Watching the storm come over the hills from our deck.
Sunrise off the deck.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Thunder in the hills!
We drove out to our little place in Medina for a couple of days. While there, we actually got some rain!
Watching the storm come over the hills from our deck.
Sunrise off the deck.
Watching the storm come over the hills from our deck.
Sunrise off the deck.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Our Journey - Day 4 - HOME!
Day 4: 658 miles. 13 hours later, we were home. Are you wondering why it took 13 hours to drive 658 miles?
We left Lakeland, Tennessee at 5:45 a.m. Lakeland is a suburb of Memphis, which is right on the state line with Arkansas.
Still raining and dark. About half way through Arkansas, it stopped raining and the landscape started looking much dryer.
Finally! Back to Texas.
It is HOT and DRY!
With a sigh of relief we crossed into Texas and thought it would be just a few hours before we were home. So how did this turn into a 13 hour day?
Well, have you ever driven through Dallas? Can you believe they can close a major highway through the middle of a major city? Yep, that’s Dallas for you. We sat for 2 hours on the bridge crossing Ray Hubbard lake. We finally made our way (along with a couple million other cars) around the construction on I30. I guess no one thought to put a sign or two up to let folks know that all lanes of I30 were closed and we could take other routes around the city!
We are home, it is HOT and DRY and we wish we were back in Maine (or some other cool place).
We will be starting our next volunteer assignment in just a couple of weeks and we are already looking forward to it!
If you read my blog and enjoy it, please consider becoming a follower.
I know it’s a lot of trouble to get a comment to post (try hitting ‘post’ three times, that usually does it) but I love hearing from you. If you can’t post, e-mails are good too!
Keep following along, I’ll be blogging again soon!
Teri
We left Lakeland, Tennessee at 5:45 a.m. Lakeland is a suburb of Memphis, which is right on the state line with Arkansas.
Still raining and dark. About half way through Arkansas, it stopped raining and the landscape started looking much dryer.
Finally! Back to Texas.
It is HOT and DRY!
With a sigh of relief we crossed into Texas and thought it would be just a few hours before we were home. So how did this turn into a 13 hour day?
Well, have you ever driven through Dallas? Can you believe they can close a major highway through the middle of a major city? Yep, that’s Dallas for you. We sat for 2 hours on the bridge crossing Ray Hubbard lake. We finally made our way (along with a couple million other cars) around the construction on I30. I guess no one thought to put a sign or two up to let folks know that all lanes of I30 were closed and we could take other routes around the city!
We are home, it is HOT and DRY and we wish we were back in Maine (or some other cool place).
We will be starting our next volunteer assignment in just a couple of weeks and we are already looking forward to it!
If you read my blog and enjoy it, please consider becoming a follower.
I know it’s a lot of trouble to get a comment to post (try hitting ‘post’ three times, that usually does it) but I love hearing from you. If you can’t post, e-mails are good too!
Keep following along, I’ll be blogging again soon!
Teri
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Journey Home - Day 3
Have you ever noticed how wide Tennessee is?
We drove from Staunton, Virginia to Lakeland, Tennessee - 11 hours, 690 miles.
We drove from Staunton, Virginia to Lakeland, Tennessee - 11 hours, 690 miles.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Journey home - Day 2
Day 2: The second day we started out at 5:30 a.m. it was dark and raining. Mark drove 610 miles. Through 6 states. It took 12 hours.
From Vermont we drove to Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Welcomes You!
Did I mention it was dark, and raining?
Then to Connecticut.
Again, did I mention it was dark and raining? Even if it had been a bright, sunny day, the roads in this part of the country are so bad, I couldn’t hold the camera steady enough to get a sharp picture!
On to New York.
Still raining!
We saw massive flooding.
Maryland - their signs are a little close together!
West Virginia - More hard rain, more flooding.
Virginia - did I mention bad roads and raining?
From Vermont we drove to Massachusetts.
Massachusetts Welcomes You!
Did I mention it was dark, and raining?
Then to Connecticut.
Again, did I mention it was dark and raining? Even if it had been a bright, sunny day, the roads in this part of the country are so bad, I couldn’t hold the camera steady enough to get a sharp picture!
On to New York.
Still raining!
We saw massive flooding.
Maryland - their signs are a little close together!
West Virginia - More hard rain, more flooding.
Virginia - did I mention bad roads and raining?
Sunday, September 11, 2011
13 States. 2438 Miles. 4 days.
This is our journey home:
Day 1:
Our first day we left Aroostook State Park at 6 a.m. This turned out to be the shortest day in mileage (480 miles) but it still was a 10 hour drive. The rain never let up!
It took most of the day to drive through Maine. In New Hampshire it was raining even harder.
New Hampshire
Then it was on to Vermont.
I almost missed this sign!
In case you haven't noticed, I like to take pictures of the state signs. I have never missed a sign (yet), but on this trip, you'll have to take my word for some of the signs! (Did I mention it was raining, really hard?)
Day 1:
Our first day we left Aroostook State Park at 6 a.m. This turned out to be the shortest day in mileage (480 miles) but it still was a 10 hour drive. The rain never let up!
It took most of the day to drive through Maine. In New Hampshire it was raining even harder.
New Hampshire
Then it was on to Vermont.
I almost missed this sign!
In case you haven't noticed, I like to take pictures of the state signs. I have never missed a sign (yet), but on this trip, you'll have to take my word for some of the signs! (Did I mention it was raining, really hard?)
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Going Home
It's hard to believe we left Texas almost 5 months ago!
We're leaving Aroostook State Park today and plan on taking a week or so to get home.
We've had some beautiful, sunny days this last week and I've been spending more time outside and less time in front of the computer. I might write up a few more blog entries for this area so, stay tuned.
In the meantime, here are a few more 'out my window' pictures. Enjoy!
-- Teri
We had several bird species that used our feeders all summer long, but we picked up a couple of unusual visitors in August. First was a pair of Ovenbirds that started visiting the area where seed had fallen under the feeders. They may have been finding insects there, as Ovenbirds are not generally thought to be seed eaters.
--Mark
The other unusual visitor was this beautiful male Black-throated Blue Warbler. He became a regular on our peanut butter log. This log holds a mixture of peanut butter, lard, and cornmeal which is high in fat and protein. It attracts a variety of birds.
--Mark
White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee
Purple Finch - Male
White-throated Sparrow-, Dark-eyed Junco
Juvenile
We're leaving Aroostook State Park today and plan on taking a week or so to get home.
We've had some beautiful, sunny days this last week and I've been spending more time outside and less time in front of the computer. I might write up a few more blog entries for this area so, stay tuned.
In the meantime, here are a few more 'out my window' pictures. Enjoy!
-- Teri
We had several bird species that used our feeders all summer long, but we picked up a couple of unusual visitors in August. First was a pair of Ovenbirds that started visiting the area where seed had fallen under the feeders. They may have been finding insects there, as Ovenbirds are not generally thought to be seed eaters.
--Mark
The other unusual visitor was this beautiful male Black-throated Blue Warbler. He became a regular on our peanut butter log. This log holds a mixture of peanut butter, lard, and cornmeal which is high in fat and protein. It attracts a variety of birds.
--Mark
White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch
Black-capped Chickadee
Purple Finch - Male
White-throated Sparrow-, Dark-eyed Junco
Juvenile
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Packing up
Between rain showers we started putting things away and getting the RV ready to hit the road.
Bikes are back on the rack.
Taking down the bird feeders.
Bikes are back on the rack.
Taking down the bird feeders.
Monday, September 5, 2011
Sad times
We have heard that several of our friends have lost their homes in the Bastrop fire. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Teri
Teri
Farmers Market
I didn't know there were so many different colors of cauliflower. I bought a bright yellow cauliflower called 'cheddar cheese'. They all tasted the same.
Lots of 'fun' people.
There is a wonderful Farmers Market every Saturday morning here in Presque Isle. Lots of potatoes, green beans, corn, broccoli, cauliflower ... I look forward to going just to see what's new!
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Crown of Maine Balloon Festival
We went to our first hot air balloon festival here in Presque Isle. There were 8 balloons total. It was fun seeing the balloons 'glowing'.
Opening "ribbon burning" ceremony
For $1 kids could take off their shoes and walk into this hot air balloon.
Raising a balloon:
A short video showing all the balloons glowing.
Opening "ribbon burning" ceremony
For $1 kids could take off their shoes and walk into this hot air balloon.
Raising a balloon:
A short video showing all the balloons glowing.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Merlin
During our four months in Maine, we have seen lots of American Kestrals. But we had yet to find a Merlin, which is a slightly larger member of the same family, Falcons. While hiking a trail at the Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge, we finally spotted this Merlin perched in some dead trees in the middle of a pond. Merlins are known for being "small, compact, powerful and very aggressive", and feed mainly on small birds taken in midair in rapid pursuit.
We found this bird no more than 200 yards from where we found the Northern Goshawk back in early July.
--Mark
The end!
We found this bird no more than 200 yards from where we found the Northern Goshawk back in early July.
--Mark
The end!
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