Averaging Out the Highs and Lows

Nanook of the North

2008-11-02T13:25:00.011-05:00

Night sky in the arctic...spectacular!

Night sky in State College...not so much.

All this talk of snow and the imminent arrival of winter had me pouring through some pictures and video from a few years back in Fairbanks, AK. Enjoy some multimedia from a place that defines the word "winter".

This video is a Fairbanks right of passage. Tossing water into the air at 40 below zero makes for quite a visual experience as the water freezes in flight. I boiled the water first for effect but you don't need to do that. Room temperature water will still have a difference with the ambient air of around 110 degrees which is sufficient to make for a nice show. Boil the water and you increase the temperature difference slightly - to about 250 degrees. Not too shabby.

This aurora was really cool. I was working a midnight shift on one of the most active solar periods of the year and brought the camera and tripod to work hoping to get some good pictures. El Sol did not disappoint. The aurora was so intense that my coworker and I closed the lights in the office, shut down all but two monitors and cranked up the music. The aurora danced overhead and into the southern sky. Typically it stays overhead or across the northern sky.

I got this shot about 12:45 AM from the roof and then had to scurry back inside with the equipment as it was a bit nippy (-18F). The aurora was dancing wildly and this long-exposure image just blurred the edges.

The coolest thing about this night was that you could hear people cheering in the distance as the aurora swirled wildly. It was definitely a show to remember.

Here are some other pictures...

Just so I can give summer equal credit, here is a picture taken on the drive to work for another midnight shift in June. It was about 9:45 PM and the sun is about two and a half hours from setting. Oh yeah, it was about 78 degrees.

October Snow

2008-11-01T09:30:00.009-04:00

While snow in October isn't completely rare in these parts, it's always "cool" when the first arctic airmass plunges out of Canada this early.

We got our first flakes of the season on Wednesday October 29th with generally a coating around State College. Areas to our east got crushed with as much as 17" in the higher elevations. Areas to our west got in on the lake effect with over 6" in Somerset, Elk, and Warren counties.

While we only had about one-half inch of snow, it was our first accumulation. A powerful nor-easter affected New York and eastern Pennsylvania the previous day. We were just little too far west to get in on the best action. Here's a look at a traffic cam south of Wilkes-Barre, PA on Tuesday morning where just about 6" of snow fell.

It was "Fan" tastic

2008-10-07T19:14:00.016-04:00

The Penguins are by far one of the best teams in the NHL with respect to fan relations. This past weekend they opened the Mellon Arena for open ice skating, a tour of the locker rooms, and the ability to watch the Penguins' first regular season game (in Sweden) on the Jumbotron. Oh yeah, and all of this was free. You just had to bring your own skates.

Another cool program is Student Rush. They set aside several hundred seats on many games for gameday purchase by local students. The students line up as much as 12 hours ahead of time (missing classes, of course) to gobble up a $20 ticket that normally costs near $100.

The kid's, especially Claire's, fascination with hockey really took an upswing during the playoffs last season. You can check out some of their fun in previous posts from last April. Claire would watch the beginning of a playoff game before bed, try to negotiate staying up a little later to watch more hockey, then ask who won right when she woke up the next morning while waving her stuffed penguin in the air.

When the Pens lost Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, I had to break the news the next morning and she was none-too-pleased with the Detroit Red Wings. Sometimes the passion for your home team is equalled by your disdain for the team that beat them in the biggest games. That sticks around for a long time (Don't even ask me what I think of the Atlanta Braves). Claire reminded me of me at the same age when I listened to Pirate and Penguin games on my Snoopy AM radio. The best ones were the west coast games. I would try to stay up as long as possible with the radio next to the pillow. I would always fall asleep a little way into the game, but if I was lucky, I would wake up to catch the post game recap before falling back to sleep.

Snoopy radio

Hey Iceburgh!

Temporary locker room.

Joey gets two minutes for tripping and Claire gets two for embellishment.

Joey and Claire check out the replay of the penalty on the Jumbotron.

They obviously didn't watch the NHL official rules video...

Hockey Rules

A day at the rink comes to an end.

After dumping our skates back in the car, it was time to take the Arena tour. We got to experience the Igloo Club, learn that the ice is only 3/4" thick, and then we got to see the other side of the venue.

Our tour moves us through the bowels of the Arena.

Huh, huh, he said, "Bowels".

Who wants to drive the Zamboni?

This wasn't the Zamboni that barfed hydraulic fluid during last season's playoffs.

This was.

It was then time for the jewel of the tour. The Penguins' locker room.

Relaxing on the locker room couch. Just like the players do in between periods.

If you step on the Penguin in the dressing room, five guys come out and beat you. Then once they're finished, they beat you some more for good measure.

After losing Marian Hossa to the hated Red Wings in the off season, the Penguins signed several scoring forwards. One of them just happened to be...

Oh, I don't know...ummmm...

That's Miroslav Satan (Sha-tan).

In a tradition to honor local high school hockey and the parents who shuttle their kids to the rink at 4 AM for practice, area sweaters are displayed prominently. Here's dad's Alma Mater.

The kid's future Alma Mater?

Let's watch some hockey!

Once we got back to the empty house, a re-creation of last season's Stanley Cup Finals took place. This time the Penguins won.

Hockey 101 - Slapshot

The following pictures of the Seven Springs fall Festival will be broken out into a new post shortly.

Fried dough!

1st Place

2008-09-25T08:26:00.003-04:00

I Googled Claire and Joey the other day and saw something interesting. They are included in a running website that tracks every runner that has ever finished a road race.

A few years back, while we were in Alaska, the kids and I did the Mosquito Meander 5K in Fairbanks. It turns out that Joey and Claire finished the race 1st overall in their respective age groups - which would be 2 and 4.

Now they will always know that they "won" their first road race ever run.

Now we won't let on that Claire did most of the run in a stroller and we took quite a leisurely pace otherwise.

Fall

2008-09-22T10:21:00.002-04:00

Welcome to the best time of the year. Cool mornings, warm afternoons. And the start of hockey season. Yes!

Oh no, Clark. They don't close Florida.

2008-09-17T14:43:00.004-04:00

First Day of School - 2008

2008-09-16T13:12:00.003-04:00

Claire jumped right out of bed and was ready for the day.

Joey - not so much.

Mowisz po Polsku?

2008-07-06T22:03:00.004-04:00

Here is a blast from the past. One evening in October, 2005, I walked past our computer room in Fairbanks and heard the Polish language software blurting out numbers and seasons. When I checked in the room, Joey was clicking away and repeating what he was hearing. I grabbed the video camera and caught this cool moment.

Wondering what was going on, Claire tooled on in the room and, at the ripe age of 2 years, 4 months, started speaking like a native. Well, a two-year old native at least.

Enjoy the montage of their early introduction to a foreign language.

What the Hail is going on?

2008-06-25T11:00:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday the kids and I were planting flowers when the sky just over the mountain in front of our house turned black. Even Joey and Claire were impressed and stopped to check it out.

The heavy rain remained to our east, but the outflow from the storm made it quite windy and Joey tried his best to fly away.

Here is the rotating storm from our house. The circular cloud to the left is the outflow boundary which is the rain-cooled downdraft rushing our ahead of the storm. The storm is moving from right to left. The column on the right side of the storm is hail.

This type of storm is quite rare for central Pennsylvania. If you would like to learn a little more about the weather-nerdy aspects of it, go to the link below.

http://nws.met.psu.edu/severe/2008/22Jun2008.pdf

Just a few days later, another severe weather event moved across the state. This rotating storm moved right over the weather office then up the valley toward Williamsport. If this was Kansas, the cloud nub hanging out of the storm to the right would have developed a tornado. But this isn't...so it didn't. At this point, the storm was just about over our house in Pleasant Gap, PA but no one but the dog was there to enjoy it.

The picture was taken by Paul Markowski, a research meteorologist from Penn State.

We went back to Rockville...

2008-06-20T10:26:00.010-04:00

Joey told Claire all about the Metro from his trip last year. Claire gets ready to compare it to the Tube in London.

They say "Watch your step" here - not "Mind the gap".

Ready for an adventure.

Joey does his best to catch a pigeon...he didn't.

Claire says that if her dog was here, he'd eat that pigeon. If he could catch it first.

Joey and Claire get ready to conquer the Air and Space Museum.

Claire says that the Moon Rock doesn't look anything like bleu cheese.

Joey and Claire check out the living quarters on a space station. Claire turned to me and said, "Daddy, I'm thirsty."

Claire checks out how the U.S. used the U2 plane to take pictures of the Soviet Union back in the early 1960s.

Not that U2.

Now with a few clicks on the internet, you can count the cars in front of the Air and Space Museum.

Thermal imaging shows the kid's hot spots. I always thought Joey was a hot-head...

With the Air and Space Museum under their belts, it's time for more adventures.

Joey plays air guitar on the steps of the National Gallery of Art.

In the Museum of Natural of History, the kids ponder if these kids were allowed to watch SpongeBob after they finished grinding the wheat-meal.

Motyl.

Claire checks out the Hope Diamond and says that it would look good on her princess doll and can we get one?

Claire plays hard and sleeps hard.

Burnin' Like a Heat Wave

2008-06-07T10:00:00.007-04:00

After about a month of cool, damp weather, summer burst through the door in early June. Temperatures jumped from the low 60's during the last week of May almost immediately to the low to mid 90's by June 6th.

Never trust a bank thermometer.

See.

As the temperatures rocketed into the 90's, the kids enjoyed a homemade slip and slide.

Only a week earlier there was frost. This picture was taken May 29th at 6:30 AM.

The haze was so thick you could barely see the mountains.

Summer evenings are a great time to get out and enjoy some chicken on the grill.

Finally, we see who is really responsible for Global Warming...

Cup Crazy

2008-04-14T11:55:00.013-04:00

Stanley Cup Playoffs - Round 1

Claire is fired up for hockey.

The Penguins have adopted something that several other teams around the NHL have done for the playoffs. They set up a 12' x 20' LED screen outside the Mellon Arena so fans that were unable to get the $120 tickets (which were snapped up in three minutes) could enjoy the NHL playoff experience.

Fans get to tailgate and cheer for the "Boys of Winter".

The Mellon Arena (the "Igloo") is located almost directly in the center of Pittsburgh. It is the silver circle right in the middle of the picture.

The screen was set up in the grassy area in front of the arena. Since we arrived into town during the beginning of the second period, the streets were empty and we drove around the arena one time looking for an open parking spot. We were able to snag one on the main road right where the white car is in the lower right coner of the above picture.

Inside the National Anthem precedes Game 2, while outside the fans get whipped into a frenzy.

Claire travels with her lucky Penguin and soaks up the atmosphere. Joey was upset that we are not sitting next to the group of girls next to the hedges.

The Penguins score the deciding goal and the fans erupt - both inside and out.

Claire is convinced the Pens will win the Cup.

Claire gets a little nervous as Ottawa makes the game close with a three-goal comeback. But have no fear, the Pens score an empty-netter at the end of the game to take a 2-0 series lead.

The next day, I promised the kids I would take them to the Original Hot Dog Shop in Oakland (at Pitt University). Joey was unsure if he would like their cheese fries.

After helping to polish off a "small" order with cheese, he proclaimed them to be the best thing he has ever eaten.

They say it's your Birthday

2008-03-30T14:41:00.004-04:00

10S NE1?

2008-03-29T13:51:00.005-04:00

Playing tennis recently and spending the morning at my work.

Wigilia

2007-12-25T07:27:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve, 2007

It's a Hockey Night...

2007-12-08T20:34:00.002-05:00

Bugs Are Really Swell

2007-10-10T12:28:00.001-04:00

Jack's Big Music Show - Noggin

First Day of School

2007-09-05T14:26:00.000-04:00

And We'll All Float On Alright...

2007-08-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Modest Mouse

A few Sundays ago, we were invited to a birthday party for the daughter of one of our friends. It was a nice drive through the central Pennsylvania mountains to Jersey Shore, PA to the shores of Pine Creek.

The Jersey shore

Jersey Shore, PA

Our journey snaked through Amish country and we even had to dodge a few buggies along the way.

Amish...

Not Amish

The landscape of central Pennsylvania, or Farmer's Loop Road in Fairbanks.

The cabin where the party was held was along the shores of Pine Creek. This creek has carved out some pretty deep valleys through north central PA over the past 100,000 years or so. You wouldn't know it on this day as the lack of rain this summer kept the depth around one foot.

Pine creek has helped shape the landscape of north central PA through the eons.

The birthday girl, Ava, is tucked back to the left.

The Bennett-Bierly contingent.

Joey takes a break from paddling to inhale some cake.

Two Wrongs Make It All Alright Tonight...

2007-08-09T03:13:00.000-04:00

Split Screen Sadness - John Mayer

There were two things wrong tonight. The blistering heat that settled over the entire southeast US and a tropical rainstorm that raised the humidity more than cooling things down. But a very excited 4 and 6 year-old made it a great time as we were able to see John Mayer in concert in Tampa.

John Mayer was finishing up his summer tour and the kids were finishing up their summer tour of west central Florida. The timing worked out that we could see the concert the night before returning to Pennsylvania.

The opening acts were James Morrison from Ireland and a singer that I have grown to appreciate very much lately - Ben Folds. John Mayer was as good as expected, starting his set just after that tropical downpour drenched those of us in the lawn section.

The Ford Amphitheater is located on the Florida State Fairgrounds about 10 miles east of the city of Tampa. We arrived about an hour before the opening act and were able to stake out a seat right in the front center of the lawn section.

Claire hydrates in the mid-90s heat and humidity.

The view of Tampa from the venue.

Claire takes some time before the show begins to learn how to be "carbon-neutral" at the Eco Village. This was after daddy demonstrated how to be "methane-neutral" earlier in the car.

Better out than in, I always say.

The crowd grows exponentially.

Joey tries to keep cool by blocking out the sun.

Joey draws a love note...but who will he give it to?

With Claire as support, he gives the note to the girl on the left. Good choice, Joey.

Ben Folds pounds the ivory.

Claire pounds the belly.

Joey says, "I'll be up there some day".

A storm is brewin'

Deluge.

John Mayer improvises on Gravity.

Dad explains to Claire that he liked Franz Ferdinand the first time around - when they were The Clash. Claire insists that the Scissor Sisters are actually just a rip off of Dread Zeppelin without all of the Elvis outfits. It doesn't get much deeper than that...

London Calling

2007-08-01T17:25:00.001-04:00

The ice age is comin'. The sun is zoomin' in...

England's greatest export.

Not so great.

I had planned a trip to London to visit my friend Rafal from Poland who was working there for the summer. Originally, I had taken some time off of work to take the family to Poland but unfortunately, we weren't able to take that trip but I did keep the days off on the schedule.

I gave myself three days to go to London and it was going to be a nice break from the hectic pace at the house. I hadn't been away anywhere by myself in quite some time other than to Pittsburgh on a few occasions. However, when I saw that Claire was going to be off of school that Thursday for parent-teacher conferences, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Getting Claire overseas for her first trip out of the country (Canada notwithstanding) was more exciting to me than a few days off. Joey had school and Kim had to work so they were able to have some time together without the earthquake that is a 4 and 6 year under the same roof.

I am going to miss having the flight passes on US Airways when my seniority number eventually comes up for recall. It is so easy to check flight loads and list for a seat via the internet. I actually didn't list for our seats until two hours before the flight from State College, but it didn't matter because the flight had about 95 open seats. Since Claire is under five, she was free for almost everything.

What a great opportunity to see the world.

The news is full of stories on the woes of air travel - delays and cancelled flights. But we were lucky. There were no delays on either flight from State College and Philadelphia. We had about two hours before the overnight flight to London to kill at the Philadelphia airport.

"I'm so hungry, I could eat a slice of airport pizza".

Claire immediately made a friend in the boarding area. An eight year old girl from London who had the same shoes on as her. Is there any corner of the world that doesn't know Hello Kitty?

Claire meets Lamara from London. Both were sporting the same shoes.

We arrived on time and cleared customs with no problems. It was on to the train for the 30-minute trip to Victoria Station on the Gatwick Express.

Claire conquers the train with no problem.

Claire says to Victoria Station, "Your hustle and bustle doesn't scare me."

We transitioned from the train to the Tube at Victoria Station where it was just a short ride on the yellow line to Paddington Station and our hotel.

Our hotel was right in the middle of this map and only a short walk to Hyde Park.

We purchased an all-day Underground ticket (being three, Claire was free) since we had to meet Rafal that evening and would need to ride there. After a quick nap at the hotel, we hopped back on the Tube and took an afternoon trip to Piccadilly Circus.

After a quick sight-seeing tour, we took our time returning to the hotel and relaxed for the rest of the evening. Our next adventure would be to get back on the Tube to Oxford Circus and a short walk to the Red Onion restaurant where we would meet Rafal. Rafal used to work at the Red Onion and it is a popular stop for theatre-goers.

Claire was having a good time until her jet lag caught up to her and she melted down after bumping the table and knocking over her drink. Since she was so tired, it only took a short while for her to fall asleep in her chair. While it was nice that she was sleeping (it was already 9 PM local time), it did mean I'd have to carry her back to the Tube station. She is definitely a sack of potatoes.

We got back to the hotel after a busy day and it was time for bed.

Actual size of the hotel room.

Claire scarfs down her free continental breakfast. Then it was off for a day of sightseeing.

Claire eyes some ducks from the top of a double-decker bus.

Claire tells the guard's horse how lucky he is. She knows how they used to make Mr. Ed talk.

Wilbur!

C.T. - Phone home.

Don't Go Back to Rockville

2007-07-14T11:16:00.000-04:00

And waste another year... (R.E.M. - 1984)

After taking Claire to London a while back, it was time for Joey to get a little time in the big city. He was agreeable to travelling to Washington DC since they have a subway (Metro) and lots of cool things to do. The thing that excited Joey the most about this trip is there would be a pool at the hotel.

I have realized that at this age, a trip to learn things actually takes a back seat to going to a hotel that has a pool. So I figure, if I have to sucker them into a learning situation with the lure of a hotel pool, so be it. Plus we had enough hotel points from the move to State College that it was going to be a free stay.

The drive down went fast. It was raining for the first half of the trip but didn't dampen the cool mountain views. Most of the drive goes right through the heart of the Appalachians. Each mountain ridge gets lower and lower until you get into central Maryland where the terrain settles into the Chesapeake coastal plain.

If you don't know where Washington DC is, I can't help you.

Hey, is that Johnny Appleseed?

The first order of business after checking in was to make sure the pool was acceptable. The familiar "Ooooh!" from Joey told me that this was going to be a good trip. We quickly changed into our suits and Joey was "swimmin' like a fish" in no time.

After dinner and a ride around the town of Rockville, MD to familiarize ourselves, it was time to relax and fall asleep. Awaiting our adventures to come.

Thursday was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and all the clouds and rain moved well out to sea. The temperature was much more comfortable than the 99 degrees the day before. Good thing, because Joey and extreme heat don't go well together. Especially if we had to walk around all day in it.

Joey reminded me of the IHOP that we saw the night before right across from the Metro station. He said we could have breakfast there...if I wanted...

I wanted.

After breakfast, the adventure began in full force.

If Joey had been wearing a suit and tie, he would look like a majority of the passengers going to work. Except most of them probably weren't listening to Madonna on the Ipod.

After a quick train change at Metro Center, we were disembarking at the Smithsonian stop.

The pen is empty.

Joey learns that the Soviet Union was the ying to America's yang during the space race of the 1960's at the Air and Space museum.

Joey learns how weather satellites work. Of course...

You hit 'em, we git 'em.

Different size buckets as drums and a shopping cart for cymbals. This guy was absolutely sick. Joey and I listened for about 20 minutes under a shady tree.

The pen is NOT empty.

I figured if I looked at these things long enough, they would start talking to me ala Sid and Marty Kroft.

Try wrapping your brain around this during your formative years.

Joey makes his way to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing only to find that the tours are filled for the day. So he listens to the Ipod while navigating the nation's capital.

After walking for about 5 miles and not trying to overdo it, Joey said that the pool is calling him and we have to go back. We head back to the Metro station and call it a day.

I gave my cousing Wes a call after Joey wiped out another evening in the pool. He was playing in a softball tournament so Joey and I drove into our fourth state of the trip, Virginia. Joey got to see (for the first time in about four years) his second-cousins. Andrew and Brent were there at the softball field and after a little shyness, Joey was whooping it up riding a scooter and tossing around a softball with his new best friends.

After the game, we all went back to Wes's house and chilled. Joey got to see his other three cousins - Courtney, Ally and Tori. (yep, that's five in all) Joey and Brent did their own thing all evening and Joey proclaimed that he was going to spend the night. I told him that if we're going to swim in the pool before we leave tomorrow, that we should probably go back.

That was met with the stink-eye. Joey demanded that we come back to visit soon so he can sleep over. But he also realized that the pool was a good option as well. We made it back quite late and Joey was sound asleep.

Friday was check-out day but we had one more important stop to make before going home.

One of eleven 7-11 convenience stores across the country ceremoniously converted to a Kwik-E-Mart for the opening of the Simpons movie later this month.

After leaving with a box of Krusty-O's and a can of Buzz Cola, we were on on our way back to Pennsylvania.

The summit of Polish Mountain on I-68 in Maryland is actually a valley. Go figure.

A Mighty Wind

2007-06-08T20:55:00.000-04:00

Thunderstorms are common in the summer but a wall-to-wall severe weather event where everyone gets in on the action usually only happens once a summer. Today was that day in Pennsylvania.

I was lucky enough to arrive at work today (3 PM) to see that severe thunderstorms were plowing east toward Pennsylvania from the Cleveland area. Once we saw a report of tennis ball size hail near Akron, OH, we knew it would be a busy shift.

Imagine a ball of ice this size bouncing off of your car.

A potent cold front moving from the Great Lakes caused all of the severe weather. Temperatures made it to 90 degrees almost everywhere in the state today along with dewpoints in the upper 60's to low 70's. The cold front acted like a snow shovel pushing the warm humid air up into the atmosphere and a solid line of thunderstorms developed.

Sites like this were common around the state as many areas saw their first 90-degree day.

A NASA satellite image around 2:30 PM showing the cold front between Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. Picture a big snow shovel pushing that warm humid air up to the top of the atmosphere. Pennsylvania is just to right of the mass of clouds. It's just a matter of time...

Here's what the thunderstorms looked like from up above. Notice the flat part near the top of the storm. That is the top of the atmosphere (tropopause) which acts like a lid. Only the cream of the crop storms make it higher than this.

We issued warnings for every county as the storms approached and received many reports of wind damage - large trees blown over and damage to houses and buildings. Flooding was limited as the storms moved very quickly so the heavy rain didn't stay over one area for too long. We were a little surprised that there wasn't more hail. Especially after the report near Akron earlier in the day.

A look at the radar as the storms moved through central Pennsylvania.

The satellite/lightning composite image shows how far the front stretched into the Carolinas.

If you care, check back and I'll post more information as the damage survey is completed.

"I don't think the heavy stuff's gonna come down for quite a while..."

Happy Valley

2007-06-06T03:39:00.000-04:00

Before I get into all of the happenings. I wanted to give those of you not familiar with State College, Penn State, or central Pennsylvania, a look at the local area. The first few posts will get you situated with the town that was developed, and has grown, around Penn State University. I figured that writing about the local area will also help me discover a few things that I didn't know. The weather has been beautiful the past few days so I packed up the kids and the camera and hit the streets and back roads. Wait...most of the roads in these parts are back roads.

The landscape of central Pennsylvania looking toward State College and Mt. Nittany - the most recognizable landmark in Penn State. The town of State College sits right near the base of Mt. Nittany but is hidden in this picture by the terrain. This picture was taken along Fox Hill road near the airport. One of the advantages of bicycling around the area is being able to see these views. They are easy to miss zooming around in the car.

Here is a close up of Mt. Nittany from much closer to town. Even this close, the houses and subdivisions are barely visible. Trust me, they are there.

This is a site you don't see very often in State College - bumper to bumper traffic. This picture was taken during rush hour in Pittsburgh along the Parkway East while driving back home to central PA on Monday.

This is a more common site. Expansion plans often outpace reality and you may just find yourself near the entrance to a bypass not yet built.

Take any suburb of a large city and you have State College. But with State College, you don't actually have the large city nearby. What you do have is a major university that brings in 40,000 students for most of the year to support all of your favorite stores, eateries, concerts, etc. A big, small town. Here we see that Lynyrd Skynyrd will be in town at the Bryce Jordan Center which is an 18,000 seat arena named after the president of Penn State University (1983-1990)

On any given day, you will see individuals expressing their right to free speech on causes from both ends of the political spectrum. Ironically, this group is from the local chapter of the young-at-heart Republicans.

Parking around the university is always a challenge. Pretty much any open space on university grounds has some type of restriction on parking availability. You better have one of these stickers or you'll be visiting one of the local towing operators with an open wallet. Around the town of State College, there are plenty of spaces when the students aren't in class and even a few parking garages. During an event weekend, all of those spaces are gone and people try to get creative. It is a heyday for the local towing operators who can't tow 'em fast enough.

Penn State was founded as an agricultural university and that is still prevalent all around the area. Established right in the middle of Pennsylvania farm country, State College has all the agriculture you can handle within a few miles of the town center. These cows are affectionately called "Hospital Cows" as this field is adjacent to the Mt. Nittany Medical Center.