Tag Archives: animals

A is for Alaska

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or Alabama or Arkansas or Arizona..any other “A” states? I think I got them all.

Where is this going? you might ask and my answer is Alaska , Alabama, Arkansas and Arizona.It’s not just where am I going but where have I been and where do I still want to go.

There’s a magnetic map they make where you can collect a magnet from each state you visit and eventually the whole map will be covered with magnets. Maybe I’ll get one someday. Until then I think I’ll just go on chronicling and planning .

To that end I thought I’d take stock of things and the easiest way is alphabetically.

 So of the 4 states that start with A I’ve only been to one, Arizona, the Grand Canyon State, home of Red Rock Country and the New Age land of Sedona. It’s where I took my first and so far only helicopter ride.  I’ve stuck my feet in the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I’ve marveled over ancient Indian Ruins and strolled through an “African Serengeti” and all that only scratched the surface.

Alaska. Where to start? It’s such a huge state. It’s where I hope my vacation will take me in 2012. I want to see the glaciers and animals; lots of wild animals. There should be bears and seals and bald eagles. There might even be a wolf and whales. We’ll cruise the Inside Passage and spend time in Denali.

Now we get to the other “A”s. Arkansas and Alabama. I don’t know much about them as far as tourist locations but lets see what I can dig up.

Arkansas: Well the Clinton Library immediately comes to mind. After all, Bill Clinton is still a prominent figure, not some dead president. But if that’s all there is it would be a very short visit. Arkansas is a center for quartz crystal mining. Hot Springs and Mt. Ida have Dig-Your-Own Crystal Mines. That could be interesting. The Arkansas Ozarks are beautiful forests and mountains with loads of  hiking trails but beneath your feet is a labyrinth of cave systems. Tours abound  so that could also be interested along with canoeing and kayaking the wilderness areas with my trusty camera in hand. I’m sure there’s more and I’ll have plenty of time to see what else I can find.

Last but not least is Alabama. Right off the bat I can tell you there are National Parks. A great opportunity to collect my Park Stamps. I believe there are 7 separate parks spread throughout the state. Indian culture…the Trail of Tears of the Cherokee people as they were forced to leave their homeland. How about other history. Alabama was a hot bed of history in the civil rights movement and a visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute sounds like a good way to start exploring it. There are Zoos and Aquariums and more history with the Civil War Trail. Sounds like that could be a very full vacation too.

After the “A”s comes “b” but I don’t think there’s a state that starts with “B”? Am I wrong? If there are no B’s we’ll have to move on to the C’s. But I’ll save that for another post.

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If any of you have been to these states or live there and can offer some suggestions or insight, I’d love to have your comments.

Winslow Animal Sanctuary

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Before I get into today’s post I want to remind everyone that I really need your help deciding which photo to submit to the Cog Railway’s photo contest. I can only send in one and I couldn’t make up my mind. I’m hoping you can help with that. So after you read today’s post, please take a minute to go back to yesterday’s and vote. Thank you!

Winslow Animal Sanctuary

 Winslow Farm Animal Sanctuary is located at 37 Eddy St, Norton , Ma. The farm is a non-profit that cares for abused and neglected animals.

There are many cats, a couple of dogs, swans, geese , ducks, goats, horses, mules, alpacas, at least one peacock and a turkey that avoided the  Thanksgiving dinner table. We can’t forget the pigs and sheep and chickens either. Plus I saw a rabbit and doves too.

The farm is a forever home sanctuary. Animals that come here are guaranteed a home for the rest of their lives.

 The animals are lovingly cared for by a team of volunteers. Many of the animals come to the sanctuary after being abused by their former owners and need to learn to trust again.

It is a testament to the caring and hard work being done by the volunteers that all of the animals I encountered in my visit were friendly and even affectionate to me, a stranger.

It’s hard to believe that such trusting creatures could have been abused and still retain faith in humans.

Winslow Farm was established in 1996 as a home for abused animals.

 It opened it doors to the public in 1997 as an animal farm to give the public a chance to interact with the animals. The farm hopes to educate the public on the plight of abused and neglected  animals as well as teach about general animal care.

 It’s also a chance for the animals to learn that there are “good” humans too.

I really enjoyed my visit there and know for sure I’ll be going back often.

 I love all animals but the ones that seemed to seek me out were the cats. They were all so sweet and cuddly.

 Maybe they sensed I have  two cats of my own. I don’t know but they are wonderful.

  With over 200 animals to care for I am sure that my paltry admission fee of only $7.00 is much-needed.

 In addition, the farm offers a AAA discount taking a dollar off that minimal fee. I think my next visit I’ll keep the AAA card in my pocket. Let the farm have the extra  dollar.

The farm is available for parties and events.

 They also appreciate donations. With all the charities looking for support today it’s hard to figure out which ones are  deserving. Well, I think I’m going to throw some of my support here.

It’s a little operation that can easily fall through the cracks and they are doing good work.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then I should let the pictures tell the story.

The official website is  www.winslowfarm.com

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Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

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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.

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 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!

On Golden Pond

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I’m sure most of you have seen the movie On Golden Pond with Henry Fonda, Kathryn Hepburn, Jane Fonda , Dabney Colman and Doug McKeon. It was Henry Fonda’s last movie and he won an academy award for his performance. Kathryn Hepburn also won an Oscar

I remember the movie as a sentimental tear jerker but it had been years since I’d watched it. I didn’t know that my last stop on my New Hampshire Vacation was going to drop me right onto the Golden Pond of the movie.

Check out time was 11 am  at the Valley Inn and I was packed and out by 10:00. Even with a 3-4 hour drive I still had time for a detour if something caught my fancy. In the guide-book to New Hampshire was a coupon for The Nature Science Center at Squam Lake. It sounded like something I’d enjoy and it was on the way southbound.

I found the center without any problem. At the ticket booth they had a list of boat tours of the lake. At the attendant’s suggestion I took the boat tour before I went into the center.

The boat was a pontoon boat and there were just 3 of us on the tour. A bus tour had arrived and was taking up 2 other pontoon boats for a “private” charter. My 2 co-passengers and myself were thrilled with that turn of events.

One of the women said she wanted to see and hear a loon. She said she had come to the lake because of the movie On Golden Pond. She and her friend had just watched the movie again so the characters and events were fresh in their minds. Our guide was just as well versed on the movie along with a wealth of information about where certain scenes were shot and  what difficulties the film crew experienced  shooting some of the scenes.

He did caution us that we might not see the loons since it was early (11:00am) and usually the loons were most active at dusk.

As we cast off he pointed out the dock with the fuel tanks and said that was where Norman nearly ran into the dock in the movie. He said it had been more realistic than planned as Henry Fonda had really lost control of the boat. For that reason the scene was only shot once.

The pontoon boat was docked on Little Squam Lake so we passed under a bridge and into a short river to enter Big Squam Lake.

It was a gray overcast day and it was quite cool motoring around on the lake. The guide gave each of us a pair of binoculars. With only the 3 of us passengers we were able to change seats to see better when he pointed out an island or a multi million dollar home.

Much of the lake shore is protected so there won’t be any more development such are there is on Lake George where I grew up.

The tour reminded me of the lake tours that I’ve been on in Lake George and I settled in to enjoy the views. We weren’t too far out when the guide pointed out a loon. Of the 3 passengers, I was the only one who had seen one before. The other two ladies were really excited. That was the last time the guide was the first one to spot anything.

Looking for birds and wildlife is just my cup of tea so with the ice broken I put my mind to the task of pointing out loons, cormorant and 2 juvenile Bald eagles.  I was in my element and having a blast.

With me spotting the wildlife the guide concentrated on the history of the lake  and the spots from the movie. One of the ladies didn’t just want to see a loon, she wanted to hear one too. The guide was really good with that too and was able to offer a passable imitation.

As we came around an island with a private camp on it, a number of campers were putting canoes and kayaks in the water. I spotted a loon not too far from the campers. The guide was surprised to see a loon that close to people. As we passed the loon let out its laughing call. It wasn’t the mournful “wail” but it was still a loon call so my co-passenger was happy.

We entered an area where the guide said a loon had just hatched a brood a couple of weeks ago. He said if we were lucky we might see the babies and sure enough, there was an adult with a couple of baby loons.

 Our guide slowed the boat to reduce the wake while the little family headed toward the shore.

The 2 other ladies were thrilled with the loons but for me the high point was the eagles. I still haven’t gotten a great picture but these were a little better. Unfortunately the light was behind them so they are more in silhouette but I keep trying.

It’s a beautiful lake and now I have to watch On Golden Pond again to see if I recognize any of the places we saw.

I wouldn’t mind spending another day in the area to see if I could get some loon pictures too but that will have to keep for another time.

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It was back to the Science Center to see what that was all about.

Covered bridges, UFO’s and more

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Driving around the White Mountains I came across covered bridges time and again. It seems like they were everywhere.

 For some reason I usually think of Vermont when it comes to covered bridges and maple syrup but I was finding plenty of both here in New Hampshire.

Some observations or musings about covered bridges come to mind.

  • They provide shelter from New England weather which can certainly be harsh in the winter and hot in the summer.
  • Historically bridges were covered to protect the floorboards from exposure to the weather as the floorboards were the most expensive part of the bridge.
  • Sometime covered bridges are affectionately called “Kissing bridges”. That’s easy enough to understand. 🙂
  • At one time more than 10,000 covered bridges existed in the US.  Today only about 750 remain and are carefully protected and maintained . Over 50 of these exist in New Hampshire.
  • Some say that wagon teams are calmer being driven over a covered bridge than over an open bridge where the team can see the rushing waters below. What they can’t see can’t hurt them or so they think, like putting on blinders.

There are driving tours to visit the various bridges and these are very popular during the fall foliage season when covered bridges are especially picturesque.

Speaking of picturesque, The Mount Washington Hotel is gorgeous in brilliant white and red against the blue and green of the mountains behind it.

 Located in Bretton Woods at the base of Mount Washington, the Mount Washington Hotel was built during the era of the Grand Hotels and is one of the few remaining today. It opened in 1902 as one of the most luxurious, modern hotels of its time.

It is still operating today under the stewardship of the Omni Hotel Management. It has been featured on SYFI Channels Ghost Hunters when the TAPS team investigated it for paranormal activity.

In 1986 The Mount Washington Hotel, as one of the only Grand Hotels remaining in the White Mountains, was granted landmark status.

 An speaking of the paranormal, it’s just a short leap to discussing aliens and UFO’s. The White Mountains has some of that too . Maybe not an Area 51 but just as important to the UFO community is the alleged  abduction  of Betty and Barney Hill in 1961. Their story started the abduction phase in UFO investigations.

The Hill’s story has been told in books and movies but is certainly too long to post here in any detail. But This is the story in a nut shell.

The Hills were traveling home to Portsmouth on RT 3 around 10:30 pm.  Near Indian Head a UFO forced them to stop their car. They then reported a period of missing time.They reported the incident to the authorities and this has been widely investigated.

Today there is a State historical Marker near Indian Head  to identify the spot where the Hills were said to have been abducted. I will admit to getting chills when I saw the marker. I don’t know if they were abducted or not or if there’s anything such thing as aliens, but I do believe that something happened there that night that’s never been explained.

Back when I vacationed in South Dakota we found ourselves on a dirt road that I jokingly refer to as “the longest dirt road in the world”. As I chatted with the Moose Tour folks one of them told me I should use the short cut from Waterville Valley to Lincoln. He told me to take Triple E Rd and it would bring me out right near the Valley Inn where I was staying.

It wasn’t Triple E Rd it was Tripoli Rd and the sign said it was closed from November to May. Since this was July I wouldn’t have a problem, at least I hoped I wouldn’t. The first part of the road on either end, Lincoln or Waterville, was paved.

 It wasn’t in very good shape with many pot holes and crumbling  shoulders but it wasn’t long before that was past and I was on a dirt road through thick trees and forest. The dirt road was actually easier to drive on than the pavement.

It was well graded and maintained and packed enough that there wasn’t a great deal of dust. There were a few cars and some campsites along the way. I don’t think it saved me any time but it was shorter in distance and it soon became my favorite route between the two towns.

I saw a large rabbit and a big bird. I think the bird was an owl of some kind by the way it flew through the woods. I kept hoping that I’d see more wildlife but even though I didn’t, it was still a pretty drive.

My vacation is winding down. It won’t be long before I’ll be back to the “real world” but I still have a few more things to share with you including the pictures I intend to submit to the various photo contests. I have to check the web  site,  but if there’s a link for you to vote, I’ll post that too.