St. Mary's Lake and Wild Goose Island

St. Mary's Lake, a gallery on Flickr.

One of the most photographed Lakes in Glacier National Park is St. Mary's Lake becuase of the unique little island in the lake known as Wild Goose Island. There are many nice spots  to view this nice little island along a lake side trail. You will aslo find many huge flat rock to sit and relax and enjoy the sun on the lake.
Travel dates Sept. 2004

Trail of Cedars

Green Rocks White Noise, a photo by BaubCat on Flickr.

This lovely photo was taken on the "Trail of Cedars" in Glacier National Park. It was a lush and beautiful trail, one of the greenest spots in the park and sort of damp. And the great part is that it is handicap accessible, so every visitor can enjoy it. There was a small bridge across this beautiful little gorge and you could continue off the path and walk along side it. As usual I climbed right to the edge to peer over, that always freaks out my hubby.

travel date sept. 2004

Mushrooms of the Great Smokey Mountains

Untitled, a photo by BaubCat on Flickr.

I never knew there were so many varieties of wild mushrooms until I started doing a lot of hiking. Everywhere we go, we see unusual ones. Here is one of the lovely ones we saw in the Great Smokey Mountains on our foggy Blue Ridge Parkway trip (guess the trip did have a few highlights). Click thru on the picture and you can see the whole set of mushroom photos from Bob's flickrstream.

travel date Sept. 2009

Blue Ridge Parkway Blues

Driving the Blue Ridge Parkway a video by b-a-boop on Flickr.

A few summers ago we planned a camping trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Both of us had been on the Blue Ridge when we were kids, but we hadn’t been together or even been close to it on several other trips along the east coast. It has a reputation for gorgeous mountain & valley views, waterfalls, caves, etc. and we were looking forward to driving over the Linn Cove Viaduct.
Well the trip didn’t pan out as expected. It was rainy & foggy the whole time we were there. Driving was hell as you could barely see a few fee in front of the car, much less any of the spectacular views we’d been hoping for. At times we passed not only motorcycles, but bicycles too (don’t know why they were out there in such danger). We pitched a tent the 1st night, but the weather was bad so we drove off the parkway into a nearby town for dinner & to get Bob a sweatshirt. The next morning we visited a few overlooks, got in a few hikes and saw some nice waterfalls in the Lineville Falls area. But as we proceeded north to the next campground, the fog got thicker & thicker. The campground was so wet, we decided to keep heading north & see if things improved. They didn’t, the site distance got so bad that as we approached the Viaduct, I was too scared to drive any further, not that we be seeing anything anyway. We headed back south, but my nerves we so testy by then that I picked a fight with my hubby about the wet campgrounds and he got really annoyed with me, so we ended up cutting the trip short. I hope next time we go we get nice weather.

travel date Sept. 2009

Museum of Appalachia

While camping at various site in the eastern USA we came upon one of the best History Museums we’ve yet to visit. The Museum of Appalachia is a wonderful complex located in Clinton, TN. It features 2 large buildings, which house everything from tools to quilts to toys & musical instruments. There are also many historic log structures located on the grounds including the former cabin of Mark Twain’s family. Also there are gardens, farm animals and local folk artists to show you the ancient arts. My favorite part though was the building that housed all of the old tools and such (I think it brings back happy memories of exploring in my two grandpa’s sheds and basements)

 
 
 
 
 

travel dates Sept 2001

We Love Waterfalls

One of our favorite things to see when hiking in the wilderness is waterfalls. Perhaps it’s because we live in south Florida where the only hills are interstate overpasses. We will hike all kinds of steep, rough trails to get to falling water, most times we aren’t disappointed. We could spend all day resting peacefully by the sound of rushing water.

Here are some photos from our many trips.

Marguerite Falls, Greenville, TN – Sept.2009

Cumberland Falls, KY – June 2007

Grizzly Falls, Kings Canyon N.P. CA, - Oct. 2006

Eagle Falls, Cumberland S.P., KY – Sept 2001

Amicalola Fall,s State Park, GA – Sept 2001

Alberta Falls, Rocky Mnt. N.P., CO -June 2000

Sabbaday Falls, Kancamagus Hwy., NH -Sept 1997

Yellowstone Falls, WY- Sept 1996

Racing the Dragster – Roller Coaster Thrills part 2

Top Thrill Dragster

Power Tower and Top Thrill Dragster

In the morning it was 48° but the sun was out and Lake Erie was beautiful. We strolled down the beach to the next hotel and then drove over to the marina to a restaurant that served breakfast. The park didn’t open till 11:00, so we explored the Breakers (built in 1905) and strolled up the beach. Bob was brave enough to put his feet in the ice cold waters of Lake Erie. Once the park opened we headed straight for the Top Thrill Dragster. We had been watching them test it all morning, half the time it didn’t make it over the top.  The line was already long. They loaded the first car only ½ full and it didn’t go over. They backed it up and tried again and it made it. Same thing happened with the second car and they announced the ride would be closing. About half the people left the line, but we decided to wait it out. After a few successful runs it opened up again. Lots of people were hoping that their car wouldn’t go over, but not me. Our turn finally came. I was doing deep breathing waiting for the lights that indicate the launch. The take off is wicked fast and a sign indicates the speed 120 MPH as you start vertical. It was the fastest I’ve ever moved in anything other than a plane. It is so exhilarating. It was mercifully fast. You really don’t have time to be scared.  Something malfunctioned after our ride and we had to wait in the car about 20 minutes before we could get out. One of the guys working the ride was telling us that the problem was the high winds, about 25mph. It was closed on and off the rest of the day, so we were glad we held our spot in the beginning.

Corkscrew

Mean Streak

Mantis

It was already 1:30 and we had 8 coasters still to conquer. We planned for the Raptor and the Mantis. Millenium Force was next to Mantis and the sign estimated a ½ hour wait, so it was time to try it in the daylight, this time I even raised my hands (not on the first drop though).  We then headed down to the Mean Streak. I think one of the largest wooden coasters around. We took the back seat on Mean Streak. It was a very bumpy ride and our brains got rattled around, but it had some really good drops. We then ran across the park to Mantis. Mantis is a standing coaster, first time for both of us on that kind. Similar to Raptor in that you loop, spiral and flip all over, but trying to stay in that standing position is very tough on the legs. You get off and your legs are sore, then you have to walk down stairs, a bit shaky. Pretty cool ride though. We then went next door to the Wild Cat, what looks like a variation on the old Wild Mouse that was outlawed but not with quite those sharp turns (that was my favorite ride as a kid). Didn’t look like much, but was actually a lot of fun, lots of ups and downs. We then headed to the Corkscrew, which spirals all across the midway.  We had walked under it many times. From the lines at other coasters I had watched it and it seemed slow, I told Bob it was a kiddy coaster.  Proved me wrong, lots of fun, but still much tamer than the biggies. We then headed to Blue Streak, built in, 1964, a classic up and back wood coaster. It was a very pleasant nostalgic ride. We decided to stay at the front end of the park & ride what was there before the Raptor. We went to Disaster Transport, an indoor coaster. It’s mostly dark and boring and topped Iron Dragon as our least favorite. We then noticed that they had opened the Sky Ride, what a nice overview of the park and gave our sore feet a rest. Then a return to the Raptor, what a blast. It was now starting to get dark, so we decided to break for dinner. The sun was setting and the sky was beautiful, so Bob got his camera & took a few shots. We didn’t carry it around the park while going on rides because you can’t take anything on the big coasters. Even your glasses need to be strapped on. After dinner, we stopped at Magnum XL-200 again.  It’s an excellent coaster. Since they close Sunday at 6:00PM, it was our last night to get into Werewolf Canyon. There were a few animatronic wolves with glowing eyes than were neat, they sent up one cloud of fog that was so thick I couldn’t move, I was afraid I’d run into something, couldn’t see an inch in front of me. We headed through the Fright Zone again, many more spooks than the night before and it was more fun than the canyon. We needed somewhere to rest, so we got on the Giant Wheel. It was now around 10 or 11 and the temp was dropping again, down to the 40’s. It was really cold up there at the top, but at least we were off our feet. We then went up in the Space Spiral, enclosed & much warmer, but too short a ride. It was now approaching midnight and closing time. Ready for another hot bath. We should have taken advantage of the  indoor heated pool or hot tub, but by the time we climbed the stairs to our room, we didn’t want to move again.

travel date Oct. 2003