Today I didn't start at work until noon, because I was to stay late for the evening events. Since I was off in the morning, Joanne and Amanda came over for breakfast. They provided eggs and bacon, and I provided pancake mix and maple syrup. It was delicious - I don't usually buy bacon for just me! And they let me keep what was left!
The big event this weekend, and today in particular, was the 23rd annual "Haunting in the Hills" storytelling festival, which is always the third Saturday in September. Because it's been going on for a number of years now, it's well known and draws a big crowd. The campground had been completely booked well in advance. The main events are always on Saturday; there were various ranger talks and activities, including several demonstrations of traditional country crafts. There were also a lot of local venders of crafts and food. There was a huge tent set up in the field across from the visitor center, and throughout the afternoon there were different local music groups playing.
I worked in the visitor center all afternoon, but I did get a chance to go out and walk around the grounds at one point. There was an afternoon session of "family friendly" storytelling going on at the big tent - the P.A. system was powerful enough that it could be heard just about everywhere. There was one story that was getting a lot of giggles as I was walking by, about how "Rindercella" and the "Pransome Hince" got to go to the "Drancy Fess Ball" with the help of the "Gairy Fodmother"...
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Friday, September 18, 2015
The Grand Tour
We got a much earlier start this morning! I drove over to the campground, where Joanne and Amanda were just cleaning up from breakfast. We set out right away. I had volunteered to drive, since I was already familiar with the roads, and they had just driven all the way from St. Louis!
We drove west and north, out to the Twin Arches trailhead. This was a no-brainer when I was thinking of places to go. I had hesitated to just tell them, "This is what we're doing," but their reaction was, "Oh good, she already knows what we're doing." So it worked out well.
Twin Arches was gorgeous, as always.
We drove west and north, out to the Twin Arches trailhead. This was a no-brainer when I was thinking of places to go. I had hesitated to just tell them, "This is what we're doing," but their reaction was, "Oh good, she already knows what we're doing." So it worked out well.
Twin Arches was gorgeous, as always.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Another Family Visit
My sister, Joanne, and her friend Amanda are here for a visit! They took a few days off work to come out here. Since they are both teachers they were able to leave right after school and drive most of the way yesterday. They thought they would get here by lunchtime today but since it was such a late night they had a late start this morning as well. I waited at the visitor center, just hanging out and using the wifi. When they arrived we headed to the campground. I reserved a site for them a few weeks ago when I found out it was filling up fast, because this weekend also happens to be the annual storytelling festival at Big South Fork! Fortunately I had picked a good site - not too far from the bathroom, right at the edge of the woods, and plenty of room for two tents.
Tuesday, September 15, 2015
New Neighbor
A couple of times now there has been a BIG spider making its web on the railing of my porch. I don't mind, except that it doesn't like getting its picture taken and always runs away before I can get in a shot! I think it feels the vibrations as I get closer.
Today I managed to get a few photos.
These first two are from the porch looking out at the yard. There was a really nice spotlight from the afternoon sun. This is about life size - maybe just a little larger than life.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Riding Away With Myself
I went on another bike ride today! This one got a little scary. I started by heading down Duncan Hollow Road again, the gravel road behind the campground. I passed the road I turned on last time, and then turned left on another gravel road to get to the Duncan Hollow Bike Loop. This was a dirt bike trail in the woods.
My bicycle is a hybrid - the tires are wider than a road bike, but not quite as big as a real mountain bike. I've never actually ridden on this type of trail before. I will think twice before I do it again.
Part of the problem was that I hadn't looked at it that closely on the map, to realize that the first section would be all downhill. I was going faster than I would like, just hanging onto the brakes and trying to stay in control! Luckily it was a fairly smooth trail - no rocks or roots to speak of. But I felt like I wasn't in control at all!
The late afternoon sunlight was golden and gorgeous. The spiderwebs across the trail showed up really well in the light - as I was crashing through them! I managed to keep my mouth shut, at least.
When I finally slowed down at the bottom of the hill I was able to ride for a while - then it started going back up. And I found that I just couldn't get enough purchase to keep moving - probably a combination of factors, the trail surface, the narrower tires, and my own weight and lack of leg strength. I would push off, but not be able to get moving fast enough to keep my balance. I ended up walking up all but the very slightest of slopes.
When I finally got back to the gravel road it was a relief - even though I knew the trail wasn't that long, I was still having visions of walking out in the dark. At least on the gravel road I'd be able to see where I was going on the lighter rock!
As I rode out I had to get off to one side to let a pickup truck pass by. The driver waved, then did a double take, since I had just talked to him in the visitor center a couple of hours earlier! We talked for a minute then headed out separate ways.
Riding back on Duncan Hollow Road was much easier than it was last time - enough vehicles have passed through that the gravel has been packed down again. I stopped at a meadow to try and capture the evening light on the trees.
My bicycle is a hybrid - the tires are wider than a road bike, but not quite as big as a real mountain bike. I've never actually ridden on this type of trail before. I will think twice before I do it again.
Part of the problem was that I hadn't looked at it that closely on the map, to realize that the first section would be all downhill. I was going faster than I would like, just hanging onto the brakes and trying to stay in control! Luckily it was a fairly smooth trail - no rocks or roots to speak of. But I felt like I wasn't in control at all!
The late afternoon sunlight was golden and gorgeous. The spiderwebs across the trail showed up really well in the light - as I was crashing through them! I managed to keep my mouth shut, at least.
When I finally slowed down at the bottom of the hill I was able to ride for a while - then it started going back up. And I found that I just couldn't get enough purchase to keep moving - probably a combination of factors, the trail surface, the narrower tires, and my own weight and lack of leg strength. I would push off, but not be able to get moving fast enough to keep my balance. I ended up walking up all but the very slightest of slopes.
When I finally got back to the gravel road it was a relief - even though I knew the trail wasn't that long, I was still having visions of walking out in the dark. At least on the gravel road I'd be able to see where I was going on the lighter rock!
As I rode out I had to get off to one side to let a pickup truck pass by. The driver waved, then did a double take, since I had just talked to him in the visitor center a couple of hours earlier! We talked for a minute then headed out separate ways.
Riding back on Duncan Hollow Road was much easier than it was last time - enough vehicles have passed through that the gravel has been packed down again. I stopped at a meadow to try and capture the evening light on the trees.
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Driving the Grand Circle
Today I got sent on a mission: drive to all the smaller visitor centers in outlying towns and bring copies of the newly-published fall newspaper for Big South Fork NRRA. This ended up taking most of the day, starting with a twenty-minute session on Google Maps to make sure that I knew how to get to all of them!
My drive took me east to Oneida, then south to the Helenwood/Huntsville visitor center, which I drove past but quickly backtracked to. Then it was south to Rugby, which is out at the tail end of the park - a historic Victorian village, run by a nonprofit association which has provided the use of one of the buildings for an NPS visitor center. I stopped at the Rugby visitor center first, and got directions to the NPS building.
Now I headed even further south - to Wartburg, to the visitor center for Obed National Wild & Scenic River, which is a smaller NPS unit that is under the same administration as Big South Fork. I talked with the ranger there for a while, and then headed out. I was driving west through Obed, and stopped at a picnic area for lunch. It was down by the river, and a very pretty and quiet spot.
My drive took me east to Oneida, then south to the Helenwood/Huntsville visitor center, which I drove past but quickly backtracked to. Then it was south to Rugby, which is out at the tail end of the park - a historic Victorian village, run by a nonprofit association which has provided the use of one of the buildings for an NPS visitor center. I stopped at the Rugby visitor center first, and got directions to the NPS building.
Now I headed even further south - to Wartburg, to the visitor center for Obed National Wild & Scenic River, which is a smaller NPS unit that is under the same administration as Big South Fork. I talked with the ranger there for a while, and then headed out. I was driving west through Obed, and stopped at a picnic area for lunch. It was down by the river, and a very pretty and quiet spot.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Ghost Train
This was an interesting day, because I, along with most of the other Bandy Creek staff, was scheduled to work a special event up at the Blue Heron area of the park: the Ghost Train.
Blue Heron has a scenic railroad that comes in daily to deliver passengers who want to look around at the historic coal mining community. However, one of their annual events is the Ghost Train, which is at night, and showcases storytellers at several spots presenting spooky tales. The event needed lots of staff to make sure people didn't wander off into the night!
I drove up there with Jake, another ranger at Bandy Creek. We were in a government car - a Prius. Jake and I are the two tallest people at Bandy Creek. The makers of the Prius apparently never heard of tall people. It was a little tight, but a very smooth ride. And we only got lost twice and had to call for directions before finding it - I've only been to Blue Heron twice, and someone else was driving each time. I thought Jake would know the way because he's from around here, but he hadn't been there since a middle school field trip! Luckily we got there in plenty of time.
A bunch of us walked around the grounds setting out luminaries - gallon milk jugs with electric tea lights in them. Then we went back to the depot and went over the schedule for the evening - there would be five groups, and each group would start at a different storytelling spot and then rotate. We ate supper while we waited for the train to come in. It started raining - hard! And kept raining! We lucked out, and the rain stopped just as the train arrived. It was quite dark by this time, especially with the clouds still covering the sky. The milk jugs we placed earlier had turned into beacons in the night, marking our path.
Blue Heron has a scenic railroad that comes in daily to deliver passengers who want to look around at the historic coal mining community. However, one of their annual events is the Ghost Train, which is at night, and showcases storytellers at several spots presenting spooky tales. The event needed lots of staff to make sure people didn't wander off into the night!
I drove up there with Jake, another ranger at Bandy Creek. We were in a government car - a Prius. Jake and I are the two tallest people at Bandy Creek. The makers of the Prius apparently never heard of tall people. It was a little tight, but a very smooth ride. And we only got lost twice and had to call for directions before finding it - I've only been to Blue Heron twice, and someone else was driving each time. I thought Jake would know the way because he's from around here, but he hadn't been there since a middle school field trip! Luckily we got there in plenty of time.
A bunch of us walked around the grounds setting out luminaries - gallon milk jugs with electric tea lights in them. Then we went back to the depot and went over the schedule for the evening - there would be five groups, and each group would start at a different storytelling spot and then rotate. We ate supper while we waited for the train to come in. It started raining - hard! And kept raining! We lucked out, and the rain stopped just as the train arrived. It was quite dark by this time, especially with the clouds still covering the sky. The milk jugs we placed earlier had turned into beacons in the night, marking our path.
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