The first day of summer... and what a quintessentially summery day we had!

This is a shot of Pine Creek as it meanders through what is known as the PA Grand Canyon.

Here's what we did on the first day of summer:

~ It started out quite chilly - so even though we bundled up in order to enjoy our usual morning coffee on the porch, we had to eat breakfast inside. We hung out reading for a while and when the morning mist lifted, there was a gorgeous day under there!

~ We got on our bikes and rode up the "Rails-to-Trails" bike path through the canyon for - oh, about 3 miles. (That's where the photo is shot from.) We were looking for rattlesnakes because we'd heard they were quite plentiful and, indeed, we spotted four just off the bike path. Three of them were black rattlers, which I'd never heard of nor seen before. Quite pretty, really. I even was able to take a short digital camera video of one where you can hear it rattling. Don't worry - I used the zoom!

~ We headed for the Cedar Run General store to get an ice cream fix. We'd been indulging ourselves in their waffle cones filled (quite filled) with whatever yummy flavor tickled our respective fancies. This day, it was orange sherbet heavily swirled with vanilla ice cream - reminiscent of a "dreamsicle". I was too enthralled with mine to notice what Chris got. Sorry.

~ Remember the sun you saw shining brightly in that photo above? It did that all day and really warmed up, so we dragged out our lawn chairs, reading material, cold drinks, sun hats and sun lotion and laid ourselves out like contented seals in preparation for jumping into the "refreshingly" cold (i.e. startlingly cold) creek water - just inches in front of our feet.

~ We slapped on our snorkle, mask and fin gear and cruised up and down Babb's Creek. We became one with the fish, as it were.

~ I showered while Chris enjoyed a beverage and a cigar. Then, feeling totally lazy and indulgent, we chucked our plans to cook and headed up the road to a little restaurant for dinner. I had ribs and Chris got one of their fabulous cheese steaks.

~ We took our places back on the porch, feet propped on the railing, binoculars in hand and watched and listened as the day faded away into evening, accompanied by the goodnight songs of the resident birds, crickets and frogs...

...We couldn't have asked for a better first day of summer.