Tidioute PA | The Beauty Around Us

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.

A Saturday Drive: Tidioute Overlook

From Lake Wilhelm (see previous blog post), we began our drive back home via U.S. Route 62. We left Route 62 in Tidioute, where we took Route 337 to Warren.

We stopped at Tidioute Overlook., where there is a short, easily walked, loop trail that passes by two overlooks.

Tidioute Overlook of the Allegheny River

The River Overlook is above the Allegheny River and provides a scenic view of a narrow valley surrounded by steep hills. The river stretches off into the distance. Courson Island, one of seven islands in the Allegheny Islands Wilderness, is directly beneath you at this overlook.

Tidioute Overlook of the Borough of Tidioute

The Town Overlook features a view of the borough of Tidioute.

While at the Tidioute Overlook a couple woodpeckers were making us crazy. We heard their tap-tap-tap sound but couldn’t spot them. After quite some time, we finally spotted one.

a Downy Woodpecker (or is it a yellow-bellied sapsucker?)
If you look closely, you can see a little red color on its head.

We had hoped it was a Pileated Woodpecker that was making all the noise.

I took one last picture before continuing our drive home.

Bob and I at Tidioute Overlook

I think it was around 5:00 pm, when we returned home. We left home at 9:00 am. It was a long, but very nice, day. The day started out chilly with a temperature of 26 degrees, when I awakened. Temperatures climbed to the lower 50s by early afternoon. A very pleasant day. I am happy that we had the opportunity to enjoy the sunny Spring day.

This post concludes our April 2017 Saturday Drive.

Day Old Soup

We met Paul and Debbie, Scott and Donna, and Bob and Barb at the North Warren playground parking lot at 6:00 pm on Friday, June 19th. The eight of us rode to Tidioute PA via Route 62. While in Tidioute, we ate dinner at the Hotel Tidioute and listened to the three-man band, Day Old Soup, at the Picture Park on Main Street.

Service at Hotel Tidioute was a bit slow, owing to the fact that the waitress and cook were overwhelmed by the number of people in town for the Day Old Soup concert, who came in for food / beverage to eat in or take out. We didn’t mind the slow service, though. The waitress was very personable, and we just spent the wait time socializing with each other. Our food, when it arrived, was hot and very good. Bob ordered the Shrimp Basket; I ordered the Haddock Fish Fry.

Our evening had more to it than just getting together and enjoying some music together. Sonny, who is Paul and Scott’s cousin, paid for the band to attract awareness to his new antique store. Boondocks Antiques & More is located across the street from the Picture Park and was open late. We attended the concert to show our support to Sonny.

Day Old Soup played mostly classic rock, and the music was good.

We departed Tidioute around 9:00 pm and rode Route 337 home. We knew we would see deer on our way home, and several deer did cross in front of us. We kept a diligent watch, and everyone returned home safely.

Two Stops Along Route 62

We spent the weekend in Hubbard, Ohio. While in Hubbard, we visited the nearby Mill Creek Park. I will share photographs from Mill Creek Park in later blog post(s). This morning we followed U.S. 62 from Hubbard, Ohio to Warren, Pennsylvania. We made two stops along the way.

Our first stop was in the small Venango County community of Polk.

Polk State Center
The Polk Center has been serving people with intellectual disabilities since 1897.

Our last stop was just outside the borough of Tidioute.

Tidioute Overlook of Allegheny River

Whenever we pass by Tidoute, I like to stop at this overlook. I never tire of the view!

There were more opportunities for stops along the way; however, I was traveling with a toothache and didn’t feel like making additional stops. By the way, U.S. Route 62 runs from the US-Mexico border at El Paso, Texas to Niagara Falls, New York, near the United States-Canada border. It is the only east-west US Route that connects Mexico and Canada. Wouldn’t it be cool some day to travel all of Route 62?

The Two T’s

Bob took off work Monday and Tuesday. I planned Monday’s activities; Bob was in charge of Tuesday’s activities. As one would expect, Monday was filled with photographic opportunities. I am sharing the fruit of those photographic opportunities with you throughout this week.

We departed home (Warren, PA) around 9:00 am. We didn’t return home until 9 hours later! We drove through several western Pennsylvania counties. Our first stop was in Clarion, PA. Our second stop was at Brady’s Bend Overlook and East Brady. Our third stop was in Parker. We made a few photo stops while on the road between Parker and Cranberry. We ate lunch at Bob Evans Restaurant, while in Cranberry. After lunch, we drove to the Kennerdell Scenic Overlook. From Kennerdell we drove to Oil City. After leaving Oil City, we made two more stops along the Allegheny River — at Tionesta and Tidoute — before returning home.

This was our route back home from Oil City.

Tionesta Boat Access Area

Allegheny River, as viewed from Trek and Rec Trail
Tidioute, PA

We departed Route 62 in Tidioute, choosing to return home via Route 337. We saw three deer and a few turkeys, while on this route.

Deer

Turkeys in a Field
You can see in the snow where the turkeys had been scratching.

This blog post concludes Monday’s activities.

Bob had Tuesday off work as well. Bob was in charge of planning Tuesday’s activities. On Tuesday morning Bob watched our granddaughters at their house for a short time, while Stacey ran to the store to pick up a few groceries. Throughout the afternoon and evening we watched a variety of shows on TV. Tuesday was mainly a lazy day. It is good to have one of those types of days every now and then!

Family Visit with Cynthia and Larry

This past Sunday Bob and I drove to Kennerdell, Pennsylvania, to visit Bob’s sister, Cynthia, and her husband, Larry. Cynthia and Larry chose the Kennerdell area for a two-week vacation. The drive from our home in Warren to Kennerdell is approximately 1 1/2 hours. Please click here for a map of our route.

On our way to Kennerdell, we stopped for a short time at the Tidioute Overlook.

Tidioute Overlook
Scenic View of Allegheny River

Tidioute Overlook
Scenic view of town of Tidioute

Cynthia and Larry’s “home away from home” was Camp Kingfisher, a three-bedroom cottage located alongside the Allegheny River.

Camp Kingfisher

There is easy access to the river and Allegheny River Trail from Camp Kingfisher.

Larry had traveled the trail by bicycle to Emlenton the morning of our visit. He said it was 10 miles one way to Emlenton.

Cynthia and Larry at Camp Kingfisher

Bob and Cynthia

We enjoyed our visit with Cynthia and Larry. Our conversation topics included house projects, work, family, and present and future vacation plans. We also enjoyed a delicious meal that Cynthia prepared. Our main course was lasagna and salad, followed by chocolate cake for dessert. Cynthia had prepared two pans of lasagna, with the intention of giving us one pan to take home. We took home one pan of lasagna, which I promptly cut into individual portions and froze. We’ll be enjoying Cynthia’s lasagna for several days to come!

Before beginning our drive back home, Bob and I drove a short distance to the Kennerdell Overlook, which provides a scenic view of the Allegheny River.