What winter usually looks like

When does a snow fall become a snow storm?

After all, there is a difference between a 'storm' and a 'fall', right?  York was covered by from 2-4 inches of snow Friday night. 

Whatever snow blankets the ground this weekend is likely to be gone early next week. Sunday will be chilly, with highs in the mid-30s, meteoroligist Craig Evanego said, but temperatures will reach into the 50s Monday.
"That'll probably be the warmest day of the week," he said.
Temperatures will hover in the 40s during the day through Thursday, when there is a chance of rain.
The unusually mild winter is not unique to York County, of course. The entire Northeast has been spared so far.

Snow in the Pennsylvania mountains

Drove to Pittsburgh today at Primanti Brothers for lunch, and spent the rest of the day wandering back to York over backroads and Route 30, or the Lincoln Highway.  Snow was about a foot deep at the Laurel Mountain summit, but disappeared quickly driving down and away from the mountains.

Stopped in Laughlintown, just north of Somerset, on route 30 and visited the outside of the Compass Inn Museum. Closed during winter months, the Inn is a restored stagecoach stop that operated from 1817 until 1862, and then became a private residence. Also on the property is a blacksmith shop, cookhouse and a barn. Restored  in 1966, the inn is open for tours May through October.

Took a few backroads and came upon about a dozen deer, who seemed surprisingly curious.

A few miles east on route 30 was Stoystown, the site of the Trostletown Covered Bridge, built in 1873 or 1845. .

Twelfth Night and Boars Head Festival

 The Twelfth Night and Boars Head Festival at York's Grace United Methodist Church was quite the production. But as usual, a baby boy in a manger stole the show over the dozens of ornate costumes.

 Janice Smith of West Manchester Township, below, plays a wassailer during the first performance Sunday. Wassail, according to Dictionary.com, is "liquor for drinking and wishing health to others on festive occasions, especially spiced ale, as on Christmas Eve and Twelfth-night."

A history of rodeo champions

Cowgirl Kamie Landolfi of Warrington Township is a ball of fire, constantly on the move, smiling and laughing with her close family and rodeo friends. She's probably going to be a rodeo star someday, because she loves the sport and because she's a third generation rodeo cowgirl.

Kamie is a bubbly 68-pound sixth grader at Northern Middle School in Dillsburg who handles the horses like most of the world handles dogs or cats. She has been competing since she was three and riding for a "really long time", she says -- remember, she's 11 years old.  She has terrific teachers available-- parents Tandi and Dave were both national rodeo champions and older sister Kelsey lost year won the high school team roping championship.

Kamie spent all of Saturday racing around the Pennsylvania Farm Show during the high school rodeo.

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Getting back to her roots

Lisa Blyth's family moved into a home along the Susquehanna River in 1783, the same year the British signed the Treaty of Paris, ending English claims to the United States. It's no wonder, then, that Blyth has become a docent at the refurbished home, now the Zimmerman Center for Heritage. She spews out fascinating family historical facts so fast and with so much detail that visitors don't want to leave.  Imagine the wealth of knowledge and pride she has in her early American family, who lived here until 1851. Blyth has ties to the Bonhams (the Bonham House in York) and carries along a notebook with notes, family trees, pictures and proof.

Thursday, she laid it on the large table in the Zimmerman Center, and the Twelfth Night visitors were treated to Blyth's enthusiastic explanations.


In the top photo, the stairway shows original lathe behind protective plexiglas at left, and exterior stone behind Blyth.  The Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area celebrated Twelfth Night with traditional fare, including wassail and kings cake. Docents were available to provide background on the home’s history, and the Visions of the Susquehanna River art collection were on display.

Roundtop making a man-made blizzard

Roundtop Mountain Resort is trying to make up for time lost to mild weather by firing up all its snow guns. Skiers are trying to pack in as much skiing as possible.  Throughout the east, ski resorts are finally opening, being covered with man-made and natural snow. For more information about eastern skiing, check here. 

Elk herds on Pennsylvania lawns

About three hours from York, just outside the small town of Benezette, Pa., elk plunk themselves down on lawns, walk down the street, chew on gardens and generally become part of the community.  Some of the fine people of Benezette enjoy the tourists flocking to see the animals but others, well, not so much. Of course, the tourists don't make things easier when they park in the middle of the road, run over lawns and become public nuisance #1.

Counted 123 elk in one herd (I might have missed some), about 15 in another. They seem unafraid of people, making it easy to take photographs.

Google Benezette for rather long and confusing directions. Once in Benezette, take Winslow Hill Road, past the Benezette Hotel. Before heading out to the viewing areas, wander through town, checking lawns and roads for the elk. If you park, stay out of private driveways, pull well off the road, or just park and walk.  Then, take Winslow Hill Road to the Elk Country Visitor Center.  Winslow Hill Road continues through woods and a few large pastures, perfect for elk grazing.

Happy New Year from snow country

Spent the weekend chasing snow and New Year's Eve celebrations, starting in Cleveland, making a quick excursion into Canada and ending up south of Buffalo at Holiday Valley Ski Resort. After all, if anyplace nearby is under snow, wouldn't it be Buffalo?   Holiday Valley threw a beautiful party with fireworks and a torch parade down the main hill, although all the snow there was machine made. No real snow in Buffalo? What's up with that? By the way, about two-thirds of Pennsylvania's ski areas are open according to Ski the East , but of  those, only two or three have more than half their trails open.