Category Archives: nature

Mariners Point Kayaking Adventure

07 Monday Aug 2017

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Although it was somewhat overcast, it was still a great day to be out kayaking.

This was our path. About 3.75 miles and took 2-1/2 hours. We love to stop and look at everything nature has to offer. It was a lot!

As I said, it was dreary out. This is leaving the boat launch, looking towards the train bridge. Last year we headed there after going left up into a cove. This year we explored to the right – Gunpowder Rivers.

A tree hanging on for dear life.

Along the shore and spreading out to the channel was a lot of sea grass. This young Red Winged Black Bird didn’t mind. Neither did we even though it took more energy to paddle through.

Avoiding the tree debris.

We counted up to about 12 Osprey on the back path of our trip. Hard to count because they kept zigzagging right over us.

Me looking up at an Osprey, or him looking down at me?

One of two families of ducks spotted.

Two of these hanging out at different spots.

Kathy told me twice what these guys are called, but I forget!

Old duck blind?

Looking close at the lone flower, off center right, you can see the humming bird.

Lots of butterflies.

They were still checking us out. We didn’t see anyone else on this part of the river.

The other heron. He flew off immediately as we approached his little area. Rough paddling here.

Heading back to the boat ramp. Lots of bigger boats zooming by.

We have no idea what this is!? It is bigger than a basketball.

We saw a few turtles along the way.

Because of how crowded the ramp was, we exited at this small landing. They have cleared it out since last time. 4 steps up and you are at the parking lot.

Until next time nature!

Saw this on Jones Road at Route 7.

It was a really nice day. The park needs more parking for the kayakers. Lots of parking for boat trailers. Kayakers drop off and have to go 1/4 mile to park. After kayaking we went to Big Gunpowder Falls for some pit beef. I haven’t been there in over 30 years. Lots of bikers and a live band outside. Thanks God for another great day!!

Early Evening Hike

13 Tuesday Jun 2017

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Saturday evening was a nice time to take a short hike at Marshy Point Park. Little did we know at the time, we would see these same spots on our kayak adventure the next day, from a different perspective.

Looking out from the dock at the osprey nest and footbridge.

Walking along you come to an overlook and you really have to look over to see.

The footbridge to other trails. Molly and Kathy waiting patiently for me to catch up…before it gets dark.

From the footbridge, looking towards Dundee Creek.

A trail we have never taken. 1/2 mile we should be able to complete before the sun goes down and they lock us in.

The paths are pretty well maintained.

A stool with a tree growing around its legs.

Where mud may be, they built these little walk ways.

A camping area.

A path back to the water.

A red-wing blackbird making noise.

View from the path. We will get up close and personal here tomorrow.

Not sure who this is.

Love new growth just popping up.

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Part of a swamp. Never did see the pond.

Here comes the darkness.

Mr Owl, are you in there?

Nope, I’m in here. Kathy said he was caged up because he is blind in one eye.

FYI a map of the trails. There are a lot of them here and we have only been to a couple.

Half Moon Cay (but I think it is pronounced key??)

07 Wednesday Jun 2017

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The next part of our Bahama Cruise was to a private island. Reading some history of this place, it was originally called Little San Salvador. It was purchased in 1997 by Holland American Line. It is a wild bird reserve and tourist play spot.

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The cruise ship drops anchor and a tender comes to take you ashore.

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Welcome! Thank you, glad we made it!

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Not sure if this was a real fort or not?

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Waiting to catch a bus to the other side of the island for some adventure!

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The upper right of this map is our destination.

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The bus dropped us off and now we are waiting for our tour guide to give us an ecological tour. I’m so excited!

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And the roosters in the tree are excited!

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And we are off – heading towards land over yonder.

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Nice group of us on the tour. Kathy kept them smiling. I will say though, it is a little hard kayaking in a two person kayak. I kept hitting Kathy’s paddle.

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About here is where the guy next to us fell out of his kayak.

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Everyone was picking him up and holding him (or her).

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Under our feet were thousands of these jelly fish. Our guide picks one up and says, don’t worry, they won’t sting you. Well, it stung this little girl that was with her father. He was pissed and she was pretty much done for the rest of the journey. Poor kid.

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After kayaking we headed to the beach for a while. Rental bungalows.

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A bar disguised as a pirate ship. Is nothing sacred?

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My sentiments exactly.

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Time to just chill and enjoy…

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…or you can swim out and watch your girlfriend look for sea glass.

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Walked around some; this guy was making a lot of noise.

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Interesting but kind of weird.

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The only thing you should leave when visiting a place like this…

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We leave you in peace.

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Nice night to snuggle on deck and watch Jason Bourne! Yes!

 

Chincoteague Va.

29 Monday May 2017

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Nice Memorial Weekend in Salisbury and Chincoteague. Again the weather was not cooperating for kayaking, but always a nice day for a hike.

Hung out at the visitor center a bit. Watched a film on the two distinct herds of horses and ponies. One in Maryland and one here. Down here they manage the size of the herd with birth control and an auction to benefit the volunteer fire department.

Hiked over to the light house. Too many people in line to go to the top. We will come back on a week day.

Sailors memorial behind the light house.

I always liked a B&W of various light houses.

Kathy’s mom hiked with us today.

It struck me as odd that the light house was on the bayside and not on the ocean. Pooling on the beach after high tide.

Windy and chilly. But lots of people on the beach. A few swimming. Safety zone flag.

On the opposite side of the ocean shore is Toms Cove. Some kayakers and bird photogs.

Clams, mussels and birds in the marsh.

Digging for dinner.

The brownish orange guy was chasing everyone out of his way.

Pony tails – nice gift shop. But we didn’t see a single horse or pony the whole time!!

Back on the farm – always a favorite view. It amazes me that the pines grew in such a straight line, about 20 deep…until Kathy’s father told me they didn’t just grow that way. He planted them that way! Ha! Dummy me!

Grand Turk Island

26 Friday May 2017

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After two and a half days at sea we finally made port. This was a six and a half hour stop. Because I had gotten some sunburn, which is unusual for me, even though I had a ton of SPF50 on, we decided we would not spend all our shore time laying on the beach. I signed us up for a history tour of the island. Woo Hoo!!

Getting ready to dock about 8am. Look at that water.

The dock and visitor center. Be sure to take your Boarding Pass and ID. And don’t cross the yellow lines on the pier!

Kathy waiting for the tour bus…or me to to stop taking photos of everything!

The tour was only supposed to be 1-1/2 hours in an air conditioned bus. it was more like 2 hours. First stop, an area outside of Cockburn Town (our tour guide got a kick out of saying “Cockburn” multiple times??) Above are some local shops.

The first stop was 15 minutes long so we left the main strip and headed towards the salt ponds. Grand Turk was a salt producer.

Quite a few of these around. Raise and lower water in the salt ponds but more importantly, they divert flood waters off the island back into the sea.

Horses and donkeys roam freely on the island. There is our tour bus.

Kathy looking for our winter home. Tour guide said the wooden homes were built from shipwreck wood.

Some of the colorful buildings.

Boat on the beach.

Heading to our next stop we see a replica of John Glenn’s space capsule – don’t blink or you will miss it!

Our second stop was at the far end of the island. The light house. Because of the people who lag behind, that have to use the bathroom after 20 cups of coffee…we didn’t have enough time to go inside.

Kathy making some new friends.

Tour is over and we head back to the ship to change our clothes for the beach. Here comes the Carnival Splendor.

Local took our pic for us. May have been one of the crew members?

Kathy looking for sea glass. Found some nice pieces. This side of the pier had more rock/coral under the water. Had to go out a ways to avoid it. Water was great!

Watching the people on the Splendor disembark. Big ass ship!

Time to set sail and one last memory of our stop on the island…On to Half Moon Cay

Cruisin…

16 Tuesday May 2017

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Hard to catch up on Facebook and WordPress posts after being away for a week. Sorry if I missed anyones birthday. I did check on occasion but was really too busy and really didn’t care about most of what I did see (political commentary). What did amaze me was that people started posting Happy Mothers Day post late Thursday night! What did I learn from my momma? To never look at this…but that’s where the fun is!

Easter on the Eastern Shore

16 Sunday Apr 2017

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Spent Easter with Kathy’s family down on the Eastern Shore. Always a great time. On the drive home we stopped at a couple places.

The first being just outside of Easton. This is one of those historical markers that you go flying by and have a hard time pulling over to read. But we did.

This is a little church (meeting house) and cemetery. Also where the first peaches in Maryland were planted.

Another little cemetery behind the house.

Yes they are.

Then we headed to Terrapin Park on the Chesapeake. This is always a great walk. We started on the outer loop, walked the beach and then took the inner paths back to the lot. There were a lot of cars in the lot but not sure where all the people were? This was on a bench.

Hard to get Sid Vicious to pose.

Alien markings on a piece of driftwood.

Nice little bridge.

Driftwood with drift nail.

Fire wood?

Cement cylinders along the shore.

Looking for other dogs to terrorize.

Adrift? Was hoping it would come our way but it seemed to be anchored down.

Wishing to dandelion seeds, spreading across the park…

Property next to the farm. Potential for a new home to be built…the steps are there!

Salisbury Zoo

30 Thursday Mar 2017

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Before Salisbury had a zoo, it had a lake – Lake Humphreys, which was created by the building of a dam in 1743. On May 28, 1909 the dam gave way and the lake went dry. Or actually it turned into a mud flat. And it sat like that for a while until the City Park was built, This included building a zoo.

It was a nice day out Saturday and Kathy says “Let’s go to the zoo!” So we did –

Jumped in the car, took a couple back roads and came across these guys. They were kind of far away and I didn’t have my good camera with me. After a while on the side of the road we started heading back to the highway. Me: Where we going? Kathy: To the zoo. Me: I thought that was the zoo?? Duh…

So into Salisbury we go. The City park is really nice. Nice family atmosphere with walking trails, picnic areas, horse shoes, etc. This is what you get for being the Director of Public Works for only 4 years. A bronze propeller.

Nice walking trails around the park.

The zoo. It is free and it wasn’t until we got back to Kathy’s parents house that I was told there is a donation box there. I didn’t see it.

This guy has some sort of attention disorder. He couldn’t stop looking up over the wall to see what was going on.

Not much you can say about this guy other than magnificent.

One thing I’ve never liked is seeing eagles caged up.

Acting up for the camera.

Relaxing.

Where’s John Waters??

These two guys share this spot with a bird, who keeps shitting on them…one day the bird will be in their jaws, wondering, well how did I get here?

Did a complete loop around the park and ended up at this little dam. I imagine the sluice gates are to allow water down stream if the level drops below the top of the dam. Nice walk in the park.