Category Archives: National Park Service

Hurricanes that Disappear

When you travel, weather is always a concern, but sometimes the results of weathermen are amazing. The location I’m visiting is Shenandoah National Park, and we planned to stay through a weekend. I obtained reservations for Wednesday and Thursday nights at Loft Mountain Campground, the more southern large campground in the park, and I had a spot at Big Meadows for Friday evening, but I needed one in Big Meadow for Saturday and Sunday nights. I checked the reservations for the park online for Big Meadows, and there were no reservable spots. It looked like all of the Washington DC metro area was heading to the mountains before the Labor Day weekend. Continue reading →

Blackwoods Campground – Acadia National Park

The last time I was to Blackwoods Campground, Louise and I camped there in 2015. We’d been there before, back in the ‘90’s and had a great time with the girls. The 2015 trip was in lieu of a cross country trip. It was complicated, but we were in Blackwoods because I love her. I had great difficulty last night looking across the table, and her not being there. This is the first National Park I’ve returned to without her. When you love someone so much the quote from the Bible “ . . and the two shall become one . .” becomes true, you develop a perception of normality, and when your normality becomes askew, you subconsciously look around to see why. You don’t think, you just am. Is she outside? Oh. No. Where is she? Oh. No. I’m going out to make a fire, want .  Oh. No. I really hope that with my nieces as my companions, and seeing the new in their experiences, revisiting some of the spectacular places Louise and I frequented, later this month, will help in that aspect. I hope. Continue reading →

Back in the USA

The Ceilidh (pronounced Kay-Lee) last night was great. There is incredible talent in the Maritimes, and I listened to some last night. The hall was packed, the primary singer Prendergast was great, his sin Sean Prendergast was even better, and there was a guest filler, 16 year old Cailyn MacAulay. There was an intermission where they served blueberry tea and oat cake cookies. The cookies were home made by the mom and grandmother of the Prendergast’s, and were a combination of Walkers short bread and a really good oatmeal cookie. The party ended at about 10:00PM. By the time I returned to the campsite and got settled it was 11PM. Sleep finally arrived sometime around midnight. There went the early start. Continue reading →