Brent Burkey: June 2008 Archives

I drove Northeast, Northwest and South from York this weekend, no farther than about 2 hours from the city in any direction. And I had some fun near DeHart Dam in Dauphin County fishing, in State College for a bachelor's party and with my in-laws in Towson.

So what was the cost? It was $80 in gas. And droopy eyes from being on the road so much. There really was no rest time because of the driving time.

Living and working in York is like the converse of living somewhere close to family or with decent entertainment a 5-minute drive away (personal preference of course, a nearby stream with more than a few hundred yards of fly-fishing only - and fish still alive - and a bar district you feel safe walking in past midnight are big ones for me) and commuting to a job.

Instead of the long drive to compliment the long workweek, the long drives compliments the end of the week. I pity the people who live up here and commute to Baltimore, then travel on the weekends, too.

Is being 2 hours from everywhere (probably the biggest selling point York has) still worth it when one weekend alone costs $80 just for gas? Are you worried gas prices are going to sink all the hard work people have been putting into the city over the past 5 years?

I went to Hersheypark over the weekend thanks to some discounted tickets from a family member of a friend. And no, I didn't go on the cool new ride. I wore jeans to avoid third-degree sunburn on my pasty white legs, and someone set up a sprinkler - better purposed on a water ride - to keep those in line cool.

The 1.5-minute ride compared to wet, clingy jeans the rest of the day wasn't much of a decision. And there were nice, short, dry lines for the other coasters.

This time last year, my fiance (now wife) Laura and I got our little pride and joy, a beagle mix named Lucy. She was a lost dog found on Hyde Street, according to the SPCA. I couldn't find such a place in York County on a map, so I like to think that she appeared straight out of thin air from heaven.

About the same time, Laura moved into a new apartment, and like most places with a yard, there were some problems with ants in the kitchen. So we got some ant traps and put them around the kitchen, and that worked for a day or two.

Until one night I saw a twisted piece of plastic on the floor, followed by another, and followed by two empty spots in the kitchen where the ant traps used to be. Lucy only gets the run of the kitchen when someone is at home, and wow it didn't take her long to sniff out these traps when we weren't looking.

Ever smell one? They use peanut butter flavoring as bait. I didn't know this. Nor did I know at the time how much Lucy loves peanut butter.

The freaking out quickly began.

Everyone asks that question in terms of "when" it will happen, like how close it is on the calendar. But it also matters how close it is geographically, because most of us drive outside of York County, Pa.

I paid $4.04 at a rest stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike somewhere between Reading and Philadelphia on Saturday.

Excuse me for a second. AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

OK, better now.