Tim Rogers

It was a terrific morning for a run in Rothrock state Forest and my plan today was to get a long run in this morning before the day got too busy. At this point in my training (week 3 after an injury), anything over four miles is considered a long run so my goal was to log at least six miles in one of my favorite locations in Central Pa.

It should be said that I use the word 'run' loosely at this point in my training. The idea is to log some jogging time on my feet. It would be unfair to call myself a runner. I've never been a 'runner' but I've been an addicted jogger for many years and have run a fair number of local races including the Tussey Mountainback 50 mile race held in the early Fall in Rothrock State Forest. Check it out here www.tusseymountainback.com/ I have always run this race as part of a 5 person relay and the past two years I have logged 13.1 miles of the 50 total miles of the race.

Can you spot the wild turkey and her brood of five chicks?

So I had my lovely wife drop me off right along Rt. 322 where Decker Valley Rd. spills onto the highway. The plan was for me to run to Penn Roosevelt State Park while my wife picked up our son at a friends house. She would return and rescue my sore legs at Penn Roosevelt about an hour later.

Off I went on the soft gravel road and within five minutes a nice steady rain started to soak me prior to my breaking into a heavy sweat. It must have rained for about forty minutes as I shuffled past several cabins and ruffed grouse cuts and worked hard on the numerous uphill sections of the trail. I'm guessing that running the trail in this direction provides about four miles of uphill running.

At some point the rain stopped but I never saw the sun as the cloud cover felt as though it was being propped up by the thick appalachian forest. About an hour into the run I was relieved to see the sign telling me that Penn Roosevelt State Park was one mile in the distance and I rememberd that most of the remaining one mile was downhill. Just at this point my wife drove by and I begged her for a bottle of water but none was to be found in the cleanest mini-van this side of the Mississippi River.

Down the hill I pushed stretching my stride and burning calories as I coasted into the parking area adjacent to the pond and the famous Penn Roosevelt chimney right in the middle of Rothrock State Forest.

A bit more than seven miles Meredith announced and I could feel it in every part of my body. What a terrific feeling and I'm looking forward to adding additional mileage next weekend in Rothrock State Forest.

Parkview Heights Estates, a premiere Bellefonte, PA neighborhood is conveniently situated in the sleepy but growing county seat of Centre County, home to Penn State University. Parkview Heights Estates is a small subdivision of relatively newer homes surrounded by woods and farmland and located two miles from the Centre County courthouse in Bellefonte, PA. Most of the homes in Parkview Heights Estates have been built since 1996 and are custom homes built for convenient family living.

Parkview Heights Estates, a premiere Bellefonte, PA neighborhood is comprised of families and retiree's and provides an easy commute to State College, PA. and Penn State University. Homes in Parkview Heights Estates range in size from about 1,900 sq. ft. and priced around $300,000 to greater than 4,000 sq. ft. and priced in the high $400,000 to low $500,000 price range.

Parkview Heights Estates is conveniently located one mile from the Bellefonte High School and the Bellefonte middle school and there is a grocery store and a new Rite Aid drug store one mile away for your convenience. You can easily travel to all Penn State events and the State College Spikes games via I-99 and the on ramp is about two miles from Parkview Heights Estates.

There are currently three homes for sale in Parkview Heights Estates and they are as follows:

			1316 JOANNA DRIVE	$325,000	Bellefonte	Bellefonte	Active	27793	3	2
			1306 LAURA LANE	$327,500	Bellefonte	Bellefonte	Active	24653	4	3
			1340 JOANNA DRIVE	$369,900	Bellefonte	Bellefonte	Active	27209	5	2

Don't miss your opportunity to buy your dream home in Parkview Heights Estates, a premier neighborhood in Bellefonte, PA. Give me a call to preview one of the custom built homes in Parkview Heights Estates or tune in to Coaches Corner Radio and learn more about real estate. Coaches Corner airs Saturday mornings from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. on 970 AM WBLF radio. The Coaches Corner hotline is 814-272-9700.

Hunters Chase at Foxpointe Phase 7 will feature a grand opening this weekend and will offer new building lots with homes priced between $285,000 to $350,000. Hunters Chase at Foxpointe is conveniently located five minutes west of the Penn State University campus and is close to shopping, parks and the Science Park swimming pool.

S & A Homes (http://www.sahomebuilder.com/state-college-pa-home-builder.asp) has several neighborhoods that have building lots available but you must buy them as part of a new construction home purchase. During the grand opening of Hunters Chase at Foxpointe Phase 7 there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony and a walking tour of the new neighborhood along with food and entertainment.

There are two move-in ready homes for immediate occupancy in Hunters Chase at Foxpointe and they are both Foxwood models priced from $284,900 featuring 4 bedrooms and 2.5 baths.

Please call me for additional information and discuss buyer upgrades in the new homes offered at Hunters Chase at Foxpointe. Or tune in to Top Gun Tim's Coaches Corner radio show every Saturday morning at 9:00 a.m. for the latest in real estate information in Central Pennsylvania. Coaches Corner Radio is a three hour syndicated radio show airing locally on 970 AM WBLF. Call the Coaches Corner hotline at 814-272-9700 to join the discussion.

See the layout below of Hunters Chase at Foxpointe and don't miss the phase 7 Grand Opening.

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive from potential buyers is, "Are there any building lots close to Penn State University?" The answer is fairly easy since land in the Penn State area is at a premium and there are few building lots available for buyers to build custom homes. The lots that are currently available are controlled by local builders and must be purchased as part of a home and lot package. In other words, you can't simply buy a lot and hold on to it for the next three years until you decide to build a home.

S & A Homes (http://www.sahomebuilder.com/state-college-pa-home-builder.asp) has several neighborhoods that have building lots available but you must buy them as part of a new construction home purchase. Phase 7 of Hunters Chase at Foxpointe will open this weekend and will offer new building lots with homes priced between $285,000 to $350,000. See the layout below of Hunters Chase.

If you are looking for buiding lots close to Penn State but are not ready to build you may want to head east away from campus and look in the small village of Millheim, PA. Brookside Homes has a small development of nice rural building lots right in the village and within walking distance to town and the famous Elk Creek Cafe' (http://www.elkcreekcafe.net/). Mensch Estates provides public utilities and the exclusive builder is Brookside Homes (http://www.brookside-homes.com/). Brookside Homes builds stick built the old fashioned way and builds energy efficient homes. At Mencsch Estates you can buy your lot today and hold it until you are ready to build. Lots are priced from $38,500 and there are 13 lots available at the moment.

There are a variety of scattered building lots available in Penns Valley just east of Penn State University with no ties to builders and no deadlines for buyers to build their home. Wildfire Lane subdivision offers building lots starting with 2.9 acres and going all the way up to 10 acre parcels and they are within walking distance of the blue ribbon trout stream Sinking Creek. I was showing a buyer the lots last week and we were greeted by a wild turkey and her brood of six young hatchlings walking up the road toward the entrance of the subdivision.

WILDFIRE LANE SUBDIVISION PHOTO

Finally, for more excluded building lots close to Penn State University you should check out the lots on Siglerville Millheim Pike adjacent to Rothrock State Forest (http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/Forestry/stateforests/rothrock.aspx). There are 6 building lots left ranging in price from $59,500 to $69,500 and in size from 2.8 to 5.5 acres and there is owner financing available.

LOTS ON SIGLERVILLE MILLHEIM PIKE

There are building lots available close to Penn State University but they are at a premium and you need to search carefully if you are trying to find a scattered building lot not committed to a builder in the area. The demand for buidling lots will continue to grow so now may be the time to consider purchasing a lot for your custom dream home. Feel free to give me a call or tune in to Top Gun Tim's Coaches Corner Radio show every Saturday morning from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m on 970 AM WBLF radio to discuss all things real estate in Happy Valley. Call the show on the Coaches Corner hotline at 814-272-9700 to join the discussion. You can always call me directly at 814-280-0054.

So I dropped my son off at soccer camp and needed to get a run logged in the book so I had to decide between the pavement of Centre Hall (my last run on Monday) or the soft trails of Rothrock State Forest. It was an easy decision and I headed up the mountain on Rt. 322 into Seven Mountains. If you turn left on Decker Valley Rd. and park in the former DHL building parking lot you can run on Decker Valley Rd. or you can do what I did which is to cross Rt. 322 and run towards Penn Roosevelt State Park.

This section of Rothrock is part of the Tussey Mountainback 50 Mile Ultramarathon and Relay (visit the site here http://www.tusseymountainback.com/) and is known as A Flash of Civilation since this segment of the race pops out of the forest along Rt. 322. From Rt. 322 to Penn Roosevelt is 6 miles but I wasn't ready for a 12 mile run so I traveled the soft gravel roads for three miles before turning around and heading back to the car. The trail in this area is rolling with uphill, down hill, and level running that provides a nice mix of running. To find the three mile mark it is pretty simple. You will come upon a farily steep hill just after a sharp 90 degree turn to the left in the road. You run to the top of the hill and there is another sharp 90 degree turn to the right. You will run about 300 yards beyond the second hard turn and will you will hit the 3 mile mark.

I love this run in the forest. Though I saw no wildlife other than birds, the forest is lush, the trails are easy to run and comfortable, and I didn't see a single car during the entire run.

Don't miss this run.