Physicist camping, now with less camping

Last weekend was the annual physicist camping trip in Pennsylvania. Four families (one couldn´t make it), fireflies, and a bunch of cows. We now rent a large house on a farm, which is so much more enjoyable for the non-camping-inclined among us. I´m still in a tent, but appreciate the use of a full kitchen and working plumbing. We stay at a working century farm (that means it´s been farmed by the same family for over 100 years), so we got to watch the them mowing and baling the hay while the cows got to watch us. 

One of the main events was a kids versus adults whiffle ball game. The final score was 12-6, kids winning, and they would have scored even higher if the mercy rule hadn´t been invoked. Which really was a mercy, by the way, since two of the adults sustained injuries. I wisely confined myself to cheering from the stands. 

We also repeated our journey through the abandoned turnpike tunnel, some of us by bike and some of us on foot. The tunnel is 1.25 miles (2km) long and it´s a long but interesting path through darkness. It´s also very good for singing, if your tastes incline toward echoey, monastic-style chords. It´s very memorable to cycle for ten minutes or so in blackness.

I will really miss this annual outing when I´m in Madrid, but I expect they´ll welcome me whenever I can manage a return visit.