Testing

This is a test using the mobile Blogger app. What kind of speakers are these?

The other use for the blue sewer hose:

Christmas, Florida

I left home on October 12th. Nearly two months later, I managed to get one day's worth of pictures on my blog. Jump forward to today ... so much happened that I'm going to suck up all the bandwidth I have and post these pictures. The day started with the hawk, which I found out later this evening is always here. Now I know what pooped all over my van:

I have been in Florida for about three weeks now. I have NO Christmas spirit. Palm trees and sand and 80-degree, short-sleeved/shorts-wearing weather just doesn't do it for me. So to try to get into the Christmas spirit, I drove over to Christmas, Florida today. This is what greets everyone at the edge of town:

I went over to Fort Christmas to bring Hope for a walk. The first thing I see when I pull into the parking lot is a sign that says, "No Pets." Oh, well. I parked in the shade and left the animals to go through the buildings. They had a school house, lunch room, fort, and about five houses that ranged from the mid-1800s era to 1950s. This is how they decorated for Christmas in the 1800s. The garland is made from scraps of fabric:

And this is one of the homes:

A small pond on the property was the home of a blue heron. I don't know if it was a Great Blue or not; it was quite small. He was very good to stay so still and let me get such great close-up pictures of him:

After leaving Fort Christmas, I went over to the Orlando Wetlands Area. Again, no pets were allowed, but that's OK because it was closed for the season, anyway. So I left and decided to drive through the town of Christmas to see what it was like. I never got there. On the way, I discovered the Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area. FINALLY, somewhere I could walk my dog, whose been cooped up in a van for weeks with two ornery cats.

We first took a walk on the loop trail. It was small, but not small enough. Walking the rutted, rooted, barely cleared path was no fun. I decided to follow the road and found the Bobwhite Trail, which was rightfully named because not 100 feet in, I came across a flock of Bobwhites. They're tiny and they're quick so I had no time to take a picture. I tried, but they ran into the underbrush too quickly.

Halfway down the trail, I saw a horse trotting off in the distance. At first I thought maybe we were next to a ranch. Then I thought maybe there was a herd of wild horses in the Wildlife Management Area. A few seconds later, I saw the horse was being followed by a golf cart (WTF?) and a red car. Came to find out, the horse was being chased down by the golf cart and car. Apparently it was a runaway horse, which finally got caught. This is him being led back to wherever he escaped from:

After our walk, I decided to drive through the Tosohatchee to see where the road went. I came upon the Powerline Road, which is the road I saw the horse and golf cart on. A sign pointed to the St. Johns River, so I decided to check it out. What a road! It was at 2.5 miles in and as straight as an arrow. These are views out my windshield and what I saw behind me:

Then I came to the 30-ton bridge. At first I panicked. I didn't think I could drive over this thing. It certainly didn't look sturdy and it didn't sound all that great hearing all the splintering and creaking as I drove over it. I then calmed myself by thinking, "30 Tons, Girl. As in the construction trucks that had to drive over these things (there were two of them) to install those high power poles and lines."

The St. Johns River at the end of the road:

On the way back, all the wildlife was out. I saw turtles -- HUGE ones:

A kormoran, egrets, and a tower of vultures:

At least a dozen armadillos:

Across the street from the entrance to the Tosohatchee Wildlife Management area are these mailboxes. If you can't read them, the bottom one is the home-owners name, the second one up says "Pony Express;" the third: "e-mail"; and I am assuming the top one says "Air Mail." I couldn't read it and I can't see it in the pictures, either.

And a perfect ending to a perfect day -- The Van of Discovery hits a milestone:

Skyline Drive

We traveled the Skyline Drive for two days. I think we missed peak for the fall colors, but still it was beautiful. In fact, I found the trees to be awesome all through Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. Even parts of Illinois were pretty.
Our first night out leaving Connecticut was only 3 hours from home; barely over the Hudson River. We stayed at a Pilot/Flying J truck stop in Drums, Pa. The temperature on Ssturday morning was 29 degrees. We will experience severe fluctuations in temperature (from 29 degrees to 86 degrees) over the next two weeks.
Us Connecticut SoloTrekkers have a problem with helicopters. They seem to be everywhere we go. Peggy and I came across this one on our morning walk. She only walked halfway with me and told me later she stopped and talked to the pilot. This particular helicopter was delivering large construction beams.

This is a picure I took from one of the high peaks of my walk:

Our first destination with all five of us together was the Skyline Drive. We stayed at the Big Meadow Campground, which is just about the halfway point of the park.

The main room of the lodge at Big Meadow:

Luray Caverns

More pictures along the Skyline Drive

Trip Synopsis

Well, here I am, finally. Seven months since my last post. I've been away for so long Blogger completely changed their format. I am dating this post for the day I left, which is 10/12/12, although I've been on the road for 11 days. I finally have time to load some pictures -- I hope. The Wi-Fi here is terrible and it has been the first place I've even had Wi-Fi since I left home. Our schedule is/was as follows: The Skyline Drive with two days at the Big Meadow Campground. One side trip to see Lurey Caverns. The Kentucky Bourbon Trail, seeing 1.5 distilleries. Most of us decided that one distillery was enough. One side trip to a monestery and if I remember the name of it by the time I post the pictures, I'll let you know. The Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum. Two-point-five days in St. Louis, MO, which included the Anheuser-Busch brewery; Forest Park, which included the History Museum; the Arch; and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Our destination is a SoloTrekker Rendesvous in Branson, Mo. in two more days. Well, I guess there's no more time to load pictures. It stopped raining and I have to go dump my tanks before we head out for Sweetie Pie's.

Longwood Gardens

Saturday was spent at Longwood Gardens. I thought I was only here once, sometime back in the 1990's, but it looked too familiar to remember that far back. I am sure I've been here in the last 5-10 years.

Pierre du Pont purchased this property in 1906. The property originally belonged to William Penn, who sold it to a fellow Quaker, George Pierce, in 1700. It stayed in the Pierce family and was called Pierce's Park until Dupont purchased it.

Pierre du Pont had a love and facination with water and fountains since he was a child, so the very first garden that he had built was The Italian Water Garden. The Indoor Children's Garden inside the main Conservatory opened in 2007 in appreciation of du Pont's childhood love of water and fountains.

I wish I knew the names of all of the flowers. Alas, I am nowhere near a horticulturalist or botanist, so you just get to look at all the pretty pictures.

Wanamaker

After the flower show, we had a tour of Wanamaker's Department Store (now Macy's) and a behind-the-scenes tour of the repair shop for the Wanamaker organ. The organ was originally built in 1904 for the St. Louis World's Fair. It had more than 10,000 pipes. In 1909, John Wanamaker bought the organ and had it installed in his department store. It was first heard on June 22, 1911, at the exact moment when England's King George V was crowned at Westminster Abbey. 8,000 more pipes were added between 1911 and 1917, then from 1924 to 1930, another 10,000 pipes were installed.

The total number of installed pipes today is 28,482. The gold pipes that you see on the 3rd floor are not functional; they are only decorational. All the other pipes are behind the walls from the 3rd to the 7th floors. The pipes range in size from those of a drinking straw to over 32 feet in length with wood made 3" thick.

The organ is played daily with some days having two performances. Each performance is about an hour long.

Philadelphia Flower Show

Well, wasn't this fun. My first attempt at adding a slideshow to my blog. If you click on the slideshow, it will bring you to my Picassa site where you can view the photos in full screen and slow down the slide presentation. You will also be able to read the captions, which don't show up here. Ah, never mind. I figured it out. You need to click the little "comments" button on the bottom left side of the slide show. It's the one that looks like a little white message box. If you hold your mouse over the bottom edge of the slideshow, you'll be able to pause, fast-forward, or go backward by hitting the appropriate buttons.

This is the Philadelphia Flower Show. It is the largest indoor show in the world. The only larger show is in England and that is only larger because it is both indoor and outdoor. The first Philadelphia Flower Show was in 1820 and has been continuously showing every year since then. The theme this year was "Hawaii." There were many, many, many, many orchids on display.

Owl

I am so proud of my owl that I am posting him everywhere and what a perfect place to keep him permanently, but on my blog. I was driving down a backwoods, dirt road between Middlebury and Woodbury, Connecticut, when I saw a large bird fly down from an embankment and perch onto a tree branch close to the road. I slowed down, assuming that it was a hawk as they are so prevalent around here. As I got to the bird, I saw that it wasn't a hawk; it was an owl! I slammed on my brakes, pulled the car off the road as far as I could, rolled down the window, leaned over the passenger-side seat in ungodly contorted positions, and started snapping pictures with my iPhone, hoping that I was keeping it steady enough. My heart was beating heavily and my hands were shaking. Damn me for not carrying my camera with me at ALL times.

I was already late for an appt, so I couldn't stay there snapping any more pictures. I took off with anticipation of getting to my destination so that I could quickly view my pictures. To my utter dismay, there was no owl. How could this be? He was RIGHT THERE, not 20 feet from the car. With all the action of stopping the car and rolling down the window, he just stood there staring at me. How could he not be in the picture????

After my appointment, I got home and downloaded the picture to my PC. I blew it up to 100%, 150%, 200%. I searched every single inch of the photo and could not see the owl. The only conclusion I came to was that I was too far off to the right or left. I told a friend of mine and she said, "Are you sure it wasn't an apparition?" I was sure. I know I saw it. I know I saw it land. I know I saw it turn its head away and then back and stare at me. I know what I saw.

I looked at that picture every day for four days, searching ... searching .... searching .... when today, I FOUND IT! Can it be? Is this really it or did I want to see it so bad that I was imagining it? I e-mailed it to a few friends who confirmed that it was there. I also cropped it and posted it on Facebook. A few other people saw it, too, so I know, now, that it is no apparition. I got the snapshot of a lifetime.

Can you see it? It's just up and to the right of dead center

JPPM

On the shores of the Patuxent River in Maryland, the Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum is a state park situated on 560 acres. The land was donated to the state for the purpose of preserving and interpreting the archaeological resources and history of the property. It has been inhabited for over 9000 years by Native Americans, plantation owners, tenants, free and enslaved Africans, and indentured servants.

Jefferson Patterson purchased the property in 1932. Researching and using modern methods of farming, he established a model farm and raised tobacco, soybeans, corn, and cattle until his death in 1977. He raised prize-winning Black Aberdeen Angus cattle.

Also on the site is a replica Indian Village depicting the life of the Eastern Woodland Algonquian Indians, which is where I took all of my pictures.

Holly bush with berries. Holly is very prevalent in this area.

Indian village:

Facts and information from the various plaques around the village:

For the Native people in this area, the new year started in the spring, the time of 'budding and blossoming.' Summer was the second season, the time of the 'highest sun.' Next came the 'earing of the corn' season when the corn began to ripen which was celebrated with the Green Corn Festival. In autumn, the season of the 'falling leaf,' the Indians dispursed into smaller groups to gather nuts or hunt game. Winter, the fifth season, was called cohonks for the sound of geese flying overhead.

Clothing -- Men and women wore deer hide or woven plant-fiber aprons around their waists; children were generally naked until puberty. Bear grease mixed with red ochre was used to repel insects and to provide insulation in cold weather. Men in this region usually shaved the right or bow side of their heads so that the hair wasn't caught when they were shooting game. The hair on the other side grew long and was tied up with twine and feathers. They wore cloaks of deerskin, woven fibers, furs or feathers in the winter and for ceremonies. Necklaces of shell, seed and clay beads, animal teeth, and copper pieces were worn to show status and wealth.

Family, Customs, and Beliefs -- In the Chesapeake Bay region, typically one extended family lived in each house: mother, father, children, plus some grandparents, aunts, uncles, and even cousins. Inheritance of both status and posessions followed one's matrilineal line -- from the mother's brother rather than the father. Social responsibilities were learned from one's uncle(s). Elders were respected for their knowledge and wisdom.

Larger villages contained a chief's house; often the largest structure in the village. Governing was accomplished through consultation; the chiefs consulted their councils of priests, war captains, and elders when making decisions.

Eastern Woodland Algonquians believed that al plants and animals had spirits. Before and after a hunt, they gave thanks to these spirits to ensure cooperation in the future. They worshiped two main gods: one was a benevolent god, while the other caused bad things to happen. In an effort to avoid trouble, they held rituals to appease the malevolent god. Ceremonies occurred at special times of the year, such as at harvest, when children entered adulthood, or when guests were present.

Chestnut Trees -- Missing from our forests today, the American chestnut once made up 25-40% of the woods. People and animals competed for the plentiful nutritious nuts. The bark was used to cover houses, and the wood made strong, long-lasting tool handles. Sadly, the American chestnut disappeared from the Eastern Woodlands, including the Chesapeake watershed, when a fungus from Japan infected the trees in the early 20th century. Plant scientists are trying to develop a fungus-resistant variety. Hopefully, the small chestnuts planted here will survive for many years.


These posts were usually set in the middle of the village and near their "Quoiccasan" (House of Religious Worship). They were used for celebration and dance.

The Patuxent River:

Escape

Wow! It's been a long time, but here I am. Monday, Feb. 6th -- the second day of my escape. I had nearly 14 days ahead of me with absolutely nothing to do, so I decided to drive down to VA to visit my friends Karen & Steve.

This is a strange church somewhere in Maryland:

A strange stand of trees that I thought made an interesting picture:

One-room schoolhouse in Port Republic, Maryland.

Written on the plaque outside the school:

The schoolhouse served to educate white children in grades 1-7, all in the same classroom, usually with only one teacher providing instruction in all subject areas. In addition to the "3Rs" (reading, 'riting, and 'rithmatic), rural one-room school teachers also taught science, geography, and history.

One-room schools were built throughout the county so that no child would have to walk more than three miles to school (imagine that ... while today's children are forced to trek that long route down to the end of their own driveway). Only as roads improved in Calvert County did centralized schools begin to be built, and children were then transported by bus to Prince Frederick.

In 1976, the Calvert Retired Teachers Association restored the one-room school as a Bicentennial project, and they continue to run the educational programs that are available to all schools. It is open to the public on designated days and by appointment.

Vultures sunning themselves:

A typical class from the 1920's or 1930's

A bit of Americana:

I hate bridges. I have always hated bridges. I have hated them for as long as I can possibly remember. Most of them have me gripping the steering wheel so tight that I have a hard time opening my hands once I get back on land. I usually shudder once I land on the other side. Now the DOT's of the world have decided to make my adventure even more pleasant by putting up these Jersey Barriers. Do they really think that these 4-inch cement walls will keep me from flipping over into the abyss?

This is the bridge over the Potomac River that separates Maryland from Virginia

On the shore of the Potomac: