Punxsutawney Phil

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Last night Terry mentioned that he would like to go to Punxsutawney to see Punxsutawney Phil and whatever else there was to see.  We agreed to leave around 10:00 AM but since everyone was ready around 9:30 AM, off we went.  Today’s drive wasn’t as long as yesterdays, a little over 40 miles.  During most of the year Phil lives in his burrow alongside the city library.  You can see Phil through the Plexiglas window.  When we got there he was doing what groundhogs do, sleeping. 

All around town there are a number of statues of Phil.  I think there are suppose to be about 32 of them.  We saw a few and here are a couple -

After visiting Phil we walked around the little city park that is there.  Across the street is an Eagles (BOE) club.  Outside they have this tree/clock thing.  It looked like there was supposed to be something that happened on the hour.  Since we were there a little before 11:00 AM we waited.  Nothing happened.  We assume it is broke. 

 After that we got in the car and headed toward Gobbler’s Knob.   This is the place where Phil makes his prediction every year.  Why is it called Gobbler’s Knob?  I don’t know.  They say it is either because there are a number of turkey gobblers  in the area or because it came from the original gatherings of the groundhog club were groundhog hunts and they “gobbled” up their catch.  Personally, I prefer the first one. 

 Back at the campground Lydia and I did a few loads of laundry.  Since this campground only has 30 amps I didn’t want to use the washer/dryer.  After that we had dinner at their house.  Lydia had put ribs in the crockpot yesterday and we didn’t eat dinner then so she reheated them for tonight.  She also made cream corn, with fresh corn she got at the veggie stand, and garlic mashed potatoes. 

When we pulled back into the campground it was funny because it was very empty.  When we left this morning the place was packed, when we came back it was empty!  On the weekends campgrounds back here are heavily used and tend to be the only time you need reservations. 

Enjoy the pictures.