I got this tattoo for my love of reading/books by Sarah Isenberg at Origins Tattoo in State College (Lemont), PA. The dragon, spaceship, raven, and tentacles represent my favorite genres: fantasy, scifi, gothic, and horror (specifically cosmic). Also, I had to have some coffee to go with all that reading. I love how it came out!
I visited Worlds End State Park for the first time this past weekend and just wow! I did a loop of Loyal Sock, Double Run Nature, Link, Canyon Vista, and Cold Run trails then tent camped at site 65. I loved the creeks and waterfalls plus all of the big chunky rocks. Definitely made it one of if not my favorite of the PA State parks. I also stopped at Ricketts Glen State Park on my way home, which I had been to before but had been a while.
First time at Worlds End State Park, and it absolutely lived up to the hype. I did a loop of Loyal Sock, Double Run Nature, Link, Canyon Vista, and Cold Run trails. If you like creeks, waterfalls, big rocks, and vistas, I would highly recommend a stop here.
I did an amazing eight day roadtrip along Maine's coast last week. I started in Pennsylvania, but all of my destinations were in Maine including five days in Acadia National Park doing some hiking and boat tours. My stops also included several days in Portland and Boothbay on the way up to Acadia. The weather was gorgeous, and I had a lot of good food.
Highlights:
I spent five days hiking in Acadia National Park. I tent camped at Mount Desert Campground, which is a private campground at the northern end of Somes Sound and basically 10 to 20 minutes from most part of the park. Some of the hikes I did included Bar Island, Gorham Mountain, Great Head, Cadillac Mountain, and the Bubbles. The weather was incredible, and it was early enough in the season that the park wasn't too crowded yet. I had such an amazing time, and can't wait to go back again.
Last week I spent an amazing five days solo camping at Mount Desert Campground near Acadia National Park. This is a private campground at the northern end of Somes Sound. I reserved a water view site with a wood platform and had an incredible view of the sound. I tend to avoid private campgrounds, but I was really impressed with this one. Besides the views, it was clean including the bathroom and showers, well laid out, and pretty close to most parts of Acadia (10 to 20 minutes to most things).
The weather was perfect throughout my stay with highs in the 60s/70s and lows in the 40s/50s and mostly sunny conditions. The park wasn't too crowded yet, but it was late enough that stuff was open. I'm from Pennsylvania (I drove), so it was cool seeing stuff blooming there that bloomed the prior month back home.
I made most of my meals at camp including peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast and freeze-dried meals or ramen cup of noodle for lunch/dinner. I did have some meals at restaurants around the island including Bar Harbor. I mostly hiked during my stay (Cadillac Mountain, Gorham Mountain, Great Head, and the Bubbles), but I also took two boat tours to see wildlife and lighthouses. One of the tours stopped at Isleford (Little Cranberry Island), which was really cool, although the museum wasn't open yet.
Over the last few years, I'm been doing more solo traveling due to separating from my ex. I've really come to love solo traveling, and I always take lots of pictures just rarely of myself, which is something I've always struggled with. I found this community, and it seems so supportive and welcoming, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
For some context, I've been working on a goal to visit all 125 PA state parks, so I've been doing a lot of hiking in state parks lately. Some of that has bled over into state forests, but I haven't purposefully been going to state forest trails (besides a couple I live very close to). I'm wanting to do more trails in the state forests, especially as I finish up my goal. What trails in any of the state forests would you recommend?
I stayed overnight at the Philadelphia / West Chester KOA to do some hiking at a couple nearby state parks (Big Elk Creek and White Clay Creek Preserve) during the second weekend of April. KOAs aren't my favorite (no other campgrounds nearby), but this one was pretty decent, and I got a spot right next to Brandywine creek. It's also very close to Longwood Gardens, which I also went to. It was sunny all weekend and fairly warm (mid to high 60's), but got chilly at night (40's).