A Plan for Getting There

Posted on March 20, 2014March 20, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Now that the activities for Tennessee are planned and my time off approved I have to make sure I can get there. I’ve been watching the airfares and they are all over the place. Up one day and down the next!

I think it’s time to commit. Southwest doesn’t fly to Knoxville, the closest airport. There are a couple of nice flights and connections but they are out of Logan and I avoid Boston and Logan airport like crazy. I’d drive to Hartford, CT first!

Finally I found a flight from Providence to Knoxville for under $400.00. Yup $380.00 to be exact for round trip so I grabbed it. I don’t have to get up in the middle of the night either! The flight leaves at 9:23 am. There’s a layover in Washington D. C. so I’ll have time for lunch then arrive in Knoxville just before 3pm where I have a rental car reserved.

I can’t check into the resort until after 4pm so this works out perfect because MapQuest puts the drive from Knoxville to Gatlinburg at 59 minutes.

The return trip wasn’t quite as perfect but still not bad. Check out is 10 AM but my flight isn’t until 6pm so I’ll have the whole day to poke around in, take my time driving to Knoxville and finish up sight-seeing. Even with such a late flight and a layover in Washington again, I will still be in Providence by 11:30 and home by midnight.

The cat sitter is lined up and ready to go. She’ll make 2 visits everyday except the first day when I’ll only need her to stop in for the afternoon. My kitties will be in good hands.

It’s so nice to have everything in place…and paid for. I love paying for everything ahead of time. Then I don’t have to count pennies while I’m away.

Now I just have to make myself relax and wait for the big day to roll around. 🙂

Photo of the week ~11

Posted on March 19, 2014March 19, 2014 by Dusty Roads

The week 11 tallies are in. The Photo of the Week with the most hits, likes, shares and/or comments is Wildlife at Oliver Mills (feral kitten) with a total of 31 points.

To order prints click here: http://dustyroadsphotos.zenfolio.com/p161572686/h333ce73a#h333ce73a

Finally a Sunny Day

Posted on March 18, 2014March 18, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Take full advantage of it, a sunny, blue sky day high 50’s maybe even 60’s. Of course it rained the next day but still it’s a taste of things to come. That was last Tuesday.

I couldn’t waste a day like that so I decided to go exploring. You’d think after all the years I’ve been “exploring” that I’d have found everyplace but not so. Last summer I heard about a place in Wrentham, MA that I just have to find.

It’s not an Audubon Sanctuary and most of my sources just scratch their heads. Maybe they are really just keeping it to themselves?

Anyway I poked around on the internet and finally found a brief reference to Wrentham Conservation. That was it. I dug and poked some more and finally got a street, That was enough. It was supposed to be off RT 140 on the left so I’d just follow RT 140 until I found it. Sounds good right?

I passed through Norton, MA . I stopped in Foxboro because I spotted a pretty , white church steeple. I just love those white New England Church Steeples especially when I can get an angle without tons of utility lines blocking the view.

After my brief photo stop I moved on past the Foxboro office. As I approached the northern side of Foxboro I stopped at a DQ Restaurant for a $5.00 lunch special. A price like that’s better than McDonald’s. Then back on RT 140, still looking.

Finally I found the left turn I was looking for. The road soon split. The right hand fork went to a Quarry and a Sand and Gravel company. The right fork meandered past nice homes on a lake. Of course the lake is still frozen right now but I bet it’s pretty there in summer.

At the end of the road was a DPW building and there was a worker by a truck. I pulled in and started to ask him about the area and he knew right away. I’d just gone a little too far. He was really enthused about the location. He said it was marshy and loaded with beaver and Great Blue Herons.

I turned around and found the cut off. Hard to believe Wrentham still has so much snow. The trail dipped down a little hill but I was in sneakers and the hill was ice and packed snow. I was sliding with every step. Rather than break my neck I decided that it would be better to wait a little longer. Let spring thaw a little more and return with boots and hiking stick because by then it won’t be snow and ice, it will be mud!

Can’t wait to really check it out!

Top O’ The Mornin’ To You

Posted on March 17, 2014March 17, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Happy Saint Patty’s Day!

Is Spring Trying to Arrive?

Posted on March 16, 2014March 16, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Monday, March 10 and I awoke to another snow storm. The snow was melting over the weekend and all but the snow piles were gone. Dirt and ground was snow free.

I sighed and went about my morning routine resigned to taking more pictures of snow but then it stopped and a weak sun tried to peak out. A little later I looked out and that new snow was gone! All melted away even if clouds had won out over the sun.

Determined to find something other than snow for my project 365 challenge I grabbed the camera and set off.

Everyone says how pretty spring is but not this early. It’s pretty depressing. the snow banks that are left are dirty. Trash lines the sides of the roads where it’s dropped out of the melting snow.

Trees aren’t green yet and with no sun everything is dull.

Eventually I found myself at the herring run at Oliver Mills in Middleboro. A gaggle of Canada Geese were browsing the hill above the river. Two pairs of ducks were swimming below the fish ladder.

Other than that it was quiet. I was struck by how different it looks when there are not trees to block the view.

I took a small road that runs above the site to try capturing the views that are normally blocked.

As I was snap-snapping away a movement caught my attention. It was a gray kitten and he was running like his life depended on it. Probably does most of the time but not from me.

Then I saw this little black spot. I looked closer and realized there was another kitten, a little black one, and he was staring at me as if to say I dare you to come closer. Of course I had to try. I inched my way a half step at a time. Slowly I got close enough to photograph him. He was still staring at me.

At that point a big delivery truck rumbled past and I looked away to step out of it’s path. After the truck went by I looked back and the kitten was gone.

I went back to the car and sat for a bit to see if either of them would come back. I didn’t see them again but my patience was rewarded by my first sighting of the year of a great blue heron. Spring must be on the way!