Photo Album

2006 Summer Vacation

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Hershey, Pennsylvania: the real Chocolate City
	Day #2: the "Jolly Trolley" general store and diner in Dushore PA, on the second day of our vacation. Why are there no pictures from Day #1, you ask? The answer is that the first day of our trip was marred by horrendous traffic coming out of Toronto. What should have been a four hour drive to Elmira NY turned into an eight hour slog. Faced with 2½-hour delays at the Niagara Falls bridge, we detoured to Fort Erie and took the Peace Bridge across to Buffalo NY, and then continued our trip. By the time we finally reached Elmira it was late and we were too tired to do anything but sleep, hence the total lack of pictures for Day #1. But on Day #2 we had a more leisurely drive through Pennsylvania, so we were able to stop for a meal and some souvenirs at the Jolly Trolley. It's not exactly fine cuisine, but it's not bad for a roadside diner.
	Day #3: Gettysburg. After reaching Hershey Lodge in Hershey PA on Day #2 we chose to spend the rest of the day relaxing, hence no more pictures. But we woke up early on Day #3 to drive to nearby Gettysburg where we took a few pics, although not as many as I would have liked in hindsight. I spent much of the day wandering around town and looking at the town and the battlefield but not taking that many pictures. Nevertheless, I did take a few shots, such as this one from the former Union position on high ground, looking down past the steep rocky slopes toward Devil's Den. Unfortunately, it was a rather hazy day.
	Day #4: Hershey Park! This place is not as well-known as the Disney amusement park juggernauts, but it's a well-appointed amusement park with more than enough attractions for a full day's entertainment. They even have their own "characters", such as this walking Hershey's Kiss guy. We got the "Breakfast at the Park" package from Hershey Lodge, which included an early breakfast followed by entry into the park 1 hour before general admission. That was quite cool; we were able to walk around the park and take rides with no lineups at all. Not only that, but the weather forecasters had predicted 40-70% chance of rain, which probably scared off a lot of potential visitors. In any case, there were no lineups at all for the first hour, and reasonable lineups for the rest of the day.
	A big walking Hershey's milk chocolate bar!
	Rebecca watching the boys on the balloon ride.
	One of those spinning rides where the kids can use a joystick to control their elevation. The boys actually enjoyed this one even though it's a relatively tame ride, just because they like to pretend they're flying and chasing other planes.
	Of course, no amusement park is complete without one of those cable lift rides.
	The "spinning teacup" ride is one of the oldest attractions out there, but it's still reliable fun.
	The view from the monorail. In the distance you can see the arching loops of the "Storm Runner" roller coaster. This is a launch coaster, meaning that it uses a linear acceleration system instead of a large hill in order to impart the necessary initial velocity to the coaster. According to the tour guides, it accelerates from 0 to 72 mph in roughly 2 seconds, and after having ridden it, I found that estimate quite believable.
	And there's the water-show ampitheatre. Every amusement park has to have one.
	The water show. It was a cute little show, lacking in the bigger marine animals but still entertaining.
	Everybody likes to pretend they're driving an 18-wheeler now and then. Or at least that's what I assume must be the case, given the popularity of the otherwise unremarkable "Trucker" arcade games.
	HersheyPark's answer to Disney's Autopia.
	My little guy David was too nervous to go on the big swinging-ship ride, but as luck would have it, this particular amusement park had a little miniature swinging-ship ride for him to use.
	I had seen one of these little mini-coaster rides in the "RollerCoaster Tycoon" game, but neither I or the rest of the family had actually ridden one until now. There's something a little frightening about the way the cars make sharp turns without banking at all; they are held on entirely by lateral forces applied by the undercarriage.
	Another Hershey's "product character" we encountered on our way out of the park.
	The York peppermint pattie guy again, this time with Rebecca.
	Day #6: Chocolate World! What happened to Day #5, you ask? That was Rebecca's spa day. I had her booked for most of the day at Hershey Spa, at the Hershey Hotel. While there, she got their "Chocolate Escape Package", which she later described as a chocolate mud bath, a chocolate body wrap, some sort of chocolate exfoliating scrub, and a chocolate massage. I honestly have no idea what that's like, but she said she enjoyed it, which is the important thing. So what did the boys and I do while Rebecca was at the spa? Well, the car was due for an oil change, so I took care of that, and then the boys went for a swim. Not really a great day for me, but hey, I'm the dad, and that's the job. Anyway, this is David in Chocolate World, doing their childrens' mock factory tour. Here he's filling up a plastic gear-shaped box with Hershey's Kisses.
	The Kit-Kat Cafe at Chocolate World. We had a coupon for this place and we actually used it! This was an unusual moment for us, because we're usually terrible at using coupons. I'm the guy who finds expired coupons in his desk drawer.
	The main lobby of Chocolate World.
	The outside of the Chocolate World building.
	A big fixed Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar statue near the entrance of HersheyPark. We didn't actually go back into HersheyPark today, but the entrances to HersheyPark, Chocolate World, the Trolley ride, and the Museum are all very close together, so it was trivial to just walk over to snap a couple of pics while we were waiting for the Trolley ride.
	And I finally make an appearance! That's the problem with being the designated cameraman: you never show up in any of the pictures. Especially when your wife is afraid of the camera because it's too complicated and expensive.
	The Trolley ride tour guides. They actually put on a really entertaining show, with plenty of laughs and some singing. I went into the Trolley ride thinking that it would be kind of lame, but I was pleased to be proven wrong.
	Rebcca and the boys in front of a Hershey ambulance, circa 1940.
	Some nicely preserved antique rifles dating back to well before the Civil War.
	The front of the Museum building. We didn't bother taking a picture on the way in, but we remembered to take one on the way out.
	Rebecca and the boys getting a bit silly.
	Naturally, Hershey Gardens has a butterfly house.
	The boys found a miniature table and chair set in the Children's Garden area of Hershey Gardens, and naturally decided to act silly.
	"She was slender and beautiful and girlish- she was both girl and woman. She remained both girl and woman to the last day of her life."- Samuel Clemens, aka "Mark Twain", describing his wife.
	This was a neat little display: three Hershey's Kiss-shaped artificial geysers. Every few minutes, one of them sprays water mist upwards, and I happened to catch one of the eruptions.
	Rebecca and the boys walking through Hershey Gardens.
	I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.
	Rebecca and the boys lounging on the grass.
	This picture was taken in the extremely dark shade of a very thickly grown tree. Rebecca commented that it was like a hideaway, and it doesn't look as dark in this picture as it did in real-life. I imagine that's due to the camera's automatic efforts to extract whatever information could be found in its viewfinder, but you can tell it must have struggled because of the high level of grain evident in the shot.
	Pennsylvania has quite a lovely countryside as you drive through it, even though it's occasionally marred somewhat by an overabundance of garish advertising billboards. It's the mountainous terrain which is something of a departure for me, coming from relatively flat Ontario.
	As beautiful as the Pennsylvania landscape is, I know what it needs: more Rebecca!
	Day #7: after staying at a motel overnight, we were well-rested to continue driving in the morning. And we would need it, because unbenownst to us, we would encounter extremely heavy traffic once we crossed the border back into Canada. But we didn't know that at the time, so we just kept taking pictures of the picturesque Pennsylvania landscapes.
	The boys are mock-fighting again.
	The highway home.
	A darkened lecture room at Elmira College. Unlike my own alma mater, Elmira College seems to shut down almost completely in summer.
	The Mark Twain statue at Elmira College.
	Rebecca in front of Carnegie Hall.
	Rebecca in Mark Twain's study. Yes, it looks like a little gazebo rather than what you'd normally think of as a study, but inside there is a small desk and some chairs: more than enough for someone in the 19th century to sit and contemplate his literary work.
	Rebecca sitting on the steps leading up to the building housing the Mark Twain exhibit at Elmira College.
	No, this is not digital image manipulation. There really is a "Sodom Road" highway exist near Fort Erie in Ontario, just across the river from Buffalo NY.

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Michael and Rebecca Wong

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2006 Summer Vacation