Editor in Chief
ANNOUNCING…THE PICTURES FOR THE NH DREAM VACATION CONTEST HAVE POSTED.
PLEASE VOTE!
THANK YOU
Here’s the link: http://www.nhdreamvacation.com/browse-and-vote/
Category Archives: New Hampshire
UPATE~NH Dream Vacation Photo Contest
I have spent several hours trying to upload my 5 photos to the NH Dream Vacation Contest.
First I ran into problems because some of my photo files were too large so I had to reduce them and reload.
Then 3 of my photos were on my desk top computer and 2 were on my laptop. Although they are networked I couldn’t get them to all upload to the same entry form. The entries have to be submitted all at once. I finally gave up that battle, copied the 2 from the laptop to disk and reloaded them on the desktop so they would all be in the same place.
So you’d think it would be easy from there, right? Well putting them in the entry form was easy but then I hit submit and nothing happened. When I hit submit a 2nd time I got a message, validating form. Well It’s now been 15 minutes and it’s still “validating form”. Maybe they are getting a lot of traffic. I wish it had a progress bar so I’d have some idea if it’s doing anything or just frozen.
The link is: http://nhdreamvacation.com/browse-and-vote/
If it ever uploads they will probably be under Recently Submitted.
I finally canceled out and reloaded all of them This time they went right in and I got a message that “All photos have to be approved. My pictures will appear shortly” So at least I know they got there this time. I’m not sure what “shortly” means but I’ll keep checking and let you know.
Speaking of checking, I haven’t seen anything on the Cog Railway pictures either. Maybe I didn’t make the cut or maybe they are just behind.
The 5 I am trying to submit are:
New Hampshire Dream Vacation Images
I reviewed the website and official rules. The Grand Prize is a $2,500 vacation. There are 2 first prizes each for a $500 NH vacation. The pictures have to be uploaded all at once and the deadline is September 5, 2011. That means I have no chance for a “do- over” or to hit the state line attractions. Work has launched into it’s Fall-Rush mode so we’re all working overtime for the next 3-4 weeks.
A lot of pictures have been uploaded already and the current leader has 15,751 votes! I have a feeling I’m not going to get an honerable mention but it’s fun browsing and seeing what other’s have done. I’ll have a better idea for next year. Plus I’ll have to work on my networking skills. I’m really blown away over that number 15,751!
The 2nd place picture at the moment has 6, 525 votes. After that the vote levels starts to be more realistic..the third place in the popular vote as of today has 2.008 votes.
I was also told by a volunteer at one of the locations that there are a couple of groups that have rented busses and are going around taking pictures to submit. They said there was over 100 in one of the groups. Wow. If they win I wonder how they will divide up the prize?
I think to garner lots of votes it’s good to upload your photos early in the contest. So my meager offerings are here so you can see them. I’ll upload them next week but you are getting a sneak preview.
Once they are uploaded, I’ll post the link . I hope you’ll vote for at least one of mine. 🙂
As you can see, I missed a lot of opportunities. My vacation photos were much better, like the Cog Railroad and the Flume gorge or the Cannon Mountain Tram. The problem was remembering to bring that sign. So like I said , there’s always next year. I have a better idea about the contest now.
Cog Railway Photo Has Been Submitted
First I want to thank you for all your feedback and help in picking the photo to submit to the Cog Railway Photo Contest.
This contest seems to be a little different from others that I’ve entered. They don’t have a place to upload a photo. It has to be submitted by email. So that means there’s no link for a “public” vote. If I get a reply I’ll update everyone.
The poll showed a bunch of “ties” but I also send the pictures around my office so when those votes were added in the winner by 1 vote was # 4.
Almost everyone who chose this picture gave their reason as that “it looks like it’s about to fall off the mountain.” So with that in mind, I captioned the photo Over The Edge.
Now that it’s submitted it’s on to the NH Dream Vacation Photos. Truthfully, they weren’t as much fun as this contest and I think it shows in the pictures. For that contest I can submit 5 photos. Now that I’m back home I can think of so many missed opportunities. I’d forget to bring the sign along and then there’d be a gorgeous photo. I took the picture but I can’t use it for the contest because I didn’t have the sign…bummer LOL
Well I’ll start getting those photos ready this week and in the meantime if anyone wants to checkout the Cog railway the web link is www.TheCog.com
Squam Lakes Natural Science Center
Meanwhile back on shore I watched a couple more loons right near the docks as they fished and enjoyed lunch. I was wishing I had more time to watch and try to photograph them but the clock was ticking and I wanted to check out the actual Science Center before I finished my trek south.
The Center is only a couple of blocks from the lakefront so it was just a few minutes and I was back in their parking lot. I was able to head right in as I had a little sticker they had given me earlier. I was afraid it would be crowded as there were quite a few cars and several buses in the parking lot but it wasn’t too bad at all!
As you enter the grounds there’s an exhibit hall, gift shop and restrooms and then the trail splits one side to the right and the nature trail and the other to the left to the animal exhibits. 
I enjoyed the exhibits in the hall. The were set up to show local animals in their natural surroundings yet there was something very whimsical about the displays.
From there I took the right fork to the walking trails.
The trail led through a meadow, over a floating bridge that crossed a marsh and up to a little pond. 
Along the way were signs and exhibits to explain what you were seeing and the importance of each type of habitat. 
While I was wandering along the pond it started to sprinkle so I turned my steps back to the center. I really wanted to see the animals before the sky opened up.
The Squam Lakes Natural Science Center is not a zoo although is does enjoy national accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The mission of the center is “to advance understanding of ecology by exploring New Hampshire’s natural world. ” If that mission leads to the rescue and rehabilitation of the native wildlife, then that’s what they do.
The nature center has captive animals that are native to New Hampshire and are considered “animal ambassadors”. 
There are strict guidelines in place to govern what animals are taken into the center. For example, the Science center has to first determine if they have a need. They also have to consider the cost of the care of the animal in question. Most of the animals at the center are rescues. For any number of reasons they cannot be released back into the wild as they would not survive. Any animal accepted must be an animal that does well in captivity. These are just a few of the considerations that go into any decision to take in an animal. If there is more than one animal in an enclosure care is taken to neuter the male so there won’t be any “little” critters coming along. The Science Center is not equipped to run a breeding program.
Back where I began I turned down the left trail and ran into one of the volunteers. She had a little screech-owl on her arm.
She was doing a casual presentation to anyone who wanted to stop. It appeared to be pretty much unscripted with her fielding questions and just chatting with the visitors.
As I headed off I came to a bridge over a little brook. On the far side was another stage where a more formal presentation about various raptors was taking place. The little hawk the presenter was showing off was doing a great job of holding everyone’s attention.
The next exhibit along the trail was a moose exhibit. The inhabitant was a beautiful bull moose facsimile…a statue but a very handsome statue. The exhibit was to show the type of habitat a moose would live in.
But now I was approaching the real animal exhibits. There were lynx and bobcat, foxes, bears, otters, mountain lions, deer and raptors.
The bird exhibit held the hawks and there was a bald eagle!
Actually two of them, an adult with the white head and an adolescent with the splotchy brown and white coloring.
In the enclosure next to the eagles a small hawk has having lunch. The kids watching were both “grossed out” and fascinated as the little bird tore a mouse apart right in front of them. Nothing like a ringside seat to nature in action!
My time was running short so I made a quick swing through the gift shop and then out to the car to resume my homeward journey.
It would have been nice to stay longer and explore a little more in-depth but my little zoo was waiting at home. I knew my two cats would be ready for my return no matter how much the pet sitter spoiled them!