Rollerblading at Presque Isle
Posted July 10th, 2005 @ 09:54pm by Erik J. Barzeski
Carey told me yesterday that Presque Isle State Park is the most visited state park in the country. I didn't quite believe it, but she pointed out that it's free to visit, unlike most other parks (like Great Smoky Mountains, Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Olympic, and Yellowstone - the actual five most visited US National Parks), and even if 90% of the traffic is Erie residents who visit three or more times per week, they still count each time they visit.
Turns out she was making it all up, but anyway…
Yesterday started out rather poorly. I played golf in a tournament and gave up after nine holes - I didn't want to serve as a distraction to my partners. Carey and I met her mom, aunt, and grandmother for lunch at Rizzo's in North East (their calzones are incredible) before hitting Sam's Club for some wedding reception/housewarming supplies.
Carey then went to Lowe's with her mom. I drove around Erie looking for some inline skates. My Mission blades are now seven years old and showing their age, and Carey's inline skates are pretty damn old too.
I picked up a pair of Salomon Motion 9Tis for myself and Salomon's Siam 8 for her. We "took a nap" before we went to Presque Isle and skated six or seven miles. We ate at Sara's (banana splits and hot dogs, in that order). We walked around Waldameer to see what new rides they had (a few) and then we came home and went on a bike ride. We watched really bad reality TV. We went to bed.
So, what began as a bad day ended up as one of my favorites with Carey. I love her more each day I know her, and I look forward to a lot more "yesterdays."
And "tomorrows" too.
Posted 17 Jul 2005 at 11:30pm #
Q: "What's the hardest thing about learning to rollerblade?"
Posted 18 Jul 2005 at 8:03am #
A: Keeping your weight over your ankles. Too many people bow their legs inward when they skate.
Almost anyone can figure out how to stop and go. Stopping might be tough for people, but I don't know - I take the brake off because I learned to ice skate first and I play hockey.