Category: 1 – Photography

Kayaking on the Potomac River, Brunswick, MD 20090816

Posted on by chappyshi

I drove up to Brunswick, MD, to paddle on 16 August.  It is about a 45 mile drive and longer than I would normally drive for an afternoon paddle but I hadn’t paddled up there so I figured WTF, eh?  The river, though low, seemed to be running fairly well by my estimation.  It took me a good hour plus to get upstream a couple of miles.

I got up to a point where I could see Weverton Cliffs which is a vantage point on the Appalachian trail that I have hiked to from both the north and south.  The view from there to Harper’s Ferry and the junction of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers is awesome!

Trip to Vermont for VUHS Class of 79 Reunion (Not That I Graduated There)

Posted on by chappyshi

I will be, depending on the results of a job interview I had yesterday, heading out of the DC area north toward Vermont on Thursday, 30 July.  I would like to stop in the Scranton area to kayak on the Susquehanna River and visit an old Navy buddy in Avoca or camp in the area.  Should those plans come to fruition, I hope to be up at Linda Devino’s the next day around noon.

Saturday I will go to the reunion at D.A.R. State Park, which is about a 5 minute walk from the Devino’s.  My good friend, Danny Mack, will be in the area visiting his mother…we hope to hook up sometime other than during the reunion.  My good friend, Mike Livingston, who lives in Middlebury is another person with whom I would like to hook up at a time other than the reunion, hopefully at his camp in Ripton.  I love that place.  I would be happy to hook with anyone else that might be around while I am in the area.

Otherwise,  I will be traveling about Vermont kayaking and camping for a week or so.  I hope to get back up to Brighton State Park where I spend a very enjoyable three nights last October.  I would also like to get up to Lake Carmi State Park, Grand Isle State Park, and paddle in Lake Willoughby, the Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge,  and Otter Creek.

I did all of this last October (see the pictures) less hitting Lake Carmi but I did it off-season.  I might have some difficulties during the peak of the summer vacation season getting the awesome campsites I got last year in October.  I would also greatly enjoy spending a night at Ed Devino’s deer camp in Pittsfield if I can swing it.  Who is to say whether or not I will be able to fit all this in especially since I would like to get a day or two of camping and paddling in New York state either in the Adirondacks or the Finger Lakes on the way back home.

To top it all off, my brother-in-law, Ed Davidson, who is from Rutland will be there visiting his folks.  He of course wants to show me some of his world and introduce me to his folks and I want to show him Vermont from my perspective.  So much to do and so little time.

Oh, and we will be drinking some beers and playing some Cornhole!

Rain “On Your Scooter” Much?

Posted on by chappyshi

I started off two Saturday’s ago at about 1100 on the scooter (2003 Kawasaki ZRX-1200R) for West Virginia on Route 50.  Route 50 has some great curves from Gore, VA to Rt. 219 in West Virgina.  I had intended to take 219 south to Elkins, WV, where, if I remember correctly, my old boss, Charlie Adams, went to college.  From there I hoped to find the most entertaining roads that would take me back east to Centreville.

Unfortunately, I just got into the curves on Rt. 50 and did not even make it to Romney, WV, when the clouds and weather began to look most ominous.  I stopped at a gas  station at the intersection of 50 and 29 South.  It was about 1300…I dismounted…used the restroom…and started on my lunch.  It was about then that the rain started.

I was able to finish my lunch and get my gear on my bike  covered up without too many issues.  I put the rain cover on my tank bank since my valuables, cell phone, and cameras were in that.  My tail bag had only a pair of sandals and my flexible cooler, in which was my lunch and water bottles so I wasn’t to concerned about how wet that got.

Thinking that I was going to be able to ride out of the rain by heading immediately south, I only put on my upper body rain liner.  After encountering more rain and coming to a store at an intersection, I stopped to put on my rain paints.  I am darn glad I did!

I had about a 50 or 60 mile ride south in front of me and then about 90 miles  back to Centreville.   I kept the rain gear on the whole time.  Headed south after putting on my rain pants,  I rode through some serious rain squalls with heavy winds and downpours.  My rain gear is pretty good.  I stayed pretty dry considering the conditions.

Unfortunately, the rain put a damper on the technical aspects of the ride.  It made me think though.  Heading east on Rt. 211, you cross over two mountain ranges with great curves going up and down the mountains.  Unfortunately, the road is very popular with bikers, many of who are not good riders and/or take the curves at speeds beyond their abilities.

At the top of the mountain coming down from Skyline Drive, there was a sign saying that the next three miles were locations of lots of motorcycle accidents.  Sadly, as I carefully, it was sprinkling, took my corners down the mountain, I came around a corner and saw a police car and a fire truck parked on the outside of the next corner.  There were the ruins of a sport bike wrapped up in the guardrail on the outside of the corner.  Stupid.

While trying to find out about that specific accident, I found that that route is notorious for rude, obnoxious sport bike riders and accidents as a result of their inexperience.

NTL, rain and bike accident not withstanding, it was a pretty fun ride.  I saw a Sunbeam Tiger and a Willy’s Jeep, not very common occurences these days. (Pictures from the Internet.)

The coolest thing I saw on the trip, forgive me if I don’t get it exactly right, was a street named, “Keister Hoover.”  From my experience, the word “keister” means rump.  So the street name then is named a “butt vacuum?”

Susan Tedeschi and Buddy Guy at Wolf Trap, Vienna, VA, June 21, 2009

Posted on by chappyshi

I just got back from seeing Susan Tedeschi and Buddy Guy at Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA.   I couldn’t find anyone else that wanted to go so I dropped $75 and got a 3d row seat right in the middle of the orchestra pit.  The seating was not comfortable…think unfixed metal chair with thin cushion and no arms.  I had two overweight people on the left of me and an asshole on the right of me.  I never could sit all the way back in my seat because I couldn’t scrunch my shoulders together enough.

However, and this is a big however, I have never been that close at a concert and it was well worth it.  I wish I had ignored the “No Photos” rule because everyone else seemed to including the ushers.  Buddy Guy was all in the crowd playing his guitar and the cameras were flashing left and right.  I could have brought my Nikon D60, used no flash, and got some awesome pictures from the 10 feet I was away from the stage.  Oh well.

Susan Tedeschi, who isn’t a big name by any stretch but could be, was awesome.  She  writes some very good songs.  The version of the title song from here 2008 album “Back to the River” was stunning.  She is married to Derek Trucks (nephew of Butch Trucks of Allman Brothers’ fame) and  she appears to picking up a quite a tips on lumbering from him.  She was working that axe!

Buddy Guy was a different story.  He got up there and started wailing on his guitar and put Susan to shame.  But his act was all a show.  He is such a powerful guitarist I justed wanted to hear him crank out the jams for his set.  As it was, we got about an hour and 15 minutes of his “show” which featured way too much audience participation.

As I mentioned, he did go up into the crowd which is apparently a signature thing for him.  He also did some partial covers or imitations of the likes of Marvin Gaye, John Lee Hooker, and Ray Charlies.  He somewhat redeemed himself by bringing Susan out on stage for an impromptu duet of  “Feels Like Rain.”  Buddy put on good show and was entertaining, but I would have preferred he spent his time picking and grinning!

200905 Vacation in Salvo, NC.

Posted on by chappyshi

Thanks to my sister Kim and her husband Don, I got to spend last week in Salvo, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  We ate well: beef tenderloin, Caribbean Jerk chicken, bratwurst and hotdogs, Talapia with mango, habenero, and tequila sauce, Chicken Divan (an old family favorite), shrimp, and pizza.  We drank Margaritas, Pina Coladas, Mojitos, and beers, including a very good Bell’s Brewery IPA called Two Hearted Ale.

It was a pleasure to share the house with, at various times, Kim’s  ex-husband’s sons, Brian and A.J, and Brian’s wife Sarah as well  as AJ’s girlfriend Tina.  Kim’s ex-husband’s first wife,  Judy, who is a beach fanatic and the mother of Brian and AJ, joined us on Sunday and stayed the night.  That was good since she could be with her two sons for Mother’s Day.

I must say I enjoy the company of all  these people.  The relationships are very comfortable even though not blood  kin by any stretch.  I’ve known everyone for so long that the are like cousins, nieces, and nephews I never had.  I look forward to the time when my blood nephew Henry and niece Ava can hang out with us all.

The house was cool and within easy walking distance of the beach.  I must admit, that since it was early in the season, we didn’t spent too much time on the beach.  The house had a pool and a hot tub which we made good use of.  The water in the pool was a bit chilly but quite refreshing.  The ocean in contrast was much colder and rougher.  The waves and the undertow were intense.  Any time spent in the water would have involved a struggle and a swimsuit packed with sand.

We did bring the Cornhole  boards down and get some good action going.  Tina was very competitive.  She and Julie did their best to dominate the men but AJ and I were able to fairly consistently come out ahead.

I paddled twice in the Pea Island NWR.  That was okay, basically on the Pamlico Sound  side, but there were times when the water was just too shallow and I had to get out of my boot and wade to deeper water.  I had hoped to paddle twice at the Alligator NWR but worries about the weather kept me from going there for a second day.  And of course the weather was fine but by the time I saw that,  it  was too  late.

Overall, the weather was nice, and cool, enough that I slept out on the balconies for four nights!  That was good training for camping  out this holiday weekend at a friend’s  house on the Shenandoah River!

Creatures sighted include:

  • Great Blue Herons
  • Snowy Egrets
  • Great (American) Egrets
  • White Ibis
  • Red-winged Blackbirds
  • Scarlet Tanagers
  • Goldfinches
  • Ducks
  • Brown Pelicans
  • Laughing Gulls
  • Common Terns
  • Tri-colored Herons
  • Plover, Willets, etc?
  • Alligators

I am terrible at identifying shore birds so I can’t be too specific on many of the birds I saw.
Here is an alligator I spotted on Sawyer Lake in the Alligator River NWR.
Alligator from Sawyer Lake

There were hundreds of these butterfly’s feeding on these plants as I drove on the wildlife routes in the Alligator River NWR.

Monarch Butterflies?

Here I am at the end of Sawyer Lake starting my return trip…before I saw the alligator.

Sawyer Lake Water Trail

These are the remnants of a shipwreck on the beach right near our rental home.

One of the Many Shipwreck on the Outer Banks

These are White Ibis’s…many of which I saw in two paddles in the Pea Island NWR.

What I Think Is a Whte Ibis

Pictures from Visit to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center (located at Dulles Airport Close to Home)

Posted on by chappyshi

A few weekends ago I ventured off to stretch my still ailing knee and play around with my relatively new digital SLR (Nikon D-60).  Udvar-Hazy is right down the road for me and though I have passed by it every day for years I have never stopped in.

It is well worth a visit though a bit overwhelming for those of us who are not serious aviators or aviator want-to-be’s.  It was a good chance to explore the manual settings on my camera and take advantage of existing light, wide apertures, and slow shutter speeds.  See more pictures from the visit here.  All pictures were taken with existing light…no flash was employed.

It was amazing how many planes were on the deck and in the air at this place.

Udvar-Hazy Planes

Wright on Bros!

A retired SR-71 Blackbird.