Ahhh...Civilization

We made it back to civilization yesterday after four days in the woods of Pennsylvania. All told we biked almost 20 miles along the Youghiogeny River and then whitewater rafted 8 miles through the river. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Our campsite (pictured) was secluded which was nice, but that also meant we walked miles and miles in that timespan UP to the bathrooms. Pictures are on their way and we got some great ones. Along with the recreational adventures, we had wings at the Falls City Pub after rafting that got a four wing out of four wing rating.

The Falls City Pub was one of the reasons we chose the rafting company Wilderness Voyageurs. We saw the company was located right next to the pub online before we made our reservations. After spending five hours rafting on Saturday we headed to the pub for some much needed food and beverages of the adult variety to share with some of our new friends, including our river guide (pictured). While the pub looked like a hole in the wall when you walked in, they only had top shelf liquor and any kind of beer you can imagine inlcuding some from Cleveland's Great Lakes Brewery. Those rafters know how to drink. And Cook! We ordered the house wings and they were crispy yet juicy. The sauce had so much flavor: sweet, spicy and tangy all in one. The people we were dining with got the garlic butter and hot wings, which were also exceptional. Perhpas it was the endorphins from rafting, but these were the best wings I have had in a long time.

Other than wings, we also cooked at our campsite. Along with the obligatory hot dog meal, we changed things up a little bit. We took porterhouse steak which we marninated in a pear champagne vinagrette with gorgonzola and garlic. We served it up with potatoes covered in mushrooms and onions sauteed in a garlic butter. On Friday we made turkey breast we had marinated in buffalo hot sauce along with vegetables and baked potato. We also scrambled up omlettes and made nachos over the fire. We worked hard to spoil ourselves including an air mattress that we had to manually pump using a foot pump because we had no electricity. That process took over an hour, but was worth it considering how cold and hard the ground was each morning. Overall it was a wonderful trip, but I was ready to come home and take a hot shower and lie in a warm bed. I didn't catch the Browns game on television, but thanks to my satellite radio, I was able to catch most of the action. I felt just like the early pioneers most of the time minus the wings, air mattress and satellite radio. They must have really had it rough without those things!