Back to the Grind ...

Well good morning everyone.

Sorry I didn't post a Phil in review post last night. Once '24' was done, I was out. But I am back. I hope to do a decent size post right now.

Arrived at Clearfield Sunday around 1:30 or so. Once I unpacked and everything, then headed to Punxy. Punxstauwney, PA is in Jefferson County, PA. About 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Punxy is a very nice small town. And it all revolves around the groundhog, Phil. They make him out to be more or less like a god in that town. Now, not saying that is a bad thing or something, it's just different to see. Punxy has a nice town square. At the library, they have a 'groundhog zoo'. 365 days a year, Phil is there. In his natural habitit. There was vendors all over the town. They were even selling, 'Shadow Towels', a neat and interesting rip-off of the Terrible Towel.

Went back to the hotel then. Watched as the Pittsburgh Steelers came back with less than a minute in the game to become the first NFL team to win 6 Super Bowls. A brief opinion about this ... Good for them. But do they really need a 2-hour-delay for schools the next day? And do they really need to say they are 'Six-burgh'? I think not. Hey Pittsburgh ... just wait til Dallas gets 6. Then we will be 'Six-allas'. Better yet, just wait til we get 7 and 8. But really, in a good attempt to be nice ... congrats. As for the ads, I thought they were bascailly ok. My fav was the Doritios ad where the guy throws the crystal ball at the vending machine. Very funny. And yes, that was voted the best on the USA Today ad meter.

Then woke up at 2:45 in the morning. Began the trek to Gobblers Knob. This is one of the best experiences that you can do in your lifetime. I suggest that everyone does it at least once. Got into town around 4:30 AM. Paid $5 for shuttle transportation. State Police and National Guard kept very good crowd control. There was up to 15,000 people at Gobblers Knob. The Knob is a field with a slight hill and that is where Phil makes his winter weather guess. Everyone was having much fun. There was one jerk with one of those horns that were blowing it every 30 seconds for the better part of 2 hours. Other than that, what a morning.

Afterwards, went back to the hotel, had their breakfast. Then headed back home. Made a pit-stop at State College. Got some ice cream at the Creamery (nice place), then went home.

Overall, it was a nice trip. I really needed to get out and get away. Just what I needed.

I hope to post pics later tonight. Have a great day.

-- Matt