Allentown, PA --> Rotterdam Jct., NY

Sabbatical Day 15 | June 11, 2011
Allentown, PA  --> Rotterdam Jct., NY

Today was SUPPOSED to be a quick day - "supposed to" being the operant term here.

First on the agenda was the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA (http://www.crayola.com/factory/). When we got into town, it was a bit of a challenge to find a parking space. We finally found one and we walked over to Crayola. They were also holding their local Farmer's Market at the same time so in front of Crayola, they had built some amazing sand sculptures and used Crayola chalk to add some color to them. They were incredibly impressive!

Unfortunately, it was not the real manufacturing plant but more of an interactive/hands on center. After a lot of deliberation, we decided to check it out anyway. As we walked through, there were a lot of different activities that you could do using the different products that Crayola makes and they really didn't care that we were adults - we were welcome to do them too! They also had a 20 minute demonstration where they show you how they make crayons and markers. Crayola started to make crayons on June 10, 1903 (kinda fun that we were there on June 11!!) and a box of 8 originally sold for 5 cents! Now, they make up to 5 billion crayons a day!! I also learned that 2 gallons of wax makes 1200 crayons!! Crayola also uses only cornstarch and water to affix the labels to the crayons because they recognized that it should be safe for children. While making the crayons, any crayons that are not perfect after they are made and any unused wax is recycled and made into the next batch of crayons. Cool!  Did you know that if a Crayola marker dries out due to the cap being left off, you should be able to bring it back to life?  Just soak the tip in warm water for about 10 seconds and then put the cap back on - lay the marker on it's side for about 24 hours and it should then come back to life unless it has run out of ink!  Neat!!
During the demonstration, they do make a small batch of crayons (1200) - so, it's not as cool and great as it would have been to see them make a HUGE batch of crayons in the manufacturing plant, but it was still cool to see them really make the crayons, just like they would in real life! Does that make sense? As a kid I just remember seeing them make crayons during the little video segment that they would show on Mr. Roger's and I wanted to see that so bad. So, it wasn't AS cool as seeing how they did it in the video - but, seeing it on the smaller scale was equally cool to me. It satisfied my childhood dream of seeing them make the crayons in person! Then we visited the Crayola shop and I now introduce to you the day's delay LOL

In the Crayola shop, they have the World's Largest Crayon that they made out of "Leftolas" (small bits of worn down crayons). It stands 15 feet tall and weighs 1,500 lbs. It was absolutely cool to see! They also had a LOT of fun Crayola products! Yeeeaaah - a long time and a parking ticket later (Matt's!! Apparently, in Pennsylvania, you are supposed to feed the meter on Saturdays too unlike the rest of the world. Oops!), we were finally back on the road!

From Crayola, we went to the Nay Aug Gorge treehouse (http://www.treehouses.org/projects/Nayaugpark.shtml). The treehouse was INCREDIBLE! You have to hike into the park a little bit but then you come up to the entrance to the treehouse. Then, you walk out to it and you don't really think about it but as you go, you realize that the pathway is built around the trees and it's actually a bridge. It's hard to describe but it's super super cool. Once you are out in the treehouse, you are just overcome by the gorgeous view. Looking down, you can also see the creek that runs below the treehouse... 150 feet down!! It was beautiful!

Then it was time to head into New York! Our last stop along the way was to find Blossom the Black Angus Bull (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/7574). We weren't originally able to find it but, after a little hunting, we were able to find it! Unfortunately, it had started to rain so the first few pictures I took were from the car. But, Matt thought that we should have a Domo/Blossom photo so he got out to help with that - it also gave me the opportunity to get a comparison photo to show you guys just how tall it was!  While he was out playing n the rain, Matt checked out the Story Garden that was just across from the statue. After a few minutes he came to get me so I could check it out too. I'm glad that we did! The Story Garden is a Children's Interactive Garden on the grounds of The Discovery Center and it contains 13 different interactive areas, which focus on themes from children's literature. SO CUTE!!  It was just super colorful (even with the rain) and it just had a really great vibe about it! I loved that they had books in there for kids to read (they were laminated so that they could withstand the elements) and they ENCOURAGED kids to interact with the garden and to have fun! There was also a little garden in there that was built around the Peter Rabbit theme and the herbs and vegetables that they grew in there were donated to the local food bank - but they used that area to teach the kids about gardening and compost, etc.  My other favorite was the 'foot' bridge that was painted to look like a foot and just under the bridge, they had feet sticking out from under it like the Wicked Witch of the West's feet, and a few others. They also used different shoes as planters around the bridge. I liked the ski boot and the wellies that they used.  It was an amazing place and I'm glad we took the extra time to check it out.

From Binghamton, we were going to stop to see a few other attractions but it was starting to get dark and we were already running late so I will try to catch them on my way back west. We did see a wild turkey though!  At about 10 we decided we should probably get some dinner before it got much later so we stopped at Top's Diner which used to be one of my grandfather's favorite places to go. Apparently I haven't been there in a LONG time because they had totally remodeled the place! The food was good though so we ate quickly and then headed to my grandmother's house! Now, it is time to unwind and get caught up with my grandmother AND get to bed early because we have an early day tomorrow!!