Well, it's official; our Keystone Activity Zone Kids summer challenge to find 30 letterboxes hidden in various parks around the county is over - and we got them all!!

The picture above was taken in late July or early August, by Hubby, when Sarah, he and I found the 20th in our letterbox quest. I believe this was at Kain Park, near Lake Redman.

And this one was from our very last letterbox, in Rocky Ridge out in Springettsbury Township. This one was a HIKE AND A HALF. But we did it - and the girl was so proud!

All in all, I can't say enough about this way-fun summer activity. I hope the libraries and the parks get together to do it again next year.

Posted in Around town Dallastown/Red Lion Things to do York City/Suburban

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For the first time in... wow, I don't even want to think how long ... I'm off for a holiday!

I was off Sunday, too, so I have a rare two-day weekend. (I normally am off Sundays and Wednesdays, which is great in that it breaks up the week but not so great in that I never have two days together off.)

Anyone doing anything fun for the holiday? Going to the parade at Kiwanis Lake or up to Kipona in Harrisburg? Today is the last day you can look for letterboxes, so we will probably finish up our quest for all 30 of those (only 4 to go!)

Let me know how you spent the day - especially if you ate anything good (JO!)

Posted in Around town

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I heard more about the Community-Supported Agriculture program from commenter and coworker Ellen last week.

She's also a member of Goldfinch Farm CSA near Wrightsville.

If you're interested, here are some more local CSAs. Looks like Goldfinch Farm has sold out of its shares for the year, but maybe you can try a different one!

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The good news is, I might talk about food a lot, but I also talk how I like to hike a lot. One would hope that balances out?

Recent hikes looking for letterboxes took us around southern York County. We found the lost stamp at Apollo County Park, collected three more around Lake Williams and Lake Redman at Kain and Nixon parks, and hit the rail trail to find a fifth.

That's Hubby and Kiddo (aka Chris and Sarah) pictured along the rail trail, just past the Railroad parking area.

Like a couple of our other park adventures, this marked the first time I'd really gone any distance on the rail trail. It was fun! We still have another letterbox to find, this one near Brillhart Station, so we'll be out along the trail again soon.

Any rail trail hikers/bikers out there? One of our Exchangers is keeping a Rail Trail Journal of his biking experiences - you should check it out!

Posted in Around town Dallastown/Red Lion Southern

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Yes, more promotion of local things I like. Hey, it's my blog!

Today's topic? One of my two favorite local bands - The Jellybricks.

I can't believe it's been more than 10 years since I first heard them, when they opened for Live in Hershey during my sophomore year of high school.

Somehow, I managed to get a signed drumstick from them after that concert. And I've been a fan ever since.

I don't know exactly how to describe their style - pop, I guess, but a little more into the rock side of things. It's actually some of the more laid-back music in my collection; I'm normally a hard-rock kinda girl.

Anyway, if you get a chance, check out their site, where you can hear some of their music.

Tomorrow, more on my second-favorite local band.

Posted in Around town Joan's randomness

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Colorado potato beetle; image from Wikimedia

Daughter Sarah and I collected our third letterboxing stamp and read some facts about beetles today at Sunset Lane Park in West Manchester Township.

A nice walk around the park - which I found out has horseshoe pits, how cool is that?!

And, did you know there are more types of beetles than there are types of plant species total? Scary.

Posted in Around town Dover/West York Things to do

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I mentioned my daughter's work in the letterboxing challenge sponsored by the libraries, the local parks and Keystone Activity Zone.

Well, on Sunday, we were out at the Book Nook Bonanza at York Suburban Middle School - brought home four new boxes of books, yay! - but, after lunch at Perkins, we figured we'd check out some of the eastern York County parks, as we don't often get out to that end of town.

So, that's where Sarah got her first two letterboxing stamps - and learned some bug facts from her logbook - one at Springettsbury Township Park and the other at Rocky Ridge.

Posted in Around town Central/Eastern Things to do

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Bill Styer and his reptiles are a big part of Repile Week at Nixon Park, but 4-year-old Jake Sampson of Salem, Va., wasn't quite sure he wanted to experience the 75-pound Burmese python in this photo by Bil Bowden.

What I forgot to say was that it was the beginning of "Reptile Week" there, which continues through Sunday.

Posted in Around town Dallastown/Red Lion Things to do

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So, hubby and I had a fun (and free, and environmentally friendly, AND good exercise) date Saturday morning, courtesy of the York County Parks Department.

We've decided to take part in the parks' "Eight for Eight" hike series, which leads you through - you guessed it - eight of the county's parks in 2008.

Saturday's was a two-hour "ridge to ridge" hike in Nixon Park. It was the second in the series, though we'd missed the first one. I would HIGHLY recommend future hikes to you all, but first, let's look at some lessons learned.

Posted in Around town Dallastown/Red Lion Things to do

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Rose and I went to check out the Blues Traveler concert at Sovereign Bank Stadium on Saturday night. I haven't even gone to bed yet, and it's 4 a.m., so you know it was awesomeness.

Check out the professional story with the professional photos here, then come back and read more of my blog to get my less-than-perfect but still fun take on the concert and some less-than-perfect but still great photos, too!

(First, though, here's photo proof that I made it to the show.)

Posted in Around town Joan's randomness Things to do York City/Suburban

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