option
 

I may be a little further North than everybody wants to drive but having cleared it with Pete, we'd be happy to put ya'll up for a weekend in Grifftopia. I'd be thinking late January through February so you guys wouldn't have to put up with severe mental illness man who is scheduled through the so-called "holiday" period.

Fuck yeah!!!

Sweeet!

(reasonable walking distance to the house and the Russian Fireplace, right?)

That can be arranged. :)

O.C. -Northern Tier of PA, about 30 miles from Binghamton, NY

How does -9.2 degrees F grab yah? You folks interested in doin this thing? My dark holiday mood has blown over and I'm ready to see humans again.

The thermometer currently reads 13 degrees at Northeast Philadelphia Airport...wind chill is -3.

But fuck yeah! Let's do this! Who else is up for this? Seriously...

Ain't we neighbors, Griff? I'm in NEPA too...Hazelton area.

Brian

Overnight low -14.2 F ouch.

Yeah Brian. We're maybe an hour and a half apart depending on your route. Lets talk logistics.

I had rather hoped you guys had forgotten all about this ...

This is so fucking cold even snuggling won't help ...

Forget? Ha! Of course, no one said you had to come. ;)

No way we'd do it in weather like this. It would have to be a tad warmer...at least 30s at night. So maybe next month or early March?

Logistics are pretty easy...I got plenty of space for camping and floor space indoors for the faint of heart. Only one bathroom though.

Very few neighbors and they better not complain. I didn't say anything when one decided to burn his bedding in his driveway. Rednecks...

Anyway, Dagney and I plan to hold a cookout somewhere around Independence Day this year. Earlier is doable but don't expect HER to camp out in the cold. Me either for that matter. Even my dog prefers the warm indoors to the frigid outside. But if YOU want to sit in a tent and rub noses, be my guest. Fires are permitted as long as you don't burn any structures, vehicles or woodland. That means no Straw Men!

I welcome visitors...it gets a mite lonely up here all by myself.

Brian

Aw come on Brian! Can't we burn just one car? It won't be yours...I promise.

I just wanna get out of the city for a couple of days, get back to nature a bit and hang out with some of my buddies.

So, here's what we need to figure out:

--What temperature level would be acceptable? I'm cool with 30s at night, but some of you might want it a tad warmer.

--Based on the above, do we want to set a tentative date?

--Who needs gear? I'll probably buy some stuff, but if we can share some items (tents, extra sleeping bags, etc.) and save money, that would be pretty sweet. And if we can get one person to volunteer their grill for food, that would also be cool.

--How are we going to do food, as far as purchasing or chipping in? There may be a few meals we want to commune on (e.g. donuts on Saturday morning, or something like that).

--How are we all going to get there? Most of us coming live in the Philadelphia area. I have a wagon, so I could certainly carry some gear and a couple of bodies. To get there at a decent hour on Friday evening, some of us might have to leave work early or take off on Friday (I personally would leave work early). Or we could go up Saturday morning...though to drive 3+ hours for just one night would be kinda lame.

Let's have some discussions here and we can start doing some serious planning over the next week or 2.

Holy Shit how I envy youz guys.

I wish I could spend a week or two in the wild. Have a good trip and, if it isn't too much trouble, write a daily diairy and post it. I want details - what you noticed, what you felt, what you thought you saw- what it felt like to wake up to the clean mountain air.

:(

Hazelton is 2.5 hours from Phila. Go up the NE ext and get off at Mahoning Valley. Go south on 209 towards Leheighton until you come to 93 north. That runs right through Hazelton.

Don't burn my neighbor's junkyard either, syc. He's pretty attached to his junk cars. Even though they ARE on this property, the landlord allows him to keep them here until he dies. The next day, a fleet of tow trucks will show up. That will always be a kinda dead spot due to leaking oil/fuel/acid/antifreeze etc, but it's not MINE! at least, not yet. I'm tenatively considering buying half the land and this house for a weekend retreat/project house. And this would be a good place to put my woodshop.

Anyway, I don't expect the nighttime temps to go back up to above freezing for three months yet. And don't forget the wind chill. Open fires are permitted but let's not get carried away. I have a fire pit that used to do double duty as a grill...It will be available for use if you can come up with a cooking surface...mine rusted away to nothing. Measurements available upon demand for those handy with metal.

A weekend GTG is cool with me and Dag, I'll clear it with my dog though...you might wander into his personal minefield...you have been warned!

Brian