a franchise restaurant in between. Grand Teton is land set aside for all to enjoy majestic scenery of the Grand Teton mountains – plenty of hiking, biking, swimming and sight seeing opportunities abound here. Much of this scenic land was bought by John D. Rockefeller Jr, to prevent development and then donated to the national park service in 1950.

The glacier topped Mountains are incredibly magnificent to view, and some other patrons let us use their binoculars to get a better view of the glaciers, They were looking for mountain sheep, but could not find any today. We stopped at the the joint academic-government research section of the park and learned a little about the four types of amphibians found in the park. This is a very beautiful park and perhaps I will get a chance to explore it more someday.

Cache Creek Trail, Bridger-Teton National Forest, Wyoming – Bridger-Teton National Forest is 3.4 million acres of pristine land preserved for clean water, wildlife conservation and outdoor enjoyment for folks like us, We did a short (3 mile) hike along the Cache Creek Trail. Starting our walk in the rain, the moistness enhanced the already vibrant colors of flowers and vegetation, Including my favorite – fragrant wild roses.

Cache Creek

The trail begins with a short scenic boardwalk and continues along the Cache Creek. The creek is crossed from time to on wooden bridges and includes small elevation changes. A totally enjoyable walk in any weather.

The City Creamery (Yellowstone National Park)

July 31, 2023

The City Creamery, West Yellowstone, Montana

The name “City Creamery” hit me quite funny because I would not consider West Yellowstone a “City”, but we are in Montana, not New Jersey. Much of West Yellowstone seemed to be a place for tourists visiting Yellowstone National Park to stay, unfortunately we did not explore the area beyond the tourist district – we simply ran out of time. Our visit to the City Creamery was at night after leaving Yellowstone National Park,

The City Creamery

Our friendly server showed us the machinery used to make the ice cream – older traditional machinery that I have seen in antique magazines – it would have been fun to see them in action. The City Creamery prepared a variety of creative flavors including Huckleberry-Honey-Lavender and Cowboy Coffee as well as the old standbys of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry. I had Peppermint and it was quite tasty. I cannot say that antique machinery made ice cream any better than modern machinery, but it would have been more fun to watch.

It would have been fun to see these in action.

There were tables next to the store to eat at, which we did tonight. Normally it would have been fun to walk around the town, but since it was quite late, mostly everything else was closed – We were glad the City Creamery kept hours like shops in most cities.

Great ending to a great day

In the area: Yellowstone National Park – Around 630,000 years ago a massive volcano erupted in what is now the western United states, The hollows in the ground resulting from the emptying magma collapsed causing a caldera where hot magma is still relatively close to the surface. The hot magma still causes numerous hot springs, fumaroles, geysers, paint pots, and mud springs.

I first went there as a child over 50 years ago. My memories are of the Old Faithful geyser which as a child I found cool, but not as thrilling as my parents did (now I find it really thrilling) and of hot springs where people would throw in coins for good luck, My brothers and I got sticks and fished the coins out – we never had much money in those days. so this was like a gold mine.. Time has marched on as it always does, and Yellowstone is no longer a place where throwing anything into hot springs is okay and getting that close to hot springs is not okay either. – But the changes make it an even better place to visit. There are fabulous boardwalks which enhance the experience by allowing folks to safely see a wide variety of hot springs, geysers, fumaroles and many, many other things close up and safely. I absolutely loved it.

Yellowstone also has wide sections outside the caldera that include waterfalls, canyons, mountains and lots of wildlife including bison, elk, and bears.

Sheep Eater Cliff – here you can leave the restrictions of boardwalks and climb on the rocks – a uncrowded area that was a great place to explore and rest at.

In 1872 Yellowstone National Park was created – the first national park in the world.

Grand Prismatic Spring – so amazing beautiful – like so many of the sights at Yellowstone.

Lake Isla – only natural body of water that flows into both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans

Yellowstone National Park far exceeded my expectations – we explored it for two and a half days and never tired of it – there were so many great things that I will not even pretend to describe much more that a very small fraction.

Old Faithful Geyser had been going off at regular intervals for longer than the national park existed – it is not as regular as it used to be, but it is still close to a schedule, so we enjoyed watching it, Right next to Old Faithful is the Bee Hive Geyser which normally goes off once a day, we were able to get very close to it and feel the pressure that forced the water far into the air, Another of my favorite geysers was the Steamboat geyser, called Old Unpredictable, because its eruptions have varied between 48 hours and 50 years – it did not go up while we were there.,

Yellowstone National Park is a not-to-be-missed park.

The Churning Caldron – in the Mud Volcano Area –

Reed’s Dairy (Idaho Potato Museum, Idaho Falls)

July 29, 2023

Reed’s Dairy, Idaho Falls, Idaho

It is always fun to go to a farm for ice cream. Today we went to Reeds Dairy headquarters which has an ice cream shop and farm animals.

Reeds Dairy

Walking into the shop we saw cases of farm fresh milk (including huckleberry milk) cheeses (we bought cheese curds for later) and awesome looking pies. The walk-up counters served served grilled cheese, Italian Ice, gelati and most importantly, ice cream. With so many interesting flavors including Key Lime Pie and Blue Moo (blue Cookie Dough ice cream with Oreos and cookie dough pieces), I was glad when the server offered to let me sample flavors, I tried Honeycomb ( interesting flavor and creamy) and Huckleberry (a local favorite), which I liked so much I ordered it. Serving size was generous and the ice cream creamy and tasty.

Love these folks!

The shop had plenty of inside seating options, so we chose a table we could all share and sat down to enjoy our treats. After we were finished eating, we walked through the farm animals – chickens, pigs, sheep, cows and even a donkey.

Hiding from the heat at Reeds Dairy Farm

In the area – This was my first ever visit to Idaho, I enjoyed the scenery and atmosphere of the whole area. i hope to someday make to to Cor d’Alene and Boise, but today we were in south eastern Idaho, where we stopped a few places along way.

Idaho Potato Museum and the Potato Station Cafe, Blackfoot, Idaho – This museum celebrates the Idaho Potato with videos, artifacts and displays of potato production, history, uses and fun exhibits like create your Mr. Potato head, and virtual reality goggles to let you ride on a potato harvester. I learned everything I ever wanted to know about potatoes and more. . .

Create your own Mr; Potato Head. Andrew is proud that he can finally do this.

No potato museum visit would be complete without a visit to a cafe – As would be expected the Potato Station Cafe is attached to the museum -and it has potatoes on the menu – really fresh cut fries, baked potatoes, tater tots and a fixin bar with all sorts of stuff to put on them. We got a selection of items and had more than we could finish. This is a fun stop in southern Idaho.

Idaho Falls Riverwalk, Idaho Falls, Idaho – The Snake River starts in Yellowstone National Park and winds across several states until it empties into the Colombia River in Washington State. As it meanders along it its 1,078 miles, it passes through Idaho Falls, Idaho – here it has waterfalls which can be easily viewed from the riverwalk. The riverwalk has creative seats and artwork (such as moose sculptures) along the way and kayakers in the river. A great spot for a walk if you are in the area.

Idaho Falls

Milkhouse Creamery (Concrete City, Alvira Bunkers)

July 9, 2023

Milkhouse Creamery, Drums, Pennsylvania

We arrived at this Milkhouse creamery (“homemade ice cream and quality dairy products”) farm store on a rainy day in July. Inside we found beautiful ice cream cakes, plain and flavored milks (such as orange) in glass bottles, snacks, beverages and plenty of seating at tables.

At the ice cream counter, there were flavors available every day, and special flavors offered for a limited time. Happily all flavors could be made into milkshakes.. There were plenty of sundae choices, so I ordered a PB explosion sundae with Hoof Prints Ice Cream. The ice cream was creamy and there were plenty of toppings on top – yummy.

great seating area outside

Outside, Milkhouse had plenty so creative seating such as individual chair swings. We sat under an awning in the rain watching lightning and listening to thunder all around us, and enjoyed our sundaes.

In the area: We stopped here on the way home from a longer trip across Pennsylvania. We stopped at two sets of historical structures that could be considered “failures” each in their own way.

Concrete City, Nanticoke, Pennsylvania – in 1911, the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad built new housing for its employees made solely of concrete, It was an honor for a given employee to be offered housing in the luxury duplex units built around a court yard with a swimming pool and ball fields. While it seemed a great idea to build super durable houses from concrete, the experiment was short lived due to the cold, drafty and wet indoor environments – the homes were therefore abandoned and sat idle for many years, Eventually an attempt was made to destroy the homes, but after 100 sticks of dynamite failed to cause any significant damage, they were left standing for folks like us to explore., We walked around the very wet and overgrown property and explored the inside the two story houses with basements. I did not find the swimming pool, but I did find a totally awesome and fascinating place to explore.

Concrete City

Abandoned Alvira Bunkers, State Game Lands, Union County, Pennsylvania

Alvira Bunker

During World War II the United States government did nearly everything in their power to defeat the enemies. Thinking they needed space for storage of explosives, they seized a plot of land in Alvira, Pennsylvania and built numerous bunkers to store explosives. These igloo-shaped bunkers were built into into hillsides or covered with ground with heavy metal doors and ceilings designed as weak points to allow any accidental explosions to go upward. many of these bunkers were either not used or used for only a short time. Now the bunkers, which are on the state game lands are free for anyone to walk through. The first couple of bunkers we found were heavily graffitied and used as storage or hang out places. However, It did not take too long for us to find one that was nearly unadulterated and easy to enter. The empty space felt vast and echoed – very cool. While there were many, many more in the area, we did not search any further, but my guess there are many more interesting things to discover here,.

Main Street Ice Cream Parlor (Olympic Jumping Complex, Lake Placid Ironman, Adirondack Loon Center)

July 24, 2023

Main Street Ice Cream Parlor, Chestertown, New York

Main Street Ice Cream Parlor

The term ‘old fashioned ice cream parlor’ conjures up nostalgic images of a wooden counter with fixed round bar stools, and a soda fountain. Main Street Ice Cream Parlor delightfully fits all my criteria. it is indeed an old fashioned ice cream parlor.

With lunch items (sandwiches, burgers, soups, salads),, desert items (pies and most importantly ice cream) it is a great place to enjoy a meal with friends, They served Hershey ice cream and had locally-themed sundaes. I decided on a “Snow Shoe” sundae with coffee ice cream – layers of ice cream, marshmallow and chocolate syrup. I guess this themed sundae is meant more for winter, but it was still a treat in July.

Main Street Ice Cream Parlor

While we waited for the sundaes to be prepared, I wandered around the shop perusing their eclectic array of jewelry, clothing, toys and nic-nacs.

Main Street Ice Cream Parlor, Chestertown NY outdoor seating

Outside the shop was nice large seating area where we enjoyed our sundaes, listening to thunder and anticipating the skies opening up with rain soon.

In the area (sort of) –

Adirondack Loon Center, Saranac Lake, New York – loons are very special birds that that inhabit lakes in the Adirondack Mountains ant throughout the northeastern United States. These birds do not have hollow bones like other birds – they have strong chest muscles that enable them to fly. This tiny museum celebrates loons with videos, photos and displays that taught us about their interesting fighting style, child rearing ways, habitat and lifestyles,

Adirondack Loon Center

Olympic Jumping Complex, Lake Placid, New York – ski jumping is a sport that has always fascinated me, both because of the heights and speeds involved and because of the way it is scored (based on distance and style). At the Olympic Jumping Complex , we got to see the jumping up close and meet some of the budding athletes on the field.

After a short gondola ride up the hill and an elevator to the top of the ramp, we could see what the jumpers see ( but we were protected inside).

Ski jump

Later we went outside to where ski jumping athletes were practicing. We arrived too late to get the formal tour, but that allowed us to meet some of the interesting athletes, many who travel most weekends of the year to practice and compete. One athlete told us he was taking the largest jump for the first time today (he unfortunately fell on landing, but was not hurt). We stood on decks right next to the ramps and watched them take flight- sooo cool!

Ski jumper in flight

Lake Placid Ironman Race, Lake Placid , New York – Ironman is often considered the ultimate endurance race – swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles and top it off with a marathon run ( 26 miles). Lake Placid is one of the most difficult Ironman races with large hills on both the bike course and the run course.

Erica runs the marathon

We were there to watch our daughter compete in this race. She finished it in under 15 hours – impressive! It is always fun to watch these athletes compete, seeing the culmination of months of training.

ake Placid Ironman Race, Lake Placid , New York – Ironman is often considered the ultimate endurance race – swim 2.4 miles, then bike 112 miles and top it off with a marathon run ( 26 miles). Lake Placid is one of the most difficult Ironman races with large hills on both the bike course and the run course.

Erica runs the marathon

We were there to watch our daughter compete in this race. She finished it in under 15 hours – impressive! It is always fun to watch these athletes compete, seeing the culmination of months of training.