080508 Family vacation to the Poconos (071308-072108)

This is my family- the cousins on the Brandon side that is (plus 2). We have been traveling together since we were young. Thank you Nikki for all your careful planning! The Poconos are in eastern Pennsylvania and consist of a string of beautiful wooded areas, lakes, and mountains. It used to be a hot honeymooner destination for people looking to escape the cities. It is still fabulous. I think that in the fall or winter it would be remarkable! The weather was perfect for us. Hot enough to swim in the daytime and cool enough for a jacket at night. It was a quite a trek to get there from Cincinnati, but the area was luscious and secluded. A very nice and relaxing trip was had by all. It was great to reconnect with everyone as adults. We have always been close and hopefully always will be.


This is our view of the lake from the big back deck. This is Lake Natalie. The deer were like pigeons here. They practically ate from our hands. It was cute. We named our frequent visitor 'Tinkles'. (Check out http://www.nicholasviltrakis.blogspot.com/ for photos of Tinkles).

The blueberry bushes were everywhere! We picked so many and make plenty of blueberry pancakes, yum!

It was a prime spot to meditate and relax. I love being outdoors and it was a beautiful breezy atmosphere! (Summer breeze- make me feel fine)

My brother, Steve, was training for a triathlon. He swam across the lake. He kinda had to walk halfway because it was so shallow.
He placed something like 36th out of 250 in his class in the New Jersey triathlon, btw. Go Steve!

Nicholas is always picking me flowers. I love him so...

We rowed all around Big Bass Lake. It was a super fun excursion. We had a beautiful time.

We came upon an island, it was fantastic from afar. We decided to dock and conquer.

We discovered it was covered with goose turds and really sticky flowers. Needless to say- we were scrubbing our feet for days. It was so named 'Goose Turd Island'.

Later in the week we went to a place called Bushkill Falls. It was a really cool spot to visit. We hiked up and down the falls- there were 8 total.