Tag Archives: rocks

Polar Caves Part 4….The fork in the road. More caves, more rocks.

November 20, 2019 Rivergirl 36 Comments

As so often happens in life, we came to a fork in the road.

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Mind you, by this time we’d climbed 6,492,745 steps…. so the fact that the sign to the left said difficult route? Did not fill me with joy.

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But ever the supportive wife, I let the husband decide which path we’d take. Thankfully his aching back and residual sciatica made him veer right, although the name Devil’s Turnpike didn’t inspire a lot of confidence as to it’s ease of use.

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Husband explored more caves.

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I photographed more trees and rocks.

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And climbed more steps.

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And then even more steps.

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And then thought about all the steps I’d have to climb down when we were through.

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Did I mention there were a lot of steps?

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There were a lot of steps.

Okay, back to the rocks.

Why is there never a pogo stick around when you need one?

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We walked past rocks, over rocks, through rocks….

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And occasionally under rocks.

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While praying silently for the ground to be earthquake free.

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Yeah, thanks for that helpful factoid.

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As the husband climbed the Devil’s Turnpike…..

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And entered the next cave…

I took the path that had my name written all over it.

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All day long baby…

I do give him credit though.

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He’s still pretty limber for his age…

One final cave to go… and it was called the Lemon Squeeze.

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Yours truly?

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Yup. Every party has a pooper… and that day, it was me.

Oddly enough the Squeeze was the husband’s downfall. He couldn’t do it. Too small, too tight.

And you know if he got stuck? He was staying there…. because I wasn’t going in after him.

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Polar Caves Part 3. The caves… and more rocks.

November 19, 2019 Rivergirl 40 Comments

The caves.

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I’d like to tell you I explored them all.

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But I’d be lying.

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They were tiny, cramped, straight down and seriously dark.

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So yours truly let the husband crawl through them while I took the bypasses above ground.

I know, a post about caves from above the caves doesn’t sound very satisfying….

But does that look at all comfortable?

I still got to walk through rocks…

And without all the bumps, bruises and scrapes the husband amassed that day.

Although there were some dead ends.

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I’m not sure who named the caves…

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But there certainly were a lot of them.

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And some of the exits were awesome.

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Damn!

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That’s a lot of rock.

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Husband was happy as a clam. He used to go caving as a kid and it probably brought back some good memories. You know, like terror… and claustrophobia.

He kept trying to talk me into going down there with him, but when I peered down into the blackness?

I looked something like this….

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Just….

No.

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I think he was a little nervous after reading the name of this one …

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But he shimmied through quite well.

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Then turned around and asked for my extra camera. (Pardon his language. Sh*t is a favorite word lately)

I left him happily exploring and snapping pictures in the dark… (which I won’t share with you because he can’t take a photo to save his life. They’re either blurry… or solid black) …and made my way around another bypass.

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My appreciation for the people who built these boardwalks growing with each step.

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Clearly no rock was harmed during the construction process.

Well done boardwalk designer.

Well done.

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The internet is a funny old thing….

November 18, 2019 Rivergirl 21 Comments

I had to laugh yesterday when I checked my stat page and saw that something called The Cape Cod Daily News was listed as a referrer.

Since we just got back from a trip to the Cape, (and yes, we tend to be talkers and meet a lot of people) I was wondering which one had found me.

Not to mention how.

Because while I am a girl, it may surprise you to learn that my real name is not actually River.

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Shocking, I know.

And it’s not like I start conversations with strange people by saying, “You really should check out my blog at WordPress. There’s plenty of woodchuck drivel for everyone.”

So I perused the Cape Cod Daily News site and found this:

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I had tagged Cape Cod, so they included my post.

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Now I can only imagine the reaction of the poor native Cape Codders who clicked on it and found me channeling Khaled. That couldn’t have been pleasant.

And while I won’t tag Cape Cod this time… because let’s face it, I’m basically making fun of what they consider news…. the coastal cities residents are going to rue the day when Cape Cod Daily puts that action to work when I start my latest vacation series photo blitz.

There’s bound to be rocks.

Won’t they be thrilled?

http://capecoddaily.com/

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Polar Caves Part 2… rocks, trees and more rocks.

November 18, 2019 Rivergirl 31 Comments

Walking along a lovely path past a duck pond….

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We found the covered bridge.

And kissed.

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Continuing along the walkways…

We read the park’s history.

And decided what to do first.

Remember when I said this series would have a lot of rocks?

The rocks start now.

Matter of fact, this section was called the Rock Garden.

So clearly I’m not the only enthusiast.

I loved it.

It was like a moss covered fairy village with fabulously crafted wooden boardwalks.

Meticulously cut around the rocks.

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I could have happily wandered there all day.

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Rocks!

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Some seriously big rocks.

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Did I mention this was a rock garden….

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And it was full of rocks?

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I was loving it.

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Though I admit getting a little tired from all the steps.

But the rocks….

They rocked.

As did the funky lichen, ferns and moss.

The steps?

My thighs said, not so much.

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But we kept walking.

Through some seriously old rocks…

A veritable maze of old rocks.

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Fern covered rocks!

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And then we discovered the caves we’d come to see…

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Were way up there.

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White Mountains trip Day 2…. Upper Jackson Falls

November 14, 2019 Rivergirl 44 Comments

Yes… we’re still on the second day of our trip.

And yes, we’re still at the Falls.

Hey, just be glad I’m weeding through the 1704 photos and only giving you the highlights.

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Working our way up the falls took some time.

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But it really was lovely.

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Nothing like hanging out with Mother Nature to lower your blood pressure.

The closer we got to the top, the more people just plunked themselves down on the rocks and made themselves comfortable…

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And why not?

It’s a great place to read, unwind…and enjoy the day.

At the top you cross a wonderful iron bridge…

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Look both ways…

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And say thank you Jackson Falls…

I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with you.

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And your rocks.

(Or maybe that was just me.)

Done with the Falls, we headed into town for some sustenance.

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And found the cutest pumpkin display ever…

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Next to our destination.

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It looked promising.

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Warm and inviting.

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A vintage inn and tavern whose bar was packed to the rafters that late Saturday afternoon.

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I wanted to love it.

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I mean come on, they had ski lift seating….

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And a sign for the Woodchuck Trail. Who doesn’t love that?

But the service was terrible, the beer was warm and the food? When it finally came, over an hour after we ordered, was barely edible.

Sorry Martin, I didn’t even bother with pictures. Dry meatless ribs and a soggy Rachel sandwich do not warrant photographs.

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But martian pumpkins and gourds?

Definitely do.

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White Mountains trip…Day 2. Mount Washington Valley and Jackson Village.

November 12, 2019 Rivergirl 29 Comments

After our moose sighting, we set out through the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire.

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We’ve done Washington many times and this trip we were just passing through…

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It was a crisp and clear 64 degrees down below…

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But she already had a 4 inch dusting of snow.

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Not yet, thank you very much.

I’ll stay down below where it’s warmer and greener.

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Next stop?

Jackson N.H….. where they’re famous for their falls. They’re a little hard to find but when you see houses with backyards like this –

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You know you’re getting close.

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Along the way, the husband was fascinated by an early snow plow….

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But I told him keep walking…. it won’t fit in the barn.

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We headed down a path looking for the falls….

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And found a few rocks…

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With a wedding venue set up alongside. A sign said the public was invited, and to feel free to come as you are.

You have to love New England.

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Still looking for the falls, we backtracked, and walked up a steep sidewalk past a very pink cottage.

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And found more rocks.

Some running water….

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And the soon to be married couple…

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Taking some wedding portraits with an interesting backdrop.

And finally, the bottom of the falls….

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White Mountains trip… Day 2. Moose Cave.

November 6, 2019 Rivergirl 39 Comments

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Down the road from Screw Auger Falls in Grafton Notch you’ll find a trail to the Moose Cave.

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Easy walking through the forest….

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And steps that run along a gorge.

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We did a lot of looking down.

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The fractures in the granite were impressive and show you what the force of running melt water can do.

And then before we knew it…

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We saw a sign, but no cave.

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Oh, wait….

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I guess that hole was it.

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Not my idea of a cave…. but I did feel sorry for the moose.

Action shots of my senior citizen husband with the bad back and sciatica….

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Once a Marine, always a Marine.

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Uncave-like cave seen, experienced and photographed… we took an alternate trail out.

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Some granite steps…

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And a tree root staircase later….

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We came upon a moss garden.

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What kind of moss you ask?

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Reindeer moss.

Isn’t that exciting?

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Look how excited I was…

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Mutilate the moss?

No…

I would never.

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We’re baaaaack!

October 28, 2019 Rivergirl 33 Comments

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I know, you never missed me.

But we had a fabulous nature filled week in Western Maine and Eastern New Hampshire and are happily exhausted.

We toured the White Mountains…. hiked, resort hopped, slept with rubber ducks, took beautiful scenic drives, leaf peeped, stalked a moose, went sight seeing, built a cairn, peed in more portapotties than I thought possible, and basically ate and drank our way across 2 states.

Life is good.

At least for us.

There are 1704 photos waiting to be posted here… so it may not be good for you.

And if you thought my series about the red rocks of Arizona were plentiful?

We were in granite country for 7 days people!

Rocks and trees, trees and rocks, more trees, even more rocks. We even went to a rock museum.

Weeeeeee!

But there are some baby barn updates I need to fit in, as well as all the other scheduled stuff…. so it won’t be wall to wall granite.

You’re welcome.

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Birthday presents no one gets excited about.

April 7, 2019 Rivergirl 29 Comments

We recently celebrated my husband’s birthday.

And as I posted earlier, among other things….

I gave him a rock.

Because I’m that kind of wife.

We celebrated at a friend’s house, and naturally he was speechless.

Okay, at first he didn’t know what the hell it was.

But that’s not always a bad thing. And he could honestly say no one had ever given him a rock before… so that should count for something.

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But if you thought that was odd?

Witness the gift our friends gave him.

At first it was a box filled with the weirdest packing peanuts I’d ever seen.

Then it was a little box that said..

And then…

And…

Are you noticing the trend?

This went on forever.

And while I’m sure it was funnier with the 3 margaritas I’d had, even sober ….you have to applaud the effort.

Finally he reached the end.

And I thought, oh yeah.

This is going to be good.

I was wrong.

Very, very wrong.

Huh?

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Turns out it was a war nickel which had popped up while my husband was playing poker with the guys a while back. Husband is a coin collector, and had explained what it was to the group.

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So….

Yeah.

They gave him a nickel.

And I gave him a rock.

Do we know how to make a birthday boy happy or what?

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Because I’m that kind of wife.

March 26, 2019 Rivergirl 30 Comments

My husband recently had a birthday.

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Yes.

I’m that kind of wife as well, but I digress.

Along with some very nice, serious gifts…

I ordered him something from Amazon.

The box it came in was rather disappointing.

But nothing could dampen the sheer joy I felt at giving him….

A rock.

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Yes, Cindy.

I did.

I bought him a rock…

A rock!

Or rather, a solid metal rock replica.

Because after our recent vacation in Arizona, and all the amazing rocks we saw out there… ( did I tell you about that? I seem to remember some subtle mentioning of rocks) …. I had to present my beloved with his very own rock (replica).

And may I just say?

Bravo Amazon.

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