North Road

For about a week now North Road in Broad Brook has been closed in one section and traffic detoured. I had heard that a sink hole developed at the bottom of the big hill on North Rd....somewhere near the small bridge down there. Well then more recently I heard that the sink hole was at least partially caused by some construction that was being done in that area. And then I went on line and a friend of mine had posted a picture of it. All I can say is what a mess!! And how unfortunate for the town of Broad Brook, as they are having their carnival this coming weekend. I certainly hope they can finish the repairs by then but it doesn't seem very likely does it??

Kaylee's Gymnastic Show

 A few shots from Kaylee's gymnastic show. They carried out the show as if they were at the Olympics. 
Very cute!

Father's Day 2013

I think of my Dad so often and wish that he was still with us. He was my hero and he set the standard for all the men in my life to live up to. Sadly, not one of them has ever come close. 

More of Maine

All these pictures were taken by Bunny. She did better than me on a lot of these. 

A MUCH better shot of that eagle in the tree top on our nature cruise. 

Bunny's seal shots.

More seals lollygagging on the rocks while that eagle watches their every move. 

Here is the same eagle again. 

Bunny saw this huge beaver hut on the way up the mountain...you know while we were still able to think straight. She got a great shot here! I've never seen one so big before. Obviously made by giant beavers. lol

These are shots that Bunny took when we pulled over while trying to go up Cadillac Mountain. Take a look at what my hair is doing and you'll believe that it was WINDY up there. 

So happy to get out of that car....plus I'm normally an idiot anyway.  

This is a very tame shot. It got worse as we went up. I'm a little surprised to find that Bunny was taking pictures at all.   

Taken from inside the car. I believe this was before all the screaming; crying and general wailing started. lol

Bar Harbor Nature Cruise

Not all parts of our trip were terrifying. We did take a great nature cruise in and around Frenchman's Bay. They showed us summer cottages of the rich and famous; eagles; mother and baby seals; some kind of black sea bird (possibly a duck) that is supposed to be related to the Loon and told us all kinds of knowledge about the area; the islands; the mountains and the rock formations. At the time I was very interested but also very 'distracted' by the huge ocean swells that persisting in making me wish I hadn't eaten breakfast. It was touch and go there for a little while. (yet another thing I didn't know about myself....I get sea sick!) Then I found that if I looked forward; held my upper body still and let the lower part of me 'ride out the wave', I didn't feel so bad anymore. I know that sounds weird...but it worked. If the waves weren't bothering you on the cruise the freezing cold wind was sure to have an impact. They handed out blankets for us 'Southerners' but that was about as effective at keeping us warm as a paper towel would have been. 

We did have eagles pointed out along the way. In the photo above, to the left of the highest tree, you will see a small white spot on top of a brown smudge. That white spot is the head of a bald eagle sitting in the tree. The nest was nearby but I couldn't make it out no matter how hard I looked. I wish I had a better camera for this shot because I was unable to zoom in anymore than this. 

This is an immature bald eagle flying through the air. We were told the immature eagles don't develop a white head for about 4 years. 

This is another immature bald eagle sitting on the rock ledge. He was watching the gulls (who were terrified and flew into the air every time he approached) but we were told that there is another type of bird that nests on the rock formations and the eagles eat so much of their young that its considered 'fast food' for the eagles. Our guide also said that the birds they have been praying on are extremely common (and bothersome to the general population) and no one was concerned that their young are being picked off. I thought that was a rather sad comment but Mother Nature does tend to do her own thing...it's not up to us what they eat. 

To the right side there are small white marks on the rocks here. They are baby seals laying in the sun while their moms are looking for food. To the left there are some adult seals too. 

Momma seal came a little closer to see what was going on in her neighborhood. I learned that seals in the wild are not easy to get a photo of because they are so quick. They pop up for a brief look then bob back under water and may or may not come back up again in that area. They are masters of the sneak peek. 

Another seal taking a peek at us. But this one was unwilling to really expose herself. 

I was lucky to get this picture. This is a momma seal with her baby seal just behind her. They take the babies out with them for awhile to teach them how to hunt and catch fish for themselves. Then they leave them on the rocks while they go looking again for themselves. 

This was one of the babies sunning himself on the rocks. I think we woke him up. He looks a bit confused....like he didn't know he had company. :

Cadillac Mountain Experience

If I told you these pictures were from the top of Cadillac Mountain in Bar Harbor, Maine I'd be lying. These were taken at one of the spots on the way up. I'm sure these parking and viewing areas were created for cowards such as myself. You know....people that are so afraid of heights that they are instantly convinced that they are going to die when they see nothing but sky while they are driving up a terrifyingly high mountain. Yeah, I'm one of THOSE people.  I know...I know... you can't be more surprised than I was to find out what a coward I am. I honestly had no idea. This was my first mountain drive and it's probably going to be my last. The real surprise was that as soon as I got out of the car and started walking out onto the gently sloping rock face I no longer felt afraid. I guess that means I'm only a coward when it comes to cars flying through the air. 

I specifically remember asking the hotel personnel if Cadillac Mountain was going to be a scary drive like Mt Washington is in CT, when they recommended we drive it. I was assured that nooooooo, it's not scary at all! And it's a MUST!  (Luckily for them I didn't see them again while I was there.)

Later I did  tell one of the rangers how terrifying the experience was for both of us and she wasn't surprised at all. She said there are several 'rescues' performed every year because people go part way up and can't go any further or go all the way to the top and can't come down. I thought...Oh Really??!! Now I don't feel so bad about turning around and coming back down. And the trip down incidentally was even MORE terrifying because the wide open sky was now on my immediate right because I was on the outside lane. There are no guardrails to be seen anywhere. 

So try to picture the ride down with two terrified women; one repeating over and over just look at the yellow line, just look at the yellow line, while the other one was dangerously close to crying and unable to speak at all. When that didn't work I interjected all manner of one liners such as: no reason to be afraid, everything is ok, my legs are NOT turning to water, etc. But the only thing that really worked was getting back down below the tree line.  

By the way....it was COLD on that mountain too! This is Bunny freezing but no longer terrified. Of course we still had to drive down from this spot.

And this is proof that they do indeed train to take people down from Cadillac Mountain. We saw them training the next day....while walking on a much less hazardous trail. 

Escape to Northampton Art Festival- 2013

These are the only kind of bugs that don't freak Bunny completely out. 

These are some of my favorites from this years festival. 

The giraffe certainly took center stage at the festival.  

But this bad boy certainly caught everyone's eye too!

I think this may end up being a yearly thing for us. This festival was even better than last year's and there were new artists with their works on display as well. Excellent!

Girls Night Out

We started out at Ruby Tuesday's and I couldn't decide which one of these pictures I liked the best. 

So I'm posting them both and you can decide for yourself. 

And when you get your picture taken with this handsome guy (Boomer) you know the fun has just started!