Day Two - No Wonder Ducks Fly South.

Tuesday January 10, 2023

Getting the hang of the blog template but for some reason the "Add Catchy Title here" suggestion always gives me a chuckle...I mean... it sounds catchy already!

OK onward...

Waking up at Rothrock State Park PA at around 6:00am and 26 degrees...

Good morning!

OK hold on a sec, before we go any further....let's do a finger and toe check....yup! ...I can still feel 'em!

Geez what a cold first night and I'm so glad I didn't have to go head to head with a grizzly or heck even a chipmunk during those wee hours of the mornin! Yes those wee hours. You know the 2am ones when I had to wee at 2am from atop a jeep in the bitter cold. Cah-razy!

Definitely something about being in the pitch black of a forest that turn any sound into a horror flick. Add being in a tiny tent to the mix and I can see everyone watching this movie jumping off the couchandtelling me to get out of the tent and run! Everything can startle the heck out of ya right? Everything seems worse than when you are all nice and warm in your bed at home. Ha! Well now that you put it that way kinda makes sense.

Aside from that scare last night I definitely rocked Rothrock park and totally kicked frostbites' @ss! I'm Snuggly warm and actually kinda cozy right now inside these twelve layers I have on. Do I really have to get out from under here? Lemme check the phone for outside temps... oh right...it seems like the hotel wi-fi is still down - seriously!? What am I being charged for this place anyway!!? Ya think $20 a night would get you better service than this!

But I did actually survive the WHOLE night...feels great! Like I said it's not as if I had to fight off bears and raccoons and walk miles across the frozen tundra barefoot uphill both ways or something... all I really did was fall asleep. But man...I kinda feel good to be alive right now. That branch snap last night was freaky. But actually the biggest hazard I faced was to just not fall off a ladder at 2:00am while trying to use the men's room up there Speaking of outdoor bathrooms...man I have to go again already...what the? Must be because it's so dang cold outside that my body is like "Dude...a lot of ducks fly south ya know? Did ya miss the memo?"

As I got out of the sleeping bag and felt the chill I thought "no way I'm going for a ride today" - especially since I have no idea where I am! I walked down the 'stairs' and into the heated 'kitchen' to have some cereal inside the jeep with the motor running (you know...so the Cheerios wouldn't freeze, not because I was cold or anything : )

Cold Cheerios, no milk (actually I like 'em that way!) and heat from the trusty jeep.

Life is good!

Fifteen minutes later I was folding the tent back up (surprisingly easy!) and I thought to myself...ya know what? Maybe I can go for a ride? I had chalked it off cuz I was in the middle of the woods with no cell service or map of any kind (and it's really freakin'cold) but now I'm thinking...do I really need GPS and trail maps and all that safe logical stuff? I know you're saying yes. Thank you for that. I appreaciate you already. I'm just not that smart ok?

But!

Maybe this trip is about challenging myself? Taking risks...OK calculted ones so let's chew on this. The roads heading in last night were actually pretty hard packed gravel and that might be fun...and it is a camp that people use all the time after all. The trails must be marked and if I stick to those I'd have to be able to find my way back right?

So hey! Let's do this!

I grabbed the matching orange Salsa from the back of the jeep and headed out. About two miles into the ride I came to a decision point - right turn or go straight? It "felt" like straight was the way - out of the woods and I really didn't want that so a right turn it is! As I rounded the turn I committed to an easy navigating solution...all rights. Why not!? Heading back would be all lefts!!

Genius!! I wonder if Magellan or one of those dudes had the same kind of choices to make in like mid-ocean. "All left's from here matey's!! Any objections yer walkin' the plank!"

Wait did Magellan talk like a pirate? When were pirates invented? Might have to assign that to my fact checking support staff. Note to self: hire suport staff. Either way I'm sure while they were sailing it was much easier to just let Siri tell 'em which buoys to use.

This ride turned out to be an awesome climbing trail as it had several switch backs on the way to the top of the mountain that I had just spent the night on. By the time I reached the summit, snow and ice were pretty much everywhere. But wow what a view! I think Strava (which worked but the maps app didn't....?) pegged it at about 1700' of vertical in a few miles....fun! Five miles in and then mostly downhill back - sweet! Life is good.

I banged the downhill super cautiously as there was a lot of ice around (Ducks On Ice! Wasn't that a Disney thing? I think I took my kids to that one actually back around 2008? Seem to remember dropping a $100 on hot dogs too: )

I headed back to camp making all lefts - well mostly. There's always that one turn where you go wait!? Is that really a left cuz it's kinda straight if you look at it from over here : )

But I ended up popping out right where my five-star Orange Hotel was so guess I made the right call. Or the left call : )

I was super glad to see that beautiful four wheel drive beast actually. Kind of like that feeling when you lost your phone or your wallet and you start searching everywhere while the heart rate elevates? Know that feeling? Then when you finally find it you're like ahhhh...thank you! Ya start breathing again? My life is back- all is good. After just seeing trees and ice for the last couple of hours in woods miles from anywhere with no maps of any kind it's so comforting to see "home" again. Ahhh...

I threw the bike in the back of the mobile Jeep/sag vehicle/hotel/refrigerator...and grabbed some Hammer protein recovery powder to refuel myself and peeled outta there.

I drove away from the campsite without GPS also - which doesn't compare to Mr. Magellan crossing the Pacific using the Big Dipper and that protractor thing or whatever but man when you drive four miles into a dark camp the night before with your eyes just straining to see a campsite it's kinda hard to peg the right direction sometimes. I looked to see if I recognized things though that would help. Dead tree. Another dead tree. Oh yeah! The fridge next to the boat on the porch! I'm out! There's an old rusted out car with the seats in the grass next to it - and an old guy. Oh wow that dude looks really creepy! Don't make eye contact, don't make eye contact, just keep going! What the heck, somebody should check the water quality out here or something! It like eats through peoples teeth or something!?

Thank God I busted out of the woods right then and finally out of that scary part of the horror flick. I headed for the town of State College...or probably just called Penn State (college) since that is pretty much what drives the whole town. I drove around looking for a coffee shop figuring there has to be one (hundred : ) in a college town and also just looking for a place to park...what the heck!? It's like trying to park in midtown Manhattan here...cars and peoples everywhere! But college kid type peoples... it wasn't like New York City crazy bad though. I mean in NYC you would have people trying to wash your windshield as soon as you stop, taxicabs driving on sidewalks and costumed Elmo's in Times Square trying to make a buck off a photo. This is more "normal". Lots of dirty windshields : )

Oh sweet! There's a municipal parking lot perfect! I pulled in, walked across the street and what's that...a place called Elixr? A coffee shop? Perfecto! They had one open seat left inside that had an outlet next to it too which I quickly grabbed since my laptop was dead. Now, first I'm putting an iced Strawberry Oat Milk latte as the first order of business. Then we'll figure out how to get this website loaded up.

Two hours later I had the site up and almost running so I left and walked thru downtown State College. Wow what a nice collegiate vibe! I wonder if the tuition is more than like 3K a year? Ha! I had the thought that being a professor here wouldn't be a bad gig...I wonder if I could teach a course somewhere? Might be a pretty good idea? A little retirement cash? What would I teach? How to avoid getting eaten by a bear? Blogging 101? How to wee in the wee hours?

Ha definitely coulda used those courses! I'll chew on that....

I'm hoping to make my sister's house in Ohio by dinner time so I left State College and hit the road around 3:00pm.

Sidebar ote is that I just love the phone technology nowadays. I can literally put notes on my phone about the day using Siri, listen to some really cool music, get turn by turn instructions and still drive all at the same time. So good.

Yes mom - all hands free.

I went from listening to Jordan Davis into Wheeland Brothers at some point. I forgot how listening to an entire album can be cool...so I did deep dives into each of these. You can really get to know an artist and their work...

Inside

Seems like I want to write about -

Fear.

Amazing what it can do if we let it take hold!

Lucky for us most fears we face these days is in our heads...it's not like we're facing that grizzly face to face kind of fear every day. More like the 'thought' of facing that bear face to face.

Two totally different things.

Psychological fear is way different than a fear of something that's actually happening in the moment and in my view way more dangerous! If left unchecked, psychological fear can control your life. These kind of fears are based on projections of what we think may happen...not what really is. But to the body...it reacts just like it were happening.

The thought of a bear, or of freezing in the night for example. Perhaps more common something like, "what if I don't get that job?", or "how am I gonna look when I make that presentation?" are all based on just thoughts about what may happen in the future. Just an awareness of this can help snap us back to reality. A little thought of gratefulness for the safety of a tent atop a jeep and warm blankets can re-direct the mind and instantly put us back into reality and calms the nervous system. Becoming aware of the mind running away with itself is the first step for sure..then addressing it.

There is so much chatter about 'my anxiety' in the world today - but does anyone really bother to take a look at what the root cause of it is? It can be so much easier to just label it and say this is who I am and live with it rather than face it head on...take a look at it. Fear's of a bear are easier to see...ones about a self image in front of other people may take a lil' further probing inside to find the root cause but man...a journey oh so worth taking...

Outside

Need I say more other than a snowy, winter mountain bike ride 1700' up?

The views, the cold crisp air filtering thru the nose... the silence of the woods broken only by the steady inhales and exhales of a lone rider? There is nothing like feeling those lungs expand mid exercise as the air fills 'em up. There is also something about conquering a steep climb on th bike that stokes my little duck brain.

Then there's the trees that stand tall against the elements. The animals that brave the wintry weather. Such fine examples for us to be brave against any challenge we may face. And man one look out over the world from even just this little height on top of this mountain gives the mind more space...gorgeous!

Seeing the college students between classes was awesome too...a post-covid realization of the life that is on campus now and it feels good to see the world moving around.

Upside

The cold morning...the beautiful ride on hard packed gravel, the climb up 1700 feet, the view, the ability to embrace nature no matter what it throws at you.... and to live in harmony with it rather than oppose it. Such an upside! To first wake up and chalk off a ride due to the sub freezing temps, the cold down in my bones and then flip that around and conquer it is just awesome. Perhaps...if you're still seeing something in your life as a negative, or to big to overcome, or not worth it, maybe a little time spent looking at it, asking the right questions will help you gain a lil' insight and perspective on it. Maybe the decision stays the same, or maybe it changes and it becomes an awesome upside... Growth and blessings are always on the other side of the thing that you're not facing in front of you.

downside

No cell service... or room service. No mint on the pillow. No slippers next to the bed with turned down sheets. Cable was out and it seemed like the HVAC was stuck in AC mode all night! Definitely leaving a yelp review.

Every which way but east!

Traveled from Rothrock State Park to State College town and then west to Painesville Ohio to visit with my mom, sister and her family!