ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

1989.  It was the summer of BATMAN, INDIANA JONES, and (if you are really nerdy) Weird Al's movie, UHF.  It was the summer that Guns N' Roses, Milli Vanilli, Prince, and the B52's were played over and over again on my favorite radio station...GO106 FM out of Cumberland, Maryland.  I had just finished my Sophomore year of high school, my mullet was in full growth, and I had a dresser drawer dedicated to my spandex shorts.  The summer of '89 was also the year that my mom and dad drove my younger brother and I halfway across the country on a trip that I completely under-appreciated at the time...but now I would call nothing short of epic. This cool kid is a 15 year old me...standing on the Grassy Knoll in Dallas, Texas -- June 17, 1989 Mom and Dad were pretty brave...packing my brother and I into the back seat of our Ford LTD station wagon and driving hundreds and hundreds of miles in the summer heat.  The plan was to drive from Bedford to Denver, Colora...

Last summer, Robin and I took our nieces, Jackie and Sophie...along with our nephew, Isaac, camping in Ohiopyle State Park.  The trip was geared to doing kid oriented activities...but we could tell that Jackie, who was twelve at the time, would soon be ready to move onto to some bigger kid adventures...white water rafting, waterfall exploring, and hiking...the kind that stuff that Alex and I do on our yearly camping trips together.  So, a promise was made to Jackie that, come next summer, she could join Alex and I on our yearly adventures. Alex, Jackie, and David Raymond on an adventure to Jonathan Run Falls -- June 20, 2019 All good adventures start with going out for breakfast...so, after Alex, Jackie, and I had the gear packed and left my father's house...we headed to the Bedford Diner to get our day started.  Fully aware that we couldn't check into our campsite at Ohiopyle until 3PM, I planned on a few small excursions on the way...basically bringing out the f...