September Fishing

North Fork of the Shenandoah

Our mornings have been cool, but the afternoons have been warm, even hot. It’s great weather for being down at the river.

De-stressing on Dickey Ridge

Shenandoah National Park

Yesterday I had a long session at the dentist. I had two teeth filled, but that involved five surfaces. It wasn’t terribly painful, but it took a long time and I left with sore gums and a big dent in my bank account.

Since I was in Front Royal on a beautiful day, I went to Skyline Drive, which is so close to town that people walk there. Four miles later, I was at Dickey Ridge Visitor Center.

A ranger was finishing up a talk about bears. I didn’t mind that I had missed it because I’ve heard it before. They do it almost every day. I chatted with the ranger and took a picture of a bear skull.

Inside the visitors center, another park ranger was helping visitors plan a hike.

I browsed through the gift shop. I liked this toy bird, which was identified as a peregrine falcon.

I haven’t seen one up close in the wild. Another visitor center has a model of one on display.

Usually I drive farther south through the park, but I decided to just relax there for a while. I strolled around outside, sat on a bench for a while and took pictures, even though I have hundreds of images of the views there from previous visits.

I overheard a woman tell her husband she saw an eagle, but it looked like a vulture to me. It’s hard to say for sure because it was soaring through the sky, too far away to see any details. I’m not an expert, but I have watched an awful lot of vultures, particularly when we lived next to a lake. They soar in a relaxed way on air currents, and appear to be enjoying a great time.

I’ll show you some pictures of vultures from previous posts.

Mosaic / Wild Birds

Yesterday at the Germanic Heritage Museum

This museum is an old farm that has been preserved as an example of farm life in the Shenandoah Valley. Many of the early settlers came from Germany, usually passing through Pennsylvania before coming here. This farm is only open to the public by appointment or on the annual open house day, which was yesterday.

I have been inside the house before, but I thought Deborah would like to see it because she enjoys visiting historic homes. I did not go inside this time, but walked around the property with Charlie while Deborah and Frank toured the house.

Here are some scenes that I viewed on our walk.

Sharing with the H2O Linkup

My 2019 Post on this Museum

One Day of a 3-Day Weekend

Sometimes holiday weekends are barely noticeable to me because I'm retired. I was delighted that Marie was able to come for a brief visit, making this Labor Day Weekend special. She stayed two nights, so we only had one real day together, and a busy one it was.

We took Charlie with us and drove to the condo on Rose Bud Court to see the progress that had been made. On the way we passed a crowd of protesters on each side of the interstate overpass. They are no longer permitted to stand on the overpass due to a state law that prohibits loitering on bridges if it is determined to present a safety hazard.

 

(Picture Taken at Stoplight through the Windshield.)

The condo looks bright and contemporary, now that my other daughter has almost finished working on it. 

We also stopped at Seven Bends State Park and Marie took Charlie for a walk.

Sharing with H2O, Mosaics, Gardens

I drove to Front Royal, where we bought lunch to eat along Skyline Drive, which was crowded with holiday tourists. Then we went to Petco because Marie wanted to get Charlie a harness to replace the one that he had destroyed. The one that he’s wearing in these pictures does not fit him properly.

After returning home and resting, we had dinner. Marie left before 7 AM this morning to return by train to Jersey City. She wanted to check on some repairs made in front of her house there. Tomorrow she flies back to California where she works as an editor. (She used to work in New York City, but the company moved to Burbank.)

It was wonderful to see her and catch up. Charlie enjoyed the extra attention and walks.

Happy Birthday to the NPS

Today marks the 109th anniversary of the founding of our National Park Service. Here are some pictures of National Park Rangers that I’ve taken over the years. The first batch is from Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Historical Park. It’s fairly local to me and I’ve attended many tours and lectures there over the years. 

Actually, I toured parts of it with college history classes before the park was established. It’s fairly new to a national park, first designated in 2002. Before that, Belle Grove existed as a historical site and part of the surrounding Cedar Creek Battlefield was preserved by a battlefield foundation. 

Related: Photos I took at Cedar Creek in 1993.

2006 Post: 100th Birthday of National Park Service.

Also, Shenandoah National Park is local to me. It was built before I was born, and I’ve been going there all my life. I grew up in Northern Virginia, so even then, it was only a few hours away. 

Collage of SNP Rangers for Mosaic Monday

Currently our National Parks are underfunded. They are a treasure and a wonderful resource and deserve the support of the American people and the government.

A Glimpse of an Outdoor Meeting

Seven Bends State Park

I’m still on a committee that supports our local state park, which is still under development. Our group is part of the Friends of the North Fork. Esther (in yellow) is our chairperson.

On Monday, I attended a planning meeting for an event that’s taking place next month. We met on the Lupton Road side of the park because that’s where the concert will take place.

It was a 6 PM meeting, and by the time I left, the sun was ready to set.

A Foggy Day along Skyline Drive

 Shenandoah National Park 

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday 

Wildflowers and Overlook

Shenandoah River State Park

 

Travel Tuesday / Wordless

Captain Canine

North Fork of the Shenandoah

When I stopped by the Strasburg Town Park on Monday to see the new skateboarding ramps, I also drove to the boat landing to view the river. The water was high and muddy, but not at flood stage. I watched a couple of kayaks approach and was surprised to see a dog standing in one, as if guiding the way.

I was startled when the dog jumped out and swam to shore. He was on a long leash and looked like he had done this before. Unfortunately, I did not react quickly enough to get a picture of him swimming. 

He shook off, and then supervised the men loading the kayaks into the truck.

Water H2O Linkup

The 2025 Yard Crawl has Begun

 It’s the 20th year of the Route 11 Yard Crawl and it has become a huge event. Originally, it was a long yard sale through Shenandoah County on a Saturday in August, but it has grown to last several days and stretches out into adjoining counties.

The traffic can be annoying because people slam on their brakes suddenly or even park in the road. I had an appointment this morning and stopped by one of the yard crawl sites afterwards. I didn’t buy anything, but I took a few pictures

In the Dog Park and by the River

 Let’s start with a couple of pictures of Charlie at a dog park. I edited both of these in PicsArt, making the first one black-and-white and the second one extra-colorful.

Now, here’s Charlie to tell you about his adventure this afternoon.

Hello! I had to wait for Mom to get ready. I don’t like it when she goes in the other room, so sometimes I peek in the door. She was putting on her shoes.

Finally, she was ready and we went to Seven Bends State Park. The river was high, but the bridge was open. From it, we could see that a little island was under water.

Here is how that island looked on Tuesday Some people were standing on it, fishing.

Mom parked the car and we walked down the steps to the water. 

We went back up and watched some people in kayaks.

We saw them bring their kayaks up the ramp that’s in the middle of the stairs.

Then someone else came with a pretty golden dog.

This dog like to play in the water. I always thought the water was a little scary, but she jumped right in to catch her ball.

She even found a big stick and brought it back to her mom.

I think she saw us watching, and she came up to meet me. She shook some water on us, but that’s okay.