Flashback Friday - Pocono Mountains
Today's Flashback Friday features an incredible woman with an unending enthusiasm for travel, my Aunt, Rosella Frohman! She has always been an inspiration to me and one of the main reasons I traveled as well. She went on some exciting adventures - an Around The World trip in the 1960s (I have to scan her itinerary soon), Tahiti/Australia/New Zealand/Fiji, China, The Holy Lands, she was always planning something exciting. I was fortunate enough to travel with her to Alaska. What a privilege to share that experience with her! She has also been like a Mom to me when I was taking care of my own Mom when she started suffering from dementia and I was trying to raise 2 kids. She was always there to babysit or go with me to the hospital or just listen to me pour my heart out! Love you so much, Aunt Rosella!
I borrowed some of her photo albums and paperwork and hope to include some really fun things here on WhereToThisTime in her honor. This week, I was able to scan 2 albums she has of Twin Pine Ranch, a dude ranch in the picturesque Pocono Mountains in Northeastern Pennsylvania. She made 4 trips there in the 1940s soon after it opened. Here are some memorable photos. I love that she put this together with captions. So much fun!
Here is what she had to say to open the albums:
In 1943, Esther and I decided we both wanted a new and different kind of vacation. Amoung the newspaper ads which caught our eye was one advertising a place called "Twine Pine Ranch" - in the picturesque Pocono Mountains. So we wrote for more information. The descriptions in the folder (relaxing around a campfire after a day of activity - while cowboys song western songs, hayrides, square-dancing, etc.) were corny enough to convince us that we should give it a try.
So, outfitted with brand new riding clothes (neither of us had ever been riding before) - and with tongue in cheek, we set off for the Poconos.
After a fourteen-hour bus trip, we arrived at Stroudsburg hot, tired, and famished and I began to wonder whatever possessed us to take a chance on something about which we knew absolutely nothing. However, a shower and change of clothes, plus a wonderful supper (eaten outdoors) and a friendly and home-like atmosphere soon made me feel that our choice was the right one.
And by the end of the week, I was sold on a dude-ranch type vacation (Twin Pine style, of course) - so much so that I have made four subsequent trips to Twin Pines.
This, then is a pictorial record of my trips to the ranch - from the first one in 1943 to the one last September. The story of a place and of people - many swell folks - a story of activity and relaxation. A lot of swell memories and a hope of a lot more fun in the future.
Rosella, 1948
Here are some fun photos from the albums:
Links of Interest:
Pocono Mountains - http://www.poconomountains.com/
Pocono Mountains Visit PA - http://www.visitpa.com/regions/pocono-mountains
The Twin Pines Ranch still exists as a Summer Campy for families and children - http://www.twinpines.org/
Twin Pines Our History - http://www.twinpines.org/index.php/about-us/our-history
Facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/twinpinescamp