Shenandoah NP

Every time I come to Shenandoah I have to turn back before finishing, but not this time!! Finally I did the entire Skyline drive.  Shenandoah has been a national park since 1935 and if not for the incredible work of the CCC it wouldn't be as spectacular as it is.    I am happy it has not been over developed...still wild and wonderful. There are 4 main campgrounds... 

Visitors Center.

and three lodges, I've never stayed in one of the lodges but I'm sure they're nice.....It is located in the state of VA and elevations are in the 3-4,000+ ft range and under,  max at about 4,400 ft....101 miles of the Appalachian Trail is in the park and I kept bumping into it on my scenic drive. 

Annie and I hiked a mile on it just for Giggles...following the white blaze...and to remind me of the many miles I backpacked this trail in 1995 and 1996. 

Trail Dog Annie, follows the white blaze. 

She had me beat on the up hill but I was leading going back down!! We ran into  a young fellow taking a rest break in one of the overlooks....and remembering  how precious water is on the AT, I offered him some if he needed it so he was a happy camper to get his main white yarrow, queen anne's lace, bachelors buttons, lots of milkweed and more

and that means pollinators! MANY of them.  

Not just bees but butterflies....

I couldn't find the name of this eyespot butterfly...any ideas?

monarch 

there is no shortage of distant and scenic views on this Skyline Drive, if you have never visited this park you really should, its a different place in every season...Winter will probably find it closed due to snow tho.

This Eastern Towhee was sounding the alarm..

Annie wolfing back a chip on our lunch break...

everybody was having lunch! This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail had that proboscis aimed and ready to fire down in to get at the nectar in each of these milkweed flowerets.  

one awesome vista after another unfolds on this 100 mile journey

 ...way down in the valley on some stops you could see the Shenandoah River as it snakes it's way through...and maybe even the Potomac if you knew exactly where to look this park is only 80 miles from Washington, DC.  give or take a few.  Can you imagine this exquisite place under the iron hand of  a leader like Donald Trump who thinks every landscape should be Disney-ized?  I saw way too many Trump signs as this whole area is very conservative in their thinking...I hope they realize the opposite side of the coin they are tossing!  For everything you take you also lose something!

I'm tired of the losses! I want to gain more, save more, protect more! DO more, be more, and SAY NO more!!

I saw a total of 4 black bears! All in different locations, the first was just a wee cub barely out of the den didn't see mom and never got a shot of him before he darted back into the tall grasses on the side of the road...but this one came out and stopped to have a look at me, he is rather gaunt and could use some fattening, def before hibernation!  Wish I could of fed him a meal....but we all know that is a BIG no no!

The day kept being partly cloudy but that meant cool air, which was lovely!  I hiked up this trail you can barely see in all the flowers.

And it leads to a nice rock outcrop with some great views...

I had planned to go up to Big Meadows to camp...but I figured it was the most popular so it would be crowded and it may have been, so was Lewis Mountain where I ended up staying...I got this site near the "comfort station" and it was busy but things settled down after the sun went down and we left right after a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal and toast! With coffee of course!!

Not far away was Big Meadows, and it has the right name!  

the edges were full of wildflowers

There is a really nice gravel road around this meadow perfect for biking...wish I had thought of that but Annie could not stay in the van for that length of time without me so it wouldn't have mattered if I had my bike... we hiked around for a while till she got tired and panting and we turned back...

Once again she didn't want a full frontal photo!! Back in the van she was ready for some AC and a few more miles of travel.  At the Bryd VC there was this big bronze depicting the contribution of the CCC. I got a nice stamp for my passport, and there was a Penny Turning machine!! Y'all know I gotta have one for my collection so I got 2, one has Shenandoah National Park, with a nice Black Bear on it the other was in honor of the CCC! 

quite a dashing figure I'd say!

Annie all ready for the second half of our day...Inside the Wayside section where I found the penny turner was a bunch of fresh bananas so we had one for lunch! SO nice since I didn't bring any fresh foods (to just have spoil in the warm weather).  

A little messy but its homey!  And lunch with a view for sure!

so many  things to discover in each flower patch!

A pretty good echo in Mary's Rock Tunnel

Shenandoah is very well cared for and well staffed, they had lots of Ranger led programs going on and I was impressed with the entire place...

and our last night in SNP  was spent in Matthews Arm CG where deer roamed around freely in and out of campsites and some mosquitoes so I made a fire something I rarely do, to help drive them away and it worked!

 A large and private site...

Annie chilling by the van, she hates bees and flies and she will not come out of the van and relax if anything is buzzing so that's why I
"bilt a far"

We had a cool night which was great and slept very well...had breakfast and left camp pretty early 

to finish our tour up the Skyline Drive. And beyond! Can you find 3 butterflies, one bee, and a bird in this photo?

 More of our Appalachian to Allegheny trip to come. 

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

In real time I am back home Annie's surgery is tomorrow, so I'm ready to have it done and behind us! She had a great adventure and she is ready now to spend a couple weeks convalescing.  I will let y'all know the lab results when I find out! Meanwhile...we just do what we must. 

La Semana de los Muertos!!

....Translates to The Week of the Dead!

As always I'm busy...Mom is still going with the PT twice a week and not too happy bout it but she is going....so it cuts into my free time a wee bit but I'm enjoying the time off from Projects!! That doesn't get me completely off the hook tho...I stained the deck boards...

Just in time too...

cause with the 7 straight days of over 100 degrees, the afternoons turn stormy! 

I spent Wednesday inside out of the scorching 104 F temps all day working on that painting I told you I planned to finish..

and so it is 

Now finished!! Framed it up with old pallet wood!

My artwork has this distinct childlike appearance don't you think...lol 

(translates to a 5th grader could do better)  You know what I'd like to do some Andy Warhol type paintings just for the Fun of it!! I think mine are just a little bit more imaginative than a soup can.

a little bit fuzzy taken through the glass here is my lone friend Jane Doe, she visits my pasture every single day sometimes with her fawn but today I didn't see him.  She still has milk so Im assuming he is a-okay!

Thursday night we had one terrific storm!  70 mph gusts!  We have trees with the tops blown out, limbs all over the place and no electric for 18 hrs! And the heat was hitting the 100 degree mark...Mom had PT that  morning so we called they got their power back about 4 am so we went in, on the way home we drove the route our power line takes and found the down wire I phoned and reported it and by 1:30 that afternoon it came back on went out at about 7:00 ish the night before!

 All around us people had no power and had trees blown over and wires down! I got my battery operated fans out of the van and gave one to mom and I used one to keep cool overnight. And the storm had cooled the air off pretty good. SO I've spent nearly the entire weekend cleaning up the storm debris, what I can reach that is, some of it is still dangling like the top of this big Oak was a Y now it's NOT! 

how am I gonna get that down?

And this one the top of the entire tree was ripped off and tossed into the neighboring tree where it is now dangling but hopeless stuck there!! 

MISSING PHOTO

How am I gonna get this down?

Lots of big limbs hit the ground and a trillion small stix and branches..

MISSING PHOTO

these ones I sawed up into manageable pieces

Thank goodness My sis came to pick Maggie up today and she helped me with sawing these big limbs up into pieces I can manage to load on my trailer which is full already!! And we picked up all the stix and branches off Mom's yard, I picked mine up on Friday afternoon, and tomorrow I will start hauling to the dump weather permitting.   But some of our plants came out unscathed!!  

tiger lily

AND we had another windy storm the Friday night with gusts of 60 mph a few more limbs fell but we kept the power. 

feeling ripped off!

Meanwhile I took Saturday off ---NO work only play....my son and his lovely lady blessed me with a visit and It was a blessing... such a lovely couple of level headed but Fun Loving young people. This was taken on the 4th..   B! competes in body sculpting and y'all know my son used to compete in body building he no longer has the time to train since he changed jobs and is not a personal trainer any longer. 

an amazingly beautiful couple
(the photo I had here originally is missing, I have it but just can't put my finger on it, when I find it I will replace it here)

He is the spitting image of his Grandfather MY DAD!

I normally stick to Corona but needed a change, something  to cheer me up....was drawn to this...I kinda felt like a walking dead Zombie at this point of this week!! SO decided to give this Oculto a try..it's blended with beer made in barrels with the staves of Tequila! I like it and would recommend it--I love the graphic on the box too, B! told me it's a Sugar Doll head symbolizing La Catrina...and they are made and taken to the graves of loved ones during the Dia de los Muertos! SO come Nov 1st must celebrate with this spirit!! 

so after a week  like this one, Fearful Maggie, Reluctant PT Mom, Stormy Weather, and Beheaded Trees--- I'm in the mood for quiet and tranquil lazy dayz of Summer!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.

 ...is that thunder I hear?? Must head to the store for more Oculto!

Mattamuskeet NWR

I think it was writing about how I get sea sick that made me wake up Saturday morning at 06:30 with Vertigo!! OH boy everything was spinning...I dragged myself out of the motel, no way I wanted to pay for another day so up and out I went barely able to stand up straight..I headed East on 264 slowlyyyy from Wilson I didn't get far till I Had to stop.  I found Goose Creek State Park that sits on the northern shore of the Pamlico River ... the sign said sites 1 & 4 are open (small 13 site primitive campground)...so I parked in 4 got in my bed and fell instantly asleep.  Awoke 2 hrs later feeling much better! Got up stirred around had some lunch and then drove up to the Ranger station to pay...

Them..."Site 4 is reserved"

Me..."Sign says its open"

Them..."Oh it must have been reserved last night, and the Ranger didn't mark it as Reserved"

(the online reserve thing won't allow a reservation unless its 24 hrs in advance, so there is no way it could have been reserved the prior night it had to have been done 24 hrs ago) 

Me ..."so I will take #1 then"

Them..."sorry someone just came in and took #1"

Me..."So you got nothing"

Them..."we're sorry"

This reservation system, for me personally is a PIA--can't they keep at least half for walk ins? So its like this: if I screw up and don't reserve, Im screwed, If they screw up and don't mark it as reserved,  Im still screwed..either way Im screwed?

I was feeling too poorly to argue so I left.  Glad I took this photo of the campsite when I woke up... it was a pretty site...

site #4 Goose Creek CG

LOTS of red headed woodpeckers this one surprised me, not a great focus but look at the perfection of red, white, and black.  

red headed wood pecker

So getting sick sort of messed things up, I had to rearrange some plans, I ended up not going to Pungo Unit of Pocosin NWR, or Alligator NWR Must go back as Black bear and Red Wolf are in those refuges!!
Mattamuskeet NWR was not too far up the road, I thought I had a 45 min drive from the motel I was wrong!! I had mis-calculated and it took me an hour and 45 mins to get there from the motel, and counting the 2 hrs I stopped and slept, and all the other messing around I got there at 3 pm. Mattamuskeet is located on Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsula in Hyde County, NC.  Mattamuskeet Lake is NC's largest lake and located in the NWR.  Hwy 94 divides the lake into 2 bodies of water.

On the Wildlife Drive, which is only a couple miles, it was windy! Some Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Glossy Ibis, White Ibis, Little Blue Heron, and Canada Goose,  all present  in the canals  and in the mud.

Great Egret

                                        snowy egret, little blue heron, glossy ibis, female grackle

Snowy Egret 

                                                                       Immature Whiter Ibis 

 Fosters Tern, Red Winged Blackbirds, Eastern Kingbird, lots of common and boat tailed Grackles, and Osprey, are a few more of the birds I saw and was able to catch a shot of...

                                                                             Foster's Tern  

                                                                      Red Winged Blackbird

                                                                               
                                                                               

                                                                               Osprey 

DEER 

The wind got worse so I headed north on 94 to find Pettigrew State Park and hope for a camp site! Found a note on the board, site #10 and 12 are open SO I took site 10...

                                                              more on that in next post!

PEACE

Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.