Long Awaited Ribbon-Cutting

Seven Bends State Park finally had it’s official opening on Tuesday. The park has been open for a couple of years but there was no ceremony due to covid. 

Governor Youngkin gave a nice speech and encouraged more people to volunteer in the parks.

Virginia State Parks are celebrating their 86th anniversary. We now have 41 of them.

Seven Bends State Park is in Woodstock. It’s name comes from the twisty nature of the Shenandoah River. The park has two entrances. You have to drive down a steep hill and cross a low-water bridge to reach either one. 

Unidentified Flying Oiseaux (UFO)

Sometimes I photograph birds that I cannot identify. I have become familiar with most of the birds that visit my feeder, but if they are far away or are just silhouettes, I am not skilled enough to know what they are.

Some of the contributors to Wild Bird Wednesday are advanced birders. They are also fantastic photographers.

Military Heritage Museum

Stephens City, VA

The American Military Heritage Museum is in a modest building and is not normally open to the public. Once a year they open it in recognition of D-Day and invite reenactors to participate in a living history event. 

We attended this event some years ago and I decided to go back on Saturday to take some pictures.

Seventeen Years of Blogging

On this day in 2005, I started this blog. My first entry began like this:

I don't recall exactly why I started blogging, except that I was already maintaining a couple of websites and doing them in HTML and Dreamweaver took a lot of time. Blogspot sounded easier and indeed it is.

In June of 2005, we were living in Montross. High-speed internet had not reached our neighborhood and I was using dial-up over old telephone lines. I could literally click on a link, go to the kitchen for coffee, and return before the page finished loading. So I did not blog every day, but instead prepared some photos and waited to post them until I could take my laptop to the library in town, which did have fast internet. 

That was not the only reason I was anxious to move back to Bryce Resort. We had long drives to go shopping, even longer than the half-hour drive from Bryce to Walmart. So after three months, we moved back and rented out the Montross house.

Thus I was back in Shenandoah County. I decided that the mountain and valley region of Virginia would be a main focus of my blog. After all, it is photogenic and rich in history.

Shenandoah Valley, the rivers, and the surrounding mountains remain the most popular topics of my posts. Right now I have 1858 posts tagged Shenandoah and I could tag many more that way.

This region is incredibly beautiful. I hope I have been able to convey that photographically.

Mosaic Monday

Frontline Heroes, Capon Bridge

This mural in Capon Bridge is on the side of a car wash.

“Thank you, Frontline Heroes “

For more murals, see Sami’s linkup.

Church Post #475: Across the street is a Methodist church.

Across busy US 50 is a community center that was once a presbyterian church. 

Route 50 is also known as the Northwestern Turnpike. A sign next to a bank tells the story of this road, which has not been a toll road in many years. 

"In 1784, Washington proposed the Northwestern Turnpike as an all-Virginia route to the Ohio. Authorized in 1827 and started in 1831, it remains a monument to the skill of its engineers, Charles Shaw and Colonel Claudius Crozet."

(In George Washington's time, West Virginia was still part of Virginia.)

Caturday Classicus

Caturday must be a real thing because today I saw this sign in a store.

But today's post is not about cats because I have horses to show you. Last weekend we went to an event at Classicus Farm near Edinburg. I’m calling it a Horse Recital, because horses showed off their dance moves and girls from a dance school demonstrated their skills, echoing the fancy steps that the horses had learned. 

This is where I saw the unicorn that I shared on Tuesday. The young dancers were very excited to meet the unicorn. They also got to meet a pony so they had an exciting day. 

Flowers in June

Springtime in Virginia is a treat for the senses. Flowers bloom in profusion. I recommend it! 

 

Along the Cacapon

Post Office, Capon Bridge

The town of Capon Bridge is along Route 50 between the state line and Romney. I took a ride through there today after an appointment in Winchester.

 

I have avoided driving a particular section of Route 50 since an accident there in 2010, so I took Route 259 to Wardensville. I stopped by the Cacapon River to take some pictures and then drove back to Virginia on Route 55. 

Birds by a Bell, Sparrow on a Rail.

These little guys were using a bell as their playground. I'm not experienced enough to identify birds without getting a closer look.

The house sparrow, however, posed where I could get a clear picture. This is a male and his sweetheart is not as colorful.
 

Wild Bird Wednesday