I am back home in Manila, and I’m finally able to sleep at night (Manila time). Back to work after 3 weeks of “rest” and travel, which is a good thing to keep my mind off being sad.

Anyway, I had a grand time exploring the western part of Pennsylvania with someone really special (emphasis on really special ) For the most part, a lot of time was eaten up by land travel, but it was a great way to see the fields and hills, and the trees that are colorful (something I never see back home!).

So my trip has mainly 2 categories: the places I’ve been, the food I have eaten. but I guess I cannot really blog about those separately, so let me share my experience through photographs instead!

Visit to Michael’s camp at Treasure Lake.

I had my first buffet salad at Hoss’. It was my first time to eat a pickled egg (the prurple eggin the photo). It tasted really good! I am going to make some here at home.

A hearty breakfast before starting a loong day

Mike taught me to drive the quad! It was quite easy, way easier than driving the car (which I had no idea would happen soon — I don’t know how to drive a car btw)

And yeah, I was able to drive the car in a place where we won’t get caught hehe. Great thing seatbelts were invented. Mike complained of the way I hit the breaks.

Spending time at camp with Mike’s parents. It has been a pleasure to be around them, and they even cheered when I finished my first can of beer!

We went to several Walmarts throughout my stay, which I genuinely enjoyed. I am not much of a girly shopping type, but I like grocery shopping. I saw some fruits and vegetables that I haven’t seen before! Educational!

The Elk Outlook. We were actually at the area of the Pennsylvania Wilds, and we were able to see some young elk around the protected area, but we left a bit early and didn’t get to see the elk gather in the field (they like to come out when it gets colder later in the day).

Driving through Caledonia Pike, which Michael thought was a shortcut. Maps can be very deceiving, and so Mike decided to take a shortcut to go to a burger place in Clearfield. It turned out to be an hour drive (or more?) through the middle of nowhere, our eyes open for possibly another bear that might come out (we did see a black bear run towards the road earlier). Next time, we will NOT take the road less traveled hehe.

Finally found civilization, and food! We went to the place where the world’s largest hamburger is. They have a really large burger that is $300, that can be shared by a group of people. But once in a while they have a competition for a single person to finish a very large burger. Ew.

Cooking at home during the cold, rainy weekend. Using the oven has added some heat to the house, which is good for me. And the smell of food is always a delight

The neighbor’s harvest. Mike’s neighbors are senior citizens, and are having some health challenges so Mike and I cleaned up their garden and took home the tomatoes and peppers! (ok, I helped a little, but Mike did all the work even when it started to rain)

Visit to Michael’s brothers. Both of them live in Carlisle, PA, and we had the chance to visit their respective homes. Larry and Karen treated us with a free hotel stay at Comfort Suites which is right across their coffee shop, the Courthouse Common Espresso Bar. We were also treated to dinner and late night drinks. Too bad I was just recovering from an illness that almost ruined my trip, so I didn’t get to drink much hehe. Plus I had a weird red-eye reaction to my meds (too early for halloween). It was so uncomfortable.

Bowling with the kids. We had bowling with Mike’s nephews Patrick and Brandon, and nieces Mackenzie and Anna that same evening, which we enjoyed. It was a dollar per game night, so we took advantage of it! (and the little girls almost beat us haha)

Next, we visited Tim and made a trip to his wife Jody’s horse ranch. I got to see some horses and she allowed me to ride one, which scared me to death! The horse was so big, my fear of heights started to overwhelm me. Jody’s little boy Rogue was way more confident that I was hehe.
Photos of me on the horse was taken by Rogue. Seems like he found another thing he would like to do!

Trip to Lancaster. This place is known for the Intercourse Canning Company which makes pickles and jams, and the Amish place. We walked in and out of Amish stores but did not buy anything major. A lot of the items were made in China (haha), so I ended up just buying jams that cannot be found back home.

We had late lunch at the Shady Maple smorgasbord, which served a LOT of food! While having our late lunch, Larry called and invited us to join his family for a haunted hayride at a haunted amusement park. IT was a blast! We went in two haunted houses and one haunted hayride in an actual corn field. It was an interesting amusement park, with several monsters walking around to scare you.

Motorcycle ride.


The sunny and warm days were spent motorcycle riding to different sites. Since we did not have the chance to go to New York and see Ground Zero, we decided to go visit the Flight 93 Memorial, where the fourth plane that was hijacked in Sept. 2001 crashed. It was a special memorial site for the passengers who prevented the plane from reaching its real target – the Whitehouse. However, only family members of those who died are allowed to the actual crash site.

On the way to the Flight 93 memorial, Mike decided to go through the Laurel Highlands to see a view of the river and waterfalls.

Then we went to the highest point in Pennsylvania, Mt. Davis. There was a tower where we could see the landscape, and I was scared to death! But the view was absolutely lovely, with the trees changing colors and the clear, blue sky.

We passed through the roads where we could see a view of the windmills, which were lovely! I took photos while the motorcycle was moving, and wow, look at some of the best ones!

On another day, we went to camp on the motorcycle. On the way, we stopped by DuBois and went in the Harley-Davidson store, which is quite unique. Mike bought me a Harley shirt as a belated birthday present.

Then we had early dinner at The Hitching Post, a bar which looked scary. Good thing Mike was wearing his Harley bandanna, which made him look like a tough biker you don’t wanna mess up with. Hehe. I felt safe, amidst the stares of some of the people there (I seem to have “invaded” a white man’s territory hehe). I enjoyed my chicken wings and beer. (and Mike is delighted to see me drink beer, I wonder why?)

From camp, we went to visit the Straubs brewery and two wineries and had our fill of different flavors.

The Eternal Tap at Straubs. You can actually stay here for an hour and just drink away, just make sure you don’t get drunk! (and you’re over 21yo)

On the way, we stopped by a tiny chapel at St. Mary’s.

Then we went to get a view of the Kinzua bridge which was rehabilitated after a tornado tore half of it in 2003. It was a lovely sight!

When we were not traveling, we visited Mike’s good friend Steve for morning or afternoon walks (exercise to burn the beer calories!).


I had so much fun at Steve’s house when he and his wife, carol, had us taste some of their collection of wines. There are a few ones which they made themselves! (my favorite among all the rest is Steve’s very own red wine. Instant buzz!)

After having several glasses of different flavors, Mike called it a night while he can still drive. But of course, it wasn’t the end of our evening. *wink wink!*

I didn’t take much photos when we were on our way to the airport, because I was feeling sooo sad! So here are some of the last photo we had together during the best vacation I have had so far!