On Wednesday, hubby and I were both off, so we decided to take a day-trip drive.

Hubby chose Lock Haven as our destination, planning that we'd take the scenic route up and back.

We didn't have any big plans - just a nice, pretty drive, and a chance to walk around and have lunch in a small town.

We ate here:

It's a place famous for - guess what? - its hot dogs! Hubby had the "Texas Growler," which featured onions, mustard and a chili sauce. I just had a plain dog with ketchup and mustard.

After lunch and a stroll around town (which included a chance to see the home of small-town newspaper the Lock Haven Express, and a pet shop featuring the cutest-ever chinchilla), we headed back home (the long way) on an ultra-scenic drive that included five deer, a flock of wild turkeys and a very slow-moving pheasant.

All in all, it was a great way to spend the day. (And, shameless plug, if you're interested in day trips you can make from York County, you can check out Bil Bowden's Excursions series, which features dozens of them.)

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Those of you who know me know that I'm not exactly your social butterfly. I have few hobbies outside of work and my family, and I can count my really good friends on two hands (that goes down to one hand if you exclude really good friends who are coworkers/relatives).

So it's kind of a surprise that I've got three different things going on during a coming Saturday, the 27th, all of which I really want to fit in.

First, my friend (and former employee!) Megan invited me to her Pampered Chef party starting at 1 p.m.

Then, my best friend (and Creative Memories consultant) invited me to a scrapbooking workshop, which will run 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. (I plan to do this after the Pampered Chef party.)

Finally, we placed our first grocery order through Angel Food (more on this in a future post), and that needs to be picked up between 9 a.m. and noon (so I'll be going there first, then taking my low-cost, high-quality groceries home and putting them away before the other two events.)

Chances I will forget and go the wrong place, or in the wrong order? About 75 percent!

Posted in Joan's randomness Things to do

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From our news items received recently, I found this one:

Kreutz Creek Presbyterian Church in Hellam Township will host a local food potluck supper 6 to 8 p.m. a week from today, on Sept. 24.

All dishes are to be prepared with at least 75 percent local ingredients. Grow it yourself or buy it at a farm stand, but at least 75 percent of what is in the dish needs to be from your York County.

Speakers Steve Prescott and Debbie Krout-Althoff will address the community, economic, environmental and health benefits of buying locally grown foods.

Steve Prescott is owner of a local Community Supported Agriculture farm, and Debbie Krout-Althoff is with the Horn Farm.

All guests are invited to bring a dish to share. Everyone is encouraged to write the ingredients and where you purchased them (or grew them yourself) on a 3-by-5 card. There is no admission charge, but monetary donations will be accepted for the Wrightsville food pantry.

The church is also accepting donations of wildflower seeds for their bee habitat.

The church is at 85 Old Church Road, between Routes 30 and 462 just west of Frysville Road ( behind the Tourist Inn). For details, call 840 0955, e-mail kcpc@nfdc.net or visit www.kreutzcreekpc.org.

Sounds neat! I attend a regular Wednesday-night program at my own church, or I'd head up and try it out!

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No, don't run away from this blog. It's a Monty Python and the Holy Grail quote.

But - while Monty Python and the Holy Grail IS the best movie ever, and while I'd love to talk about it ad nauseum - what I really want to do is draw your attention to my continued running (OK, jogging) exploits, in which (a) I can now run a mile straight without stopping, which I honestly had NEVER done before and (b) I've decided I need a concrete goal.

So what's the big-picture goal, now that it's not "get a mile without keeling over?"

Glad you asked.

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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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It's York Fair time again! I'm hoping to head out soon - although, horror of horrors, I might not be able to eat as much fair food as I normally would.

Why? I'm having my top two wisdom teeth out on Tuesday - yuck!!

Anyway, take a look at our staffwide fair blog for the latest from York's big event, and check out our submit-your-own-fair-photo gallery.

Oh, and wish me luck on the teeth - I'm afraid I'll need it.

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(Don't know what a meme is? Learn more.)

I normally don't get into these, but I love music, so I had to try this one out.

- - - - - - Your Life: The Soundtrack - - - - -
Open your music player (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, etc). Put it on shuffle. Press play. For every question type the song that's on. When you go to a new question press the next button.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Opening Credits: Runaway Train - Soul Asylum

Waking Up: Who Said - Hannah Montana

Theme song: New Age Girl - Deadeye Dick

Falling in Love: The Great Intoxication - David Byrne

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I've been saying for a while that I need to get healthier. I had lost about 40 pounds back in 2005, and while I certainly haven't gained it all back, I'm probably close to 20 pounds heavier now than I'd like to be.

I've also gotten a sudden motivation to get skinnier over the next year - my very best friend from high school proposed to his fiancee, and I've got to be a "groomsman" in his wedding. Now, if I could wear a tux like the other groomsmen, I'd be set, but I'm worried that his (very awesome) fiancee is going to put me in a dress that shows off my belly fat in nasty ways.

So, it's time to get fit. What's the plan, you ask?

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One of our recent Eight for Eight hikes took us to Raab Park in North Codorus Township, home of the former York Iron Co. iron mines - and a lot of bats, who hibernate in the old mine adits in the winter.

Besides seeing views like this, of huge drops made from the remains of former quarries, we saw the results of some recent archaeology camps for kids. The stuff they found was pretty neat - pieces of old buildings, old railroad tracks from the railroads that served the mines, all sorts of neat stuff.

It was one of the county parks that I'd never been to, so it was doubly neat. I'd definitely like to go back!

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Today marked the last day of my daughter's first summer in the Tennis for Kids program offered around the county. Her group met at West York Area High School and mostly concentrated on the basics - forehand, backhand and serving.

In honor of Sarah's "graduation" from tennis today, she and I headed out to West Manchester Township's little-known Shetter Park, where there is a single court that just happened to be open for us.

Doesn't she look like a future tennis star?

The cool part is that Hubby and I are both recreational players (we both played in high school, and have been known to hit around sporadically since then) - so we're just glad to have someone else to face off against!

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