A Summer Afternoon at Canoe Creek State Park

My husband wanted to go to Altoona for the Eat'n Park Sunday brunch, and so we did just that. We used to have an Eat'n Park in State College, but it closed a few years back. As a lover of hot and hearty breakfasts, I really do miss those Breakfast Smiles.

After we finished our meal, we decided to go swimming at a park I might have only visited one time in my life, Canoe Creek. Before we were married, my husband lived in Altoona, and he visited that park more frequently back then. I have a vague memory of hiking along a rocky shore, but not of swimming.

There were not many people there when we arrived, but things became more crowded as the afternoon went on. First we changed into our swim gear. Then we sat at a picnic table under a big tree while I read my book. Then we swam.

I had already gone swimming at four different Pennsylvania parks so far this summer: Whipple Dam (chilly and clean), Bald Eagle (warmer, but choppy when breezy, sometimes a bit dirty), Hyner Run (a very nice swimming pool), and Greenwood Furnace (quite cold, but very clean).

Canoe Creek makes five. The swim at Canoe Creek reminded me of a cross between Black Moshannon (which has brown water from tannin due to beaver dams) and Bald Eagle (which is not the cleanest of the lot, but is warmer than some). The swimming area is quite large, but there is a metal fence a few feet from the water's edge, which I found sort of peculiar.

There were plenty of people out on boats, as you might expect of a park with a name like Canoe Creek. So I felt that the most representative photo should be one with boats in it. That's what you see above. Just look at that blue water and those green mountains. This is what Pennsylvania looks like in the summer.

When we were done with our swim, I wandered along the water's edge and took some photos, and found some very friendly bugs, which I believe to be damselflies. Two of them had joined together to form a heart, which you may see in the extras: is it true love, or just a summer fling?

The soundtrack song is for the boat picture above: Maggie Wheeler, with Michael Row.