Lake Wallenpaupak, Pocono Mountain

Hi!  And Happy Wednesday!

How are things in your parts? (When I re-read this, I thought it said “how are things in your pants?”  Ha!)  Things here are great- spent the day with my parents on a tour of the new Mormon Temple downtown and then we had brunch at Green Eggs Cafe.  I had grand plans to get to the pool this afternoon, but that’s not going to happen so I thought I would finally update here about the epic family vacation we went on last week!DSC_0168

Due to conflicting schedules, we couldn’t plan any extravagant vacations that everyone could be a part of, so instead- we headed to the Pocono Mountains for a 3 day “adventure” vacation.  My mom did some research (bless her and her planning abilities) and decided that a 4 day vacation on Lake Wallenpaupak would be the perfect little getaway.  There is adventure, plenty to do, and plenty of ways to have a vacation without having to spend a lot of time together.  Kidding 😉

The vacation began on Thursday (early), but everyone was dragging their feet to get out the door and I was ready to goooo and get this vacation started. I was pretty angry that everyone was taking their good ol’ time.  All like….IMG_5412

Once we were eventually ready to leave, I was all like…

IMG_5413

So we started the afternoon with some (pretty mediocre) sandwiches made by yours truly, eaten by the lake.DSC_0001

After lunch, we set out on a long hike that looped part of the lake and along the dam that was created awhile back.DSC_0010 DSC_0015 DSC_0019 DSC_0027 DSC_0030 DSC_0045 IMG_5423 IMG_5416DSC_0051 DSC_0057 DSC_0074

We were pretty pooped after all of that hiking (about 8 miles in total), so we headed to the hotel, showered, and had dinner at the closest diner.  But before we did all of that, my dad and I took the most terrifying picture ever.

IMG_5442

So glad I’m not a boy!

The next morning, we were up and out early!  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera on this day, so all of these photos are from my phone.  We started the day with a bike ride, which was pretty great since there is a FREE bike share program in Hawley. You can keep the bikes as long as you want.IMG_5519

The trails aren’t marked that well, so we did our best to follow the path.IMG_5465

We rode through the town for a bit…

IMG_5457

And then Lee and I set out on a quick (UPHILL) 5 mile ride to a creek that the hotel receptionist told us about.IMG_5476

Besides the minor highway riding that we had to do to get there, it was absolutely worth it.IMG_5490 IMG_5492

In the afternoon, we continued the adventures with a little kayaking and swimming in the lake.  Lee and I took out a kayak while my parents took a boat ride with other older folks 😉IMG_5497

It was so nice to spend an hour with my brother, making the dumbest jokes and cracking up over them.  It’s been a long time since we have done that!  And no fighting!!IMG_5509

After the kayaking, we took a quick dip in the lake but I wasn’t really into the muddy water.  We got changed and then headed up the road for some drinks overlooking the lake at The Dock on Wallenpaupak.IMG_5520IMG_5518

Drinks turned into dinner (everyone ordered burgers and fries but I wanted something fresher- fish in lemon sauce hit the spot!)IMG_5522

And then to end the night, we played a competitive game of corn hole- boys vs. girls, and guess what?!  Girls won!  And my mom scored 6/11 points for our team!  Actually, it was 10-10 and then I scored the last point.  Very exciting, especially with this sunset in the back.IMG_5525 IMG_5524

(Silverbirches resort is right next door to their restaurant and the property has fire pits with chairs overlooking the water, as well as lawn games that we took advantage of).

On our last full day, we planned to go out for some family zip-lining and treetop adventures.  First stop, Milford- a small, all American town.

DSC_0084 DSC_0089

And then onto the adventures…

DSC_0099

My brother and I were all for trying it, and my dad wanted to do the zipline, but with a 30 minute wait, I started to chicken out when I saw how HIGH these ropes courses were…DSC_0102

Instead of doing the courses, we headed to Bushkill Falls for some hiking.DSC_0161 DSC_0119

The entrance fee seems steep when you arrive, but it’s worth it for the beautifully manicured and winding trails.

DSC_0111

Bushkill is something you always see on bumper stickers, but none of us had been.  Now we can knock this one off our bucket lists!  Know what else we can cross off?  Seeing a wild bear!  We were walking and saw a couple taking pictures and then they told us they had seen a bear!  Within minutes, we saw the bear!DSC_0172

See the bear poppin’ it’s head out?!  Too cool.

Everything was so lush and green that I couldn’t help but stop every 2 minutes to take pictures of the trails and my family.

DSC_0126 DSC_0136 DSC_0138 DSC_0155 DSC_0169 DSC_0164DSC_0134

Along the way we saw a family doing (what appeared to be) the YMCA.DSC_0185

And we spent the last few minutes watching the water flow over the falls, talking about how amazing it all is.DSC_0196 DSC_0197IMG_5568

That was it for the third day.  For dinner we stopped back in Milford for dinner at the Milford diner where we all really loved our food.  We stopped off for some homemade ice cream and live music afterwards, but agreed the ice cream wasn’t great.

The next morning, Lee and I got up (too early) to head to the hotel gym.  I really wanted to do a little bit of exercise before a long day in the car.  I just did a quick run/ walk on the treadmill and some light arm work before calling it a day and heading to breakfast.

After breakfast, we headed to a local conservatory for some hiking before the rain rolled in.DSC_0212 DSC_0214 DSC_0209

This place was full of cool mushrooms and growths that my dad and I (mostly my dad) had a field day taking pictures of.DSC_0237 DSC_0238 DSC_0240

And then we took our last family photos before heading out for the ride home.DSC_0252 DSC_0256 IMG_5590 (1)

We headed out to another town where we left Lee to catch the bus back to school.  It was a short, but very, very sweet family vacation.  We may bicker a lot and have our issues (like every family), but we love each other a whooooole lot, and I feel very lucky to be a part of this completely dysfunctional group.DSC_0159

But 3 days was plenty!