M is for…

Posted on September 19, 2013September 19, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Wow, Did you realize there are 8 states that start with the letter M? I am not going to do all 8 in one post, especially since a couple of them are going to be crossed off as visited. So before I start can you name all 8 states?

Alphabetically Maine is first. So while you’re thinking about the other 7 states I’ll tell you a little bit about my neighbor to the north. I fell in love with Maine last year when I had the chance to take 2 “mini” vacations.

Maine

YES.

First thing that come to mind when I think of Maine is the gorgeous, rugged coastline. And if you have a rugged coast you need lighthouses. More than 60 lighthouses dot the Maine coast from the well known Nubble Light in York to West Quoddy Head, the easternmost lighthouse in the United States. I’ve seen and photographed a bunch of them, Nubble, Spring Ledge, Portland Head, Pemaquid and more but I’m a long way from all 60!+

Maine is for “Lobsta” or lobster if you want to be accurate. Everyone’s either heard of or eaten Maine Lobster, those feisty crustaceans that are so good boiled, fried, rolled, baked, in salad, well just about any way you want to eat them. Did you know that lobster were once so plentiful that they were used as fertilizer! Native Americans used them as bait to catch more appealing fish. They were considered poverty food and fed to servants and prisoners. You’ve come a long way , baby!

Maine is for wildlife.

I saw a big bull moose there while walking a nature trail.

I braved the sea to get a glimpse of puffins, crazy little clowns. I never realized how tiny they are until I saw them riding those crashing waves.

Maine has the first National Park east of the Mississippi, Acadia National Park. The park includes Mount Desert Island and Cadillac Mountain.

I still want to try a train ride from Boston to Portland. It’s called the “Downeaster”. It can be done in 1 day but it might be nicer to stay over in Portland a night to see a bit more.

By the way, I wrote a lot of posts on Maine last year. Here’s a link to just one of the many :https://aroundustyroads.com/2012/08/29/day-is-done-gone-the-sun/

How many States Have You Visited?

Posted on September 10, 2013September 10, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Here I am in a traveling “lull”. I’ve been so busy getting acclimated to my new job and my new schedule that vacations and travel haven’t been “TOM” (top of mind). Even now that I’m getting settled in I’m still figuring out the finances. There were bills that I didn’t have before that I now have to pay, bills that I did have that have gone away, bills that were “automatically deducted” that I now have to remember to pay and so on. Plus a big change is that there is no overtime with my new job. I’m earning pretty close to the same hourly rate but a lot of my “fun” money was what I earned by working “OT”.

So while I figure out what I can spend on travel and prepare for next year’s vacation I’ve been playing a little game with myself. There’s a survey/game that goes around Facebook every now and then. It lists all the states and you click on the ones you’ve been to and it gives you a “traveler’s rating” or some such thing. Of course most of the people I know are counting states their plane landed in even if they never got off the plane. I don’t think that’s really the intention but I could be wrong.

Back when I started traveling for fun I thought it might be nice to spend a week in every state. That means 50 weeks of vacation. Of course I would have to “double up” a few years because I doubt if I have 50 years left to take one week a year. I thought I’d like to sell my condo and buy an RV and travel the US that way but the downturn in Real Estate values put a damper on that plan, at least for now.

But I am not going to give up. I met a couple whose goal was to visit every National Park once they retired and they did it. Since there are about 388 National Parks in the U. S. it makes visiting each state sound like a measly goal.

So back to the little game I’ve been playing with myself…I’m trying to cross states off my list but I never seem to get very far before I get side tracked.

How many states have you been to? Can you make a list?

Time for a little TLV (Tour, Lunch. Visitor Center)

Posted on June 28, 2013June 28, 2013 by Dusty Roads

So far the tour had been ok. I had hoped we’d see more animals. We’d scoured the mountainsides for Dall Sheep but there weren’t any around. No bears either even at a distance.

We did see a couple more moose and then some caribou.

The guide finally addressed the issue of gulls in the middle of Alaska.

They are called Mew Gulls. And according to him they migrate here to nest. They usually build their nests in trees or even on the ground as long as they are near water. Each time I/we saw them there was a river or pond nearby.

We even got back to the lodge in time for lunch.

Thinking we might be able to save a couple of dollars (or a few pennies) we went to the Base Camp restaurant next to the King Salmon. Turns out they are really the same restaurant just different names. I didn’t quite get the logic there. They share the kitchen, the menu is the same and so are the prices.

Both Sandy and I ordered the fish and chips. It was so good. Not cheap (or inexpensive) but worth every penny.

Then we wandered through the souvenir shops before heading to the shuttle for a trip to the Visitor Center.

After all, I had to get my National Parks Passport Stamped because who knows when I’ll ever get back to Denali again.

The Visitor Center was awesome. There was a small museum nearby that we never even got to go to because the displays in the Center were so good. I got my passport stamped and then we explored the exhibits.

We saw more animals in the Visitor Center displays than we’d seen the whole trip. There were dioramas of Moose

and bear

and wolves.

The Dall sheep looked magnificent.

The Golden eagle was caught in the act of snatching it’s dinner.

The conservation message was clear. Even the smallest things can make a big difference even tipping the balance of nature. I couldn’t help but think of the endangered Piping Plovers back home.

The Athabaskans, the First People, understood this and still respect the delicate balance of man and nature today.

Finally one of my favorite posters…Dogs Don’t Run Out of Gas…I loved that and it was a reminder that we needed to catch the shuttle back because we were going dog sledding this evening.

Where are the Sharks? Where is the Valley?

Posted on March 4, 2013March 4, 2013 by Dusty Roads

Back on the tram we headed back to the info Center. As we traveled through the sawgrass prairie our guide turned to the landscape. The birds and alligators were still there but it was time to learn about the land. We stopped at a mound covered with trees where she explained that this was “Tree Island”. During the wet season it is surrounded by water but the canopy of the trees on the island keep the interior dry and the shade makes it cool. Everything from animals like Florida Panthers, deer, alligators and even humans use these tree islands for shelter. Large tree islands doubled as homes for the native Florida Indians. There is room on the interior for small campfires and dry for sleeping.

Moving on we passed the skeleton of a dead gator and an anhinga looking for a mate. You can tell when an anhinga is ready to mate by the colored circle around its eye. When they are searching for a mate the color of the circle becomes a brilliant color.

Then she asked the million dollar question…why is this area called Shark Valley? As we looked around it didn’t look like a valley. The land looked pretty flat and there certainly wasn’t enough water for sharks. But that’s where we were about to be corrected.

According to the guide Shark Valley is really a valley. To get to the coast you really have to go uphill. The rise may be slight and not that noticeable but it is there. Therefore this area does meet the definition if a valley: 1.low-lying area: a long low area of land, often with a river or stream running through it, that is surrounded by higher ground

Ok so it’s a valley but where does the shark part come into it? The Everglades is not a swamp. The water is not stagnant. It is a slow-moving river filled with vegetation, hence the name “river of grass”, but it’s a wide shallow river still the same. And rivers go somewhere. The Everglades eventually connects to the sea. At the junction where the fresh water Everglades meets the salt water of the sea an area of brackish water exists. Here salt water crocodiles mingle with fresh water American alligators. It is the only place in the world where these 2 species exist side by side. And it is here that bull sharks enter the valley.

Bull sharks are unique in the shark/fish world in that they can survive in both fresh and salt water. So in the brackish water where the ocean and fresh water meet, bull sharks come to hunt. The lower end of this valley connects to the ocean and creates that unique environment. Early settlers saw the sharks and the name Shark Valley stuck.

I attempted an internet search to confirm this explanation but so far my preliminary results have come up empty so I pass this along as a story told by our guide. It rings true to me. Florida is higher at the coast than the interior and bull sharks do survive in both fresh and salt water. That has been confirmed in many places of the world. So Welcome to Shark Valley. Definitely a place to visit when you get a chance.

On a Tram again….

Posted on March 2, 2013March 2, 2013 by Dusty Roads

There are 3 ways to visit Shark Valley-walking, bicycling or taking a ride on a tram.

I’m a firm believer in getting the lay of the land before I head off on foot and I don’t have bicycle so the choice for me was easy. Tram Ride.

The tram ride is a 2 hour tour narrated by a naturalist or park ranger. It covers a 15 mile loop trail that is closed to private vehicles. At the half way mark is an observation tower. On a clear day you can see for miles.

At 11:00 am I took a seat on the bench near the Tram’s ticket booth. It was a beautiful, sunny day. For the next 2 hours I’d receive an education about the Shark Valley eco- system and it’s wildlife.

As other riders joined me on the benches one of the attendants came by to chat. It was his role to give us the safety briefing. He told us to stay 15 feet away from all wildlife but especially the alligators and they can be unpredictable. He then went on to tell us about another tourist a few weeks back who kept trying to poke the alligators. Seems he’d been watching too many reality shows like Gator Boys and wanted to see if he could out maneuver the gators the way they do on that show. After being warned repeatedly he was removed from the park and fined.

About then our guide arrived and we loaded onto the tram. Right away we saw wildlife. A red-shouldered hawk perched in the meadow.

A mama gator and her babies sunned by the side of the pavement.

A whole panne was filled with Wood Storks.

Seeing so many of these our naturalist explained that these birds had been endangered because of habitat loss. They are very fussy eaters and if the water in the panne is the wrong depth or temperature or any of a number of other things, they will not feed there so it was exciting to see so many in one place.

Herons were everywhere, all kinds as I had noticed by the info center.

The tram would stop whenever our guide spotted something interesting so she could talk about it and give us plenty of time for photographs.

We met lots of bicyclists. They gave us the right of way and waved as we passed. That looks like a great way to see the sights up even closer than the tram. I believe there is a bike rental kiosk located near the parking lot.

About noon we reached the observation tower. We had about 1/2 hour here so we could climb the tower and take a look around. So far our guide had been pointing out the birds and gators and talking about the diversity of the wildlife in the Everglades. Now she let us head out on our own.