I Do Stuff…

a dead tree and new life

Photo Gallery

It has been over a year since I last hiked in the park.  Not sure why it took me so long to get back there, I guess I take it for granted living 10 minutes from the park.  I took the opportunity on Sunday to head back and enjoy a leisurely stroll on a mild winter day.  All weekend the temperatures were nice, Saturday it was actually hot when I was outside.  I decided to take a few hours on Sunday and do a little hiking and enjoy the mid-50 degree weather.  Nancy reminded me that I might not get many more opportunities like this one and to take it when I could.

I wanted to park at the H lot but it was full so I went down to the next lot and hiked from there.  This lot is where my friends and I would always park when we would go fishing.  There is a service road that leads down to a fairly good size creek, which eventually leads to a small lake and the damn.  I walked down the service road and took part of the South Valley Trail around the far side of the forest.

I believe the last time I hiked this section, it was winter as well, so things looked exactly like I remember them.  There are many low lying marsh areas and many naked trees out this way.  I remember near the camp ground there was a fire that destroyed quite a few acres of land back here.  When I walked through it this time, the trees are still gone, but the forest has certainly started to recover.  There are many saplings and tall bushes grow everywhere.  You can still see the burned remains of tree stumps and logs.  I would give the forest another year and you will probably not even know there was a fire.  All of a sudden you will just walked from a dense forest into a more open area, not noticing the damage.  I have always been amazed by a forests ability to recover from such a devastating disaster.  In my regards, the forest is better off after a good fire.  It clears out all the dead underbrush and lays down a fresh layer of fertilizer for new growth.  Life goes on.

Only 4.33 mile and it was over in a couple of hours.  Monday came and the morning temperature was below freezing, this is the winter I am use to.  I think if it snows again I will trek out to the forest like I did a few years ago.  That hike was magical, the forest had a fresh blanketed of snow and not much disturbed by people.

hundreds of snow geese

Photo Gallery

Once again the family has gone to the beach house to celebrate the coming New Year.  Last year I intended to do some hiking on January 1st, but that turned out to be a bad idea as I was to hung over from the night before to even think about going for a hike.  This year I got smart, I hiked before the festivities began while I still was still feeling good.

I was thinking about the Seashore Park but I couldn’t find it on the map, not sure if it is still around, and just decided to hike another park.  To the north of Rehoboth Beach I found the Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge which is over 10,000 acres of freshwater and salt marshes, woodlands, grasslands, scrub-brush habitats, ponds, bottom land forested areas, a 7-mile long creek, and agricultural lands.  Only 30 minutes from the house this would provide all the nature I could handle for the day.

crazy dead tree

The weather was rather mild for being almost January, mid 50′s but overcast, so at times it did get a little chilly.  I parked near the entrance and decided to combine a few trails and hike the perimeter of the refuge, taking in all the various types of terrain the park had to offer.  One think I noticed early one was all the deer blinds positioned around the park.  I could understand why they where placed there as I ran across two deer while trekking through the woods towards one of the ponds.  I came across many birds like this, just stumble across them.  I rounded one corner and found 4 turkey vultures sitting on an electrical pole, two of them with their wings spread wide.  I was amazed at how large these birds are and that they allowed me to approach so close.

At the extreme end of the park there is an observation tower that overlooks much of the marsh.  Here there are several bird blinds, one of which I saw was occupied.  I was fortunate to go during the migration season and saw several flocks of hundreds of snow geese fly by.  Several species of ducks were also using the pond.  It was incredible to see hundreds of birds flying over head.  As soon as one wave was done, another would come in.  Fortunately for the ducks they stayed well clear of the bird blind.

In addition to the numerous bird blinds for hunting they have a singular photography booth along one of the marshes.  It was empty when I arrived so I took the opportunity to smoke a cigar and wait for some birds to show up.  All day I had seen only a few birds, most of the waterfowl would fly away long before I could get close enough for a picture.  I could tell they are not use to humans so I figured the blind would provide plenty of cover and allow me to get some good shots.  After almost an hour no birds came near the blind.  The few I did see would land on the other side of the pond, well out of range of my camera.  I could see coming early in the morning or even taking a small boat to the one of the bird blinds in the marsh and waiting for some birds.  It would be long time to wait, but I think the shots I could get would make the waiting worth it.

4 big turkey vultures

By now the sun was setting and the temperature was starting to dip.  I completed my loop of the refuge and headed back to my car.  The final leg of my walk is a long straight fire road that reminds me of my hike at Pinckney Island.  This is another wildlife refuge that has some great marsh land outside of Hilton Head, SC.  Prime Hook didn’t have the low hanging fog with the sun streaking in like Pinckney Island.

My hike took just over three hours and I managed to hike 4 miles according to my GPS unit.  I certainly could have hiked further but I spent much of my time going off trail trying to find some waterfowl and almost an hours in the photo blind waiting for birds that never showed.  This is a great place to hike during migratory season as you will be able to see many many bird species as they pass through town on their way south.

Well Christmas at my dad’s house is shaping up to be another winner. Under all those presents there is a tree.

Merry Christmas everyone!

When Nancy got home last night she said she had a gift or me. We already talked about gifts this year and decided to skip gifts for each other because of the wedding and all the new furniture in the house. I consider our 55″ 3D tv art because it is mounted on the wall.

Any way, when she said that I was curious what it was. She needed help getting something’s out of her Jeep which included a Christmas tree. I know it’s simple and might even be stupid but it was really nice. Nancy didn’t want a simple tree with decorations, she wanted to do it up nice this year but unfortunately that couldn’t happen. That is why when she showed up with the tree I was shocked.

This fucker is huge! $50 from the Wholefood across from her office. I actually had to cut some of the top off to make it fit in the house. It has got to be one of the fullest trees we have had ever. Looks really nice and I can’t wait to get some lights on it this evening.

now with lights and decorations!

Jersey Boys marquee

When Jersey Boys announced they were coming back to the National Theatre for a limited engagement Pat and Nancy started working out when we could go.  Shortly after tickets went on sale my Dad and Pat got tickets for Nancy and I as part of a combined birthday gift for us.  The day of the show it rained all day and there was a tree lighting ceremony on the Mall that night.  Fortunately traffic was surprisingly good and we made it to M&S Grill well before our dinner reservation.  In fact I got rock star parking on the street and with the money we saved, we got a round of drinks!

Not long after we sat down Tracy walked in followed by my Dad.  Tracy walked from her office a few blocks away and my Dad drove from his job in Maryland.  We had a great time at the restaurant, finished off two bottles of wine and a few beers before we headed to the theater for curtain call.  I unfortunately was a little disappointment with the food.  McCormick and Schmick’s is known as a seafood place, unfortunately the Grill has very little.  Of the three seafood options they offered I went with the stuffed flounder.  It was good but it didn’t blow my socks off.

We arrived at the theater just in time to grab another drink and take our seats on the middle balcony.  I am sure that the floor cost more but I thought I seats we had were better.  We had a clear view of the entire stage from this vantage point.  The stage setup was interesting as it had a balcony of sorts and wire fence everywhere.  I thought it was a little small but they had plenty of space for the performance that night.  Props would be rolled onto the stage or dropped from the ceiling to set the scene.

I am of course to young to have heard the Four Seasons when they where in their prime creating hit after hit.  The performance follows the members of the band from their humble beginnings on a street corner in New Jersey all the way to their introduction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I found the story fascinating, their personal lives and the careers were intermingled tightly.  The story is told mostly through songs with very little dialog which was cool.  My Dad said the time he saw it before the dialog and singing was reversed.  The entire cast was fantastic, the guy that played Frankie Valli (with an “i”, see the play) did a great job and had the dynamic range of the original Frankie.  Nancy turned the show into one long karaoke session, she was having a blast all night.

nice view from here

After the performance we went to rooftop bar at the W Washington hotel just down the street.  I have never been here but Tracy highly recommended it.  I must say that the hotel lobby was decorated very trendy, I certainly didn’t fell like this was my type of hotel.  Even the bar was all trendy with bird cages hanging from fake trees and a white bar that was all lite up.  The place was packed when we arrived with lots of people, the bar was a sausage fest.  Luckily we found a small table and chairs in the corner over looking the Washington Monument.  For the view alone the price of the drinks was worth it.

It was just after 11pm when we walked out of the place and started making our way home.  It was a good night out.  We had some good food, saw a play and had drinks on a rooftop bar overlooking the White House and the Washington Monument.  The next morning I was hurting from the long night, but the pain was certainly worth the effort.