We arrived in Harrisburg on Sunday night, June 28th. Dan picked us up from the airport and whisked us to the Kerr abode, right in the heart of Harrisburg on Susquehanna Street, named after the Susquehanna river. Liz and Dan gave us a warm welcome and we settled into the cosiness of their lounge with their cuddly Kitty Hannah B. They have another cat, Murray, who’s not so cuddly but has his own endearments, like prowling on our bed in the middle of the night, pawing over our sleeping bodies.
Liz was busy preparing for a nursing exam she was due to sit on Wednesday evening, so she was locked in study mode for the first few days of our visit. Dan is pretty much his own boss, so he was able to hang out with us the entire trip. On our first day Dan, Bodra and I cycled down to City Island to watch a baseball game between the Harrisburg Senators and the Erie Seawolves. It was great sitting in the sun, drinking beer and watching the game, getting caught up with the atmosphere of the crowd. Harrisburg Baseball Game pics
On Tuesday we drove to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia- Dan had organised a camping trip for us. On the way we stopped off at Wendy’s for lunch. I surprised the till girl with my request for a salad burger, but one of the prep staff was smart enough to work out how that could be created. Flys were swarming all around the kitchen. It was far from the Wendy’s I had been craving.
We stayed in Mathews Arm campground. It took us a while to work out how to get there, despite having a sat-nav and an iPhone with GoogleMaps. It turned out we were too eager to turn off and headed along Browntown Road, which led us strangely enough to Browntown. After three dead ends we eventually found ourselves in Shenandoah Valley on Skyline Drive, which runs 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
We stopped off at the Ranger station at Elkwallow picnic site, and picked up a couple books and souvenirs. As we made our way to the campground we noticed half a dozen cars parked on the side of the road, so we pulled over to see what was going on. Ten metres or so into the forest we found a Black Bear and three cubs foraging for plants and insects. We watched them for a while but standing in the long grass had it’s drawbacks- we were under siege by midges!
We settled into the campground late in the afternoon and after spotting a fawn and deer in the forest, we had a game of Frisbee in the parking area, every so often changing positions to shake the cloud of bugs. Once we had exhausted our arms we made our way back to our tents and on the way saw a lone Black Bear foraging nearby. A little bit nerve-racking to know bears traipse only a few feet from where we sleep, but they seemed disinterested in our presence so I wasn’t alarmed. As we walked back to our tents I noticed a steel pole with hooks at the top- a ‘bear pole’ to hang food out of a bear’s reach. Eekkk! Bears are a real danger! We made an excellent dinner over our campfire- spuds, sausages and tofu shish-kebabs.
The following day we tackled the Appalachian Trail, a miniscule part of it but still, we can say we’ve been on it! We left Mathews Arm Camp Ground before 8am and began a 6.5 mile hike through the Shenandoah Forest, along the Piney Branch Trail, Appalachian trail and Foot Trail. The views of the valley were spectacular along Hogback overlook.
It was drawing close to lunchtime once we had finished the trail, so we headed back to Elkwallow for a munch. On our way back to Dan’s car we discovered more bears! Momma bear had returned with the three cubs. They climbed an apple tree in a matter of seconds and soon they were all balanced on branches nibbling on baby apples. The bears seemed quite happy busying themselves with their meal, until a dog was heard in the distance. The mother bear descended the tree and slowly ambled off into the forest. The cubs gradually followed her, coming down the tree trunk individually, then running across to the nearby tree which they then scampered up part way, before working out where their mum went to. Really cute!
Elated from our bonus bear action, we decided to go for another walk to see the Overall Run Falls on Tuscarora Trail. The initial leg of the trail was all down hill, which didn’t bode well for the return journey, but I did spot a number of butterflys along the way. The environment took on an Australia feel, red earth and and rock and sub-tropical looking trees. We found a family camping alongside a river near the falls. What a mission to bring all that gear down, but a magnificent spot to spend a few days in.
We returned to Harrisburg that evening. Liz was home and happy to be free of her exam pressure. On Thursday morning we made our way to the land of Hershey, where Milton Hershey hailed from, creator of Hershey’s chocolates. But we weren’t there to meet the man, instead we were there for Hershey park! We had a choice of eleven different rollercoasters, as well as a water park. Our first choice, the Sooperdooperlooper, was far from thrilling, but it was good starting off with a poor ride as all the others were much more impressive. Our favourite was Fahrenheit. We waited in line in the baking heat for nearly an hour for this 85 second ride, but it was worth it and Liz kept us entertained. It began with a 90 degree vertical lift for 121ft, then down into a 97 degree negative drop (making it one of the steepest drop in the United States apparently), inverted loop, Norwegian loop, cobra roll and inverted corkscrew roll. Super fun!
After all that fun we fleed a sudden downpour, dashing across the carpark, leaping across ankle high pools of water, getting completely saturated. We returned to Harrisburg and joined Liz’s parents for dinner- a very entertaining couple! On Friday morning we met Liz’s dad, Jack, who took us for a tour of the Capitol, then we dropped in at Dan’s office to water his plants.
That evening Liz and Dan took us to a fabulous Mexican Restaurant. Yay for Margarita’s and Quesadilla! & yay for hurling it up a few hours later… an authentic Mexican experience. The next morning, Independence Day, we drove to New York, picking up snacks at the last market in Pennsylvania before dashing through New Jersey. This gas station had beer on tap!
I was quite overwhelmed as we entered New York- traffic buzzing everywhere, roads twisting in all direction, billboards plastered over every surface and sky rises soaring higher than I have ever seen before. We left our luggage with our hotel, unable to check-in as our rooms weren’t ready. Later that evening we were still unable to access our rooms- very frustrating! But we had a great day wandering through New York, I saw Times Square and the Flat Iron building. We journeyed to the top of the Empire State Building and gazed out across the entire city- magnificent!
We were lucky enough to wander into an Irish pub just in time to watch Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, a tradition for Independence Day. Contestants stuffed their faces with hot dogs for ten minutes. I cheered on Kobayashi, six time champion, but he only managed 64 1/2 hot dogs. Joey Chestnut scoffed down 68 for the win. I wonder if vegetarians could enter and if they would allow us to eat tofu hotdogs?
The Empire State Building pics
We found a fantastic Indian restaurant, “Tiffin Wallah”, for dinner, and afterwards headed over to Mel’s apartment near the Hudson river to enjoy a rooftop view of the Independence Day fireworks.
On Sunday morning we enjoyed bagels for breakfast and then wandered along Broadway to Central Park, entering from Columbus Circle. A great space to enjoy nature and exercise. Bedrock juts out all over the park and some people were bouldering. We picked up a bottle of wine, cheese, crackers and strawberries and enjoyed a picnic in the park, listening to a three piece jazz band busking nearby. In the afternoon, Carly, a friend from high school, and her husband Ryan, joined us, so we changed locations to an Irish pub.
We enjoyed friendly conversation and a pint, can’t remember the name of the brew, something Blue, maybe Blue Moon?
Sooner than I was ready, we had to make tracks, so we left Ryan and Carly and made our way back to the Westin to collect our luggage. We bade Dan and Liz farewell and attempted to work out the correct bus stop to get to JFK. As we waited, time started ticking and we began to feel anxious as the buses that passed did not want to take us. Dan and Liz reappeared and insisted on driving us to the airport- what a blessing!
Our experience in America more than exceeded our expectations. Dan and Liz helped to make some fantastic memories for us and what can top seeing Black Bears in the wild? We <3 America!
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