We Have Lift Off!

Posted on September 22, 2014September 22, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Thursday night was the kick off to the 42nd Adirondack Balloon Festival and all of the balloons were grounded by the weather, mostly the winds.

Friday seemed to be much more favorable so we headed to the airport about 4:30 pm for the afternoon launch. We had pre-paid parking which I highly recommend! Why? Because it gets you much closer to the airport proper and when you are carrying a chair and camera gear, less is certainly more. 🙂

You need to arrive early and for ballooners it’s almost like going to a football game and tailgating! There are food trucks and craft vendors. The kites always do well and there are always a bunch of them flying as we wait for the main event, the hot air balloons.

You never know if there is going to be a launch until right before they go up. All eyes watch the wind socks because wind gusts will put a kibosh on the launch every time. Safety First.

As I said, Friday night seemed to hold a lot of promise. The sky was clear and the wind sock was limp. Sandy and I lugged our chairs and I lugged my camera and we staked out a spot near one of the chase trucks. We could see a few balloons being spread out and one purple balloon was starting to inflate. There was a good turnout here already.

Getting around is crucial for the ballooners. They have to go to the pilot’s tent for updates and run around on all sorts of errands as the launch deadline approaches. One enterprising ballooner found a new way to get around quickly… A Segway!

Finally at just about 5 pm we began to hear the whoosh whoosh of the propane tanks firing and balloons began inflating all around us.

The first Balloon to take off was a really pretty purple-blue balloon that had a elongated shape, not the traditional balloon shape. The wind, what there was of it was pushing the balloon in our direction. Perfect positioning.

For some reason the balloon didn’t seem to be gaining altitude. As it passed over the airport terminal building toward the trees we all wonder if it would clear them. It did, but just barely, the bottom of the basket actually scraping the top branches.

Not too much farther on they seemed to give up the fight and down it came. So the first balloon up was also the first balloon down. We heard later that it may have had a leak.

But while our attention was fixed on the purple-blue balloon and it’s troubles, the other ballooners were hard at work.

Roaring Fork

Posted on June 5, 2014June 5, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The drive back from the Cataloochee was a challenge. At least I didn’t meet any cars as I wound my way back out the 11 + miles of twisty dirt roads. The GPS gets really mixed up in the mountains. At one point I was on a narrow paved road where the curves turned back on themselves so tightly that the GPS thought I’d stopped moving! But eventually I came out just above Gatlinburg. One minute I had no idea where I was and the next I was looking a the BBQ restaurant where I’d had dinner the night before! What a full day of adventure!

The next morning wasn’t quite as promising. Dark rain clouds were threatening and the weather report placed the possibility of rain at 60%. I decided to take advantage of the diffused lighting to look for some of the waterfalls in the area. Just outside of Gatlinburg center is the Roaring Fork area.

Take a left at the light near the Space Needle then a couple of blocks down you’ll find the sign for Roaring Fork on the right. Brace yourself. It’s another narrow, one lane road. Roaring Fork is known for gushing mountain streams, historic buildings and waterfalls. This is where you find the trailhead for the Trillium Gap Trail and Grotto Falls. The trail passes behind the falls and is said to be a fairly easy hike.

I drove the one-way Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail twice trying to find a place to park to get to the Trillium Gap trail but it was packed. The only parking was over 1/2 mile down a hill from the trailhead. Then you had a 1.5 mile hike to get to the falls. I was disappointed. I really wanted to visit Grotto Falls. Everyone talks about it which is probably why there were so many people there even with rain threatening. I just didn’t feel my back would hold up to the hike especially when you added on the extra distance just to get to the trail head from the parking spot. I had hoped visiting before the main tourist season and a rainy day would mean fewer people but apparently not.

That disappointment aside this is a great little road. The stream than follows the road or vice versa is lively and gives many opportunities for photos. It crisscrosses back and forth from left to right and back with little one lane bridges providing passage for the cars.

Near the end of the drive is a waterfall called Place of a Thousand Drips. This is known as a “wet weather” waterfall. During stormy weather this waterfall is said to be dramatic. Since it was only threatening to rain it had only moderate flow when I was there. Another visitor said the area had experienced a very dry spring as well. Even so, the Place of A Thousand Drips is a really nice waterfall.

May Day

Posted on May 2, 2014May 2, 2014 by Dusty Roads

So what did you do yesterday? May 1st, May Day, is supposed to be a Spring Festival. In my mind I see sunshine, flowers, and children dancing around the May pole or at least playing with those long, loopy ribbons.

May first around here was more like April 1st. Rainy again but it did warm up in the afternoon. Still anyone dancing around a Maypole today would have to be puddle jumping too.

May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane. The maypole dance comes to us from the Druids of the British Isles, with May Day—May 1—being the second-most-important holiday of their year, because it brought with it the Beltane festival and the observation of pagan fertility rites. May 1 was seen as the beginning of a new year, and fires were lit as part of the celebration.

As Europe became Christianized, the pagan holidays lost their religious character and either changed into popular secular celebrations, as with May Day, or were merged with or replaced by new Christian holidays as with Christmas, Easter, and All Saint’s Day.

I’ve never seen a Maypole or a Beltane celebration but I think a nice sunny day of dancing and flowers is just what we all need these days.

Just Another Monday

Posted on April 15, 2014April 15, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I got myself all excited in anticipation of yesterday. The weather folks said warm weather, no rain nor snow nor sleet. Temps mid 70’s maybe even 80 in some places. Oh yeah I am all worked up. Where will I go? What will I do with such a perfect day before me?

I was so excited I woke up at 4 am. The cats looked at me like I was nuts.

I peeked out the window at the pre dawn and saw…FOG! A thick gray blanket obscured everything. Ok back to bed. After all 4 am is almost the middle of the night.

4 hours later I hopped out of bed. It was pretty dark for 8 AM even with the curtains closed. I peeked out the window and it was still foggy. Not as thick as at 4 am but still a damper on the start of my day.

I got the cats fed, kitty litter cleaned, my breakfast done and shower out of the way in record time when my phone rang. I almost didn’t answer it but easier to just deal with it and get it out of the way. Turns out it was a work call. Oh well I was a good girl and took care of it.

Time now to take the trash out and decide where I’m headed with the camera. I was surprised by how windy it was. I had thought about going to the arboretum but with winds like this I decided to see if the ocean might be crashing…surfs up dude!

As I grabbed my camera the phone rang again. Another work call. What’s going on? No one ever calls me back! I took care of that one and headed out the door again.

I stopped at Oliver Mill first. There were car loads of people which as usual translates to no birds. Only 2 gulls and 1 Canada goose. I left the folks to wander the stream looking for fish and headed to Plymouth. Next stop Manomet Point.

By the time I got there the sun had completely disappeared behind the clouds. The wind was still blowing but there were only a few whitecaps, no “angry sea”, no seals. 🙁 Not to be discouraged I took out the big lens and attached it to the camera. I recently read an article about hand holding these big telephotos and I wanted to try it out.

I spotted a little bird’s head sticking up over a rock. I think it’s a cormorant. So here goes nothing. I hefted that big old lens up , focused and snap snap. I took 3 shots. 2 were only so- so but this one isn’t half bad for my first try.

I wrapped up my day by stopping by the park where the old Osprey nest is located. I had my binoculars today. And there is a osprey on the nest!

I may not have had the most successful picture day but it was a good day anyway.

Rain Rain Go Away

Posted on April 1, 2014April 1, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Or maybe not! What crazy weather! It’s been raining for two days and rivers are overflowing and streets in many towns are flooding. I went out to run errands during a lull. I’m glad I took my winter coat. I thought it would be warmer since it was rain but while I was out it changed to sleet and freezing rain and then finally to snow..again! I think I’d rather have the rain than the snow.

RT 18 New Bedford Floods

I drove around a bit with my camera looking for something to photograph but there’s nothing sprouting yet. It’s just too cold. Just browns and grays…no color yet. 🙁 Thankfully the rivers and streams in Taunton (and there are many) are high but not overflowing the banks. A few years ago the main street , RT 44, was underwater for a week!

2010 Flood RT 44 Raynham/Taunton Line

Anyway I came home empty handed. This Project 365 is really getting tough thanks to the nasty winter that never ends. I actually came home to warm up but once inside I was not going back out so here we go with another cat picture.