Blue Moo

 Dave and I recently went to Blue Moo Ice Cream Shop for the first time. We got lunch and ice cream. 

The food was good, but the ice cream was amazing! Dave's vanilla shake was one of the best I ever tasted. I got a scoop of Oreo cookie and a scoop of salted caramel. YUM. 

We both agreed we'll be coming here a lot more.

Philadelphia Flower Show: Riviera Holiday

At the end of February, my mom and I made our annual trip to the Philly Flower Show. This year's theme was Riviera Holiday. It smelled great as we walked in.

So many colors! So many different flowers and plants! This was one of the best flower shows yet.

I couldn't stop taking pictures.

One display was particularly neat. It was supposed to be rows of buildings with flower boxes.

It was very original. You could walk between and see the flowers close up.

So pretty!

The flower show had plenty of lighting this year. One recurring issue is that there's never enough light, so sometimes displays are very dark and it's hard to see. Not this year!

Everything was well lit.

There were a lot of lemons.

And succulents!

I'm a fan of succulents. I have a bunch at home. This display was supposed to represent the ocean.

Nice!

Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly) was from the Philadelphia area, and she loved roses, so there was a special display with a replica of her wedding gown.

It was very popular. They had a video of her wedding playing, too.

My mom and I had a great time enjoying one of the best flower shows in years. Next year's theme is "Habitat." It's about pollinator- and wildlife-friendly gardening, as well as sustainable gardening. I wish that had been this year's theme! I'm in the process of figuring out plants, trees, and bushes to plant at the new house, and it's important to me and Dave to plant native plants that are good for pollinators and birds. We're also not going to use pesticides or other chemicals. I'm looking forward to next year's show.

Naz-O-Nut

I had read about Naz-O-Nut, a local doughnut shop in Nazareth, a few times and wanted to go there. I'm a big fan of doughnuts but have never made them myself. Since Dave and I were out and about on a Sunday morning, we stopped in. Everything looked delicious! It was a tough decision. I had to try my favorite kind, Boston cream.

OH MY GOODNESS. The delicious icing. The pastry cream filling- so full of it and so good. The other one I tried was the caramel with glaze drizzle.

That's icing from my Boston cream that fell on this one...oops...

Wow! Melt in your mouth. These were the best doughnuts I have ever had. Hands down. Amazing. If you're anywhere near the Lehigh Valley, definitely stop in here and try some. The shop is near downtown Nazareth. YUM.

Jack's Pumpkin Glow

Last fall, we went to Jack's Pumpkin Glow with my parents.

It was cool. There were jack-o'-lanterns everywhere.

What's this?

We saw elaborately crafted scenes.

Take me to your leader.

The volcano by the dinosaurs periodically blew out smoke.

It was a fun fall outing.

If it comes around your neck of the woods this year, I recommend it.

Candytopia

When I heard that there was an exhibit called Candytopia and that it featured free candy, I was there.

I guess I'd call it an art installation. There were rooms with different themes, each room filled with things made from candy, and each one featuring free candy.

made of candy

Dave isn't that into candy, so I got DOUBLE candy. Wheeeee! Needless to say, I ate too much candy and felt sick. That is not Candytopia's fault.

I love dragons.

This was my favorite thing in all of Candytopia, and it was in the first room. Candy dragon!

me and Dave

It was pretty cool.

Of course the Candy Man himself made an appearance...

Willy Wonka

All in all, it was a worthwhile experience.

The Great Pumpkin Run

Oh my goodness, I haven't blogged since April! 2019 was a crazy year. We bought a house, Dave severely sprained his ankle, and work was even crazier than the year before. I'm determined to get back to blogging in 2020. So here it goes...

To deal with stress and anxiety, I started running again. I hadn't done that for years, so I decided to set a goal and seriously dedicate myself to meeting it. I signed up for The Great Pumpkin Run 5K in Allentown.

starting gate

The race was in the beginning of November. I signed up in September. My goal: To run the entire race without walking. Walking three miles is easy. I love hiking. I can walk two or three times that distance. So I had to run. My first step was to download a free "couch to 5K" running app. It had an interval training plan that I could listen to while I ran. It cued me when to walk and when to run, building up to running longer and longer, three days every week. I got my running music playlist together and started.

almost 3,000 participants

After the first run, I walked in the door, collapsed, and told Dave I was going to die and I couldn't do it. He said it would get easier. It did! I kept at it every week and felt myself getting stronger and in better shape.

The race was getting closer, but I hadn't run a full 3.1 miles yet. I was close, and I hoped I could do it on race day.

getting toward the finish line

The morning of the race, it was 20 degrees and I wore four layers. This is the Lehigh Valley in November, after all. It has snowed on Halloween here.

The race started with a giant hill. Ugh. I hate running up hills. There was an incredibly steep hill at the very beginning, and the entire first mile was uphill. I told myself to keep going because I WAS GOING TO RUN THE ENTIRE RACE. This hill was not going to defeat me after I worked so hard to reach my goal. I slowed my pace and kept going up the hill.

Yay!

I did it! I ran the entire race. People were cheering on the sidelines along the route through Allentown, and that felt great. At this point, I was listening to audiobooks instead of music while I ran, and I wasn't even paying attention to the book during the race. I was taking in the experience. It was fantastic. I was truly proud of myself for doing it.

I finished my first 5K in 37 minutes and 27 seconds. That's not great, but it's not bad for a first time. Next time, I want to do better.

Dreamers' Circus

We went to see Dreamers' Circus at the Williams Center for the Arts in Easton this week. Nikolaj Busk plays the accordian and piano, Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen plays the violin, and Ale Carr plays the cittern. Sorensen is also in the Danish String Quartet, and since Dave and I are fans, we thought we'd give Dreamers' Circus a try.

Finding our seats before the performance

WOW. I can't express how fantastic they are. They play Scandinavian folk/traditional music. I don't know how to describe it. The performance was captivating. This is their first tour of the U.S., and I hope they come back!

Philly Flower Show 2019: Flower Power

My mom and I went to the Philadelphia Flower Show again this year. Unfortunately, we both agreed this was the worst one we have ever attended. The theme was vague, the exhibits weren't very good, and there were hardly any of the usual big exhibits. Here's the main entrance.

Those white walls you see are booths for the FTD World Cup. That was a huge problem. The competition space took up two thirds of the floor, where the big, beautiful exhibits usually are. That might be okay if the competitors were ready. But THEY WEREN'T. We were there for the member preview hours on the first day of the show, and the World Cup booths were half empty and people were still setting things up.

My mom and I were done with the show in less than an hour. We heard other people talking about how there was less to it this year than in the past, too. While my mom and I had a nice time walking around and going to Reading Terminal Market after, the flower show was incredibly disappointing this year. Next year's theme is Riviera Holiday, which sounds great, so I hope the show gets back to its usual standard.

Color Me Mine

Dave and I checked out the Lehigh Valley Color Me Mine recently. In case you aren't familiar, you pick a piece of pottery and paint it. Then they fire it in a kiln and you come back later to pick up the finished product. It was hard to decide what to paint! Dave and I went with Christmas pieces so we could put them out every year as decorations.

Before...

Mine is the odd colored reindeer. Dave's is a gingerbread house that has an opening in the back so you can put a light inside. The colors you see aren't the colors as they appear after they've been fired. The finished pieces are much darker.

After!

They turned out so cool! They ended up being much better than I expected. Dave and I are both very excited about how they look.

It was fun! It took a lot longer than I expected. We were there for over three hours. The people who work there were very friendly. They suggested at least three coats of paint for the pieces not to turn out streaky.

We wrote the date on the bottom, and Dave suggested coming back every year to paint more Christmas decorations.

Two T's Mini Golf

Dave and I went to Two T's for mini golf recently. I haven't played for years, and I was hoping this local place would be fun. We played the outdoor course, but there's a glow in the dark indoor course of 18 holes, too.

It was so much fun! The course was great. There were fun obstacles (including the obligatory windmill) and a neat cave. For one of the holes, you had to hit your ball into the water and let it be carried along to the second part of the hole. Cool.

The winner gets a free water ice. If you live in the Lehigh Valley, check it out.

Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

Last weekend Dave and I visited Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey.

We walked the trails near the visitor center, and then we walked the trails and checked out the bird blinds in the wildlife observation area. Well, the trails near the visitor center were peaceful and we saw some cool birds.

great blue heron

The wildlife observation area was a bust. It was crowded and the wildlife were nowhere to be found. I'm glad we went, but it's probably not worth the drive there to go back.

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Last night we went to see the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at the Williams Center for the Arts in Easton. 

Dave really liked the Danish String Quartet so I figured I'd press my luck and see if he liked this. The performance was great! They started with something modern, then pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii joined them for some Chopin. After intermission, they played some Tchaikovsky. 

Tsujii was outstanding. Remarkable. So was the orchestra. I'm a big fan of Chopin, so it was great to see his work performed in person. It was a good time. 

Medieval Times

I've wanted to go to Medieval Times for years but never have. When I heard that they updated their show and a queen was in charge instead of a king, it was time to pull the trigger!

Oh yes. It's a castle.

Dave and I went to the one in Lindhurst, NJ. When you get there, they assign you a color and a table. We were in the green section, rooting for the Green Knight.

I was happy to see that everyone gets in the spirit and wears the crown of their section. I didn't really know what to expect, but I knew that you had to eat with your hands. They say it's because they didn't have utensils in medieval times. I doubt that's true...but you have to eat with your hands here. They give you wet wipes, but we brought extra napkins and needed them.

Yummy

The queen came out to say hey and the knights were introduced.

Long may she reign!

Then the feast was on and there was dressage and a falconry and drill team demonstration while we were eating. Pretty cool.

the Queen's Guard doing drill team maneuvers

Time for the games. The jousting was neat.

There was sword fighting, too, and a bad guy who had to be defeated.

It ended up being a lot of fun. Before we went, I was concerned that it would be geared too much toward kids, but it was a great time. There were a lot of adults there without children. It's definitely worth a trip if you have one close by.

Ricketts Glen State Park

I took off one day last week and headed out to Ricketts Glen State Park. It was about a two hour drive, out past Wilkes-Barre. I had heard good things, and I decided to do the seven-mile lollipop loop, hiking through woods and past over twenty waterfalls.

I started at the Route 118 parking area. The hike starts out as a level walk through the woods along the stream. There are several crossings over cool little bridges, and the sound of the water flowing over the rocks was soothing. 

 
As you hit the first three waterfalls before Waters Meet, it starts to get steeper.

Then you arrive at Waters Meet, and you have to decide- do you go to the left around the loop, or do you go to the right. 50 Hikes in Eastern Pennsylvania had said to go to the left, and I am SO GLAD that's how I went. Here's the thing. When there are waterfalls, there are steep trails. Going to the left meant I was going uphill toward the beginning of my hike. I got through the worst of it, then I recovered along the flat Highland Trail through the woods. The second half of the hike, along the second stream, it was all downhill. So I went uphill when I had the most energy and cruised the rest of the way.

See those steps? Uphill like that. Lots like that. It's much better to do that in the beginning than the end. There are giant waterfalls and small waterfalls and multi-layer waterfalls.

The tallest one is called Ganoga Falls. It was a pretty popular rest stop.

A couple in their 70s was sitting on a log looking at the falls. They grabbed their walking sticks and got ready to leave, but the man took out his phone and insisted that the woman go stand in front of the falls so he could take a photo. I couldn't help think of me and Dave. He does that all the time to me! I hope we're still out having adventures when we're their age.

walking up alongside Ganoga Falls

Dave wasn't with me this time since he had to work, but I'll go back with him in the future. I really liked Oneida Falls.

Oneida Falls

I think this one was my favorite of the park. It's the one that made me wish I had my DSLR and tripod. I was almost at the top, near the flat trail through the woods that led to the second stream, so I sat on one of those flat rocks for a little water break and a rest before pressing on.

Bye, Oneida!

It's worth mentioning that you should bring water, even if you're just doing the shorter loop around the falls and not the full seven miles starting down at Route 118. However, I really recommend starting at the southern parking lot. If you start near the campgrounds in the north, you'll go downhill first and you'll have to come back uphill. Also, wear boots if you have them because some parts of the trail are wet and slippery. I didn't have a problem with sturdy hiking boots.

Yep, that's a fallen tree.

The trails are clearly marked and well maintained, which is always appreciated. I was surprised at how many people were there on a weekday. I got there in the morning and a handful of cars were in the lot. When I left in the afternoon, the lot was almost full- and it's big.

I can't say enough how much I enjoyed this hike. It was the best hike I've done in Pennsylvania. You're mostly walking along water, and the views are beautiful.

You stop a lot to look at waterfalls, so that helps with recovery from all the steep inclines.

I felt great when I was done. It was a fantastic day.