The #1 Vacation

Posted on March 4, 2017March 4, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

It’s so hard to chose one vacation as the best. Every vacation has a high point, a sight or event that makes it special. Some have several but as I sit back and review the places I’ve been so far I keep going back to one particular vacation. It may come as a surprise to you when I tell you that my #1, absolute favorite vacation so far was our trip to South Dakota.

Maybe it was because I had no expectations for it so it couldn’t fail to live up to anything.

As Sandy and I prepared for the trip my friends all asked me, What’s in South Dakota? What could I say at that point? Mount Rushmore? I really had no idea.

We stayed in Rapid City. I remember that even though we were tired from the time zone changes and plane travel, I insisted we start exploring right away. We were burning daylight and thus started a jaw dropping adventure where each day was better than the one before.

040a

Our first view of the Badlands was as an afternoon sun was dropping toward the horizon. The lower angle brought out the colors and made the whole scene surreal. Throw in some animals, deer, rabbits, pronghorns and it was magical.

062a

Wait, was that a Unicorn?

085

The vacation continued like that.

113-copy

Buffalo herds in Custer State Park along with some silly wild “beggin'” burros.

141

More pronghorns, prairie dogs, wild horses, big horn sheep even dinosaurs.

360-copy

prarie-dog-with-flower

We laughed ourselves silly on what we named “the longest dirt road in the world” when we got lost on the reservation looking for a Pow Wow.

008-copy

We passed through beautiful land and saw more animals and very few people.

279-copy

We road an 1880’s steam train and went deep underground in Wind Cave National Park.

098-copy

And oh yes, we did see Mount Rushmore. That was pretty awesome too but not the main event by any means.

Mount Rushmore

So you see, I get excited just reliving that vacation. Even though I love Hawaii and Florida and so many other places I’ve been, this one is still the #1 Vacation.

488-copy

Rockin’ Robin

Posted on March 3, 2017March 3, 2017 by Dusty Roads

I saw my first robin of spring today as I was driving into work. It was a fat little guy. Wherever he wintered must have been very good to him.

american_robin_61234

I wouldn’t get my hopes up too much either. We’ve had some record warm days lately but the weatherman says we’ve got a return to winter on the way. An arctic blast is moving in from Canada.

But back to my little robin. Do they actually migrate? A couple of years ago when I was frantically running around trying to complete a 365 day challenge (A photo a day) I ran across a tree full of robins in the middle of a snow storm. Had they just come north too soon or do they stay in the area all winter?

robin-003a-copy

In an effort to get some answers I looked it up on the internet. (I know you can’t believe everything you find on the internet) but I found this information in several different places. Apparently robin’s migrate for food reasons, not temperature. They are big berry eaters until spring thaws the ground when they switch over to bugs and worms.

Some robins will go as far south as Texas or Florida while others will only migrate as far as necessary to find their beloved berries.

As an interesting side note, the articles I saw mention that robins sing when they arrive on their breeding territories. Some may sing in winter flocks but most wait until the breeding season approaches and they have reached their “territory”.

So maybe the old adage about the first robin being the harbinger spring should really be the first SINGING robin.

robin-song640

How NOT to have a productive day

Posted on March 2, 2017March 2, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 4 Comments

Editor in Chief

I was trying to choose a post to share and ran across one of Rocky’s old posts. Just goes to show that I’m still scrambling for things to write. Re-reading it made me laugh so here is is. I hope you enjoy this old re-run.

Hi. It’s me, Editor-In-Chief Rocky, here to make our apologizes for the missing post today. Our traveling correspondent and main author, Dusty Roads, is having a BAD day. And that is really bad with a capital B! She just locked herself out of the house for the 2nd time in a week. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the spare key she keeps hidden hadn’t fallen out of its hiding place yesterday and she brought it inside and yes, you guessed it, she didn’t put it back out.

So now she’s spent all morning running around trying to find a way to get back in. Inspiration finally hit her. The pet sitter, my 2nd favorite human, has a spare set. So She called Diane and yes, Diane had the keys with her so off Dusty went to pick them up.

She just got back in and wanted to put the spare key back out in its secret place and, well, umm, let’s just say it was shiny and it had tape on it…two of my favorite things. Well, I don’t think she’s in the mood for me to tell her where it is right now. She’s turning the diningroom and livingroom upside down and inside out because she knows she left it on the diningroom table yesterday.

I think I’d better just sit back and watch. Sooner or later she will give up and I can sneak it back out for her to find. It is rather amusing watching her stress out like this. But I can tell you any creative juices have taken a run for it for today.

SCOUT

Scout is preparing a Scout’s Tips column for tomorrow in case Dusty is not back on track by then. So please accept my apologizes and thanks for your patience.

Rocky

My Favorite Experiences

Posted on March 1, 2017March 1, 2017 by Dusty Roads | 8 Comments

Let’s leave the supernatural behind. I’ve got a long list of places I visited over the years so I thought I’d mention some of my favorite experiences. That’s not as easy as it seems. but at least it’s fun to reminisce.

The very first trip I took was to Hawaii on 2007. My Mom and Sister went with me. We went to the Big Island. In a way I wish I could get that innocence back.

akaka-falls

I think I spent the whole vacation with my mouth open. Everything amazed me from the condo overlooking the golf course and the ocean waves to the Chain of Craters Road in Volcano National Park. Everything was new and fresh.

kona-hawaii-hotel

The following year I went back to Hawaii. This time to Oahu. This time my sister went with me but my mom stayed at home. We were in a high rise building only a block from Waikiki Beach. And we saw rainbows ever day, morning and afternoon!

100_0037-copy

That trip had so many highlights. Of course there was Pearl Harbor. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, everyone should go there and pay their respects. It is such a moving experience.

100_0086

I snorkeled in Hanauma Bay, a volcanic crater. What an amazing time!

100_0209

We spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, another don’t miss stop and nearly got blown off the “pali ” (cliffs) at Nuuanu Pali State Park, our first experiance with the trade winds.

100_0058-copy

100_0064-copy

Jump to the fall of 2008. I was in a use it or lose it position with my time share points so I took another vacation. On a shoe string I booked Sedona, Arizona. This time I was traveling alone.

Snoopy Rock

The Red Rocks of Sedona are breath taking but nothing prepared me for my first sight of the Grand Canyon.

On the South Rim, Grand Canyon 2008

I stepped off the tour bus and my head spun. I had to step back. The sight made me so dizzy. My mind kept telling me it wasn’t real. Nothing could be that spectacular.

Grand Canyon

It’s fun to think back like this and almost embarrassing to look at my pictures. I’m happy to say I’ve improved in that department!

Bridgewater Triangle

Posted on February 28, 2017February 28, 2017 by Dusty Roads

The Bridgewater Triangle was an area in Southeastern Mass that that covers about 200 miles. It includes the towns of Abington, Rehoboth and Freetown ans the points of the triangle. Brockton, Whitman, West Bridgewater, East Bridgewater, Bridgewater, Middleboro, Dighton, Berkley, Raynham. Norton, Easton, Lakeville, Seekonk and Taunton make up the interior of the triangle.

bridgewater-triangle

It includes the Hockomock Swamp which is about 5000 acres. Now before I ever heard of the paranormal claims I’d heard of the Hockomock Swamp. I’ve just never figured out how to get there. I’ve always wanted to take a canoe or kayak in there to try to get animal/ wildlife photos. Now I hear all kinds of stories, from Big Foot to serial killers.

13b

The first time The Bridgewater Triangle popped up (to the best of my knowledge) was in the 1970’s in book by cryptozoologist Leon Colman. Since then I’ve read another ready poorly written book about it and seen several ridiculous documentaries. I mean these documentaries are cringe worthy and not because they are dealing with the supernatural.

The paranormal claims include Bigfoot sightings, Thunderbird ( giant pterodactyl-like birds) sightings, animal mutilations and Indian Curses.

bigfoot-lives