Mading family National Park Trip

Hershey, PA was a blast. We got to go on a ride that took you on a chocolate tour, teaching us how the chocolate is made and what makes Hershey’s chocolate so unique. It catered heavily to kids and we got lots of samples along the way. The whole Hershey amusement park/complex is massive- think Disneyland meets Six Flags but on a smaller scale. While shopping in the store we were approached by a gentleman and he asked if we would like to come test out some candy that had not been released to the public and fill out a survey. We got to test out some new deluxe peanut butter cups and sour gummy candies and fill out a survey with ratings of the candies- everything from appearance to after-taste. We were then rewarded for our time with…more chocolate! Getting paid in chocolate to eat chocolate? Yes, please. We then headed to New York state and stayed in the small, farming community of Gardiner in the Hudson River Valley. We camped at a family owned farm/brewery/orchard that has been running since 1904. It was beautiful but ticks are everywhere in this part of the country. We are having to be diligent in checking each other and trying to stay out of wooded areas. En route to Gardiner, we stopped to have dinner at Prima Pizza in Cornwall, NY and had some authentic NY style pizza. This was a memorable place for Rye and I, as he ordered this pizza and had it overnighted to Missoula while we were dating many moons ago. It was fun to see the restaurant in person. We then spent a night in Amherst, MA. Rye did a year of school at UMass, so we got to see his old stomping grounds and meet one of his old friends. Yesterday, we made it to Kennebunk, Maine and it is just as cute as I had imagined. We are enjoying some more beach time and lobster rolls. The lobstah was Wicked Good!