Thursday in the rain

Overnight I woke up briefly to the sound of rain on the roof. Thursday morning dawned cloudy, and a light steady rain set in after breakfast. We spent the morning amusing ourselves on our computers, sewing, reading, and completing a 500-piece puzzle of—what else?—a cabin in the woods. We also got to watch a delicate doe and her speckled fawn grazing on the lawn right outside the living room window.

Suffering from cabin fever by lunchtime, we scouted out a local restaurant near a state park, so we could hike during a break in the showers. Although the internet promised us the joint was open, all in-person evidence was to the contrary, so we found a different café one little town over. Unfortunately, they took so long to serve us that it was raining again by the time we had eaten. The afternoon was spent much like the morning, but with Wimbledon tennis in the background. When the precipitation let up again after dinner, we hopped in the car and headed to the nearest trail. Bad Google directions aside, we took a short walk to a beautiful vista overlooking the misty Lehigh River Gorge.

Of course it resumed drizzling while we were on our way back to the car. Below is a "fairy glen" of ferns. Ferns really owned the place. From the hiking map we learned that that Hickory Run State Park had once been half-covered by a glacier, which left a boulder field, and its melt had carved a deep river canyon. The rocky path was made of crumbling red sandstone, and above us many different birds chattered and chirped (reportedly 6 kinds of warbler!). Next time we want to explore the “Shades of Death” trail, which is supposed to have beautiful rhododendron bushes and nothing at all to do with dying (anymore--maybe the earliest settlers had it rough). Back at the cabin, it was too wet to make a fire for s’mores, so we popped some microwave popcorn and introduced Dear Husband to the original [sic--only] Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka.

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Part 1 and Part 2