Showing posts with label carriage road. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carriage road. Show all posts

Monday, July 15, 2013

My new hero

I am so impressed with the intuition and commitment to preserving the beauty of our country through the National Parks.  And to learn that several of the parks I really enjoy (Acadia, Grand Teton, etc) are because of the generosity of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. impresses me even more.

While working as a tour guide in Acadia National Park, I was first introduced to both the National Park system and Mr. Rockefeller's involvement in acquiring and then donating the land to the U.S. Government.  His commitment to designing the Carriage Roads, allowing non-motorized transit throughout Mount Desert Island was a major undertaking in my mind.  This year we're visiting Grand Teton and parts of Yellowstone which are also preserved for all as National Parks because of the philanthropy of Mr. Rockefeller.

Knowing how easy it is for us to get around nowadays and to think of the journey people took back in the 1920's to see some of these sites, and then for people such as Mr. Rockefeller to grasp the preservation concept even in that day and time, makes him a hero in my mind.

Images are from Acadia National Park: Porcupine Islands as seen from atop Cadillac Mountain; sunrise over Frenchmen's Bay; Carriage Road; one of several carriage road bridges





Images from Grand Teton National Park: Grand Teton from Oxbow; Bison grazing near Grand Teton, Musk Thistle; information board comparing Glacier fields today and 40 years ago






Saturday, June 11, 2011

Summertime - And the living is easy

We've been in the new RV for just 2 weeks now and I'm amazed to realize it's only been that short an amount of time. It really feels so comfortable and natural. We are still playing hide and seek with things we packed months ago as we prepared for this new chapter in our lives, and many days it's like Christmas as we find items we had forgotten about.

The words from Porgy & Bess which gave me this blog's title are so true for me right now. After a month of fog, wet and cold weather, June is showing her beauty and warming us both from the outside with the warmth of the sun as well as inside as the greens of the fields and forests develop.

Because we're able to enjoy our time in the trailer and settle in to a life, we've unpacked the bicycles, kayaks and motorcycles and have taken advantage of the beauty Acadia and Downeast Maine have to offer. Today was a 50 mile motorcycle ride to Blue Hill Maine and back. I loved feeling the wind as we drove along and there were a few times I could smell wood fires. And at one cove, the salt air smelled heavenly.

The bicycles we're just riding around the campground - it's a mile loop around and we do several passes. Once we get our stamina up we're heading into Acadia National Park to take advantage of biking some of the carriage roads. The other afternoon we loaded the kayaks and went to Echo Lake for an hour's paddle.

I didn't get out on the kayak or biking last year because of my broken wrist, so I'm really enjoying doing those again. However, I've found my next toy to try. A couple at the campground have Hobie kayaks with pedals and sails. How cool is that to kayak and then pedal boat and then sail, all without getting out of your watercraft. (see photo) Where we're still just starting out on the new lifestyle of fulltime RVing, this will have to wait.

The dogs are enjoying this new life style. Moneypenny is forever dancing at the invitation to "go for a walk" because she knows she'll get to see and possibly play with other dogs in the campground. Rugby has been a rockstar (I still think a punk at times, but he's really come around from 3 years ago). His favorite thing to do is fetch - we have a "Chuck-It" stick and ball which allows us to throw the ball a good distance and then allow Rugby to retrieve it. The other day, Chuck took his golf club and a ball to the field and Rugby took to retrieving the golf ball - Chuck thought he might have to walk back and forth in the field retrieving his own ball - he's very proud of his golf ball retriever.


A side note about my title, a facebook friend had posted a YouTube of this song on their page and seeing the song title brought me back to Choir Camp in the mid to late 1970's. The rule at camp was if you were late for a meal, you had to sing for admittance to the dining hall. I remember one lunch, my friend was late for mealtime and chose to sing Summertime. Her voice was so rich and full and this song sounded like it was meant for her voice. I had never seen the musical Porgy & Bess, nor had I heard Summertime before, but for over 30 years, that song has been deeply imbedded in my heart and mind.