9th Blog Anniversary

Happy Thankful Thursday!

It is not only Thankful Thursday, but my 9th blog anniversary.  I started blogging July 13th 2009.
It has been great meeting bloggers both in person and virtually from around the world. A couple of bloggers  I have been able to meet in person,  Linda in Pennsylvania , her blog is  The Beauty Around Us and Mary in Kentucky and her blog is  Red Shouldered Hawks of Tingsgrove.  I may slow down occasionally but I could never stop blogging. I love  reading other blogs and  seeing photos from around the world. .

I am sharing some of my favorite images, hikes and birds from the past year.

July 2017, I am sharing a Veery off the local fire road near our home. 

Aug 9th 2017, we went on a hike to Maryland Heights overlooking Harper's Ferry. A hard hike but worth the view.

Sept 28th, a trip to Western Pennsylvania and  Erie Pa. We met blogger Linda at the  Kinzua Bridge State Park.

Oct 14th was my 200th  Saturday Critter party and post. A cute Field Sparrow seen at the Big Meadows Shenandoah Nat'l Park. I do not see the Field Sparrows often so this one was a treat.

From Nov 13 2017 a look at the moon from my sister's place in Ocean Isle Beach, NC

On Dec 4th 2017, I posted this cute Carolina Chickadee mid air. 

On Jan 4th I posted one of my favorite winter visitors the Pine Warbler.

Feb 18th, during my Great Backyard Bird Count I had a pair of Bluebirds checking out one of my birdhouses. 

March 2018, we visited Assateague Island National Seashore. Always wonderful to see the wild ponies. 

April 2018, Hubby and I enjoyed an overnight trip to Shenandoah NP. We stayed at the Skyland Resort. It was nice to be the later in the day to see the sunset.

May 2018,  We went on a road trip to Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. I met blogger Mary in Kentucky.

June 2018, I saw a Summer Tanager off the local fire road. 

I am thankful to meet some bloggers in person and all the bloggers from around the world I have met virtually thru the internet. 

I am thankful to go on our getaways and road trips.

I am thankful for all your visits and comments. 

Thank you Michelle for hostingHappy Monday, enjoy your day and new week! Thankful Thursday

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments on my previous post. Have a happy day!

Maryland Heights, Harpers Ferry Maryland

Hello and happy Thursday!

I am sharing some photos from Aug 9th. The almost full moon and our 4.2 mile hike to the Maryland Heights overlook at Harpers Ferry, Maryland. This is National Park land and you must either have a park pass or pay at the pay box near the trailhead.

My morning started off with a view of the moon setting.

The 4.2 mile trail, was a steep hike to the overlook at Maryland Heights and Harpers Ferry Maryland. We had to stop often, I guess we are not used to hiking the steep hills and elevation change of 1519 ft.  We stayed on the Overlook red trail, but there is a blue trail that heads to a Stone Fort used during the Civil War. If you take the blue trail add 2 more miles onto your hike.

In the mosaic below are some wildflowers, a blurry Eastern Towhee, some spiders webs and one of the biggest beetles I have seen in Maryland. I believe the beetle is the Eastern-Hercules-Beetle. This beetle was as long as my index finger or longer. I heard many birds during our walk, like the Pileated Woodpeckers, Tufted Titmouse and Chickadee, Cardinals and Blue Jays. We also saw a few deer running across the trail. Sorry, I could not take photos of the birds and critters.

The view looking down at Harpers Ferry, the Shenandoah River on the left side meets up with the Potomac River which is on the right side. Two closer bridges, one is a pedestrian bridge for the Appalachian Trail and the other bridge is for working CSX and other trains. In the far distance, top of the photo is Route 340 heading to Charlestown West Virginia.

From the overlook I zoomed in on the St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

I also zoomed in on this white barn, way in the distance in Harpers Ferry. I will share this barn with Tom's Barn Collective on Sunday.

Can you see the little white spot on the top of the photo below?  The barn looks like it is hiding in the trees. That is the barn in the photo above.

A view of the Potomac River from the Maryland Heights overlook. In the summer months, rafting companies take many people on the Potomac for both tubing and rafting. My hubby and I along with some friends did the tubing years ago.  I did my first post on River rider, Harpers Ferry

Harpers Ferry West Virginia is a National Park. There are many historical buildings you can tour, I love the views of the rivers. It is a gorgeous area, where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia all meet.

Even though this was a super hard hike, hubby and I would like to do this hike again when the trees are turning colors in the fall. I found out about this hike from searching the internet for various hikes in our area.. 



My thankful list for today:
I am thankful for Google, I am able to research hikes, trips and much more. The internet is a wonderful thing.
I am thankful for your visits and your comments.

"Be thankful for all the troubles you don't have." 

Thanks so much for visiting and for your nice comments. Have a happy day!

Thank you Michelle for hosting. Thankful Thursday

Thank you Tom for hosting The Barn Collective

Thank you to the hosts of   Skywatch Friday

River Rider

Yesterday I spent the day with my DH and a group of friends tubing on the Shenandoah River near Harpers Ferry. We opted for the lazy flat river over the more exciting white water trip. The weather was wonderful and after getting our tubes on the river we could tell we were not the only ones who waned to go tubing. The river in front of us was filled with a rainbow of colors, the colors of a hundred or more tubes.

I do have to say the flat river option was very slow...it was slower than the lazy rivers at the themed water parks. The white water option also looked slow. The water levels in July are just not high enough to make for an exciting white water trip. Needless to say as were floating down the river I was enjoying the company of friends,the scenery and of course the birds. I was also amazed at how many dragonflies were on the water and on us as we floated down the river. I thought it was kind of cool to have the dragonflies land on our legs and arms while we were tubing. I guess they wanted to hitch a ride down river.

Being a birder I couldn't help but notice the birds flying around the river and in the sky above me. Some of the birds were various species of Hawks, Swallows, Great Blue Heron and the Baltimore Orioles seemed numerous. A highlight was seeing a Green Heron low over the river in front of our tubes.





We decided our next tubing trip will have to be a more exciting trip. Something that will make our heart beat just a little faster.