The morning brought damp but clearing weather after an evening shower. The kids slept late, still catching up on some sleep while I stretched my legs with a mile round trip walk to the spring for some water. The adults had coffee and chatted with the other hikers emerging from their tents until the kids finally crawled out of the tent.

The kids were chipper and excited to see Ginger and Gilligan, who’d been about a day behind us for weeks now. Mama Bear fed them bagels while All In packed up the tent in the ruthlessly efficient tag-team strategy we’ve settled on for breaking camp quickly. We left camp on the late side, but Ginger set a brisk pace and the kids fell in behind her catching her up on all their trail gossip and hearing some of theirs.

The day brought frequent opportunities for stops to see the wildlife, play on playgrounds, and check out the view from a designated hang-glider launch site. We even convinced Gilligan to try the delicious Pemmican that our friend, author of a book on Antarctic cuisine kindly shared with us. Gilligan, like eighty percent of our unruly family, having had his culinary curiosity sated with a single bite, was more than happy to talk about how delicious it was in order to entice Ginger to try a bite. In the end Orion was happy to polish off the patties we had lost the desire to continue to carry north with us.

We crossed the Mason-Dixon Line with Ginger and Gilligan joining in our border crossing ritual of passing out treats and saying things that each was thankful for sharing with each other in the state we are departing. We headed into Pennsylvania.

They day stretched a little longer than we anticipated and we ended up at one of Pennsylvania’s beautiful state parks. We were just a little too late for the swimming pool and snack bar, and the park facilities, while beautiful, are a little spread out for people who have just spent the entire day walking and just want a place to set up their tent. But RobinHood, unconcerned with the activities of his parents simply pulled out his fly rod and started fishing the creek.

We dropped our packs and Mama Bear and Gilligan set off to find the park office. Unsuccessful in that attempt, they did manage to find a gentleman who gave them a lift into town and they returned with Pizza and ice cream for dinner. As darkness fell, we just set up our tents near the AT and conched out for the night.