Our destination was Jim Thorpe, PA. There is quite a bit of history surrounding this little town. I know that Wikipedia is not necessarily the best source but the information provided is fairly well organized.
Jim Thorpe is a borough and the county seat of Carbon County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The population was 4,781 at the 2010 census.[5] The town has been called the "Switzerland of America" by the Swiss Tourist Board due to the picturesque scenery, mountainous location, and architecture; as well as the "Gateway to the Poconos." It is in eastern Pennsylvania about 80 miles (130 km) north of Philadelphia and 100 miles (160 km) west of New York City. This town is also historically known for buying the body of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Thorpe,_Pennsylvania
We arrived at our campsite and got set up. The place we are staying is called Jim Thorpe RV resort. First fact is that it is not a resort....not even close. Second fact is that they really do not support big rigs. We made Lewis fit but I am sure he will be claustrophobic by the time we leave. We are so close to the rig next to us that we cannot open our awning. We are only here for three nights and we plan to spend most of our time outside so this is not a big deal. We have water, electric and sewer and with our Passport America card, the price is good. Location is a big plus. We are close to a really nice creek and there is a rail to trail right on the other side of the creek.
As soon as we got set up, we loaded the girls and headed for a hike. Rob had picked Glen Onoko Falls trail. This warning sign is right at the trail head. A bit over the top but you just cannot fix stupid. My guess is that most of the accidents that caused injury or death included stupid. Stay on the trails, pass on the edge of the cliff selfies etc...
UMMMMMM....OK
We started and I quickly surmised that this trail was not Annie Belle friendly. She crawled into her backpack and rode the entire way.
The trail is quite steep, very rocky and marked with orange blazes. I would describe it as taxing. It is mostly uphill and we were huffing and puffing when we got to the top. We hiked up, up, up and then across the top to a bit of downhill. We finally got to the point where we could hear water. We followed a bit further and we saw this little beauty peeking through the trees. It is not a big waterfall but it is lovely. It is also so much cooler. It is fairly shady and damp. The wild rhododendron were everywhere.
We arrived at the top of the falls and there was a small creek that fed into a cold and clear pool of water. Penny Lane took that as her cue to cool off.
There was a trail to the bottom of the falls and we hiked on down and had a look. Rob and I were able to cool down a bit by putting our heads under the waterfall.
We had been out for quite a while so we decided to head back. We had not gone very far when we came upon a man and a little boy. The man (Bob) quickly confessed that he was a bit lost and did we know how to get back down to the parking lot. We invited him and his son(Makia) to hike back with us. Bob was happy, happy and we all chatted on the way back. We returned to the trail head and Bob and Makia were on their way.
Rob and I walked down a bit more and found a place for Penny Lane to take one last dip. We noticed a lot of bubbles in the river and this is what was causing them
A SCUBA DIVER AND A GUY SNORKLING. JUST WHAT I WAS EXPECTING TO SEE....NOT
This is what Annie Belle thought when she saw them
MOM....MOM....DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?
Penny Lane finished her final dip and we made one last trek to check out an old railroad cave.
We were all tired and grungy but we'd had a good adventure.
We returned to Lewis, had dinner, showered and crashed.
Another great day in this thing we call life.
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