Travel Diaries: Pennsylvania

             "The best combination a person can have is to be educated and being a wanderlust. Education gives you the ability to comprehend and traveling opens up your mind to new possibilities and perspectives". ~AR

                While COVID-19 is seeing its last leg(I wish to believe so or pray for it to be true) , I decided to start exploring my own state in the US. By far I have been traveling to different US states but never took the time to stop and think as too what is present in my own backyard. The gruesome time with self in the house(thanks for CoV-19) probably lead to this thought. While I had two trips in the recent time in Penn, I would like to focus on the most recent one i.e. to Penn's Cave and the Rothrock State forest.

                It is said the best plans are made in the last minute without extensive planning, especially when you go solo, it is a fun experience to get up one day and think of traveling to an unknown place. This is what happened on Saturday June 12,2021; that morning I got up and was determined to break the monotony of Work From Home. A quick search of places to visit yielded these two beautiful & picturesque places.I booked tickets for the Penn's cave boat ride plus wild life tour and quickly a stay for one night in State College, PA.

             

Jo hays Vista Point, Rothrock state forest

With great excitement, I left for my first destination,RothRock state forest.This is located in Centre, Huntingdon, and Mifflin Counties. Blame it on my laziness and the time constraint, I chose a Point which did not require any Hiking/Trekking. Wonderful experience out there, to get a overlook or a drone-view of State College in-person. I did nothing but sit there for around 20 minutes for this view Have you seen low flying planes at the level of your eyes? Well, this is the place (talking about enriching perspectives) - at your vision(eye's) level these planes seemed like 'flying cars'.After this first date with nature, I left for my stay for day 1. After resting for 2 Hours, I then explored the pennsylvania State University Campus in State College, PA. It was refreshing to see some students and cherish my own student life in the United States not-so-long-ago(3 years). This was followed by a relaxed stay and a sound sleep. I was just enjoying the new environment.

                

Penn's Cave

                     The second day was something I was looking forward to even more - a boat tour of America's only all-water cavern(Penn's Cave) and a wildlife tour. Talking about the Penn's cave first, this is completely inundated with water i.e. we cannot walk in the cave. A natural spring sources around 11 million gallons of water on a daily basis into the cave(filling up 3 bathtubs of water every second). Interesting fact is that this cave and the surrounding forest land is privately owned and is not state property. They have been giving boat tours for almost a whooping 136 years!(fact check). The beauty of the cave is how structures such as Garden of Gods(Colorado,USA), Leaning Tower of Pisa(Italy) as natural imitation in the caves, also featuring are carvings with a semblance to animals such as doves and elephants.  The most fascinating part there is a 'natural heart' craving where many guys have proposed to their girlfriends and also get married there. This is definitely innovative way to impress your other half(if you are looking for ideas).

                    Next was the wildlife tour(after a satiating lunch)where I got to see some 

Penn's cave wildlife tour

exquisite animals such as mountain lions, Bobcats, Silver Fox, white tailed deer(state animal of Pennsylvania) and Texas Longhorn. The tour guide was well versed with her facts and gave us a ton of information at each stop.

So, at the end of your life, what matters? million dollars in your bank or million memories touching your soul?      

       

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Good times don't last, but neither do the bad times

                We often get so immersed into the present at times, that we forget that with a tick of a clock it becomes a past and is not eternal. In that very moment, whether we do any good or bad determines a great deal in our lives and can have far reaching consequences.  We do not think so deeply when we do good because we set the path in a good way but we end up not being thoughtful equally when things turn south with a life lasting impact. Both, I would say need a stop and a thought. We forget, how fragile life is in this delusion of anything lasting for eternity.  I believe that each experience in life has some lesson to teach provided you are a good person with a clean conscience. Certain events are just a way to set the record straight.

           Next, who decides if your conscience is clean, certainly not you or your actions alone, but it's the goodwill of everyone surrounding you and related to you. Each one of them sends a wave into the universe praying for your goodwill and well-being and the reverse could be true if you hurt them for some reason. In good times and tough times alike, they count. One of the major areas where we go wrong is to believe we are in control of all the good happening to us and are the first ones to blame others for all the bad happening. This lopsided thought process leads to a sense of bloated satisfaction and  extreme dissatisfaction in the reverse case. When you just prevent yourself from getting into a lot of trouble, its because the universe wanted you to be safe and conversely if you don't get happy its an indication to keep working to get there.

        Life isn't a bed of roses they say and I certainly believe this statement because also in the bed of roses are the thorns. As we decide to sleep on the bed which is intended to take us to la-la-land, we realize how hard those thorns hit us, having not anticipated them. This can be very well related to our day-to-day lives, lets say in the event of us getting a new job as an example. While we are ecstatic at the prospect of joining a new job, which to us means a higher pay, an illusion of better people around and a new environment(bed of roses). Once we get in and the reality sets in, we observe that people are the same everywhere, environment might or might not be as good. Who controls these undetermined factors and makes you think things are so good?

      Coming back to the original topic,  acknowledging the two-dimensional karma-universe matrix is crucial. Your karma determines what you might face and the universe decides the extent of it. Whether it be good or bad times, it is worth noting that they won't last; bask in them; learn from them and move on as everything in life is meant to be an experience in itself. Signing off on the following thought:

"Be Tough during tough times and humble during the good times"