Early morning Eagle… 10-3-15

The day started out with a 6:15am phone call to tell me it was raining in Smicksburg.  Hmmmmm. Thanks, Roger!  That was ok – we were prepared for the weather!   Joni, Teresa, Kath and I were heading to the Fall Festival in Smicksburg PA, braving the elements as the rain kept up a steady pounding on the entire hour and a half drive.  We were almost there, a little before 10am, when Teresa exclaimed that there was a bald eagle and two huge crows in the tree we had just passed.

Being the adventurers that we were (are!) we turned around almost in the middle of the road and made our way back, then turned around again.  I crept slowly, watching the trees to the left.  And sure enough, there they were.  When we stopped the car the put down the windows, the crows took off, but the eagle sat still.  It turned its head from left to right several times, but ultimately sat there for the photo shoot.  It was dark and rainy but we took several pictures.  We had just quit snapping when the bird lifted from the branches and sailed into the air, its wingspan wide and its white tail spread for flight.  What a sight.  I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like that again.  Kudos to Teresa’s good vision and Kathy’s steady hand to get the picture.  Needless to say, even though the day was fun in lots of ways, the early morning eagle sighting was the highlight of our day!

The four of us spent three hours tramping over town, looking in stores, buying chocolate and treats, trying on hats, and purhasing those special items that caught our eye.  Such different shoppers we all are!  We grabbed a semi-healthy (???) lunch at a festival tent outside of The Village Sampler, and sat under an awning eating and listening to a local band play Johnny Cash.  I didn’t know there were that many prison songs even written….   Then we walked down to the Heritage museum and looked at a collection of local history treasures – many of them donated by my Aunt Joan and Uncle Clifford Griffith.  What a neat place to visit – they did such a good job with that little building. The front side of the main room was the original town’s post office, still quaint and authentic-looking.

Once we were done checking out all the local wares, we headed the Mazda back down Route 210 to Aunt Joan’s, who had ‘put up’ corn for us in August.  We stopped for the corn, hugs all around, and a drink from the fresh water spring coming out of the side of their driveway.  It’s tradition!

The rain had totally let up right around noon, so the afternoon and the trip home was comfortable and relaxing.  I venture to say we walked close to 3 or 4 miles around that town, and had a great time sharing the day with each other.  It’s great to have such a family-type place to go (my family are from Home/Smicksburg!) with great friends to share it with.  Now, what can we come up with for our next adventure???  Ideas, anyone???