First Swim, Bald Eagle State Park

The very good news is that as of the Memorial Day weekend, all of the state park beaches are open for swimming. My husband and I had shopping errands in town first, and so we handled those. I left him alone in Walmart too long, as I searched in vain for Neutrogena body oil (great for making skin feel silky; no dice locally, will have to order it online), and came back to find him with his cart piled high. "I couldn't find you," he said; "so I just kept on shopping."

Our errands also took us to Kohl's, with a coupon for $10 off $25, which we spent with some level of glee. We found some clearance racks and came home with a handful of unbelievable bargains. Alas, they rang the price up incorrectly on two of those items, so I'll need to go back for the couple of dollars they shorted me. No biggie, though; it'll give me an excuse to check out the clearance racks again! <wink; smile>

And then we went home and changed cars and had something to eat and headed for Bald Eagle State Park, where we had our first swim. The day was absolutely perfect, like a summer day straight out of a blissful childhood. The sun was warm and the shade was cool and it was just delightful. One of the best days yet for weather!

We sat our chairs and bags in the shade and went in to swim in the heat of the afternoon. It was a fine swim but we both remarked that the water seemed a little dirty for so early in the season. I'm not sure what's up with that, but I'd advise you to keep your mouth shut while swimming, and rinse off afterward.

There are outdoor showers in the bathhouse, but as of Sunday, they were not turned on yet. I have just sent the park an email this morning reminding them to turn them on. (I also had to do that last year. Exact same sitch! What would they ever do without ME?)

So here is a lovely view from where we sat. There was a tree beside us and it provided us and a bunch of other people with shade. So I decided to frame my shot around the tree which kept us so comfy on what felt like a perfect summer day! With the framing, this shot almost looks like a portal into summertime. . . .

The one catch in our day, though, was trying to find something to eat after that! It was a Sunday of a holiday weekend, and though I'd checked their typical Sunday hours online before leaving the house, Lupita's in Milesburg was closed, with an odd sign on the door.

Fisher's market, where we often get hoagies, was also closed. As was Bonfatto's in Bellefonte, so no tuna sub for me! We finally ended up with a delicious pair of the biggest fish sandwiches we can recall, at the Bellefonte Burger King, two for $5. So here's a shout-out to them, for feeding us on a day when nothing else was open!

Here is a song for sweet summer: Mungo Jerry, with In the Summertime.