Blogs from Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, North America

In May, 1963, Pioneer Tunnel, which ceased operation in 1931, was retimbered and reopened as a place where visiters could experience a real anthracite coal mine. According to their website: "Pioneer Tunnel . . . runs 1800 feet straight into the side of the Mahanoy Mountain. You make the trip in comfort, riding in open mine cars pulled by a battery-operated mine motor." I beg to differ. I've had a bunch of medical procedures less painful than this ride. It had no suspension whatsoever. I can't imagine how people manage this ride whose bottoms are less padded than mine. Both going down and coming up --which was worse because the cars went faster on the return trip -- I held my head as tightly as I could so my brain wouldn't knock around too much as ... read more

I successfully wrapped up my all nighter last night and, after a rejuvenating shower, made my way to the airport. Finding a cab at 5:30 in the morning proved to be a bit challenging but, after a lot of gesturing, the second driver I found agreed to take me to the central station where I could catch a bus to the airport. When I reached the bus terminal, I came upon a shuttle driver who offered to take me to the airport in his half full shuttle. Haggling the cost down to the same as the bus and feeling somewhat safe that this guy was legit (there were other passengers and he probably just wanted to fill empty seats) I got on board and made my way to the airport with plenty of time to spare. ... read more

I really enjoy taking photos of things which are purported to be “the biggest . . . ,” “the oldest . . .,” “the heaviest . . .,” etc. and also really quirky stuff. Following are a few dandies. About the cheese -- In 1893, a 22,000 chunk of cheese was shipped from Perth, Ontario to Chicago for the World's Colombian Exposition on the Canadian Pacific Railroad's World's Fair Cheese Train. This cheese, which was 6' high and 28' in circumference, required what would amount to 1 day's milk from 10,000 cows. That's a lot of milk and a lot of cheese. ************************************************************************************ By the way, I’ve just added a few people whom I meant to include from the beginning of this blogging process. Sorry for the delay. You can easily catch up with the ... read more

Today I decided to drive out to mid-Pennsylvania. The plan was to go out to the famous horseshoe curve in Altoona, located in Blair County. However, it was further away than I thought it was! By the time I got out there, it was time to head back to Newark. Still, the drive was nice, and I did manage to take a photograph of one of the many covered bridges that are scattered all over that part of the country. ... read more

So here we are...celebrating our nation's day of independence by blowing things up. Sorry I don't have any pictures, but you can appreciate it. We've had about 40 inches of rain in the last week in the northeastern United States. How do other countries celebrate their independence day? I know Mexico has "Cinco de Mayo" and they blow stuff up too! We had a great day dispite some rainy weather. We all ate and drank more than we should have, the kids had a blast in the pool, we visited 2 different parties that day and set off fireworks that night. We did go to 1 party where we really didn't know too many folks. My son really got left out...he's 13 and the other kids his age didn't quite let him in to the "clan". ... read more