Saturday afternoon, while in Pennsylvania, we ended up at the annual Harvest Festival at Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm. Quiet Valley is vintage America, a “non-profit, educational corporation dedicated to the preservation and presentation of Pennsylvania’s agricultural heritage… a living museum.” On this weekend, they had a multitude of booths set up showing demonstrations of a plethora of skills and crafts from yesteryear, including butter churning, yarn dyeing, basket making (using straw and split oak), rope making, an outdoor brick oven, preparing sauerkraut, apple butter churning, a smokehouse, and many resident farm animals. Pretty much everything I want to learn how to do. Does it make me weird that I couldn’t give a hoot about the latest iPhone, but a vintage cider press sets my heart racing?

We didn’t get here until a bit later in the afternoon, otherwise we could have spent a lot more time walking around. Very informative and enlightening, and I picked up a few ideas along the way. If we lived in the area, I’m pretty sure I would find a part-time job here.

Another highlight of the trip was visiting the town of Jim Thorpe, whose history started with the nearby discovery of anthracite coal, and continued with the advent of the railroad. It’s been on several lists for best small towns in the U.S., and it’s a nice mix of history, architecture, and natural scenery. Fun fact: at one point, over half of the millionaires in the U.S. had homes in Jim Thorpe. Nestled in a valley next to the Lehigh River, it is quite the quaint little borough. While we were there, we rode the Lehigh Gorge Scenic Railway, visited the Asa Packer Mansion and Old Jail, and wandered the fall festival that happens every weekend in October. With the chill in the air, the beautiful leaves, and the cozy feel of the downtown area, it made for a very pleasant afternoon.

Well, we got to take our sort-of annual trip without any kids. Of course, since C came along, what used to be a week-plus excursion has turned into a long weekend. Not complaining though.

We stayed a little closer this year, and headed to northeast PA and the Pocono area. As I’ve mentioned in the past, we tend to find ourselves in the mountains in the fall, and while this wasn’t quite as dramatic as New England or the Blue Ridge, it was still a very pretty area, and not as crowded. They don’t really cater to amateur photographers either – while there seems to be a stop about every three miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway, there was nary a scenic overlook to be had on an entire five-hour drive. So we had to make do and pull a few U-turns to find random clearings on the side of the road…

We started the trip driving northeast of Wilkes-Barre, going almost to the New York border before meandering down along the Delaware River toward Honesdale, where we had our home base set up. Actually, right outside of Honesdale, at a lovely little B & B called the James Manning House. If you’re ever in the area, spend a night or two here; you won’t be disappointed. The breakfasts are outstanding, the company is entertaining, and the cost is less than most hotels in the vicinity, which don’t provide near the level of service you’ll receive here.

The first day had the best weather – 70s and sunny. It did cool off after that, but at least most of the rain held off, unlike last year. I took it easy on S this year because of the extra person she’s carrying around, so no strenuous hikes – only a few more months until that excuse is off the table… 🙂 We saw some nice scenery, had some good food, checked out some history, and of course, no trip would be complete without finding a few waterfalls.

More to come later this week…