The brakes have nothing to do with these pictures...I just needed to be in my happy place for awhile after that! :)
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Close Call Today
The brakes have nothing to do with these pictures...I just needed to be in my happy place for awhile after that! :)
Robinson State Park
Finding out that there was a state park by any name in the Agawam/Feeding Hills area was a big surprise to me. I never even knew where Feeding Hills was. I always imagined it as a back water hillbilly type small town but that was judging purely by the one old firetruck I always saw at our yearly parades. They never had more than a handful of firemen accompanying their truck either. And for the most part I don't feel I was that far off in my guesstimating of Feeding Hills. The town has a distinct flavor of tired and worn out something....old, used up and not refreshed....can't really put any certain name to it.
I felt the same way when I saw the park. Something about it seems like any other state park but other parts feel like it's seen better days...like it's well past it's heyday. And the lack of water being so obvious may be contributing to a general feeling of sadness as well. It has plenty of hiking trails, some of them look to be quite challenging. But I saw some signs saying the trails were closed because of the tornadoes last June. I'm not sure if that applied to all of the trails but I believe a big part of them are still in need of some serious clean up work. And certain areas of the park were closed off completely...not sure what I was missing in those areas. It seemed like everywhere I went there were signs saying the park closes at 8pm. So many of them (a lot of them hand written in bold letters) that I began to feel alright already! And one sign (wish I got a picture of it) said the park closes at 8pm and that means you must be in your car and leaving the park!
As I drove into the park there were two men working on the rangers box (where they collect the money) and one of them flagged me down. I was going all of about 3 miles an hour so I just coasted to a stop near him. I said Hi and he said ok, you can go. What the hell was that about?? He didn't seem actually unfriendly...rather more suspicious or distrustful and harassed...definitely harassed. I will assume I have an honest face or he at least couldn't see me with a spray paint can making elaborate 'tags' or profanity all over the trees and buildings. I didn't see any of that by the way..I'm just assuming the unfriendly feeling had something to do with teenagers and their uncanny ability to get into places after hours to have the kind of fun that keeps their parents awake at night. I get the feeling this small town has trouble with their teenagers. I grew up in a small town. Small towns are hell for teenagers.
So I took a few pictures and strolled around a bit. I interrupted a young couple playing kissy-face near the waters edge. Freaked out the girl when I took a picture over her head. I'm sure she thought I took a picture of them together. I smiled and turned to walk away.....let her worry. I was smiling because she reminded me of myself and memories of playing kissy-face by the lake in my younger days. But then the mommy gene kicked in a bit too and I thought she looked way to young to have that adoring and trusting look on her face when she looked up at him. And he looked way too green; naive and untried to even begin to be worthy of her adoration. I looked back again and wondered what their lives would have in store for them...hoping it wouldn't be ruined by the wrong choices. I was on the brink of wandering down memory lane again and I didn't want to go there so I decided it was time to go check out that tough looking trail over there.
I will go back to this park again but not until enough time has passed for the ravages of the tornadoes to have softened. And I won't go back until we've had enough rain or snow to fill the streams to make them pretty again. I really think this place is probably very pretty when it's not struggling so much. It's worth another look for sure.
I know most of these pictures make the place look very nice but the water shots have water that is very shallow. I saw kids in an area that is marked off for swimming (has an empty lifeguard seat) trying to swim in water that was no more than knee deep at best. Luckily they were young enough to probably have fun playing in a bucket of water.
I felt the same way when I saw the park. Something about it seems like any other state park but other parts feel like it's seen better days...like it's well past it's heyday. And the lack of water being so obvious may be contributing to a general feeling of sadness as well. It has plenty of hiking trails, some of them look to be quite challenging. But I saw some signs saying the trails were closed because of the tornadoes last June. I'm not sure if that applied to all of the trails but I believe a big part of them are still in need of some serious clean up work. And certain areas of the park were closed off completely...not sure what I was missing in those areas. It seemed like everywhere I went there were signs saying the park closes at 8pm. So many of them (a lot of them hand written in bold letters) that I began to feel alright already! And one sign (wish I got a picture of it) said the park closes at 8pm and that means you must be in your car and leaving the park!
I will go back to this park again but not until enough time has passed for the ravages of the tornadoes to have softened. And I won't go back until we've had enough rain or snow to fill the streams to make them pretty again. I really think this place is probably very pretty when it's not struggling so much. It's worth another look for sure.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Ferry Hair
It was my first time on a ferry. It was my first time going to Block Island. I missed the class trip that was offered in high school and I've waited all these years (that's a LOT of years!) to finally see this island.
We took a Triple A trip to get there to save us from having to drive and a lunch at the National Hotel was included. We went to the top level of the ferry so as not to miss a single thing. The sun was warming although intermittent as we sat on a bench waiting to start. I watched a couple of very old looking fishermen (don't they all look old?) spear some kind of fish (possibly fluke?) from one large barrel and stack them onto another type of container and left in the open air. They appeared to be very dead because I'm told that fish don't usually take well to being stacked. There was no movement at all from these fish.
It was a little while after that when the wind started blowing steadily and unfortunately at the back of my head. Thus the concept of "ferry hair" was born! (not to be confused with 'fairy hair' which of course is pretty. this was NOT pretty!) You cannot blow very curly hair in any direction without creating havoc. And you certainly cannot blow MY hair from the back of my head forward without creating 'ferry hair'. So while some others amused themselves by holding french fries up for the seagulls to swoop down and take from their hands, I enjoyed the sun and ignored the wind sculpture that was being created on my head.
Let me remind those of you with straight, normal, happy hair...the ones that don't understand the hair dilemma because they've never had to experience it; ferry hair is permanent...at least for the day. You can wet it; brush it (NO! Don't do it!) run your fingers through it or give up and wear a scarf; but you can never fix it. And that is how I landed on Block Island.
Our lunch at the National Hotel started off a little hectic. I hadn't memorized any of our fellow tour people and we were only given the most vague directions to 'go to the right' and find a table. It was very difficult finding two seats together; especially when I wasn't sure which tables were ours. None of the tables were marked as ours. Eventually we found seats and were quickly asked what we wanted to drink and food orders were taken as well. The wait staff was very efficient. We were served clam chowder and breads before meals; I didn't eat the bread but I was told it was good. I was to have the crab cakes; my friend was having the salmon. We intended to split our meals and share them but it didn't work out that way. My crab cakes turned out to be a crab cake, sitting on a bit of rice and exactly 4 small asparagus spears. The salmon had the same set up. It was delicious but not filling. (now I know why they served the bread) That's what you get when you eat at a fancy place....good food but not a bunch of it. After the meal (a pleasant memory in no time flat) we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the island while talking with our lunch companions on the large open air deck. Then we had about a half hour to visit shops (not enough time) before we had to meet behind the hotel for an island van tour that we had signed up for.
There were a lot of elderly people on our trip so being considerate of them we opted to take seats in the back of the van....a big mistake.
During our 1 hour tour only one stop was made and that only happened because I yelled out from the back that we wanted to see the cliffs. Our van companions complained bitterly and continually on the walk out to the cliffs; a walk that took less than 5 mins. (seriously...less than 5 mins) Not one of them took pictures, but I did.
And by the time I was done taking pictures (about 10 mins) they were gone. We found them all packed into the van with grumpy looks on their faces and a lot of muttering going on. The driver looked unhappy too. I can only imagine what they said to him before we got there.
It seems they were highly irritated to have been so inconvenienced by stopping at the cliffs and then even more so by having to wait for us.
I smiled sweetly as I climbed back in the van.
I then spent the rest of the tour sweating (air conditioning was turned down to accommodate 1 woman in the front); frantically waving my hand fan; unable to hear a thing the driver said; unable to take pictures because we never stopped again; and finally falling asleep from the heat and boredom. Some tour!
The terrible tour (as it will forever be known) took up mostly all the free time we had. We rushed through a few shops but I found nothing of interest. Eventually we ended up at the hotel bar to kill the last half hour before getting back on the ferry. 
The ferry ride back was largely uneventful but several people on jet-skis surrounded the ferry and gave us a little show criss-crossing back and forth and finally shot off in a different direction (sometimes they were airborne!) and were gone. I had a few moments of wishing I could go with them. I'm thinking jet-ski hair is probably a lot better than ferry hair!
We took a Triple A trip to get there to save us from having to drive and a lunch at the National Hotel was included. We went to the top level of the ferry so as not to miss a single thing. The sun was warming although intermittent as we sat on a bench waiting to start. I watched a couple of very old looking fishermen (don't they all look old?) spear some kind of fish (possibly fluke?) from one large barrel and stack them onto another type of container and left in the open air. They appeared to be very dead because I'm told that fish don't usually take well to being stacked. There was no movement at all from these fish.
Nobody seemed in a hurry to do anything with these fish but there was one bold seagull that tried his best to steal one. I never saw if he got one before the ferry started pulling out of the dock. They seemed too heavy or awkward for him to pick up. Seagulls are so cool.
I settled in more comfortably on my bench; braced my slightly less than pasty white legs up against the rail (come on sun, work your miracle!) and proceeded to enjoy the sea air. It wasn't long before I could feel the long, slow rolling feeling of the ferry moving through the ocean water. I found it to be a pleasant and soothing feeling.
It was a little while after that when the wind started blowing steadily and unfortunately at the back of my head. Thus the concept of "ferry hair" was born! (not to be confused with 'fairy hair' which of course is pretty. this was NOT pretty!) You cannot blow very curly hair in any direction without creating havoc. And you certainly cannot blow MY hair from the back of my head forward without creating 'ferry hair'. So while some others amused themselves by holding french fries up for the seagulls to swoop down and take from their hands, I enjoyed the sun and ignored the wind sculpture that was being created on my head.
Our lunch at the National Hotel started off a little hectic. I hadn't memorized any of our fellow tour people and we were only given the most vague directions to 'go to the right' and find a table. It was very difficult finding two seats together; especially when I wasn't sure which tables were ours. None of the tables were marked as ours. Eventually we found seats and were quickly asked what we wanted to drink and food orders were taken as well. The wait staff was very efficient. We were served clam chowder and breads before meals; I didn't eat the bread but I was told it was good. I was to have the crab cakes; my friend was having the salmon. We intended to split our meals and share them but it didn't work out that way. My crab cakes turned out to be a crab cake, sitting on a bit of rice and exactly 4 small asparagus spears. The salmon had the same set up. It was delicious but not filling. (now I know why they served the bread) That's what you get when you eat at a fancy place....good food but not a bunch of it. After the meal (a pleasant memory in no time flat) we enjoyed the sights and sounds of the island while talking with our lunch companions on the large open air deck. Then we had about a half hour to visit shops (not enough time) before we had to meet behind the hotel for an island van tour that we had signed up for.
During our 1 hour tour only one stop was made and that only happened because I yelled out from the back that we wanted to see the cliffs. Our van companions complained bitterly and continually on the walk out to the cliffs; a walk that took less than 5 mins. (seriously...less than 5 mins) Not one of them took pictures, but I did.
And by the time I was done taking pictures (about 10 mins) they were gone. We found them all packed into the van with grumpy looks on their faces and a lot of muttering going on. The driver looked unhappy too. I can only imagine what they said to him before we got there.
It seems they were highly irritated to have been so inconvenienced by stopping at the cliffs and then even more so by having to wait for us.
I smiled sweetly as I climbed back in the van.
I then spent the rest of the tour sweating (air conditioning was turned down to accommodate 1 woman in the front); frantically waving my hand fan; unable to hear a thing the driver said; unable to take pictures because we never stopped again; and finally falling asleep from the heat and boredom. Some tour!
The terrible tour (as it will forever be known) took up mostly all the free time we had. We rushed through a few shops but I found nothing of interest. Eventually we ended up at the hotel bar to kill the last half hour before getting back on the ferry. 
The ferry ride back was largely uneventful but several people on jet-skis surrounded the ferry and gave us a little show criss-crossing back and forth and finally shot off in a different direction (sometimes they were airborne!) and were gone. I had a few moments of wishing I could go with them. I'm thinking jet-ski hair is probably a lot better than ferry hair!
Live music at the National Hotel too!
Jet skis!!
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