More Mileposts

Remember our bicycle tour in May?
We rode from Washington DC to Pittsburgh PA.
The trip was a combination of the C&O Canal Towpath
and the Great Allegheny Passage, a rail-trail.

These are the first mileposts we noticed.
The one on the left is an original, maybe 180 years old.
On the right is a typical milepost by the National Park Service.

Mile 184 was the goal of our toughest day.
We were elated to finally see it.

While near Hancock MD we took advantage of the Western Maryland Railtrail.
Here is a milepost left by the Western Maryland Railroad.
It's just a piece of rail with paint.

Below is a typical milepost on the Great Allegheny Passage.
It's not vintage by any means.

Above is a concrete milepost of the WM Railroad.
I think the 'B' indicates miles from Boston.

A milepost remaining from the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie Railroad.
The P&LE met the WM at Connellsville PA.

Railroads used whistleposts to alert engineers to blow their whistles.
Road crossings were / are not always easy to see.

The perfect tri-fecta, a railroad milepost, a whistlepost,
and a Great Allegheney Passage Milepost
all in the same shot. Does it get any better?

Bon Voyage

Dear Family,

I just wanted to let you all know my send off date is this Saturday August 9th. There will be no party or celebration just a big ol' long 12 hour drive. So if you could pray for my parents and I for safe travels. I hope I don't forget aything!! North Carolina here I come!!!!

Love Always

I did it!!!!!!!!!

I HAVE A JOB NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be teaching 2nd grade!!!!!!!!! I'll send you all a link of my school!!!!!!!!!! Ahhh!!!! I'm floating on cloud-9!!!!!!!!!

Our Mary is getting married

We are never sure about little sisters...but my experience has been they turn out to be your best friend.

Today Annie hostessed a shower for Mary. Do you realize how quickly October is approaching?

























Mary is already beautiful and bride-like. I can't wait to see her in her real wedding dress.



















Thanks Dad, for being dad, and especially for entertaining the dogs while we partied. Of course we saved you cake.

More Gatherings in July

More family gatherings so far in July.
How do you get five brothers to smile and stand where they are told?











It takes lots of women.




















At Annies Graduation, we were happy to have Monika and John.
Nice to have visitors from afar.



































I'm happy to see the bond between my two youngest brothers.

July Blooms on Mapleleaf

The deer can't reach my deck, which may be one of the reasons I've become fond of orchids. The heat is a challenge but some of them can take the summer sun when dappled through lattice or high shade from trees. These are under a pergola with added lattice.






















I love this one but it has no tag so no name.


















Hazel Boyd














Susan something or other has two spikes of blooms.















Even with the heat, the blossoms last several weeks. It is always sad to see them fade and go.

Job Update

Hi Family,
I know many of you have been anticipating my future status on jobs and whatnot. I appreciate your support behind me every step of the way and your interest.
Well my trip to NC was very fruitful and properous. It went a little something like this...
I had to go to Human Resources first to get a map and speak with some people about my pay and packages and benefits etc. So I had my suit jacket in the backseat so it wouldn't wrinkle. I get there and of course I lock my keys in my car!!! I died a little on the inside but immediately asked the stranger next to me. She got AAA on the phone right away and the HR rep. came out and stood w/ me telling my not to worry and my interview schedule can be botched so I can get to all of the schools (5). W/in 30mins. help arrived in the form of 3 service gentlemen.
Then I began my adventure I went to my 1st school which was great they said if you want to work here call me and we'll set it up. The 2nd school was the same story, but it was for 4th grade and that's not really my forte.
The last 2 schools I really enjoyed and they said they would call me. So right now I'm waiting to hear from them. If I don't hear from them I will take the 1st school. So I HAVE A JOB! Just don't know which school and that stuff. Which is scarry.
The next day my dad and I went apartment shopping. I fell in love w/ the very 1st apartment I looked at! It is 1 bdrm. 3rd story w/ a balcony overlooking a beautiful lake. The complex has a swiming pool and fitness room. We took pics but they aren't loaded to my comp yet.
More news to come and I hope to see all of you tomorrow for the photo shoot!
Peace and Love,
Anne

Graduation

These are all the graduating seniors from my sorority minus 1 or 2. We normally have larger classes gradating (20 or so), but we are a smaller class and the other seniors are staying on an extra year.

These are my pleased parents after the ceremony with my beautiful diploma!!!

Whew! I did it!!! FINALLY!!!

Well I am officially a college graduate! Wow! I cannot believe it, just the other day I used my student ID to get the student price at the movie theatre. I knew I technically should not have done that, but I'm a broke college graduate, and I'm not stupid. I paid for that ID it's time it starts paying me.

Anyway, I graduated June 15th, 2008 sometime it the afternoon. It was a wonderful ceremony and the best part is...I never have to right another INST paper again!!!!

A Different Kind of Wildlife

Wildlife

We saw lots of wildlife on our recent
bicycle trip along the C&O Canal
and the Great Allegheny Passage.

We saw lots and lots of
turtles along the canal.

A Great Blue Heron
posing for us.

Black snake climbing straight up a tree.
We saw maybe a half dozen of these.
We could see this one had recently eaten.

This copperhead almost got
run over by us.

A snapping turtle along side the trail.
We called this day turtle day since
we saw at least 7 or 8 turtles
up on or near the trail

This plant was ubiquitous.
We saw it everyday.

We just had to grab a
picture of this one.

A pretty blossom on a bush.

We have no idea what this one was.
No idea what most of the flowers were.

Daisy.


Next installment...

You'll just have to look again next week.

Another Thing We Built

Yes it is a tree.
It is amazing what you can do with 1200 board feet of spray foam insulations and some chicken wire.

My First Post

Hi all! I wanted to post too! There's a ton happening in my life lately. But here is something really exciting I wanted to share with everyone! My sorority is Greek Week Champs. We took first place in Lip Synch, Dodgeball, and several other events. We are also a close second in a few other events. Our t-shirts are sweet! They make us look like tough rumbling people. Here are a few pictures!

The front of our shirts say. Greek Week 2008 You think it... The back say TEM the other Fraternity!

More fun stuff will follow soon!

Peace and Love,

Anne

Bicycling the Great Allegheny Passage

The Great Allegheny Passage is a rail-trail that stretches
from Cumberland, MD to almost Pittsburgh.

Borden Tunnel. This is the second of three tunnels
we rode through this day.

The Mason-Dixon Line, obviously. We had a
few laughs trying to figure out the camera's timer.

A beautiful vista of southern Pennsylvania
on our way to the summit.

The Eastern Continental Divide.
The climb up from Cumberland, MD is only a 2% grade. Not steep at all.
But it was 22 miles of unrelenting 2%.

The Salisbury Viaduct, over 3,000 feet long.

Looking down at the Casselman River
from Pinkerton high bridge.

Typical trail through the woods.

We saw lots of streams and small
waterfalls near the trail.



Combining the C&O Canal Towpath and The Great Allegheny Passage we
rode about 354 miles in seven days. It was wonderful.



Next episode: Nature.

Bicycling along the C&O Canal

We just finished riding the C&O Canal and the Great
Allegheny Passage. Together they create a motor-free corridor
between Washington, DC and near Pittsburgh, PA.

Someone was kind enough to take our picture at Great Falls.
Behind us is the Potomac River.

A typical navigation lock that allowed the canal to rise in elevation.
The canal was abandoned in 1924 and much of it has been reclaimed by the woods.

This is typical of most of the towpath, a two track path through the woods.

We took White's Ferry across to a Bed & Breakfast in Leesburg, VA.

An aquaduct that allowed the canal to cross over creeks.

This is a typical lock-keeper's house.

For twenty miles or so we were able to take advantage of the
Western Maryland Rail Trail that parallels the C&O. The asphalt pavement
was a welcome change of pace.

Inside the Paw Paw Tunnel. It's 3119 feet long and chilly inside.

Exiting the Paw Paw Tunnel.

Next installment... The Great Allegheny Passage.