hersheypark happy

Today was a Volkksport walk with the Susquehanna Rovers—The Candyland 10k. We picked up the flier at the Bear Creek event in October. It was in Hershey.

There was four trails to choose from, the Candyland was pink. We followed the pink markers. The other trails were yellow, white and blue. One of the trails was a 42k. That's a marathon.  At times the trails merged.

We began the trek at the community center and worked our way around the education complex. In Hershey, you go 12-13 years to school and never leave the campus. You just switch buildings. How boring.

We pretty much weaved us thru the town, around the chocolate factory and the amusement park. Sadly, because of the Clean Air Laws the town no longer smells like chocolate....one of my most vivid childhood memories. Alas, clean air is more important. A couple times we took a road, turned around and came back. I didn't care for that.

One of those times was at the Derry church. Right next door to the Presbyterian church. It was built in 1732 and is now housed in a glass house. It had a really cool church graveyard next to it. It reminded me of the time we went to see Abe Lincolns birthplace on a visit to my sisters house in Kentucky. This tiny log cabin inside a huge marble building.

The next time was a Hershey Park. It said on our maps where the restrooms were, and that you had to pay for the park, but the Chocolate World "ride" was free. Yes, it tells you how chocolate is made, but more importantly for Hershey, it markets the heck of of their products. Ending in a giant store. It even has a food court!

We were more than 3/4's done at this point, but sitting on the ride did us no good. It was just long enough to make us relax, making the trip back up the hill twice as hard.

The final checkpoint was at the firestation. We walked right past it. Somebody called out to us to come back. They had Hershey Kisses. Guess I have to add that to my food journal. Drats.

Lydia wa snot a happy camper the last mile or so. Six miles is still tough for her. Soon she'll be wanting to do a 15K. She even said she might try the 42 on her 42nd birthday. We'll see.