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Whoosh! Zing!
July 24, 2014
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Although it does not seem truly possible, with this week we mark completion of HALF of the 2014 Great Pennsylvania Outdoor Challenge! How does your scorecard look? Half empty or half full? Never mind - we're all optimists here, with every intention of marking all the boxes off before the end of October rolls around.
This week's challenge may in fact be a challenge for many of us. Disc golf?! It's a niche endeavor to be sure but one that is growing in popularity - so much so that we devote a week's challenge to the sport (and intend to give it more prominence in the next printing of the Pennsylvania State Parks & Forests Passport). So while you won't find a list of disc golf courses in the Passport just yet, there is an interactive map on DCNR's website listing them and we have a couple of built-in experts to help you give it a go. Harry Timney and the other members of the French Creek Disc Golf Club (who have an amateur tournament on tap this weekend and the park) and Rob Eichelberger have agreed to be on-call whenever you have a pressing need to try out the sport.
Check out the Calendar of Events page for August - the Friends of Canoe Creek are eager to share their new course with you during their first-ever tournament on the 17th. More information and registration is available through the PPFF website.
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So Lisa said she didn't get a lot of "contemplating" doing between running back and forth between home and campsite, BUT obviously there was some good eating! Dutch oven pear pie? Check!
Love that Edie and crew were at McConnells Mill and Jennings just a few days after Samantha! Where are we going next? Join the Facebook group and find out!
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If you're Facebook friends with Marci, by now you will have seen that our secret is out! She and Pam are planning to bike from PPFF's western Pennsylvania office (Pam's house) in Confluence (right on the edge of Ohiopyle State Park) down the Great Allegheny Passage to Point State Park in Pittsburgh.
The date for this adventure is 9/9 during Try Something New week and the aim is to raise money for PPFF and have a little fun at the same time. If we can do that by butchering a popular song from one of our favorite rock bands, so be it!
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PPFF On the Move
On Saturday, you'll find Jen at the 21st Annual Nature & Arts Festival at the Ned Smith Center for Nature & Art in Millersburg.
Marci's weekend was spent bike camping on the C&O Canal Towpath between Hagerstown and Hancock. At a campsite one night? Whaddya know? A hammock!
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Rain Day
Is it counter-intuitive to celebrate rain during the summer? Perhaps! But July 29th is Rain Day - and there's no getting around the fact that we NEED rain. Just ask the people in the southwest.
And speaking of the southwest, the people of Waynesburg (in southwest PA) have celebrated July 29 as Rain Day for 141 years now. They've had rain on 113 of them! Waynesburg is a great stop on the way to Ryerson Station State Park (where the Friends of Ryerson Station funded the purchase of a lifeguard chair for the VERY popular swimming pool).
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Health Watch
Rain Day or not, sunburn prevention (and a resulting reduction in your chances of acquiring skin cancer) is no joke because, according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, harmful "UV rays from the sun can reach you on cloudy and hazy days, as well as bright and sunny days." The hours between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm are when the sun is at its strongest in our neck of the woods so be aware.
 So are we suggesting you should just give up and stay inside? Come on - you know us better than that! Protecting yourself is a pretty easy process with these five "tools" in your beach (or bike) bag.
- Shade. Find a restful place under a tree or umbrella BEFORE you feel baked.
- Clothing. It may not always be possible or desirable, but loose long-sleeved shirts and long pants offer your best protection from the sun. Heck, you can even buy stuff with the protection built right in!
- Hat. Hats are ALWAYS in. One with a brim is "in" and protective.
- Sunglasses.Your eyes also need protection from UV rays (and, besides, why squint and give yourself wrinkles?)
- Sunscreen. Goes without saying, right? Slather it on. Reapply it after swimming or sweating. Use at least SPF (Sun Protection Factor) 15. I bet fair-skinned Nancy and Marci wore some while biking; we hope Joe did, too!
These and many more tips and other information on skin cancer and sun protection is available from the CDC website.
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