Lehigh Valley InSite

Rope tow

Lehigh Valley is covered in snow, which reminds me of the first time I tried skiing. I was in 7th grade when I signed up to go on a ski trip with my church youth group to Bear Creek Mountain Resort (although back then it was called Doe Mountain). As we pulled up to the base of the mountain, which was brightly lit in the night sky, I was in awe  – although now, with all the terrain parks, halfpipe and massive slope-side resort, it’s even more impressive!

After figuring out how to get those rental boots on, I walked out to the man-made-snow-covered mountain holding my pair of rental skis and polls pointing in all directions. I was wearing jeans, my winter coat, some gloves and an ear-warmer. Looking back, I realize I must’ve looked completely clueless! But, wait, it gets better!

Megan bowling

The smack of the pins crashing. The ‘friendly’ competition. The flow of the beer. That’s right, the LVCVB went bowling!

A couple weeks ago, Jenny put the word out in an office email about the “Bowling for Civic” (Civic Theatre of Allentown, that is) fundraiser trying to put a team together. I immediately said to count me and Rosie in.

Pig pen sports bar - bowling

My husband is a big Pittsburgh Steelers fan, so thanks to the internet I found a cool Steelers bowling ball to get him. Excited to try out the new ball, we targeted Wednesday night as our bowling night.

I called two bowling alleys in Lehigh Valley (Playdrome Rose Bowl and Parkway Lanes), but they had leagues during the week in the evening, which meant it wouldn’t be easy to get a lane Wednesday night. Needless to say, we were bummed.

Parkettes

Last weekend, my son competed on the Gatorade Free Flow Tour for a chance to get on the Winter Dew Tour and participate against some of the biggest names in snowboarding. Unfortunately he missed heading to the final round by one point! He is pretty upset about it to say the least.

Jared has competed before but not on a level like this so all-in-all it was a great learning experience for him. This was the first competition I was actually able to see so it was kind of neat for me to be a part of it too.

Snowboarder

I just returned from nearly two full weeks off from work and guess how I spent most of it. If you said, “In the car driving around Lehigh Valley with my recently turned 16-year-old son,” you’re right.

I usually spend a ton of time with Jared in the car each winter because he holds a season-pass to Blue Mountain Ski Area, which is a 30-minute commute each way for us. What’s different though this year is that he did most of the driving while I observe, grab the door handle and indent my foot in the floor! (Actually, he’s doing quite well with it, but it’s still weird to have him in the driver’s seat.)

Runner

On Monday, I told you about two of the best places to run in Lehigh Valley. Today, in part two of my “best places to run in Lehigh Valley” series, I will reveal my third favorite running spot along with some honorable mentions.

Courtesy of trail running blog dot com

Lehigh Valley is an ideal place for runners. A number of trails criss-cross the region, offering everything from solitude to spectacular vistas. With Runner’s World magazine published right here in Emmaus, it’s no surprise that Lehigh Valley boasts a strong running community ranging from Olympic hopefuls to weekend warriors.

In the past 10 years, I’ve logged nearly 13,000 miles on countless roads, trails and paths nationwide. Luckily, most of those miles have been in Lehigh Valley, where I’ve found three trails to be among my all-time favorites.

New-year-resolution-cartoon-1

It was about this time last year when I started coming up with my “Things do in Lehigh Valley” lists. These three lists (Top 5 Plays, Top 5 Restaurants, Top 5 Overall) were my New Year’s resolutions for 2009. Since the year is almost over, I’ve decided to take a look at how I did.

Lehigh Valley Theater: Top 5 Plays for 2009: I was three for five in this category (although one of the plays I planned to attend was actually canceled, so I was actually three for four). Here are my reviews of the performances I saw at three fantastic venues throughout Lehigh Valley:

Temple-Football

First off, Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I have a Thanksgiving double header: Dinner with Casey’s family around 2:00 followed by dinner with my family around 5:00 so by 6:30 I will be in a Thanksgiving coma - that's just too much food in too little time.

Copperhead grille logo

After watching Penn State close out their season with a huge win over Michigan State, I was in a good mood on Saturday and therefore willing to try something new that night. So I met some people at a place I’d never been before – Copperhead Grille in Center Valley - to do something I’ve never done before – watch the UFC pay-per-view event (a $45 event which Copperhead broadcasts for free!).

Copperhead Grille - a self-proclaimed sports grille – was packed when I got there a little after 9pm, but luckily George and Chris had already secured a table. I guess because I was still thinking about the PSU game, I noticed right away that every table in the place had a good view of at least one TV or the huge movie-theater screen, making it a great place to watch the big game – or in this case, the big fight.