More Pictures from a Busy Week

Over the past week, I took a lot of pictures because my sister was visiting. We went to Shenandoah National Park twice, once from the Thornton Gap entrance and the next day from the Front Royal entrance. Then on Thursday, we had a picnic with Lynn before going to the Quilt Museum. 

These are various pictures, mostly from SNP. 

In the visitor center at Dickey Ridge, I found the plaque from King Charles’ visit.

Sharing with Mosaics

More Camp Roosevelt Pics

Camp Roosevelt was the first Civilian Conservation Corps camp in the nation. It opened in April 1933, providing housing and work for young men as part of Franklin Roosevelt’s program to ease the Great Depression. 

Yesterday I took Charlie for a short walk there, and remembered that I needed some close-up shots for a photography project. My iPhone did pretty well considering its size.

Made into a collage for Mosaic Monday.

We followed a short path and paused at the marker where the CCC wash house was located.

A funny thing is it that as I was planning this post, I thought maybe I shared a picture of this feature before. It turns out that exactly three years ago on this very same day, I posted this sign and a similar picture!

Is that a coincidence or am I drawn to the same places at a particular time of year? This sort of thing has happened before, but Camp Roosevelt is in the forest away from my regular routes, although it is only about a half hour from home.

Sadly, this camp and many other historic sites in the National Forests are not well maintained, although someone cleans up trash and fallen trees. I wonder if this will get fixed up before the hundred-year anniversary of the CCC, which is only six years away. I should probably call my congressman. Our Forest Service is not very well funded right now.

I have a photo to share just to answer the question, “Why do so many photographers wear black?” I took a picture of a plaque on a bench and immediately wished that I had worn a black shirt instead of a red one.

Arts and Flowers

Crape myrtle is blooming! These blossoming trees are not native to Virginia, but have been widely planted, often along roads and parking areas. 

I noticed them in Harrisonburg yesterday. I actually arrived in the town early because I allowed time for traffic and a long detour around the Route 33 overpass, which is a construction zone. I decided to stop at a cemetery to look for interesting memorials. I found a lovely version of a traditional mourning sculpture. 

This is part of the Floros family memorial group. I learned that they owned a popular lunch spot.

Also in Harrisonburg is this sign, displayed in the food co-op and numerous other places. 

“No matter where you are from, we’re glad you’re our neighbor.”

Available as a yard sign, it was co-created by Pastor Matthew Bucher and members of the Immanuel Mennonite Church community in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It became popular locally in 2016, and then nationally. The creators were glad to share the design and it is available online.

Back at home, I found some flowers blòoming, and some weeds too.

Garden Affair / Mosaics

Today I took some close-up shots with my iPhone. The spotted lanternflies are starting to morph into adults. They are colorful but invasive, and not only eat leaves of the tree-of-heaven, but also feast on grape leaves and Virginia creeper.

Pictures and Parks with Charlie

Hi, everyone! We’re starting off with a portrait of me. I wanted to look dignified.

Mom has a way of scooping my stories. I wanted to tell you that Marie came, but she already wrote about it. Marie was only here for a day and we went to Skyline Drive.
 

There are animals in the mountains. Mom slowed down when a deer crossed the road, and then we saw a little deer waiting to cross. Mom hit the brake, and I started to fall off the seat because I was standing up to look out the window.

Luckily, I had my seatbelt on, so it stopped me from rolling off until Mom could help me get back on the seat. I don’t really like seatbelts, and I have chewed through quite a few of them. I wasn’t able to chew up this one because it has a steel wire. I did get most of the plastic off, though.

Here’s a cat that likes to rest under cars.

We found out what has been eating one of the rose bushes in our yard. It’s a deer.

Yesterday Mom drove us to Seven Bends State Park. We explored the pollinator garden.

There are signs with a story about dogs. 

I guess that’s enough for now. What have you been up to?

Charlie’s July 4th Post

Happy Indogpendence Day! I am a free dog and I refuse to live in a cage! I had to live in one for a long time when I was a puppy. It was a bad place with mean people, and the government closed it down. There is a dog farm in Wisconsin that is closing now, and I am glad that those beagles will be free. 

At first, it’s scary being free because everything is new, but if you are lucky, you get to live with a nice person or a family and they treat you right!

This was a hot week and we only went to one park. We walked in the shade and went to the picnic shelter.

Here is a fancy picture for Caturday.

Today was very hot until a storm came through. The rain missed us, but we got wind and dark clouds and thunder. Since it was not a good time to go to the park, we went to visit Sadie. She has some fun toys.

Tonight there was some boom boom noise so I howled and made it go away.

Bright and Caloric

Front Royal, VA

This ice cream stand was closed, but their beach decor caught my eye. Moving closer, I saw flip-flops pictured along the top, and a tropical beach in the bottom mural, featuring a surfer, someone flying a kite, and people riding a bike.

Sharing the parking lot was a food truck serving Salvadoran and Mexican food. It looked appealing.

A car was parked nearby with an honest bumper sticker.

River Access, Headley Road

East of Maurertown

When I was writing Sunday’s post, I did online research to confirm the location of my pictures and saw that there’s a boat landing near there that I had not seen yet. On Monday it rained, but finally it let up and I put Charlie in the car and drove back to Maurertown and went out Zion Church Road to find the place. It was right where the DWR website said it was: on Headley Road just after you turn off Zion Church Road and cross the North Fork. 

The rain had returned as a light drizzle, but that didn’t stop us from getting out of the car. I wanted to take some pictures and Charlie wanted to take a walk.

No one else was there. Parking is restricted, but I have a fishing license from DWR. I don’t fish, but there are places where I need a license in order to park, so I invested in one. These parking lots are small, and paid for by license fees.

Soon we got back in the car. There was one more site. I wanted to see nearby. It’s Hudgin’s Rest. and you can’t really see it from the road in summer, but I photographed the sign. 

The rain made everything extra green.

It’s Flag Day

When I realized it was flag day, I decided to display my new garden flag that I got for Independence Day. The flags on it are symbolic, and not remotely accurate in the number of stars or stripes. Ha, it’s made in China, so how patriotic is that? Oh well, the colors are great!

June 14 was the day our original flag was adopted in 1777. When I was in grade school, we would have a lesson about the American flag on Flag Day. I recall talks on flag etiquette given by someone who was not our teacher. Perhaps it was a volunteer from the American Legion or a similar organization.

The rules for flag etiquette used to be stricter than they are now, saying not to wear flag clothing except for a small emblem. I still find it offensive when someone sweats on a representation of the flag because they wore it as a T-shirt or shorts. Tacky!

We also said the Pledge of Allegiance in school every day. That was a way to learn it, but I don’t think it taught anybody patriotism. It was my generation who became protesters and even flag burners. Reciting something by rote is not effective, except in learning elocution and vocabulary. 

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. 😉 

Mac’s Flower Stand

Woodstock, VA

Petunias are really showing off at this shop! I was attracted by the mural at the end of the building. The yellow blossom is flanked by a bee and a ladybug.

The store was closed when I stopped by. I was tempted to buy some double begonias, but I did not have the right combination of cash to put in the box. It amazes me that so many vendors still use an honor system. 

Mosaic Monday / Murals / Garden Affair