(this is a very special post, as it features guest reporter, Ricky D; I of course can’t help myself, so I insert parenthetical remarks every so often)
We’ve been talking about this trip for 2 years. The timing was difficult due to our own schedules, as well as of the baseball teams that we wanted to visit. In terms of destinations, we ruled out Hersheypark and Dorney Park for amusement parks, and Philadelphia Phillies, Reading Phillies, and Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs for baseball, as we normally visit these places anyway.
Day 1 – August 14, 2008: miles driven, 150
We left home from the Philly suburbs around 5 PM for the Hampton Inn in Danville. We’d be spending the next day at Knoebels, but thought that we’d hit some nighttime coaster rides there to get the trip started. We arrived shortly before nightfall, and played a few games of Fascination to entertain ourselves before it got completely dark. 
Sadly, neither of us won. Then nighttime had completely set in so we took a ride on Phoenix, which did not disappoint. We then headed for Twister. While in line, it started to rain. Our ride on Twister in the darkness and rain was completely insane (as in “I think this ride is going to slip off the rails” insane)! I always preferred Phoenix to Twister, but in these conditions, had to give the edge to Twister. We took a second ride on Twister and called it a night.
Day 2 – August 15, 2008 – miles driven, 106
We woke up at the Hampton Inn in Danville, had our free breakfast including processed cheese omelettes, and then headed to pre-Knoebels stops of AAA in Bloomsburg and a coffee shop in Danville before arriving at the park around 11 AM. One of the first sights we spotted upon arrival was of a very pregnant woman smoking a cigarette. 
Gotta love this place! (Also because they provide such conveniences: 
) We rode the coasters again at least once, including High Speed Thrill Coaster, 
and various other rides. Of those, several were memorable: I will finally admit that I don’t understand the physics of the Flyers, Fandango was insane (as in “I cannot breathe and several ribs may be broken insane”), and Looper was too much for me at my age. We rode the bumper cars twice, the first ride being somewhat unremarkable, except for watching a girl on the ride before us who, although tall enough, could not grasp the concept of steering the car, and just stopped even trying and started to cry. It was a little bit funny, but also a painful reminder of similar problems that I had with bumper cars as a kid. Our second ride on the bumper cars was more satisfying (as in “I may have caused several children irreparable brain damage” satisfying).
We also played some more Fascination, won 3 games between us, and donated the 9 tickets to another family.
Foods eaten included the traditional favorites of Tri-Taters and Teaberry Ice Cream, and new favorites of Mac & Cheese bites: 
.
Knoebels featured free parking, Pepsi, and a paratrooper ride, things that would be consistent for most of this trip.
We left Knoebels around 4 PM for our first baseball game in Williamsport. We were meeting our friend Mike and his mom, Williamsport natives, to join us at the game. We sat in traffic for about 30 minutes during this leg of the trip. Despite there being many times of road construction and lane closures, this was our only significant delay of the trip.
We arrived in Williamsport, spent some time with Mike and his mom, and then all went to see the
(at historic Bowman Field 
, where they had a carpet company trying to promote themselves with a dirty, happy carpet walking around 
)
Williamsport Crosscutters beat the State College Spikes by 5-4. We accepted an invitation from Mike’s mom to spend the night at her house after the game, which was especially nice considering that most hotels for miles around were booked due to the Little League World Series being held (we also went to a townie bar after looking for a family bar. They had nachos, so we were good).
Next? ERIE!
