Last Swim at Bald Eagle / What a Feeling!

Milestone: last swim at Bald Eagle State Park.
I really mean it this time!

(See also: here and here.)

Alias: A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.

On Sunday afternoon, my husband and I drove up to Bald Eagle for our last swim of the season there. (Oh yes, there will be more swims, but not in this place.) The beach area closes to swimming as of Monday. 

When we got there, there was quite a bit of drama going on. A camper had run over the main electric box, and when they did so, it took the power out to the whole park, including the Nature Inn. These facts were relayed to us by the snack shop lady, who apparently runs things there.

Park employees worked to restore power, and then when they turned it back on, they blew out the pumps. So there was a problem with water, and all of the bathrooms/changing areas were locked. So I was forced to change into my swimsuit in the outdoor shower! I felt like Superman stepping out of my phone booth!

Fortunately, one thing we 80s girls are good at is changing clothes underneath our clothes, without actually being totally nakey for even a second. Any gal who watched Flashdance during her formative years has learned this trick!

Somehow, Bald Eagle State Park always brings out my inner Seurat, so there I was once again, taking photos, with the people on the beach serving as tiny dots of color on my canvas, against the blue water, the green hills, and the everlasting sky.

At the edge of the photo, to the right, you can see two girls on a blanket with a small umbrella. They were wearing what my husband and I call "butt-floss bikinis," and they were playing with a puppy. Note that a dog on the beach is sort of forbidden during season, but what the hey; enforcement has grown a bit lax.

In the extras, you may see a photo of me in one of the new swimsuits I bought this summer for $10 at Ocean State Job Lot (I talked about that here), sitting in my chair at the park, under a tree, enjoying the day. Yes, once again, I look quite happy!!! And I was!!!!

After I'd had my swim, I grabbed my daysack, my shoes, and my bag chair, and headed up to go change in the shower again. (Turns out I didn't have to, as the changing area was open again by then. Which I shortly discovered.)

As I was walking up to the shower, the two girls and their poochie were blocking the path before me. The pupper was having none of this, and was lying on the ground, refusing to move. It may have been the sleepiest pup I've ever seen. I sort of laughed, and then I asked them what kind of dog it was. 

They told me that it was a Bernese Mountain Dog*, which I'm not sure I've ever seen before. It was very fluffy and cute, and as it turned out, they were lovely girls, and taking VERY good care of that pup, which will weigh 100 pounds or more when she's full grown. "You're very cute," I told the poochie, and then she tried to follow me as I left. I guess I made a new friend!

In retrospect, I should have asked if I could take a photo of the poochie, but I was soaking wet from my swim at that point, and my camera was in my bag, so I never even thought about that. Yeah, I know. Missed a photo opportunity. Yeah, right. Me? Yes, me!

I went in to buy a dish of ice cream at the snack shop (Penn State Berkey Creamery's grilled stickies flavor, a personal fave) and get the latest updates from the snack shop lady. She asked if I'd gotten any good photos, and told me all about where she sees bald eagles in the park.

She told me that her camera had croaked recently and she didn't get any photos at an important family event she'd gone to. I left her with recommendations on my camera (Canon Powershot SX 40, 50, 60 - all of which I've owned, and still do), and she seemed very pleased, as I demonstrated for her what this SX 60 can do. Super-zoom, yeah, baby!

My husband and I were talking later at home, and he made a bit of fun of me for "making friends with everybody at the park," because I chatted up the snack shop lady and the butt-floss bikini girls. I guess I did. 

Now that I don't work anymore, I find people more interesting than ever. Perhaps because I see so few of them, and so seldom! But anyway, it was a fun day and a very nice swim, and I made a new friend or two at the park.

And now farewell for a while to Bald Eagle State Park!

Here are my soundtrack songs: for the image above, of the beach, open for one last Sunday before closing for the year, Donna Summer, With Last Dance; and for the girl in the swimsuit in the extras, who changed into Superman in the outdoor shower, as I presume ALL 80s girls know how to do, here's Irene Cara, with Flashdance (What a Feeling). You can take a girl out of the 80s but you can't take the 80s out of the girl!

*I looked it up online when I got home; such puppies sell for $2,000 to $11,000 apiece! Wow!

P.S. And this makes swim #27 for the year. Intrepid observers may note that this makes THREE swims and a BACKPACK within the past week, which may be some sort of personal record!