ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

The first time I went to Arizona I was completely blown away.  Not  by the heat that greets you when you walk out of the airport...but by the surprising beauty of the desert.  Maybe I love the novelty of being somewhere that is seemingly the complete opposite of where I live.  Maybe it's the lack of humidity.  Maybe it's the different types of critters...although you will find rattle snakes both here and there.  Maybe it's the lack of "green" trees and the endless cacti and other super cool plants.  Possibly it's the extra cool view I get of Superstition Mountain from my brother's back yard.  When I'm there I feel like on a different planet.  I'm not totally convinced I'd want to live in Arizona all year long (I do love the beauty of the forests in Pennsylvania) but I do love visiting and spending time there.   Morning sunrise over Superstition Mountain as seen from my brother's back yard -- June 6, 2016 I found myself in Ari...

I've not been "out of school" since 1978.  That's the year I began kindergarten.  After high school came college and after college I began teaching .  So...that makes, using my below average math skills, 38 years of my life within a school.  I really do love my job teaching American History to 8th graders and, this past Thursday, I wrapped up my 21st year as an educator.  I will admit though, as much as I love teaching, I really do look forward to the biggest "perk" I get...time.  Like many educators in Pennsylvania, the first five years of my career were spent taking graduate courses during summer vacation...but now I'm afforded the ability to enjoy my summers, do things, and go places that would impossible for me if I had chosen another profession.   After I left school I began my summer break with a bike ride.  No class today!  --  June 2, 2016 Every summer I usually have a few trips planned with my wife and my son...bu...

In the early 1980s my mom and dad began taking my brother, Jake, and I camping at Rocky Gap State Park near Cumberland, Maryland .  During the summer months we seemingly went every weekend.  I loved it there.   Rocky Gap was just a short drive from our home in Bedford, Pennsylvania.  We spent our days playing on the beach and fishing in the lake.  My mother made incredible meals for us at the campground and each evening my dad would make a campfire.  The campfire was my favorite part.  My dad made mountain pies, my mom would make popcorn over the fire, and my brother and I would roast marshmallows and hot dogs.  Our camping trips ended in the late 80s when both my brother and I reached high school.   Our schedules were just too hectic.  That was the last I would see of Rocky Gap for 25 years.   Rocky Gap State Park and campgrounds sits at the base of Evitts Mountain in western Maryland -- May 30, 2016 When I began dating m...