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Memorial Day 2017 Ride

This past Tuesday an announcement about a Memorial Day ride was posted on the 2 Scoop Cycletherapy Facebook group page. The announcement read that we would meet at the Tractor Supply parking lot at about 11:00 am and ride to The Farmers Inn in Sigel for chicken BBQ. Our return route would include an ice cream stop.

As planned, we met at Tractor Supply in North Warren at 11:00 am yesterday morning.

We left en route Farmers Inn at 11:30 am. Our riding group was made up of five motorcycles, nine riders and Bob and I riding shotgun in our car.

We arrived at The Farmers Inn at 12:30 pm.

I think everyone, except for Bob and me, ordered BBQ chicken. Bob and I ordered burgers and onion rings. We ate outside the ice cream parlor, the building in which we ordered our lunches.

We spent about two hours at The Farmers Inn…eating, shopping, chatting and watching the goats.

This is Mark; he planned our Memorial Day ride.
He is shopping at the Bulk Foods and Candy Store.

This is Debbie.
It looks like she had a successful shopping experience.

I found Scott checking out the melons at the Bulk Foods and Candy Store.

There are lots of goats at Farmers Inn, and they were fun to watch.

We left The Farmers Inn around 2:50 pm, en route Tidioute where we stopped for ice cream.

Everyone wondered why Mark hadn’t made an ice cream stop sooner. We passed by a couple ice cream stands before arriving in Tidioute. We jokingly said that Mark’s backside must be made of iron.

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Shortly before 7:00 this morning I saw a post shared on a friend’s Facebook page “Friend just texted me about a fire at FI. What is going on and how bad. She didn’t know which building.” A quick search uncovered the fact that there had been a fire at The Farmers Inn early this morning. The restaurant and gift shop, as well as the ice cream shop, are gone. Thankfully, no animals or people were harmed. This loss saddens me greatly. Bob and I go to The Farmers Inn at least once a year, most years more than once. We took our granddaughters there last year and planned to take them again this year. I hope that the owners are able to rebuild.

Our First Motorcycle Ride this Year

Yesterday Bob and I went on a motorcycle ride, our first 2 up ride this year. We rode to Sigel, PA to have lunch at Farmer’s Inn. About an hour before we departed home, I posted on Facebook that we would be riding. I received several comments about riding safe and to have a good day. One particular comment came to mind several times during the day. Tim, one of our Vulcan Rider & Owner’s Club friends, wrote that he and Dee would be “riding to Danville, In. to have lunch at the ‘Mayberry Cafe’. Will be riding with you in spirit.” I thought of Tim’s comment throughout the day.

Tim’s comment brought to mind that our VROC friends, though we see them infrequently, are our friends for life.

We didn’t ride straightaway to Farmer’s Inn. We rode through Cook Forest State Park, alongside the Clarion River (River Road) to Route 36.

Clarion River

We turned right onto Route 36 and rode the short distance to Fire Tower Road. We followed the dirt/gravel road to the parking lot for Seneca Point. We hiked up to the Seneca Point Overlook, from which there is a breathtaking view from more than 850 feet above the Clarion River Valley.

Seneca Point Overlook

view of Clarion River from Seneca Point Overlook

As we were leaving Seneca Point Overlook, exposed tree root(s) caught my eye.

Isn’t it amazing how little dirt is needed for a tree to grow?

Before leaving Seneca Point, we walked over to the fire tower.

Bob climbed up the fire tower.

The enclosed structure at the top of the fire tower was locked.

Bob saw only the top of trees from the fire tower. The view would be spectacular in the autumn. From Seneca Point we returned to Route 36, turning right, and followed it to Route 949. We turned left onto Route 949 and rode the short distance to The Farmer’s Inn.

Goats at The Farmer’s Inn

Llama at The Farmer’s Inn

Goats at The Farmer’s Inn

What? You don’t have any food for me?

After watching the llama and goats for a short time, we went inside The Farmer’s Inn to eat lunch. The Farmer’s Inn opened up for the season on Friday. The restaurant will be open weekends only, until Mother’s Day. We both ordered burgers and onion rings. For dessert we split an apple dumpling, with soft serve vanilla ice cream. It was 1:30 pm, when we departed Farmer’s Inn en route home. We had the choice of two routes to ride home: PA Route 949 through Ridgway or PA Route 949 back to PA Route 36 through Marienville. We chose the shorter of the two routes, the route that took us through Marienville.

In Marienville we made a bathroom stop at Kwik Fill. Who do I see, when I walk out of the bathroom? We are 30 miles from home and find a neighbor who lives two blocks away!

Bill and Bob

Bill was returning home from a motorcycle ride. He rode with us back to Warren.

When we were a few miles from home, we passed by Dairy Delite. I spotted our friends Jesse and Karen in the parking lot. I waved at them, just before we almost got creamed by a van pulling out of Dairy Delite. I am thankful that the van stopped and that Bob hit his brakes. Bob said it happened so fast that he had no time to blow his horn. In the past week I have read of multiple motorcycle accidents. I am thankful that we were not a statistic!

Memorial Day Weekend: Monday

On Memorial Day (Monday, May 25th) we went for a motorcycle ride with friends. We left from the North Warren Playground parking lot at 12:30 pm. There were 14 riders and 8 motorcycles. Our friend, Mark, led our Memorial Day ride.

North Warren Playground parking lot

We rode through Warren, PA.

We rode alongside a pretty creek.

Our first stop was at The Farmer’s Inn in Sigel, PA.

We walked through these double doors.

Bob and I have eaten at The Farmer’s Inn numerous times.
This was the first time we had been inside this part of the restaurant.

It was our first time, too, ordering BBQ chicken dinners. Each of us enjoyed BBQ chicken dinners–½ chicken, potato salad, baked beans and a roll. Our dinners were delicious and inexpensive, at $7.99 each. You may have noticed that the sign at the entrance to this part of the restaurant said that BBQ chicken dinners were available on Saturday and Sunday only. I think because it was the Memorial Day holiday, BBQ chicken dinners were available on Saturday, Sunday AND Monday.

After dinner, we enjoyed looking at the goats. There were lots of baby goats!

A truck pulled up with a couple Amish men inside. The goats came running to the barn.

Hey! Come over here and see me!

The goats were not the only babies we saw.

The baby lambs were so cute!

Everyone had fun shopping at the Bulk Food and Candy Store. Several of us bought a variety of flavored Gummi Bears and other candies to share.

We enjoyed sitting in the gazebo, chatting together.

Two more friends and two of their friends joined us at The Farmers Inn, arriving a short time after we had eaten dinner. We waited until the four of them finished eating and we had chatted some more before continuing our ride. On this next leg of our ride there were 18 riders and 10 motorcycles.

From Farmers Inn we turned left onto Rt. 949 and rode past Clear Creek State Park and through Clear Creek State Forest to Ridgway, PA. We made a fuel stop at Sheetz in Ridgway.

Sam and Mandy at Sheetz in Ridgway, PA

From Ridgway we followed Rt 219 to Custer City, where we stopped at the Custer City Drive-In for ice cream.

Custer City Drive-In

We took routes 770 and 59 back home. We returned home around 7:30 pm.

It was a perfect day for a ride, not too hot or cold. You might recall that I had put my liner back inside my leather coat for Saturday’s ride to Niagara Falls? I wore my leather coat without a liner on this ride and was comfortable. We couldn’t have asked for a better day. What was the best part of the day? … sharing the day with our friends!

Beartown Rocks with Amber and Johnny

Amber and John at Beartown Rocks

This past Saturday Bob and I visited Beartown Rocks at Clear Creek State Park, near Sigel PA, with Amber and Johnny. We didn’t meet only for a walk through the woods. Amber and Johnny asked me to be their photographer for an engagement photo session.

Amber and Johnny are long-time friends with my brother and his family. Bob and I see Amber and Johnny sometimes when we spend the day at Jim and Judy’s camp and often at family weddings, birthdays and other family-type celebrations. John proposed to Amber in May this year on top of the Beartown Rocks Overlook. What an excellent choice of location for their engagement photo session!

I had John recreate the proposal.

Amber’s beautiful engagement ring

The happily engaged couple
and the lovely view from the Beartown Rocks Overlook.

Thank you for choosing me as your photographer for your engagement photo session, Amber and Johnny, and congratulations once again to you both!

A Sunday Drive

We went for another day trip on Sunday, our fourth trip in as many days. We planned to go to Beartown Rocks in Clear Creek State Park. We never made it there.

As we were passing through Marienville on our way to Clear Creek State Park, we saw a sign for Loleta Recreation Area located 6 miles away. We decided to see what was located at Loleta Recreation Area. Upon reaching Loleta, we saw a rutted, dirt road. Bob wondered where that road went.

We drove 10 miles or more on Forestry Road, which runs alongside the East Branch Millstone Creek. The road is an old rail road grade used for logging years ago.

Forestry Road

After 10 miles or so on Forestry Road, we reached a paved road that went back into the heart of Marienville. We came into Marienville one road over from the road that we took to Loleta.

We did go back to Loleta Recreation Area. The quick peek I had of the area, before we departed for parts unknown, showed a creek in the center of a park-like setting, with water flowing over a dam.

Loleta Recreation Area

From Loleta Recreation Area we drove to Clear Creek State Park. Upon reaching Clear Creek State Park, we drove first to the swimming beach.

A bridge crosses the dam at the swimming beach.

Swimming beach

We stopped at the swimming beach because we knew that there was a restroom in this area. Unfortunately, the restroom was closed. There weren’t any restroom facilities at Beartown Rocks, so we decided not to go there this trip. We opted to go to Iron Mountain Grille, located a few miles away in Clarington, to make use of its restroom and have a late lunch.

Iron Mountain Grille

We learned about this restaurant from one of my high school classmates (Thank you, Rick!), who lives in the area and had recently eaten there. We ordered chicken salads. Bob ordered a buffalo chicken salad. I ordered a grilled chicken salad. The salads came with French fries and a bread stick. The salads were fresh and of a size suitable for a meal. The fries were crispy and hot. The bread sticks were served fresh out of the oven. Our meals tasted delicious and were reasonably priced. Service was good too. If the opportunity presents itself, we would eat there again.

After lunch we continued along Route 36 to Cooksburg, where we turned right onto River Road. We drove along the Clarion River to Route 899, onto which we turned left, and made our way back into Marienville. From Marienville, we continued on our way back home to Warren.

A Sunday Drive

Bob and I went on a Sunday drive through two state parks: Clear Creek State Park and Cook Forest State Park. Before we began our drive, though, we enjoyed a hearty “all you can eat” breakfast at The Farmers Inn in Sigel, Pennsylvania.

Here are some of the things that we saw, while on our drive.

Big boulders that begged to be climbed
(Beartown Rocks in Clear Creek State Park)

Black Labrador dog playing in Clear Creek
(Clear Creek State Park)

Seneca Point Overlook
(Cook Forest State Park)

A photograph of myself that I actually like 🙂
(Seneca Point Overlook in Cook Forest State Park)

Fire tower
(Cook Forest State Park)

We saw Mountain Laurel in both parks.

Our Saturday Drive

What a lovely week it was! I’m happy that we had the opportunity to enjoy the lovely weather this past Saturday. We drove to Benezette, PA, which is located an approximate 1 1/2-hour drive from our house. The purpose of a trip to Benezette was to visit the recently opened Elk Country Visitor Center.

We made two stops prior to arriving at the visitor center.

The Cross

Our first stop was along Mt. Zion Road, near Benezette, where we walked through a small wooden gate and walked across the field to this cross. There is a sweeping view of the countryside from the cross.

Mt. Zion Road becomes Gray Hill Road, as you continue into Benezette. Shortly after turning left onto Route 555, we saw three bull elk at a campground.

The first two bull elk that we saw.

The third bull elk that we saw.

After admiring these three elk, we continued to the Elk Country Visitor Center. We arrived at the visitor center shortly before its 9:00 AM opening time.

Elk Country Visitor Center

Elk Country Visitor Center

Elk Country Visitor Center

While at the visitor center, we watched a 4D theater presentation about the elk herd in Benezette. We experienced our first snowflakes while watching the multimedia presentation! We walked all three trails, which led to overlooks where elk may be seen. All three trails were short and easy to walk. We didn’t see any elk at the visitor center. We spent a couple hours at the visitor center. If we could have found more to do in the area, we would have stayed around until dusk. As it turned out we didn’t find anything to do in Benezette, so we started our drive back home. We made a few stops on our way back home.

We ate a late breakfast at the Hilltop Diner, located about 5 miles outside of St. Marys. Breakfast was a leisure affair; it was close to noon when we left Hilltop Diner.

We stopped at Straub Brewery in St. Marys, where Bob enjoyed a complimentary 5-6 oz. drink from the Eternal Tap.

Bob took this picture of the Eternal Tap.

We stopped at Clear Creek State Park, at Beartown Rocks. The main attraction at Beartown Rocks is the collection of enormous rocks and rock/tree formations.