May 3, 2016 blog

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From: "On The Road Again..."
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Subject: On The Road Again...

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Edna Shyrley <ednashirley@peoplepc.com>	5:16 AM (9 hours ago)
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On The Road Again...
On The High Seas with Captain Dan...Monday, May 16th, 3PM Posted: 17 May 2016 01:07 PM PDT Monday afternoon, the 16th of May, we had a three o'clock PM cruise with Captain Dan.  He was highly recommended by my dentist, Duane Beers.   Winds were high, and I had received a phone call in the morning that the ride may be scuttled.  Fortunately for us, and a couple, it wasn't. This is Captain Dan... He has been operating his trips for eight years, starting at five a day, then down to four...he has a pontoon boat, and only takes six people out at a time.  He encircles Chincoteague when the winds are okay, but he also goes very close to Assateague,  so we can see some of the ponies.  His family has lived on Chincoteague for a very long time and were oyster fishermen.  His father now works for NASA on Wallops Island which is just before crossing the bridge to Chincoteague.  Dan was in the service for four years, and worked in all kinds of jobs, and then came back to the island with his wife and family.  He has four children.  He is just perfect for this type of work as he likes people, likes to share both islands with them, telling stories from way back up to now.  Unbelievably, he knows every name of every pony/horse on Assateague, as well as the new born foals!!!  He told us all about the pony crossing every August/September which was fascinating. As we headed between the two islands, we could see the Assateague Lighthouse from the boat... Dan pointed out two immature Bald Eagles and a mature Bald Eagle flying over head.  I had never seen immature Bald Eagles.  He told us that there were three or four pairs nesting on Assateague.  They stay year round. Sitting on two pilings out in the water were two cormorants - one had a different color on his chest, and Dan thought it might be an immature one... This area is very shallow and Dan was very careful as he steered the boat through - sometimes we were only in two feet of water! He pulled out his net and picked up something from the water ... It was sort of like a blow fish, and I can't remember what he called it.  But it was a funny looking guy, who was on his last fins.   All along this area were oyster beds... The lines you see in the water, are actually clam beds.  The oystermen take used oyster shells and broken pieces to build up the bed.  Then they put live oysters on the top, and they multiply.  I believe he said that it takes about two years to start harvesting them.  They are all over this area... This is an old oyster house, where someone would be paid to watch for oyster poachers.  This particular house has been restored, and is privately owned. All along our cruise were various duck blinds which are used in the fall.  Further up there were larger blinds which had a place to park the boat, hidden from the ducks.   Dan knew where the ponies were.  This particular herd he called the southern herd.  There was a stallion which we say, but he walked away and we didn't get to see him up close and personal... There are only 150 ponies/horses on Assateague, and only a couple of stallions among each of the herds.  Further up, we really had a treat.  Dan took us to the northern herd, and pulled right up to them.  They paid no attention to us.  Now let me tell you about what you are seeing... The horse to the far left is the stallion for this herd.  There is a foal with its mom slightly to the left.  In the middle there looks to be a small dirt pile, and then to the right are three or four more mares... Well, what appears to be a dirt pile is a brand new foal, who had been sleeping and then put its head up. As we went further along, we came to a lone stallion grazing near the water...Dan felt that he was by himself because he is old, and he no longer tries to fight the other stallions for his own harem...sort of like the male buffalo I saw in Yellowstone which was walking alone... In order to keep the herds from inbreeding, other types of horses are brought in - stallions - to bring in new blood.  The horses eat the grasses on the island which have a high salt content, but there are some natural areas with mostly fresh water. We headed back going around the rest of Chincoteague and coming into the bay and Dan's slip.  It was a wonderful trip... Thanks, Captain Dan!!!!  Our vacation was really enhanced with this trip. A high flying Laughing Gull down at the docks.  And as we were walking to the car, these two were waddling along.  I don't know the name of the second one, but leading the parade is a male Mallard... Today I spent most of the day writing these two blogs.  But I did go down to Island Ice Cream and had their home made ice cream.  The waffle cones are made on site and are superb - an A+ for them.  The ice cream was very good, and very creamy (I had chocolate peanut butter) - Pete had vanilla.  Both of us agreed it is not the best ice cream in the USA, as one food critic said, BUT it is very good, so I give it an A+.  Chesapeake Bay still gets my vote so far. I also bought two Life Is Good shirts for myself. Life is good! I love you all very much. Abrazos, Sally
Tappahannock and Chincotegue... Posted: 17 May 2016 11:57 AM PDT I found Rae's house with her good directions.  She and Bryan have a neat little home in a nice neighborhood.  I didn't get to see Bryan as he was away.  But I did get to see the dogs and the foster dog that they are keeping until it finds its forever home.  Caboose... is a very friendly large bulldog.  He was their first dog.  Then along came Mort...  who is a mix. The foster dog, Fury, is a cute female pitbull/Jack Russell mix, who has a very hard time controlling her excitement, and can't stop moving and jumping... All three dogs like to kiss, and I am not a lover of dog kisses...too slobbery!!! They also have two very elusive cats, a striped female called Summer, and a coal black male called Cena.  I caught glimpses of them, but they never came near me. My granddaughter, Rae, like many young women these days, including my other granddaughter Brie, keeps changing her hair style, etc.... She is a beautiful woman and I am very proud of her.  It is quite obvious that she and Bryan are very much in love. That evening I took Rae to The Fat Finch in Tappahannock, a very good restaurant and rather unique.  Good music, interesting decor and very good food.  I had a piece of homemade Key Lime Pie - dense and tart  - very very good.  I give it an A. Next day I left for Chincoteague, and would have been there about 1PM had I followed my own written directions!  As it was, I turned off I64 too soon, and found myself at the opposite end of Virginia Beach from where the bridge is.  So I took a tour of VB right along the beach area, until I came to the bridge.  The Chesapeake Bay/Tunnel Bridge is fun to drive across - very long (glad I didn't participate in the building of it!!) with two separate tunnels that you drive through.  The tunnels allow the big ships and boat to get in and out of the bay.   Once on the other side, I drove straight to Chincoteague which is about 40 or so miles north.  We actually all arrived within minutes of each other, around 3PM. The Refuge Inn is a family owned place and I found it to be wonderful - very friendly staff, decent continental breakfasts, and close to everything... This is one of four Assateague ponies that the owners of the Refuge Inn own - they are females and like to be feed, so you can purchase food for them at the Inn.  The kids love it... A Mama Robin was going crazy and then I saw why - one of her babies was under the bench where I often sit waiting for the other guys - it hopped to the windows at the doors and started trying to get at the bird it saw reflected in the mirror.  Afraid that it might hurt itself, I tried to pick it up, but it made a wobbly flight to the bench... he heard his Mama call, and jumped down and went under the lattice fence. Pete has a great hat that his brother Bob gave to him.  When I saw it, I thought of my brother, Dick.  I loved it and took a picture of it...but I didn't see what was written on the back... And the back, you ask???  "A LIVING LEGEND IN MY OWN MIND" The next day, Saturday, May 14, after breakfast, we all went down to the "2nd Saturday Artful Flea - THE curated regional open air event"... all kinds of people had their booths up - fresh vegetables, canned foods, jellies, jams, etc; art of all type and kinds; bluegrass music; a food truck, AND CHESAPEAKE BAY DAIRY, with homemade cheeses - yummy - fresh milk with cream on the top - fresh butter, and...you ready for this???...the best homemade ice cream I have had in a very very long time.  It came in pints, so I took it back to my room and put it in the freezer.  I am rating it A+++... Mike and Edna and Pete looking for shade at the flea market.  Mike and Edna got Hershey's Ice Cream because they couldn't get a cone at Chesapeake Bay Dairy... After the Flea Market we drove down to Main Street and did some walking around, looking at stores, restaurants...we walked near the slips where boats go in and out, fishing boats, tour boats, etc...we were going out on Monday with Captain Dan...while down there I got a pretty good pic of a Laughing Gull... They are all around here at the Refuge Inn but wouldn't stand still.  And they do sound like they are laughing...a very raucous laugh... In the park area there were four huge Adirondack chairs - this is Edna still on one... On Main Street, Misty of Chincoteague is honored with a bronze statue of her...I read the book years ago and loved it... That evening we had dinner at The Village Restaurant.  I asked if they had homemade pie, and yes they did.  So Edna and I ordered Bumbleberry Pie - which has a mix of fruits in it (I had to look it up on Google), usually apple, rhubarb, and berries.  It was okay - just okay.  Rhubarb and apples were not cooked enough, and I wasn't sure what the berries were, so I am rating it - C... While everyone else went out to the dunes on Assateague on Sunday,  the 15th,  they dropped me off at the Assateague Bateman Visitor Center.  There on the wall just as I entered was a photo of the Bosque!!!  Chincoteague, Assateague, and the other islands are all part of the barrier islands of Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware.  They are reached by bridges.  Where we are staying we are only less than a mile from Assateague, which is U.S. Refuge for the Assateague Ponies and is also a flyway for the birds who fly north and south every year.  It is run by the US Fish and Wildlife, and is part of all the refuges in the country, including the Bosque del Apache close to me.  I went over to the desk and told them that I was from New Mexico and lived very near to the Bosque del Apache.  One of the Rangers said, "Our education specialist is working out there now.  And we miss Amanda."  So I will look her up when I get home and give her their regards.   I watched a wonderful video about a 1/2 hour long about Assateague.  Walked around to look at the exhibits, and one was outstanding... There are three or four pair of bald eagles around the island. We drove back to Chincoteague to have lunch.  Monday morning  I told everyone that I was going back over to go look at the beaches and dunes...Pete came with me.  It was a beautiful sight to look out at the Atlantic Ocean and then look at the dunes all around.  There is a lot of erosion from storms and winds and of course just as on Cape Cod, the scenery changes all the time. Here I am... And here is Pete... As we were leaving the parking lot by the dunes, Pete noted a REAL old pay telephone.  So of course I had to take a picture of Pete talking on it.  It actually is a working phone!!!   We decided to take the trail up to the Assateague Lighthouse when we started back...there was a family of Canada Geese walking along the side of the road...   We made our way along the trail to the lighthouse, with poison ivy on either side of the trail.  Like so many other parks and refuges, the pine bark beetles have made themselves known, and between them and the nor'easters that blow in, many trees were down.  The lighthouse itself is beautiful, and has been rebuilt several times.   The Coast Guard is now in charge of it... We also saw a few wild horses out in a field.  Visitors are told not to touch the horses. They are protected, and because they are wild, they may bite or kick you!!!... This is the end of Part One - I will be back soon to tell you about our adventures on Captain Dan's Pontoon Boat Cruise... Life is good! I love you all! Abrazos, Sally
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Edna Shyrley <ednashirley@peoplepc.com>	5:21 AM (9 hours ago)
to me -----Forwarded Message----- From: "On The Road Again..." Sent: May 4, 2016 2:03 PM To: ednashirley@peoplepc.com Subject: On The Road Again... On The Road Again... Posted: 03 May 2016 05:52 PM PDT I am going to back up a little and tell you about my drive to McAlester, OK.  But first I want to show you the photos of the clouds going up to Mountainair, and then the photos I took of the snow on the ground... If you take the first picture and place the second picture on its right, it encompasses the mouintains on either side of the road.  The first picture reminds me so much of an artist's paint brush, with sweeping strokes.  The other picture reminds me of bread dough being braided and.or rolled.  The winds were exremely high, and when I tried to open my door to get out, I wasn't able to do so. Past Mountainair I pulled over and put down my window and took these  photos...Mountainair is 6000 elevation, Lemitar is only 4000... Many of the houses in New Mexico are made from what is available for building.  I have an adobe, made from clay, for example.  Going east in New Mexico, there were many houses, some standing and being lived in, and others tumbling down and abandoned.  The ones I passed on US 60, after Mountainair, were beautifully built structures using flat pieces of sandstone, of which there is an abundance.... I could not believe all the frieght trains that I passed.  It seemed as if they were waiting patiently in line to be allowed to move.  And they were stacked up not only towards the west, but also towards the east.  It seemed like every five miles there was a freight train waiting. Leaving on May 2nd, headed for McAlester, Oklahome, I got on US 60 and headed east.  There was a big sign just as I was leaving, announcing that I was driving on THE WOODY GUTHRIE MEMORIAL HIGHWAY.  How exciting is that??   Because I was sure that I was taking the right road - US 60 - ignoring a sign pointing to Oklahoma City.  Although I had added many miles to my drive, I did stop at a small wayside where I spotted four of five wild turkeys.  I assured them that I did not have a gun.  I was able to catch two on my camera, the others having just disappeared!.... There was also a historical sign which I took a picture of, but it is really too small to read.  What it says is that around 1936 Texas built a large number of these waysides for drivers to use.  Most of them are still in use.  The stone for the table and benches, which was in moderate shape, came from the stone around the area... It was at this point that I knew I was on the wrong road - US 60 yes, but going further north and east, and I wanted to go east.  So I got out my handy dandy road map, and saw where I was, and I found a road I could take south, get on I 40 for a while, then drop further south, to Wioka and McAlester, OK. I love barns and was fascinated by one that I could see as I was driving.  It looked silver...and it was, as it was covered front to back, side to side, and its rounded roof, with tin - you know the kind that people like me, have to cover their roofs?  I had to take a picture... The Texas Panhandle is flat and prairieland.  It reminded me of the midwest.  I could see for miles.  Along with that, were the little structures for pumping natural gas, as well as tyrannosaurus rex type structures that are pumping oil.  There were hundreds of the natural gas structures in every farmers fields.    There were wind farms everywhere which I was happy about.  And, I finally saw my first armadillo, unfortunately dead at the side of the highway.  I saw three more also. Then the landscape suddenly changed, and I guessed I was in the Texas Hill Country.  Beautiful, lot of wild flowers, cattle munching grass, horses, tails flying, running across their field.  My opinion of some parts of Texas changed. Drove into Oklahoma, found the highway I was to take, and drove south, then east, and then south again.  I wanted to see the roller coaster road.  When I got close to Wioka, which is where it was supposed to be, I stopped and a very nice elderly man made me a map.  Never found the road - however, as I drove to McAlester, about 30 miles east of Wioka, I could have been going on the roller coaster road - it was up and down, up and down all the way.  The trees were lush and green, with pink, yellow, red, and lilac wild flowers lining the road.  There was basically nowhere to stop to take pictures.  Not much berm, no rest stops, and the roadside ditches were filled with water. I made it to McAlester, and to my hotel.  Checked in, asked where a good steak house was.  Texas Rose was the name.  I drove on the frontage road down to it, got out, and walked in.  There were some men waiting for a table, and one of them started talking to me, asking me where I was from, where I was going, just chit chat.  I had a good steak, baked potato, and a house salad.  When I asked for my bill my waitress said, " Sugar, it has been paid for.  And I was asked not to tell by who.  You know, Sugar, this happens all the time around here."  What a nice end to a long day.  But I certainly can do without all the Sugars, Sweeties, etc.  And by the way, on my way in to McAlester, there were huge cast iron buffalos on corners, next to stores and banks, and when I drove into Best Western,  this greeted me... The McAlester High School teams are the Buffalos! More later, perhaps tonight or tomorrow morning - my drive from McAlester to Festus, Mo., was a long one, but there were many lakes and rivers, which I will discuss them.  Tomorrow the Cave House. Life is Good! I love you all, Sally. You are subscribed to email updates from On The Road Again.... To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. Email delivery powered by Google Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States Click here to Reply or Forward 2.34 GB (15%) of 15 GB used Manage Terms - Privacy Last account activity: 1 hour ago Details