Four score and seven.... ok so maybe not that long ago, but a semi-long time ago, nonetheless Sir Jobs-in-training and I decided to make a mini vacation out of our extended Labor Day weekend and agreed to pack up the Nerd Mobile and head East on over to the coined "couples vacation capital of the world" The Poconos. Visitors once to their humble abode we couldn't help ourselves from returning this time to enjoy the fresh air and serene surroundings their campsites had to offer. 

While this could be considered a last minute trip by some, I being the organizational master I am put together the following over a period of 4 days (Ok, I can't take all the credit here.... Damon did nod or occasionally scowl at options presented to him to help give me an idea of how to plan our little adventure).

• Camping to rough it.... no wussies allowed!
• White Water Rafting
• Trail and Waterfall adventures in Ricketts Glen
• Some QT with our friends Jennie and Kevin
• An evening at a 5 star Bed & Breakfast to round up our vacation to treat ourselves a  little after 2 nights in the wilderness

With all reservations finalized, the excitement started to build and soon enough we were up and at 'em getting ready at the butt-crack of dawn to make the 5 hour trip over to Francis Slocum State Park! Yahoo!

Okay, now, at this point I know that some of you are expecting me to comment, or perhaps defend the "allegations" made against me about my choice of attire to start off our trip since I know my once spiky haired boyfriend has already set me up to sound like a Paris Hilton clone.  All I choose to say here is that I was wearing a mildly conservative, athletic, comfortable and quite cute outfit that some fashionistas would describe as "kicky campy".  Okay so maybe that was me who dubbed my outfit as such in either case ask Spock who ended up getting the fire going the first night.  (uh huh, that's right)

Moving on, the trip there was fairly boring except of course for the beautiful scenery, the great breakfast, compliments of The Cadet Restaurant, the witty banter exchanged, and after a little over 5 hours we were checked in at Francis Slocum and headed to our very own campground to set up shop. 

So "shop" wasn't as easy as it sounded to set up.  After 3 or 4 phonecalls and a Damon with a sledgehammer later, we had a shelter, a fully equipped "kitchen", a queen sized deluxe air mattress and bug repelent candles working overtime, shop was officially ready to go! Well, sorta.... it was about to get dark and (gasp!) we still needed to get a fire going.  Enter ol' man Winters.

Apparently the camp troopers think its a riot to send "green" campers, such as ourselves over to the ol' man across the street from the park to buy all the firewood we'd need for the weekend for dirt cheap.  Let's just say the only thing this guy was "cheap" on was what he charged us for the firewood in $$ figures.  What we actually paid to obtain a truck load of firewood was 2 hours and all the sunlight left in the day, the majority of the rest of the evening trying to light our freshly cut firewood and almost a dinner of hot dogs and s'mores.  I was looking forward to these s'mores since before the campsite was reserved, so I considered the sacrifices made for cheap wood; Ol' Polish Man Winter's 384702 stories, lack of hearing, and refusal to let us leave quite costly as it directly reflected my lack of body heat and s'mores in my belly!  Soon enough we were ready for bed for the evening as we had White Water Rafting to look forward in the morning!  Off to bed for a good night sleep we went....

....Until the air mattress deflated and we used the tree roots, some nearby boulders and possibly a critter or two  as lumbar support!! Ouch!

Day 2: White Water Rafting. 
After waking up circa 7:30 a.m. and driving 1.5 hours to the brisk, swift waters of the Lehigh River we arrived at the Whitewater Challengers and were invited to join the rest of the 200+ adventure seekers to strap a lifevest on, grab our "waterproof" bagged lunch and find a team to share our adventure raft with.  Soon enough a team found us, we boarded the shuttle to the river and made our way into the chilly clear water only to find just how great our team that hand selected us to ride with them was.  Despite the fact that the 2 twelve year old boys and their arguing parents were somewhat annoying, we still managed to kick some butt and stay afloat for the 3 hour journey through the mildly treacherous waters.  Injuries sustained healed in a few days, however the memory will not soon be forgotten.  This is a must try for any of you adventure seekers out there!

The rest of our day consisted of drying and then attempting (this time succesfully thanks to my Brawny man!) to burn our Old man Winters wood, make a tasty burger, hot dog and marshmallow dinner and head on over about 20 minutes away to Jennie and Kevin's cabin to make mountain pies Mmmm mmm mm. 

Day 3: Soon enough morning was once again upon us and our backs were officially on strike as our unfortunate lumbar support was just not working for us.  Oh well at least we had a new day full of hiking, cliff diving and B&B luxury awaiting us! 

Well, as we made the journey West, first to meet up with Jennie, Kevin and then finally over to Ricketts Glen, I felt the anticipation start to rise at the thought of seeing the tall overflowing waterfalls that comprised the majority of this natural park.  We arrive a short 20 minutes later and within moments of stepping out of the car we begin to see the crystal clear falling waters over the smooth moss covered rocky earth down into what appeared to be a refreshing and inviting pool of natural spring water. As we continued to walk, snap pictures and chat about everything and nothing at all while tromping through the nature trails into the forest I continue to be totally unaware of the fear that would soon paralyze me for 120 minutes of my life. 

Within  20 minutes into our hiking journey we came upon a waterfall surrounded by approximately 25 people, 5 of which were lunging themselves off a 30 foot ledge into the 50 degree water below.  Without hesitation Damon takes off all his attire except for a pair of swim trunks and continues on over to join the cliff divers.  With a slight bit of hesitation, and a grumble under my breath "if i dont do this i'm going to be really pissed off at myself" I follow suit as I continued to watch the cliff jumpers and convince myself that this was going to be F-U-N.  So, I watch my brave and handsome boyfriend make the icy plunge into the rock surrounded pond and slowly start to drift out of consciousness as it soon becomes my turn.  By this time I had moved my spot in line all the way to the back of the train of eager divers at least 4 times leaving me the last left to jump.  With all 25+ eyes on me now the pressure was on and suddenly I froze.  This "freezing" phenomenon as I like to call it went on for the next 2 hours, and as the encouraging crowd turned into an annoyed crowd, our friends left to go back to the cabin and I successfully wore Damon's patience to a fragment above sea level, i knew it was time to get over myself and just do it.  Well, to make a long story (EVEN LONGER!! SHEEEESH!) I was somehow able to jump, not once but TWICE and make my way back up the slippery waterfall to greet my proud fans above (okay, so what if damon was my only fan left!!).  All in all, this was one of the best and most exhilarating experiences I have ever had.  Damon later referred me to an article that explained to me my "paralysis by analysis" experience.  It was QUITE a day to say the least and we still had the romantic B&B to look forward to.  

Well, I'm almost done with the story here, and although these last few tidbits may not be as exciting as the first tidbits, the vacation wouldn't be complete without them. This of course was our B&B stay in the most beautiful antique renovated victorian home I could ever imagine. All I can say is WOW as this story is getting quite long.  I will try to include all the pictures below so you can see for yourself.  As hard as it was to tear ourselves away from our cushy surroundings, we had passed a drive-in theatre on the way to the Riverview Inn and were antsy to see the new Halloween, so off we went to have a nice 1960's inspired date night.  

Labor Day was anything but.  We slept in, ate a fantastic breakfast, relaxed some more, antique shopped then headed back to take in the beautiful scenery. Take a moment to look at the rest of the pictures below to get a better feel for how we spent our Labor Day Weekend.  I hope yours was as exciting as ours!!  Now if only I could still wear my white jackets and shoes! damn you Labor day fashion faux paux!