Archive for October, 2007

So, I guess everyone is trying to catch up on those things we promised ourselves months ago and still haven’t gotten to.

    My boyfriend, Jeremy, and myself finally got our rear ends out there and kayaked the Delaware River through the Water Gap.  We did a total of eleven miles. We had been driving through the area and talking about it for long enough and since it was my weekend off and there was nothing on the calendar squares, we decided that now was the time.  We rented equipment from the Pack Shack and got a shuttle to Smithfield Beach and rode the river down to Portland, where we got picked up and shuttled back. It was a pretty amazing day. I sent two pictures from our trip, one of the river from our take-out point and one of Jeremy in the Gap. You can see that this is a very calm river. I worked at Pocono Whitewater for a summer a few years ago, being a river guide.They do trips on the Lehigh River, which is a beautiful place, but the river is not always so calm. After a summer of working the Lehigh, I find I prefer lake and calm river kayaking. 

    On Sunday, a bunch of the gals from work wanted to go down to the Jam On The Dam, in White Haven.  My son, Julian, loves to ride his bike, so we packed the bike in the back of the truck and off we went.  We got a bite to eat at the festival, hung out with the girls for a little bit, and went to explore.  I actually rented a bike of my own so I could go too, after all, why should the kids get to have all the fun?   Pocono Whitewater recently opened another base right in a White Haven, so I went to visit some old friends to get my bike.  We biked between the river and the railroad and took a few breaks by some streams, and small waterfalls.   Julian got out the trail fine but when we turned around to come back to the base, he started complaining that his legs hurt.  I think this was the first time I heard him get exhausted from bike riding.  It was a lot of fun, and we actually won a pass for Pocono Whitewater, so we are planning to go again soon for a whole day.  I sent a picture from the beer tent at the festival where the Sundance Vacations crew was hanging out listening to some live music.  The picture is (left to right) Liz Warne, Karen Cooper, and Sharon Davenport.   Allie Loughridge and Cheryl Zambotti were also there but I didn’t get any good pics. 

    So, there are definitely a bunch of cool spots right here in our own backyard that could keep us amused for a whole summer.  With the price of gas these day’s, we’d probably be smarter to look into what our own area has to offer and check out some local places we haven’t been to before, or just go back to some of our old favorites.

    We spent an entire weekend not traveling more than an hour away, and it was one of the best of the whole summer.  Let me know if anyone else has any suggestions and I will let you all know some more of my favorite’s.                                                                                                                                                 

Rochell Zambotti

Hazleton Phone Room