Pickin' and Pluckin'

We had a fun day today. We drove to northeast PA and went to the Lehigh Valley zoo. I didn't expect it to be quite so rural. Wow, I think the goats that we saw there, at the zoo, were the ones who mapped out the roads going in and out of the zoo. To get to the entrance to the zoo, you drive down route 309 which is a winding country road and not RV friendly at all. We had to go over a covered bridge, with a clearance of 8'2" and Bertha is a stout 7'9"....whew..I held my breath going through that thing. Plus there was a big dip going onto and off of the bridge. Ha...thought that was the worst of things but then the road to get to the zoo was only about as wide as our truck and wound up the side of the mountain a couple of miles before we got to the zoo itself.

The zoo was fun...we saw penquins, camels, otters, a zebra, birds, goats, emus and ostriches. There was a big enclosure for lorakeets where you could go in and if you bought a cup of nectar, the birds would come and sit on you while drinking the nectar. I bought a cup, went in and turned into a roost for several birds as they flocked to get some of the nectar. A couple chewed on my hair, hat and collar of my coat while one drank from the cup. They are very noisy birds but very, very colorful. We took some pictures and I downloaded them to our new computer but I can't find what folder they went in. If I find them, I'll put them on here.

As we left the zoo, you exit through the animal preserve which is part of the this rural property. We saw an elk herd and a lot of bison. Then we rounded a curve and the road seemed to disappear in front of us, giving way to a stream in front of us. The sign, by the side of the road, said that for 50 years children have loved fording the stream as they exit the zoo so I figured we were on the right path....just not accustomed to driving across streams in this modern day. Boomer thought it was time to go swimmin' as he heard and saw the water around us as we drove across the stream....oh what fun that was.

We left the zoo and went to Nazareth, PA to the Martin guitar company, which has been making legendary guitars since 1833. We arrived just as they were getting ready to start a new tour. It was nice that everyone got a set of headphones and transmitter so we could hear the tour guide nice and clearly. That's the first place I've been to that did this. Our tour guide was a little "dry" in his delivery of the info on making guitars. It's so nice that in this day and age of OSHA regs and restrictions for safety sake that you can still get up close and personal to see the artistry of how these craftsman make a quality product. Many places give you a video or pictures on the wall of how their product is made but Martin guitars takes you through each of the production areas where you can watch the craftsman working at their stations. And what skilled artisans they are ! From bending the wood to make the sides of the guitar, whittling on the necks to get a tight fit to the body of the guitar, sanding, polishing or inlaying the pearl around the hole, they all work to create an amazing instrument. I would highly recommend Martin guitar tour to anyone visiting northeast PA. They have a great museum and gift shop too. At the end of the tour we saw the wall of fame with all the musicians who either play Martin guitars or have played them. Eric Clapton, Joan Baez, Paul McCartney, Stephen Stills, Steve Forbert, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, etc. What a neat place !