The other Grand Canyon...of PA

A few weeks ago, right around our anniversary, we planned a trip to the mountains of Pennsylvania to visit the east coast's 'Grand Canyon'.  While not nearly as impressive as Arizona's, it was still a pretty spectacular site.  

 

We rented a cabin at a campground, which was a perfect way to feel like we were camping -but with the amenities that make taking a toddler much much easier!

Our home for the weekend

Austin had a great time at the cabin.  He basically got to play outside for 2 days straight, so he was a happy camper. 

Walking around our campsite with his golf clubs

Playing catch with his ball

There wasn't too much to do at the Grand Canyon, but we saw lots of vistas and went on a short hike:

We took our lunch and picnicked nearby.  There was so much green space to run around and play.  Apparently he was also quite fascinated by the rocks making up the pathways.  Funny to realize the things he hasn't really seen before - like a massive path of rocks.  We also took his bubbles, which were a big hit on the trip.

playing with the rocks

'Tag' with daddy

So much space to run!

Chasing a bubble

Oh, and how hip is this kid as he started out on his hike?  Sunglasses?  Check.  Binkie?  Check.  Security blankie?  Check.  Too cute!

 

Close to the entrance of the park was a place called Animal Land.  We had pretty low expectations, but figured we would check it out.  Austin loves the petting farm nearby, so we hoped there would be some cool animals.  Had we gone to Animal Land by ourselves, we would have rated our experience pretty low.  It seemed outdated, in need of some repair, some of the animal cages were pretty small, etc.  But, the animals seemed well cared for and Austin really had a blast with them.  We even met the zoo owner and his family and got a pretty cool experience with their tiger.

Feeding the deer

Loving the deer kisses

Hey animals, come over here!

I see the deer! 

As you can see, there were lots of deer.  There were also goats.  We even got to pet a little baby that was only a few days old. 

We saw llamas, buffalo, monkeys, and a few other random animals.  The coolest by far was the tiger, though.  This woman that was walking around the zoo with us turned out to be the sister of the owner.  The tiger was rescued from a small zoo that was closing when he was just a baby.  She explained that they bottle fed the tiger and really raised him.  It was a classic story that we expect one day to hear has gone bad.  The tiger was super friendly, the zoo keepers frequently interact with him both inside and outside the cage.  The woman got her dad to go in through the first fence and get the tiger to come down from his perch so we could see him up close.  We seriously were just a few feet away on the other side of his cage.  Here you see the old man talking to the tiger, while eating an ice cream cone, and putting his hand out to be licked:

Definitely not something you see every day.  You also don't see a tiger getting fed an ice cream cone:

It was very cool, but very strange.  Not the best zoo in the world, but definitely worth a stop while on our trip!

The last day we went to a state park by our campground.  It was just amazing to be in such a beautiful, yet not crowded place.  I really think the Grand Canyon area is a hidden gem in Pennsylvania (I didn't even know about it growing up).

All in all, it was a great trip.  We kind of wished we had stayed longer because it was so relaxing.  But, nice to have a beautiful place not too far away.  I hope we go back again sometime!