Northern Travels

I headed north to Maine for work and found some fun along the way. Here is a glimpse into the trip.

Paused in MD to see these ladies.

Gracie played, too.

The canal in downtown Frederick is very picturesque

Finally crossed this state off my list

Killed some Ethiopian with Hannah and Amanda in Mass.

Walked the breakwater (7/8 mile) out into the Penobscot Bay near Rockland, ME

I love the fishing / lobster boats so much

And the rocky coastline...I love that, too

And the conifer trees on the rocky coastline

I also love sailboats paired with the rocky coastline

And sunsets along the water

See the mist receding in the distance? I can't look at this photo and not hear music from the score for Pirates of the Caribbean. I feel like the Black Pearl is going to emerge from that mist at any moment.
This photo and the following one taken at Schoodic Point - newly opened/acquired NPS land.

Wish the mist hadn't been there so I could have seen the islands in the distance. Did you know there are over 4,600 islands off the coast of Maine?!

And again with the fishing / lobster boats. I adore them. Oh, and a lighthouse.

This bog not only looked like high elevation parts of WV (Dolly Sods/Canaan) it also had the same familiar smell.

This trail, too, reminded me much of the Sods/Canaan.

Except that trail ends with a view like this where my mountain trails would end with a cliff into a mountain vista.

Again with the mist... Again with the Hans Zimmer score...

Downeast Maine, I seriously love you.

The very rare photo of me attired for work.

South meets downeast Maine. Because YUM.

Two 2 lb. lobsters. Do you know how much they cost me? $19.94 that's not too bad at all. And they were delicious.

Sunrise over the Penobscot Bay.

A beautiful morning over calm waters...

...which was great because boat travel was much smoother! Island hopping time.

Metinic Island owned and managed by USFWS for seabirds - common, arctic, and federally listed roseate terns in particular.

The Owl's Head lighthouse with schnooner

The hell that was driving over the JFK bridge into NYC during a deluge at 11p.
I knew city folks sucked at driving in inclement weather, but dear god.
Driving 15 mph and stopping dramatically with no warning is a little excessive. Fortunately, I and my car survived.

(The dreaded bridge in the sunlight.)
I was in the city for the 14th anniversary of 9/11.

The Irish Rover in Astoria where beer is cheap (for the city) and I got into an argument with the two Irish owners about steeplechase horses...and it earned me a beer on the house!

Mi hermano y yo.

A very poor picture of the very best salmon I've ever had. Check out Isabella's on the Upper West Side.

Empire State showing off at night.

Technology vs. paper. Everyone biding their time on the subway in some fashion.

And then I made it home again. Where it was in the 40s (observe our attire) and rained for the first 3 hours I was back.
But it cleared up right before sunset making for a beautiful, beautiful [windy and cold] evening.

And it was so good to be home with this kid again. I missed him.

My mountain momma showing off why she's wild, wonderful and almost heaven.

Busy. [updates]

Legit the busiest person ever.

Monday & Tuesday - work until 5:30p, tutoring until 7:30p, home to crash by 9:30p
Wednesday - work until 4:30p, riding w/ the girls until dark, visiting/helping friends until 8p or so
Thursday - off to Morgantown for work and then staying there - Sunday for play
Next week - Work, tutoring, riding, just like this week; 
Next weekend - Morgantown bound
Following work week, same bit as before
Following weekend, out of state
Aaaannd repeat with a different weekend schedule that involves ski patrol
Aaaand repeat + Thanksgiving
Aaaand repeat + ski patrol testing

Aaaaaand THEN, I kinda sorta have some free weekends.  Kinda.  Sorta.  They're full of ski patroling/patrol training at two different resorts.  Ah, life.

So its not that I'm busy with things I dislike, not in the slightest!  Every day from now until mid-December is just planned out.  And I'm sure by the time I get to December I'll have weekends planned through April or something.  Legit busiest person ever.

And honestly?  I wouldn't have it any other way.  I get sluggish when I sit still.  Granted, I long and hope and wish and want for a lazy day every now and again.  One to laze around and do NOTHING, maybe not even get out of bed - but those don't come often.

I'm pretty happy.  Not too much to complain about!

:  :  :

Oh, a note on NSP training; we're almost done.  And its kind of scary.  The training scenarios of late have involved a lot of mid-shaft femur fractures and our play-victims do some wonderful screaming, its just like real life...and at times, it really sucks.  Its freaky.  And its challenging.  And for fleeting moments I wish I didn't have to do it, but then I realize that's silly.  I love it.  I love the challenge.  I love that it makes me uncomfortable and I'm learning so much from it.  I love when the lightbulb comes on in my head and I'm all, "Oh, well duh, of course!" and suddenly everything is 10x easier and makes so much more sense!  Femurs still worry me; just the degree of pain the patient will be in...  But I've got a few more months of on the hill training partnered up before I have to freak out about being on my own.  Granted, now that I say that I'm certain I've doomed myself to dealing with something...  Sigh.  But seriously, I love patrol.

:  :  :

Still hammering out the details for my Halloween costume(s).  I really want to be a mime (different, yet easy)  but I have been unable to find a B&W striped shirt anywhere!  Going to look a few more places on Thursday night/Friday.  Otherwise...well, I don't know.  Cowboy perhaps.  Easy for me.  I have a cow costume, too.  Easy.  I guess we will see...  

Halloween?  Anyone else?  What are you going to be?

Out of Office

Last week I was out of the office for 4 - that's right, FOUR! - days.  I helped to plant 433 trees along riparian (areas immediately bordering a stream) zones with the Partners for Fish & Wildlife program.  And now, because I am a lazy butt and because I was out of office [again] today at a meeting at WVU and am tired, I will tell the story of trees in photos/captions.  Enjoy.

Looking downstream of a creek we'd planted after day 1.  The sycamores saplings with their leaves are the most notable.

I was a little obsessed with the combo of brown thistle-thingers (yes that is an official biological term) against the beautiful green field.

Lots of trees in the truck.

Stuck.  And proud of it, damnit! 

The rescuer of the stuck-one.

Hard day's work.

Picturesque site #2

Excuse me now, while I go on a tangent of autumn scenery photos of site #2.

Planting a willow sapling.

D'aww yeah, planting accomplished!