What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander
November 1, 2024
It’s Goose season in the Juniata River Valley—and no, it has nothing to do with hunting! Our office, home to both the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Bureau, welcomes many out-of-town visitors. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked, "What’s with all the geese around here?" I could retire comfortably. As if on cue, another visitor just walked into my office asking about them. And they’re hard to miss—we have large fiberglass geese (47 of them to be exact), brass geese guarding our downtown Lewistown fountain, goose T-shirts, hats, stickers, a goose neon sign, goose races, and even a goose festival and drone show. Goose everything! But want to know the best part? This holiday belongs to us and only us! That’s right, the Juniata River Valley is the one place in the United States where you can celebrate Goose Day—a holiday that is truly ours. If you look around it doesn’t take long to see that our communities take it quite seriously! Many homes and businesses are decked out in all their Goose Day splendor. For those new to the area or the uninformed locals who obviously must live under a rock, let me take a moment to share the history of Goose Day and how it arrived here in our beautiful Juniata River Valley. Learn More
With Montana, it is Love Part 2
November 1, 2024
For allowing me the opportunity to continue the recounting of my Montana adventure, I am much obliged. Sometimes there is a story inside that just needs to come out, and this is one such story. Here we go with Part II of “With Montana it is Love.” Our adventures continued with a thrilling nine-mile white-water rafting trip down the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. It was my first time rafting, and I eagerly took a front position in the raft alongside my husband. I wanted the whole experience. Around every bend was a beautiful mountain backdrop with riverbanks lined with slender pines. As we traversed the crystal-clear waters, we were fortunate enough to see two bald eagles soaring overhead and tackled several class-three rapids—the perfect blend of beauty and adrenaline. Learn More
With Montana, it is Love Part 1
November 1, 2024
I recently had a moment that reminded me of Anne of Green Gables when she experienced the opera for the first time. In her dramatic way, she exclaimed that she could never return to normal life again because the experience had profoundly changed her. I now understand exactly what she meant. As we exited the airport in Kalispell, Montana, and headed toward Whitefish, where we’d be staying for the next week on vacation, I realized that I wasn’t in Pennsylvania anymore. The great Rocky Mountains loomed before us, their beauty so stunning that it brought me to tears—tears of awe and wonder. As a lover of all things nature, these are the experiences that feed my soul and I knew I was about to feast on a smorgasbord of nature’s best offerings. Our ultimate destination was Glacier National Park, a place I’d been dreaming of visiting for months. Once we settled into our condo, and purchased our highly recommended bear spray, we finally arrived at the park entrance and took our obligatory picture by the “Welcome to Glacier National Park” sign. After several months of planning, to finally arrive was surreal. No words can fully capture the sheer magnificence of this place, though I will do my best to try. We kicked off our adventure with a red bus tour along the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road. These restored vintage 1930s buses, with roll-back tops, offer panoramic views of the park’s breathtaking vistas while the guides share the area’s history and landmarks. Learn More
The Adventures We Take, The Memories We Make
November 1, 2024
According to the Oxford Dictionary, a vacation is “an extended period of leisure and recreation, especially one spent away from home or traveling.” I don’t know about you, but that definition doesn't capture the reality of most of my vacations. While I've mastered the art of leaving home and traveling, I’ve failed miserably in the leisure department. Vacations can be downright stressful. Planning, budgeting, packing, considering pets, navigating traffic, dealing with canceled flights, and facing a pile of emails upon return are just a few challenges. Add the obsessive compulsion to do as many activities as possible, and you have the perfect recipe for anything but relaxation. When my four children were young, I dreaded the horrendous task of packing everything they’d need for the week. With limited funds, our packing often included a tent and all the necessary camping supplies. On one particularly memorable camping trip, our site was inconveniently located at the bottom of a downhill slope. After we unpacked and headed to the beach, a storm blew in. A torrential downpour ensued, and the water had nowhere to go but down the hill and into our tent. When we returned, we found all our belongings floating in about a foot of water. Hanging everything on tree branches and on top of the car to dry, we must have looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. Learn More
