First Trip to Hershey Park
Saturday, August 27th, 1977Looking backward from 2009-11-25.
06:00 AM: I rode down the entire way from Altoona to Hershey in the back of a blue, 1953 pick-up truck. Quite chilly it was and it was a good thing that Mom just happened ot see us pulling away at around 6:00 AM. She realized that I had insufficient clothing for a cold trip like that, and so she called out to me to get a sleeping bag and more coats. Even with the added layers of clothing, that trip was probably the longest, coldest one I’d ever made.
06:20 AM: We ate breakfast at Jack’s diner, just north of Bellwood on route 220.
08:00 AM: Back on the road again for a bit, I already was shivering as the wind roared, howled, and whistled through my sleeping bag and past my ears. I tried thinking of anything I could to keep my teeth from chattering, and one thought haunted me throughout the trip; my grandfather Jewell’s imminent death. I felt guilty about going away this day because I suspected that he wouldn’t be around much longer. Already he slept almost all of the time, his feet were discolored as his diabetes ravaged them. I almost didn’t go, and almost had my friends turn around and bring me back home again. But the thrill of a first experience at Hershey stilled my tongue, though it did not quiet my guilt.
11:00 AM: We arrived at Hershey park.
02:00 PM: Not enough time to see the chocolate factory, but the park kept us sufficiently busy and entertained as well.
11:00 PM: We left the park to head back home. Curious how the air would suddenly change temperature as we drove through the hills and mountains of east central Pennsylvania.
02:20 AM: Finally, we reached home, and I promptly went to bed, whereupon I slept for fifteen hours and did not stur until around 5:30 PM the next afternoon.