A Beaverful...uh, BEAUTIFUL...weekend

Read this very cowful...I mean, CAREFULLY. Trailnames used exclusively to protect the innocent and the guilty.

Stonefly and I spent a lovely weekend in State College, PA and its surrounding areas, hunting for boxes and giggling like idiots. Most of the boxes and many of the giggles were thanks in part to the contributions of our dear, debauched friends trueindigo and RGBisMe. Much more laughter was due to the adult (very, very adult) members of the jbzfarm team, one of whom should change his trail name to BRITA if he's going to need to have his filters replaced so often. :)

Friday it rained. It did not "blow over," they were not "passing showers," and I did not "have fun." I have very little more to say about Friday. I'm still shivering.

Ok, so there were some short breaks in between downpours. And we got to see some lovely places (when we weren't shielding our eyes from offensive rotting gutpiles left right on the trail by inconsiderate hunters).

Stonefly hates snakes, and welcomes any opportunity to poke a large stick into a suspicious snakey-looking hole.

We stayed Friday night in State College, and met trueindigo, RGBisMe, PAPaddler, HunterJumper and DaBraLady on Friday evening in Millheim for dinner at the Millheim Hotel, which is apparently renowned for it bathtub salad bar and balcony parties and puddin'. Dinner was good, drinks were yummy and the company was raucous. Couldn't ask for more.

Saturday took us to the campus of PSU. After a brief stop for nourishment of the tea-and-chocolate-roll kind at Panera, we began our marathon boxing adventure. Our heartfelt thanks to the CLPE for a spectacular expedition, complete with shuttle service. Stonefly had us anally...um, AMAZINGLY...well-organized, so things went quickly and smoothly, albeit with a lot of paper shuffling (I'm thinking a PDA for Christmas so he can just upload his clues and look like an even bigger nerd). HunterJumper's maps looked kind of pathetic next to Stonefly's "atlas."

"A says ah-ah-ah... B says buh-buh-buh..."

Stonefly: "Uh, FOLKS? We've been sitting here for 6.3 seconds. We're on a tight schedule here. Places to see, boxes to find. Let's move it along."

Stonefly: "Once again, people...less standing, more walking. Less talking, more boxing. HUP two three four. This is not on my schedule. Move it. Let's GO."

PA Paddler, "sportin' wood." Bittersweet wood at that. Ew.

Pirates! Ok, just one pirate. But he commands a tight ship. And his stamps are beautifully carved for one without opposable thumbs.

Yes, that is really an escaped cow standing in front of the Bryce Jordan Center. Yes, we chased it from Medlar Field all the way up and around Beaver Stadium and onto the BJC lawn (and yes, HunterJumper's ankle swelled up like a softball after that). Yes, it really did knock RGBisMe down. And no, I don't know what finally happened to the cow. But it was fun while it lasted. And the Cow Tails were delicious.

Whoa...back off, lady! I'm a happily married man.

Which way is north?

Local legend holds that if a virgin ever walks by this obelisk, it will fall to the ground. In a heap of giggling, adolescent silliness.

A few disclaimers:

• I have never hung around a laser vision correction center. I am not that kind of girl.
• I didn't know what the green shirts meant. Honest.
• I have been fervently trying to recreate the Otto's red wine slushie since Saturday. Two days and four bottles later, I have determined that swishing copious amounts of cold Nittany Mountain Red wine around in your mouth is not the same. But it's been fun trying.
• I have never taken part in the molestation of anyone's shadow. But I'm ashamed to say I've laughed really, really hard while watching it happen.
• Kitty porn. Need I say more?
  

All in all, a fabulous weekend that makes me long for the days when my kids are grown and my time is my own again. It was so nice hanging out with grown-ups -- even when they act like naughty teenagers! Thanks for a great time, everyone. Can't wait till the spring event. Wonder what kind of guaranteed spontaneous event we can expect next time?