My Personal Founding Father

My personal founding father

For those of you that may not know, I am from a little state called Pennsylvania. He translates from Penn's Woods, and was founded in 1683 by William Penn. Originally, I never had no one or never would have guessed that the founder of my state was originally from a small town that I worked in for my first occupational therapy placement. At the end of the four week placement though, my educator took me to a pub called the Pennsylvanian that was named after him, and then to the local museum then had a detailed plan about his life.  I then found out where he was buried, set my sights on going to visit him.

The stone above was part of his homestead in Pennsylvania.

To see the grave of William Penn, I had to walk through 20 minutes worth of British countryside near the Chilterns. There was no pavement to be found on the road, and in certain parts there was no strip of grass or forest to walk on either, so it was incredibly terrifying. Oddly enough, I went on a sunny day in February where there were not a lot of people on the road, so I could sprint a long open sections of road if need be.

After walking a mile and crossing the road at least 13 times to avoid becoming road pancake, I finally found it, the small cemetery in which William Penn was buried. I had a brief chat with him and thank him for all that he had done in America to found the nation, and then I followed the footpath out of the cemetery and into the small town of Jordans, where his first Quaker community was settled.

The man who helped to found America.

 I got a bottle of water in the Jordans community store after a quick little hike up the road, and I could still smell stale hickory smoke filling the air. Likely due to the quaintness, Jordans won an award in 2018 for the best kept village in Buckinghamshire. I introduced myself to the shopkeeper, and immediately, the rest of the customers started chatting to me as well. After all, it isn't every day that you meet an American from Pennsylvania in the town that was settled by the man who settled Pennsylvania.

I then went to a little pub called the Jolly Cricketers in Seer Green. it was a quaint location with a very small town and home vibe. I would recommend this pub to anyone who is able to make it up that way, although getting there from London isn't exactly easy if you don't have your own car or the money for an Uber.

After this, I returned back to my domicile to rest up. This was the day that I went to see the founder of my state. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Return to the Sun

The second full trip I took to Florida incurred a lot of positive memories. I knew that I could tolerate travel at this point in my life, and on top of that, I was also a legal adult now. That didn't mean that I was no longer a kid at heart, though, as I still was into the same old things that I was always into at this point in time. My mother found cheap tickets to fly from Harrisburg Airport down to Orlando Florida, where are Aunt would once again pick us up as she had for my last trip down to Florida.

This time, we had plans made prior to even arriving. One day would be spent entirely with family. The following day we would drive down to Miami and go shopping for a little bit. That we will take our time driving through the keys for an entire day, remembering to stop and enjoy the scenery in Key West. Then we would drive back up to our hotel in Miami, stay the night, and then drive all the way back up to Orlando.

Before our grandiose plans began, we decided to visit the local Beach, Venice Beach. Ran to my scampered along the shoreline making sandcastles and collecting seashells. I would bring some of these back up to Pennsylvania with me. The beach was beautiful, and there were plenty of sites to see and we have to feel crash upon my face.

My aunt and I let my mother relax for a day, as we took a track up to Winterstown Florida to visit the official Legoland. It was absolutely incredible, as everything there was made out of Legos. Even some of the rides and attractions were made out of Legos. I had a blast, as well as having my first 7-Eleven smoothie on the way back home. Then, my family came to town for a little while.

About a half-dozen of my family members live in Florida, making family reunions rather difficult at times. As fate would have it though, they were all able to come visit one day, and we went out to dinner. Visiting family in a foreign place is wonderful, as you really get to learn more about them in their natural environment versus what you see while they're on vacation. The tables have really turned. I spent a whole day with them, feeling them in about my life and enjoying their presents, before we begin searching for other day trips.

Compared to the first time I went Timberland oh, this trip was more filled with relaxation time. Considering is to hell I was having a very busy last semester of high school, any vacation time was greatly appreciated. This time I was older, wiser, and started blending in with the locals. Even though it was 73 degrees outside, shorts weather for me, the residents of Florida were all wearing long pants and jackets. By the third and fourth day I honestly felt myself doing the same thing. I guess there is one downside to going to Florida in the winter after all.

Although brief, this is a good summation of my time in Florida. Florida is the state with the most amount of retirees, as more people come here to retire than any other state. They want to warm up the cold bones year-round I suppose. Regardless, Florida is a wonderful place that must be visited by one and all.

President's Picnic

President’s Picnic

When I was approximately 4 years old, I went to discover Richard Nixon state park for the first time in my life. There was some activity is being lead for youth education at the time, as we took an interesting personality test to discover what dinosaur we were most like. We then were asked to draw that dinosaur, and the best-looking dinosaur want some sort of prize. To this day, I have the artistic capabilities of figgy pudding, so I did not win the prize. However, inside their ecological Center, I did learn a lot that day about the evolution of species throughout time.

I Revisited Richard Nixon park for the first time since then when I was 22. The ecological Center has ex‐ panded to include exhibits on flora and fauna around the United States and in this part of Pennsylvania that I live in. I stopped by because I wanted to go on a hike and see what their Trails were like, as I had a serious Edge to go out and go hiking one day but no way to fill it without too far of a drive. So, my friend Brett and I found ourselves out at Richard Nixon Park, hiking one of their shortest trails.

This state park has several trails that all loop around or through the periphery of the park and then some. That was transfer time, we decided to take the shortest trail that cut through the center of the park. There were actually a couple of switchbacks on this little Trail, but it eventually led to an open field with a platform in but it eventually led to an open field with a platform in the center of it. I still don't top of the platform and felt omnipotent. I also found a caterpillar on the platform and made friends with it, shooting some pictures before letting him go on the nearby plant.

Before I knew it, time for me to go to work had to come. I knew that before long I would come back and Hike more of the trails one day, still thoroughly impressed at how far Richard Nixon park has come. I will come back to the park to do more hiking as time permits in my hectic schedule and life course.