ICELAND April 2023

10 Monday Apr 2023

Posted by Ronald Parks in Hiking, HISTORY, Iceland, nature, Road Trips, Trails, Travel

Tags

church, geysers, glacier, Hiking, HISTORY, Iceland, lighthouses, nature, photography, rainbows, sculptures, tomatoes, volcano, water falls

In April 2023 we took a trip to Iceland. Although the weather for the most part was not the best, all the beauty and wonder made the trip an unforgettable experience. Then again, the weather here on the Eastern Shore was not that great – two days before we left, tornadoes touched down just north of here. Volcanoes, blizzards and continental drifts are the norm in Iceland. We did see evidence of global warming.

We flew out of BWI Airport Sunday April 2nd on a direct flight. I do not believe I am yet awake from the time-zone differences. Our flight left BWI at 8:35pm. We arrived in Iceland April 3rd at 6:30am.

We arrive at the Keflavik airport which was about a 40 minute shuttle drive to our hotel, The Hotel Klettur (some locals say Klettur means ‘rock’, others say it means ‘cliff’).

Most walls outside the elevators had some information about local wildlife an/or ecology. Icelanders are very ecological in their thinking and doing.

Schindler’s Lift

Wonderful view outside our window.

You are given 2 keys to your room. One gets inserted into this holder. It turns on the electricity for the room. So, if you have food in your refrigerator, you have to leave one key behind.

We had a nice room. Our original hotel was overbooked so they sent us here. With an upgrade. And closer to downtown.

I don’t usually show photos of the bathroom, but something interesting here is the heating system. They use geothermal heat. Very hot water flows through that radiator. You regulate it with a valve, not a thermostat. No ac. Most people had their windows opened.

Since we could not check in right away, we took a 3 hour city tour. (The hotel has a luggage storage room to put our bags in). It was actually a really good tour. Our tour guide Dominique was very knowledgeable and took us everywhere.

First stop was the Northern Lights Center called Aurora. The guide in here filled our heads with wonderful photos, information and videos.

She also told us the best way to get a perfect shot of the Northern Lights. Nothing more than making sure the flash is off and set it for a 3-4 second exposure. Holding steady!

While waiting outside for the rest of the group, he was there in front of the Saga Museum. (The Sagas of Icelanders is supposed to be a literary classic? I bought it but haven’t read it yet – 781 pages)

He drove us to see one of the many lighthouses next. This lighthouse can only be accessed by foot during low tide.

The Hallgrimskirkja Lutheran Church with a statue of Leifur Eiricksson in front. The largest church in Iceland. The statue was donated by the US. There is an identical statue in Newport, Va. Here are some random photos. We went back a second day so we could go up into the tower. I grouped all the photos together here.

No sooner we walked through the tower doors, the bells started ringing! Very loud!

Misc info

Onto our next destination

Town Hall

Large relief map of Iceland

Moss may not grow on a rolling stone, but it does grow on lava rock.

Next stop, the Perlan Museum

There were photos explaining what you were viewing.

Lots of churches. They left Paganism 1,000+ years ago.

All of this on our first day! Before we checked in. Will tomorrow be a day of rest – nope!

A walk along the shoreline. They have two paths -one for pedestrians and one for cyclists.

Almost got a shot of her face in the hole. There are 100’s of statues and sculptures everywhere.

The Sun Voyager sculpture.

…is where Kathy put her foot down…

Mini lighthouse.

Performing arts center

Interesting Immersive Light Show.

Taking a walk around town.

Rainbow road with view of church.

Another statue of another famous dude (If I can’t pronounce your name, chances are I won’t remember you!)

2,082 miles from home and Kathy runs into some friends.

We all went to dinner after this. More on eating later.

Now onto day 3. This will be an 8 hour tour of the Golden Circle. Lots of riding, short stops except when money was involved (rest stop, souvenirs, food, etc.)

Green House. Mostly tomatoes.

Some people just cannot read – ooohhh look, tomatoes, snap.

Bees – imported. More thermal heating pipes and hydroponics.

Tomato soup and bread. Good stuff here!

No soup for him. There were quite a few horse farms around.

Next stop – geysers.

Our guide today was very good – Inga. But, when we got to the geysers, she neglected to tell us that the active one was up the hill some. We watched this steam up for about 15 minutes!

There she blows!

Next up – a fairly large water fall. And a woman who protested and won, the building of a new power plant on the falls. Her name was Sigriour Tomasdottir. She was the daughter of the farmer that owned the waterfall.

Walking down to the bottom was closed off.

On to the next adventure – tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia. This is the only place on earth you will see 2 tectonic plates meeting above water.

Nice paths and boardwalks all over the place.

A line of people heading to the bottom, where the land splits.

Was hard to see this bird – Rock Ptarmigan. Icelanders and snow foxes eat them.

A flag between continents.

On the ride home – long day.

We were supposed to see the Northern Lights two nights ago but the tour kept getting postponed because of weather. This night we went…

The full moon gave off a lot of light.

Lots of moonlight but an eerie beauty over the landscape.

A wisp, but a Northern Light to behold. Went out about 9, saw them about midnight.

Thursday is the South Shore Adventure. We will get to see waterfalls and glaciers. And it snowed! Some pics on the ride out.

Waterfalls everywhere.

Did we leave our heart in Iceland? Yes.

Skogafoss Waterfall.

A double rainbow and a triple dose of tourist.

Up in the cliffs, hiding from people.

More to nature than the obvious.

Riding away from one waterfall, heading to a glacier.

Peeled off parts of the Solheimajokull Glacier. The black lines are volcanic ash that were covered over again and again for thousands of years.

Another tour group on the glacier.

On to the town of Vik.

The giants – King and Queen on a ship. We will next head around that mountain to the Black Sand Beaches.

Like the Giant’s Causeway of Northern Ireland.

Our guide told us that stunt pilots love to fly through that hole in the cliff.

This is the one that got us wet.

On the way back to town we stopped at another waterfall. Seljandsfoss.

More rainbows.

It was easy to get wet here.

One of the only disappointments was not being able to go behind the waterfall. These people did, but when I am in someone else’s land, I respect their wishes. One guy who didn’t, fell on the ice (why it was closed) and cut his hand wide open.

Gnomes live in that cave.

So it is time to head back to Reykjavik. Took some miscellaneous photos on the way.

Steam vents just pop up randomly. People are told to be careful where they build their homes. The steam will heat their houses or destroy them.

Nice farm. The lava is covered in moss which decays then more moss and so on, eventually becoming dirt that will allow wheat to grow.

The driver would not pull over so Kathy and I could check out the cemetery.

Random photos.

Cant stop me..

Chinese Embassy.

They love their wrestling.

Our first dinner out. We watched a video about this place before we left and thought we should try it, except for the rancid shark!

Really a bizarre mural to look at while eating.

This was called the Baldur. Pickled herring on rye, I did not care for it. In the middle is Mashed Fish on rye, which was really good. Then rye bread ice cream. Melts in your mouth!

We then went to dinner at this place with Kathy’s friends, Donielle De and her husband Larry.

They start you off with an item new to the menu. This was salmon. OK I guess.

That is butter for your bread on that rock.

Kathy got the vegan meal.

I got pasta with cod and shrimp.

Another night we had carry-out fish and chips. Notice wood fork. Everything is recyclable. And if you want a bag, you will have to pay for it.

Baked beets.

Next morning, heading home. the bus picked us up at about 12:30. Supposed to fly out at 5pm. Due to winds the plane did not take off until about 8:35pm. Long wait in a small airport with not enough seating. We arrived at BWI at 10:20pm EST. Left the long term parking by 11:30pm. Arrived at home 1:45am.

I am so glad that we were able to take this trip. We will probably go back one day to see all the things that we missed.

God is good.

George Chalmers of Fochabers

29 Wednesday Mar 2023

Posted by Ronald Parks in Farm, general, Hiking, nature, Trails

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boundary, Fochabers, Focubus, George Chalmers, markers, woods

As many of my Facebook friends know, if Kathy and I are not at Furnace Town volunteering or cleaning up some cemetery, I can usually be found on Merrill’s property clearing trails and boundary roads. A couple weeks ago while there I asked Merrill where he wanted me to cut next? He said to clear from where I stopped the other day and head over to the cement marker. The map below shows my progress. CM are cement markers. It is really quiet back there except for the occasional ‘Peepers’ near the angle irons.

So I start cutting, looking for what I thought would be a regular 4″x4″ Boundary Marker like the ones pictured below.

I’m cutting and cutting looking for this thing when up through the woods I see this.

This is interesting. It’s a big marker. Getting a good look at it, it appears that when the concrete was poured into the form, the form had nails in it spelling out various undecipherable words, names and dates. I did not want to mess with it until I got permission to do so.

Merrill said it was alright to clean it up so Kathy and I did just that. We carefully removed the rotten wood around the nails which were firmly seated into the concrete. I was surprised that they had not rusted away. After that we used a brush and water to clean off the algae, lichen, mold and mildew.

After cleaning as much as we could (we were limited with the amount of water we had, although I did find a pool of water in the woods and when I asked Merrill about it, he said it was probably from the days of making moonshine in a still back there?! More research for another time!), we were able to read the inscriptions.

“SITE REDOAK FIRST BDRY [Boundary] PATENTED TO GEORGE CHALMERS OCT 9 1765” There was a large red oak tree here at one time which not only marked the boundary of George Chalmers property, which he called ‘Fochabers’, it now marks the county line between Worcester and Wicomico Counties.

Worcester County was created in 1742 by the dividing up of Somerset County. Then in 1867 parts of Worcester and Somerset were divided up to create Wicomico County. (This is probably why I am having such a hard time doing land acquisition research).

The top of the marker which was easier to clean, restates what the side says, with some added information. These markings appear to have been made while the cement was wet.

SITE REDOAK FIRST BDRY FOCHABERS PATTE[N]TED TO GEORGE CHALMERS OCT 9 1765 MERRILL G CULVER DEC 10 1951

Let the research begin: First we asked Merrill what he knew about it and he gave us the below plat map. It has the property listed as ‘Focubus’. I just love some of the names that were given to these properties: Cary’s Folly, Hogg Quarter, Buck Harbor (Kathy and I hiked a DNR trail down here called that), the Rice Patch and Dunkirk to name a few.

Here is another plat that went with it, although I cannot make heads nor tails of it. More great names though: Indian Range, Slim Chance, Smullen’s Content and Neglect. Some of these dates pre-date the American Revolution…

Which brings us to the man himself – George Chalmers. Painted by Tannock in 1824.

The below, brief biography was obtained from Wikipedia, the book The Colonial Legacy Vol I by L. Leder and from the Maryland State Archives. Another book The Public Life of George Chalmers by G.A. Cockroft is one of those scanned from the original book and turned into a reprint. I did not buy the original or the reprint. $$$

George Chalmers was born on December 26, 1742 at Fochabers, Moray, the second son of the local postmaster, James Chalmers (who was a grandson of George Chalmers of Pittensear in Lhanbryde) and his wife Isabella. After completing a course at King’s College, Aberdeen, he studied law at the University of Edinburgh for several years. [It is not clear whether he graduated from either school]
Two uncles on the father’s side had settled in British North America, and Chalmers visited Maryland in 1763, apparently to assist in recovering a tract of land about which a dispute had arisen. [It is noted in The Colonial Legacy Vol. I. by L.H. Leder that Chalmers came to America with his only uncle, Robert, in 1763, who died a year later at which time he received his uncle’s inheritance. He used that money to purchase large tracts of land, one of which was 1,007 acres in Worcester County. He then sold it for a huge profit. (As of this writing I am waiting for the state archives to get back to me on whom did he sell it to?)]

As far as the land dispute, there are a few listed in the Md. State Archives…. And Further in Case of the Decease of the said Robert Chalmers before the Affairs and Business hereby Committed to him shall be finally Concluded And we Considering that he has taken alongst with him George Chalmers Son of James Chalmers Postmaster in Fockabin & Nephew to the said Robert Chalmers to be a Companion We hereby in that event Constitue & appoint the said George Chalmers to Succeed the said Robert Chalmers as our Attorney in the Premisses Giving & Granting to him full Power and Commission to Act and Do for us as the said Robert Chalmers may or can do by Virtue hereof and that Immediately after or how soon the said Robert Chalmers death happens he being alwise liable to account to us all his Intromissions… Another land dispute on the other side of the bay involved William Paca.

In 1766 “…he moved to the New Frontier Town of Baltimore.” Where he practiced law, that he was not impecunious while living in Maryland. Receipt found in 1764 of a warrant for over 1,000 acres in undeveloped Worcester County.
As a Loyalist, however, at the outbreak of the American War of Independence, he abandoned his professional prospects and returned to Great Britain. Several years then passed before he found adequate employment.
Chalmers was a fellow of the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries of London, an honorary member of the Antiquarian Society of Scotland, and a member of other learned societies. His library was left to his nephew, at whose death in 1841 it was sold and dispersed.

Random Notes from Md. State Archives:
1781 “List of Persons Indicted for Treason May Term 1781.” July 15 Indictments brought against inhabitants of following counties on May [8], 1781: Prince Georges, Kent, Anne Arundel, Saint Marys, Charles, Frederick, Washington, Calvert, Baltimore, for “adhering to the Enemy”; against following people: Jonathan Boucher, Henry Addison, Daniel Addison, Daniel Stevenson, Charles Gordon, John Montgomery, Daniel Dulany, Daniel Dulany of Walter, Lloyd Dulany, Walter Dulany, Nathaniel Richardson, Anthony Stewart, George Howard, Henry Riddle, Philip Key, Leigh Master, Bennett Allen, David Carcand, Thomas French, William Edmiston, George Chalmers, William Dickson indicted for treason; no person outlawed in May term 1781.

Kathy and I visited the Nabb Center (where we both told them that if they have any research, filing, scanning, etc. that needs to be done, let us know – they never did). Their loss!

They did find some land records for us which are not the easiest to figure out. One mentions Dunkirk, which Merrill told us about, and how it relates to his father’s (now his) property. I am still waiting for the Maryland State Archives to get back to me with the timeline and ownership of the property between 1765 and 1951.

But to the Nabb Center’s credit, they did help us find the location of a cemetery that we have been looking for. Another blog for another time.

I would like to thank Merrill for giving us permission to post this and to Kathy who is always ready to take on a new historical research project!

Pusey Trail and Cemeteries

15 Thursday Apr 2021

Posted by Ronald Parks in Archives, Cemetery, Eastern Shore, Genealogy, Hiking, nature, Road Trips, Trails

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Cemetery, Civil War, hike, Just Walk, markers, muddy, Pusey, Research, swamp, Trails, Worcester County

A week or so ago we found a brochure called “Just Walk”. It was put out by the Worcester County Health Dept. You could sign up and receive gifts for the miles you walked on 15 different trails. Most of which we had already hiked. There were a couple we hadn’t so we decided to go ahead and do it. The first one we picked was the Pusey Branch Trail on Old Furnace Rd near Old Beech Rd.

There is a cemetery at the front of this trail, so we thought we would check it out.

Lost part of his tail and has a hole in his side.

We then see this headstone. I knew by the writing and style that it is a military grave. When I got home, I decided to do a little research on S.C. Stevens. Private Stanley C. Stevens enlisted into the Union Army (Civil War) on August 30, 1864 at 28 years old. He was in Battery E of the 6th Pennsylvania Heavy Artillery. He was enlisted for 1 year and mustered out June 13, 1865. I could not find his birth or death dates.

We finish looking around and head to the trail.

The trail needs some maintenance but it is well marked.

We came to a secondary trail and headed that way.

The White Trail took us to a swamp, bright green life in an otherwise old, dying forest.

A few boardwalks and busted up benches along the way.

We found another path off of the designated path and tried to take that one but there was too much water.

Informational signs along the way. This one asks what is in a cord of wood?

I don’t think so! A mound of rotted wood.

Our path. A short hike and I couldn’t wait to get back and fill out the Health Department form to start earning free gifts!! Ha!! Get to the bottom of the form and it informs me that we have to be Worcester residents to register!!

As I mentioned above, I did some research on Pvt. Stevens. Because this hike was on the Pusey Branch and there were Pusey headstones in the cemetery, I just assumed the name of the cemetery was Pusey? (Researchers NEVER assume!). I went to the Find a Grave website and saw that the Pusey Cemetery is a couple miles west on Meadow Bridge Rd. The above cemetery is called the Nazareth Cemetery, from a church and not a private one.

So, a week later we head to find the Pusey Cemetery. As we head down the road Kathy sees some headstones in the woods. This one is a private cemetery called Bounds-McAllen Cemetery.

A small cemetery and not the one we are looking for. A photo on the Find a Grave site shows it with a fence. We head further up the road and we see a gate on a trail and we think this must be the place. Walking back about 700′ we found it. Seemed odd that there was a marker on the outside of the fence.

We found another Veteran’s grave. There is more available research on him, on Google, than that on Stevens. As can be seen, he was in the Confederate Army, the cavalry. Here is a link for info. http://www.mikehitch.com/me/5062.htm Thanks Mike for the info.

And here we have a tree growing on top a dead stump.

A photo from 2013 of the cemetery, Some sites show it just as the Pusey Cemetery. On other sites I saw it called the Pusey-Maddox Cemetery.

After visiting here, we hiked some. Another story, another time.

It would be nice to know the story of the two service men. They are buried a couple miles from each other, in cemeteries with family members of the same name. Did they know each other. One item I read about Azariah was that he enlisted in the union, was captured by the rebels and joined them?? So many questions, so little time…

Chandler Tract (White Trail) 4 3 21

04 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by Ronald Parks in biking, Eastern Shore, nature, Photography, State Parks, Trails

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cypress, Hiking, Pocomoke, State Parks, trail signs, Trails

This was a 3.6 mile or a 4.1 mile hike, depending on which map you use, in the Pocomoke State Forest. There is also a Green Trail (4.4 mi) and a Blue Trail (5.2 mi) in the same area. We chose the White Trail because it heads towards a creek – Corkers Creek. The entrance is across Rte. 113, from Shad Landing. Nice empty parking lot.

Maybe they will put up a trail map here one day.

Only saw a couple cyclist on the trail. Otherwise a nice quiet hike. The Green and White trails intersect for a short distance. We know what the dots mean, unsure of the numbers though. I wrote the park service to ask them. Waiting to hear back.

A few muddy spots starting off, but mostly dry. It is the Eastern Shore and there will be mud!

Buckshot warning about straying away from the trail…

But where would you go? Lots of thickets on one side and a swamp on the other. But I do know what they mean. Up on the Gunpowder Trails they don’t want you straying off – it can and will cause erosion.

Up ahead where Kathy is, take a sharp right.

Which didn’t seem right. We ended up at a ditch. On the other side in the distance I saw a trail marker…so let’s go.

Up the other side and a few 100 yards ahead we came to marker 77. End of the ‘Official’ trail.

Corkers Creek passes down below and across the way we see another mound. (Wondering if at one time a bridge crossed here?) One of our maps says Colburn Trail is over there.

We look to the right and head down to a nice area.

Kathy’s photo of some of the Cypress Knees.

Back up the mound and then down the left side.

Read that this was designated as a canoe creek. Don’t think so. Maybe at one time.

We walk a ways and come across the most Cypress Knees we have ever seen.

Kathy heads over for a better look…

Instead of heading back the way we came, we cut through the woods, but still have to navigate the ditch. I thought Kathy was going to want us to cross the log.

Some really nice close-ups that Kathy took.

Below is the map that AllTrails has. Path looks pretty straight and narrow – in and out.

Here is what it looks like enlarged, at the creek. We were all over the place!

Another wonderful adventure! We will probably do the Green Path by bike, next trip.

Oyster Fritters, Antiques, a Hike (and a bad sign)

23 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by Ronald Parks in chincoteague, Eastern Shore, Hiking, kayaking, Road Trips, Trails

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Antiques, birding, Fritters, Lighthouse, Nassawango, Nature Conservancy, stuff found, unicorns, Veterans park

This was a two day adventure. On the 20th we went to the Chincoteague VFD for a fund raiser – oyster fritter sandwich, a bottle of water and a bag of chips. Although this was my first fritter and I enjoyed it, I must say, I like a fried oyster sandwich best. We picked up our lunch and headed to the Chincoteague Veterans Memorial Park.

It was a nice place to sit and look at the water. Part of Assateague, Va. is right across the water.

Man, are you kidding me? I can see why there is no swimming, but no kayaking?

We left Chincoteague after lunch (We did stop at the bookstore and I picked up a couple local, Eastern Shore history books). Decided to check out a couple antique shops heading up Route 13. Stopping first at Chesapeake Antiques. Last time we were here they had a lot of stuff. Not so much now. It actually looks like they are going out of business. Pickers Paradise next door is closed. Headed up the road a little further and stopped here – Worcester House Antiques. Wow…

We did stop at a very nice shop in Princess Anne – Somerset Choice Station Antiques. It is part of the Somerset Historical Society. http://www.somersetcountyhistoricalsociety.org/shop.html

So, the next day, the 21st, we decided to take a short hike. Went here once again. Always nice to be along the Nassawango Creek, among the cypress.

Found this in the swamp and Kathy wanted it, soooo. We will fix the baby carriage up and place it in the garden.

Looking for frogs. We heard them but did not see them.

Possible UFO sighting.

We did find that elusive Unicorn we have been looking for.

A favorite spot to sit and daydream about kayaking.

A little confusing. After this point the trails were not marked so we stayed next to the creek.

Not sure how this ended up here. Kathy suggested that it was brought up from the creek and the person just walked away. There is a house about a half-mile from here, but they have a ramp? We hiked to about the house and then headed through the woods to the road – Creek Road.

Saw this from the water while kayaking. Like I stated above, the closest house is about a half-mile away.

Nice two days of adventures. Thanks God for these days.

Fourth Annual Christmas Adventure

11 Friday Dec 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Hiking, nature, Photography, Road Trips, Trails

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Baltimore, bridges, Chesapeake Bay, Christmas, Cromwell Park, engineering, Gunpowder Falls, Hiking, Loch Raven, nature

Wasn’t sure we would make it to Baltimore this year, to decorate our favorite building in our favorite park – Cromwell Valley Park. But we did! Heading across the field towards the Greenhouse Path (Not sure when they started calling it that), up in the distance we see the little house. Many years ago it was a bath house for the family that use to live near here.

Wondering how many more years our little house will weather the storms. I wish there was a way myself or any of the park volunteers could restore it.

And here I am, decorating.

Our finished Christmas gift to the park.

Time to make a Christmas wish…

We walk the trail to the woods and then head through to the old balancing reservoir shaft.

On to the Sycamore Trail

This is new. Built in 2019 by a Scout for his Eagle Scout Badge.

Hike towards Mine Bank Run. Can still tell this run continues to overflow it’s banks. Stopped to check out what I call the Bubbling Pond. They call it Marble Spring. It bubbles up from lime underground mixing with the water. Not much bubbling today.

From Mine Bank to the Lime Kiln Trail. I am still amazed at how these were rebuilt.

View from the top looking towards Long Island Farm.

The sky was spectacular this evening. This is at the park.

This one was taken from the Eastern Shore at the Bay Bridge. We pulled off of Rte. 50 to eat and look at the water and ships.

Kathy took this one from the car, heading towards Vienna.

Beautiful day! Beautiful adventure!

North Carolina October 2020

01 Sunday Nov 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in boating, Family, Hiking, nature, Photography, Road Trips, Trails, Travel, vacation

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boating, bridges, Cape Lookout, Dismal Swamp, Fog, LSD50, North Carolina, shells, Shrimp, SpaceX, Sunset, Swansboro, Tern

Another great road trip to North Carolina. Kathy already there for a week before I headed down to pick her up. I was to stay a week also but the weather took a turn for the worse and we came back a couple days early.

It was very foggy when I left Salisbury, Md. to head south. The fog did not dissipate until well after Edenton. I missed the windmill farm, but Kathy got a photo of it.

One of my favorite stops is at the Dismal Swamp. About 1/2 way there.

Arrived at Indian Beach, N.C. and we took a walk. Shrimp boat.

The seagulls here are unlike the ones in Maryland that will hover over you waiting for food.

A Royal Tern

The next day John came down to take us out on their boat. That was very nice of him. With all this Covid stuff going on, we hardly see each other.

Heading under the Atlantic Bridge Causeway.

Easing past Sugarloaf Island, headed towards the N.C. Port. Docked there for the time being is the USS 50 (LSD-50), Carter Hall. Landing Ship Dock.

Here she is a little while later pulling out of port.

Not far from her is this interesting vessel – Go Ms Tree. Formerly named Mr. Steven. GO Ms. Tree – often shortened to Ms. Tree – is a fast, highly maneuverable vessel that was chartered by SpaceX in 2017 to support their fairing recovery program. The ship has been heavily modified by SpaceX so that it now has a large net structure designed to catch fairing halves as they descend. The name ‘Ms. Tree’ is a pun of the word ‘Mystery’. (from SpaceX website)

Pass this area of the port and ran smack dab into a fog bank.

Made it through there and we all, except John, got off onto Shackleford Banks.

Nice driftwood.

My shot of Kathy and Gail, from up on a dune.

Kathy stepped on a couple Hermit Crabs.

Left Shackleford and headed over to Beaufort. You need to swing around Rachel Carson Island. Shrimp boats everywhere.

Sea Tow is like AAA of the water.

The CaryAli. Wow! A steel and aluminum ship. Built by Alloy Yachts in 2013. For just $25m she can be yours.

Looking through the Watercraft Center at a ship painted on a wall…

Went up Taylor Creek for a bit, looking at all the boats and quaint little houses. Turned around and headed to Pivers Island Road.

We made it under the bridge but then the water started getting shallow so we headed back to the Beaufort Channel and then towards Bogue Sound. Passing NOAA on the way. There are a lot of colleges and government research centers down here.

I guess it makes a good kayak launch?

After John and Gail left, to go back home, Kathy and I went over to Swansboro to find a nice place to watch the sunset. Saturday night and the town was packed! So we left and the sun was heading west fast, so I pulled over at Dudley’s Marina on Rte. 24 and Kathy took a photo of me taking a photo of the pelican sunset.

The ‘New Norm’ I hope not for too much longer. The next day we went back to Swansboro to look around

Domestic Muscovy Duck.

Another shrimp boat. Shrimp burgers from the food truck were huge, along with their oyster burgers and soft crab sandwiches.

Love the water – when it isn’t freezing. Or knocking me on my butt!

Our next adventure was to Cape Lookout Lighthouse, via a tour boat, where everyone was practicing social distancing, for the most part.

We cut over to the beach, hoping to find some 1/2 way decent shells. No luck.

Even some of the better shells were being fought over. This guy wasn’t giving up his shell find.

We leave the ocean side of the isle and head over to Wreck Point. Trudging through the dunes and marsh.

Balancing the Light.

Heading back towards the lighthouse.

Checking out under the dock…

Boardwalk to the lighthouse area.

This guy was going close to shore and other boats blasting his horn and making all kinds of noises.

On the way back, on Shackleford Island. Scratching an itch with his food.

Another day, another adventure. Off to the side of the Pine Knoll Shores Aquarium is a nice little hiking trail. About 1.2 miles.

We thought this coloration was the tree itself (Holly)

But it is lichen. Nice info signs along the trail.

One side of the trail is a marsh. The other side is the Bogue Sound.

Foot bridge to the end.

And at the end, a nice bench to rest on.

Who Dat? Go ahead Ron, stick your head in there..

To the beach one last time.

Another nice vacation, thanks to John and Gail.

Prothonotary Warbler Trail

26 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, Road Trips, State Parks, Trails

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beaver, birds, flowers, Hiking, Nassawango, nature, Pocomoke River, prothonotary, Trails, warbler

Well that is a mouthful to say! Pronunciation is Pro-ton-o-tar-y, which by itself is a Chief Clerk in a court of law, which is apropos to what I have been going through the past couple of months (another story, another time). But with the warbler attachment, it is just that – a warbler. A trail full of them. This was a 2.3 mile hike.

For whatever reason, All Trails stopped recording our trip so I used their default map, adding an extra red line at the bottom left of the trail because we walked the road back. Not much parking. You need to park on the grass along the road. The guy that lives in the house to the left of the entrance trail was cutting the grass. He does a good job maintaining it. It is turkey hunting season and he wanted to know if we seen any? Glad this property belongs to the Nature Conservancy – No Hunting! I hate ducking bullets!

Some of the plants we saw

The path goes from Creek Rd. to Nassawango Creek. A nice trail with some boardwalks. No steep hills to climb. Molly did well and there were only 3 other people on the trail. We were spaced out accordingly.

It is part of a cypress swamp and the ‘knees’ always remind me of faceless people.

Signage along the trail.

More stuff along the way…

This was interesting. One of the bottles had AA written on it and I thought how weird is that? I looked it up and and it is an Ancient Age Bourbon Bottle. I immediately saw Alcoholics Anonymous!

Well, Molly says enough of this. Although it has been a wonderful, peaceful hike, it is time to feed me! Thanks God for a wonderful hike with minimum people out there.

Quite a few of these photos were taken by Kathy. Thanks Kathy!

The Day Before the Stay at Home Directive

31 Tuesday Mar 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, Trails

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Deal Island, Hiking, nature, Snakes, turtles

Kathy and I kind of guessed that our hiking days would be put on hold for a while and even though the weather looked bleak, we decided to head out. And we were right. On March 30, 2020 Governor Hogan said it was no longer a suggestion, that it is now a Directive – Stay at Home.

On the 29th we drove to the Deal Island Wildlife Management Area. Down the one path and back is about 4 and 3/4 miles. The other path is about 10 miles. We will bring our bikes for that one.

From the map you can see that it is pretty flat and a lot of marsh area. A nice trail though. We may bring our kayaks here one day. There is a boat ramp to the right, a few hundred feet over.

It suddenly turned from a management area to a Refuge.

Not a lot of wildlife to be seen. A few geese, a bunch of Red Wing Blackbirds…

And a couple snakes on the trail.

Also a possible mud turtle?

We did come across some wild asparagus, which Kathy had me taste, just in case we need to go into survival mode in the near future. Heck with that Bear Grylls crap! I will use my cell and have food delivered!

Not sure about these guys. There were hundreds of snails on the shore and low on the grasses. Looking close at the middle one, I see eyes or something…

Big bird house.

Nature camera.

In the first photo you will notice the telephone poles. We followed these all the way to the end. And that is what they did – ended.

I spent a few hours looking at old maps and Googling Lodges and Oyster Houses on the Manokin River and Broad Point, but had no luck. This electric and the below well pump stand, had to be to something…

I did not see any building foundations but we did see a pier.

Up close and from Google Earth it looks like there once were boat slips here.

Of course, as we were heading back, the sun started to come out.

A nice day for our “Last day to hike in the parks” We now take strolls around our neighbor hood.

Keeping Our Distance

19 Thursday Mar 2020

Posted by Ronald Parks in Eastern Shore, Hiking, nature, Trails

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chincoteague, erosion, Hiking, Parks, snake, zoo

On Friday the 13th, while at the gym, I asked one of the trainers what was the gym going to do about the current situation – Corona-virus? He said it was the main office’s call. I told him it was a pain in the ass for Kathy and I to wipe off our equipment, not only after we use it (which we have always done) but also before, because so many idiots do not wipe theirs down. Sunday night we decided we would not be going back to the gym. Monday afternoon the Governor announced all gyms to be closed. So now we hike and luckily there are a lot of places here on the Eastern Shore to go to having very little contact with people.

First hike Monday was the Salisbury Park which includes the Zoo. Short hike of 1.8 miles but a very brisk one.

Wednesday was a hike at Chincoteague. We usually ride our bikes there but opted to hike. This hike was about 3-1/2 miles at the Woodland Loop, Bi-valve trail and then along the bay.