The focus of my articles has mainly been internet marketing and search engine optimization. However, I stray every now and then. This is one of those times.

I planned an exciting trip for the memorial day holiday> It was my sole purpose to drive as far out of cell phone range, and out of the confines of a wiFi connection. I scoured the net looking for places to go. I remembered a little place that I saw during a past visit to Cooks Forest, It was Black Bear Cabins. I searched the web for awhile looking for “cabins in cooks forest”, “lodging cooks forest”, the most consistent result was a directory of businesses in the Cooks Forest are. I stumbled upon (not the social bookmark) a listing of camp grounds and Black Bear Cabins was amongst the list. By this time, it was late march and as usual I was planning last minute. I must have called 6-7 campgrounds, all were booked solid. There was a couple that I left messages with and Black Bear Cabins was one of them. It must have been a week or so and things were beginning to look grim, no call backs and no options. I was sitting reading one night after dinner when the phone rang, “do you still need a cabin”, the voice questioned. Without hesitation I said, “yes”. Well the call was from Black Bear Cabins. The owners had a cabin open for the holiday weekend, and it was mine.

The Trip

When I arrived at the campground I felt comfortable that we were located close to all the attractions we wanted to see. The cabin was very clean and new. It had every perk of home (even dish tv). The view was amazing and the grounds were teaming full of hikable trails and walking paths for all skill levels. Most of all there was NO WiFi connection and minimal cell service (verizon). I did bring a laptop and my blackberry, the reason was simple, Stanley Cup. I needed to be able to find out what was going on with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings. As much effort as I put toward avoiding the “net” I felt compelled to bring my natural trimmings to find the hockey score.

The Plans

We had pre-planned a lot of our activities, as we knew there would be no “Google” to help find “things to do in Cooks Forest”. I kinda felt naked without my search engine “wooby”. But nonetheless we had canoeing and hiking and a lot of deprogramming planned. Our canoe trip was provided by Pine Crest Canoe Rentals.This was just a short drive from Black Bear Cabins. The Canoe trip is always the highlight of the week-end. It took 5 hours for the 3 hour trip? We stopped along the Clarion River to swim and just soak in the nothingness we soo desired. The weather was the hottest yet this year and as usual I forgot the sunscreen. My arms cooked in the sun and at one point I felt like a rotisserie chicken. This made the rest of the trip a bit challenging, I looked like red armed something.

The Way Home

As I mentioned above, the cabin was central to everything. The way home was one turn away. Black Bear Cabins will definantly be a place I return to. The clean cabins, great location and affordable prices are value enough to win my loyalty. Thank you Black Bear Cabins and Ted and Ann Parson

Tags: Punch Lines //