Name The Prairie Dog~The results

Well the votes are in as you know and there was a 3 way tie between Scout, Flower and Whiskers.
Our editorial panel has  considered the choices because they liked them all but after much deliberation and consideration of all your comments the final choice is………
　

SCOUT

　

Flower is a skunk in Bambi and Whiskers is the name of a cat food. But Scout is what a Prairie Dog does. He’s curious and “scouts” is area to watch for predators so he’s always on the alert.
Thank you all for participating. The suggestions were all great. I was surprised that “Scamper” didn’t make the cut because I thought that was kind of cute too but Scout it is.

Prairie Dog Update

The Naming poll is over and we have a 3 way tie!

The finalists are Whiskers, Scout and Flower. An editorial team is considering the 3 finalist and will announce their decision next week.

Any last minute comments that you want the team to consider should be added this week.

Please visit the main blog at http://aroundustyroads.com/

Sedona Posts~Bucket lists

Good morning
Due to recent time constraints, I have only  been posting to the new site. You will find yesterday's post: Sedona Bucket list-take 2 and todays post  Sedona Bucket List~ the Possibles. at my new site. I invite you all to join me there..oh and by the way, have you voted for the Prairie Dog's name yet? Time is running out!

New  site: http://aroundustyroads.com


Grand Canyon



Day Trip to Connecticut

Somewhere along the line I heard that there were a large number of Bald Eagles wintering in Connecticut. I searched online and there were 4 options for eagle viewing. All were endorsed to some extent by the Connecticut Audubon Society.



Rescued Hawk

 　
One option was the Eagle Flyer in Essex Ct. This is the Essex Steam Train and it only makes it’s Eagle Flyer run on 1 weekend. This year it is Feb 19^th and 20^th It sounds like fun but I can’t take the time from work to go this year. I’ll try out the train ride over the summer and maybe go on the eagle run next year.

The 2^nd option is Eagle Boat Cruises sponsored by The Audubon Society. The cruises are operated by River Quest/Connecticut River Expeditions. They run on Thursday, Saturday or Sunday, this year from Feb 5- March 13. The cost is reasonable, only $40.00 and is still a possibility if I can get a day off from work.

The 3^rd option I found is a land -based guided tour known as Eagle watches on the Connecticut River. The tours are $20.00/per person and includes lunch. The tours are 8:30-1:30 followed by the lunch. The problem with this option is that 8:30 am is tough since I am about a 3 hour drive away. The second problem was that all the dates available were on the weekend …once again, I am working.

The last choice wasn’t on the Connecticut River but I didn’t realize it when I booked the reservation. This last option is the Shepaug Dam Bald Eagle Observation Area. They are open from 9am -1pm on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. You must have a reservation to be allowed in. Their season this year is Dec 26,2010 - March 16, 2011.

You make a reservation and go in anytime between 9AM - 1PM. I liked this flexibility because I had such a long drive and wouldn’t need to worry about missing the tour. The other good thing is they are open on Wednesday which is one of my days off so I don’t have to make any arrangements at work for time off.
I made my reservation for Wednesday Feb 2 but we got stormed out with snow, sleet and freezing rain. I called again and we moved my reservation a week to Wednesday Feb 10. The forecast was for clear and sunny but cold. I received my reservation by email and printed it out. It had all the rules and directions. I ran it on mapquest.com and it said it would take 2 hours and 25 minutes. It actually took closer to 4 hours. I hadn’t figured on rush hour traffic.

I hit stop and go traffic on RT 495 and again in Hartford Ct. Eventually I found the exit off RT 84. The directions were great and I found the facility with no problem. A nice man was sitting in his car at the entrance. He had the list to check reservations.

It became clear why they had security to watch birds. The observation area is located at the Connecticut power station on the Housatonic River. Eagles are fish eaters and the water near the dam for the hydro electric plant never freezes and the water currents force the fish near the surface so the eagles can snag the fish easily.

There were quite a few people there when I arrived in spite of the bitter cold and it was really cold, especially when the wind blew. There is some protection from the elements, however. There is a building set up as a blind but the windows are open so there ‘s no heat. They had a wood stove going in the corner but it wasn’t much help.
　
Based on the conversation in the room it soon became clear that everyone there was a dedicated “birder”, which I am not. But it didn’t matter . Everyone was really friendly. One fellow in “camo” had a huge telephoto lens on his camera and he said the eagles were out of range for him. So much for getting any eagle pictures!

They were getting some activity when I arrived so I took out the binoculars instead. There were 2 juvenile eagles flying and diving above the ridge line on the opposite side of the river. You could tell they were only around 2 years old because their plumage was brown and white and they hadn’t developed the trade-mark white head. That comes in at around 5 years of age. We all watched them for awhile then the Audubon rep asked if we wanted to see the birds she had with her. Pictures were allowed. J



Milton, a European Barn Owl

 Of course everyone said yes so we met Milton & Millie and a rescued hawk. None of these birds will ever be able to be returned to the wild. Milton & Millie are owls and both were bred in captivity and have imprinted on humans. Neither would know how to hunt for themselves in the wild.



Millie, an American Barn owl

 The hawk had been hit by a car and although is healing nicely will never have a full recovery. He would not be able to survive in the wild so he is now a “bird ambassador” for the Audubon Society.

By this time it was almost noon and the eagles seemed to have settled down for the day. I was frozen so decided to call it a day. I stopped for gas ($3.55/ gal here) and picked up a map. I felt there had to be an easier way back.



Eagle viewing Blind

 I took RT 84 but picked up RT 6 to Providence before I reached Hartford. This turned out to be a great way to go. Most of RT 6 was highway but not the “super” highway like RT 84. Still the road was in good condition and the speed limit was 50mph most of the way. It was far more scenic than the “Fast route of RT 84 to RT 90 to RT 495. I stopped for lunch at a Friendly’s and was still at the Rhode Island line by 3:15pm. I did hit some traffic in Providence because I got there just before 4pm so rush hour was starting but even so I was home by 4:30 pm. With my stop for lunch and some other puttering around, I figure RT 6 shaved at least an hour off the time from the morning.

So…Bottom line...mixed reviews. The eagles were too far away for pictures or a clear view without binoculars but the birds the Audubon rep showed us were awesome and I got some great pictures of them. I wish it had been warmer and it would be nice if it wasn’t such a long drive but I’m glad I went. I can’t say enough about the folks that were there. From the attendant at the entrance to the parking lot guy and the Audubon lady everyone was wonderful, helpful and friendly.
　
　

Bucket List~ Sedona

Some things are just a given for this trip and others are up for discussion or negotiation. Plus you may provide some suggestions that will change our plans.

Here is where we are right now.

We are booked into the Sedona Summit. Check in is a Saturday and we will check out the following Saturday. The room type is a 2 bedroom “lock off” which is nice. If it’s anything like the “lock off” I had in Florida it will give both Sandy and me a lot of privacy.

We haven’t booked our flight yet but one of us will have to drive to meet up with the other. I will check fares from Providence to Phoenix, Bradley International to Phoenix and Albany to Phoenix and then run the results by Sandy. I expect we’ll fly out of Albany unless there’s a big saving from one of the other airports. Bradley would mean a hotel room where TF green (Providence) or Albany would just mean we stayed at one of our homes and then took 1 car to the Park & Fly which is quite a savings right there.

I flew Delta the last time I went to Phoenix but a friend of mine always flies Southwest and she said the fares are much less expensive plus “Bags fly free” on Southwest LOL. I did check their website and they have a web special that is always much cheaper than the other airlines. It will just depend on what kind of connections we can get.

When I went to Sedona in 2008 I had an early flight and arrived in Phoenix about 11 am their time. I was in and out of the airport in no time and in Sedona by 2:30. Check in time is 4pm and in 2008 that was strictly enforced . I was told to come back at 4.

My friend’s father drives a trolley in Scottsdale, AZ which is between Phoenix and Sedona so I was thinking that if we get a flight that gets us into Phoenix early, that we could take a side trip to Scottsdale, take the trolley ride with Julie’s father, I think she said he goes by “Boston Jim”, have lunch in Scottsdale and then drive the rest of the way to Sedona. Julie said the trolley trip takes you into “Old Town Scottsdale” and is well worth the detour.

Once we check in at the Sedona Summit we’ll head back out to the supermarket to stock up on whatever we want to have on hand for the week. We’ll certainly eat some meals out but it’s most cost effective to cook some at the condo.

If there’s anytime left over and we’re not too tired we might explore a little or maybe go up to the Airport Mesa to see the sunset. Usually we just kick back to “recover” from the travel.

Wow look at all the stuff I’ve written and I haven’t even started the bucket list yet.

Well, looks like that will have to be another post.J
　
　
　

Next trip..Sedona, Arizona

Hello everyone J It’s another stormy day in Massachusetts. My friend JR is torturing me by reminding me he is headed to Florida this weekend to warm weather and sunny skies.

I’ve wrapped up my stories from my South Dakota vacation so it’s time to turn my attention to my next vacation.



 Back in 2008 I took a vacation in Sedona, Arizona.



On the road to Sedona



 I went alone that time as no one was available to join me and I was in a “use it or lose it” mode for my time share. While my sister was with me in Rapid City, I told her to think about where she wanted to go next. We kicked around a lot of ideas, including Yellowstone, Jackson Hole and Yosemite. In the end we decided on the Grand Canyon.


Standing on The South Rim of the Grand Canyon~2008

 When I went to Sedona in 2008 I made several trips to the Grand Canyon including taking the Grand Canyon Railroad so I suggested we use my time share and go to Sedona again.



Grand Canyon Railroad

  There were a lot of things that I didn’t get to see in spite of a very busy sight-seeing schedule so I don’t mind a return trip plus everyone needs to see the Red Rocks of Sedona at least once. They are a great complement to the Grand Canyon.



Coffee Pot Rock, Sedona AZ

 Originally we were going to try to book the timeshare for September but when I went online to check availability there was a 75% off sale as long as we went before May 31.

The time share is based on points and I have 5000 points to spend/year. Expecting Sedona to come in around 7500 points I had banked some extra from 2010 so a 75% off sale left me plenty to book a 2^nd trip.

 With vacation packages so inexpensive at the moment the biggest advantage to a time share is that we can prepare some of our own meals and save on restaurant costs. When we went to Rapid City, we used a vacation package. It was extremely reasonable but without kitchen facilities our meal costs were a big part of the cost of the vacation.



Sedona Summit


But back to Sedona, I have reserved the timeshare for the middle of May. Sandy is retired so getting away is not as much as a problem for her as it is for me as I have to get the vacation time approved. I had discussed the time with my supervisor before I finalized the dates but now they are changing the vacation criteria. I’ve informed work that it’s too late to change my plans now so here’s hoping the approval process will go smoothly.

The other consideration is that Sandy doesn’t like it really hot and Sedona is the High Desert so Mid-May should be warm but not too hot.

We’ll be starting the planning process and I’ll share that with you as we go along. If any of you are familiar with the Sedona / Grand Canyon area and have recommendations, we’d love to hear your suggestions.

I think I’ll include a list of the things we are thinking about doing and we can add or subtract from there. I’ll try to put that together for tomorrow’s post.
　
　

South Dakota Wrap-up

This vacation can be summed up in one word…AMAZING! It was so much more than I expected. What a journey of perception to go from “What’s in South Dakota” to “Amazing”.

Everyone’s hot button will be different but for me it’s animals…all kinds of animals.

 If I’m in Florida I’m always on the look out for creatures, ‘gators, birds, snakes ; when we go to Alaska I’ll want to see seals, sea birds , bears maybe whales and walrus but I didn’t know what to expect in South Dakota.

I think I loved the Wild Horses the best

 followed by those funny little prairie dogs.

But seeing buffalo in the wild ,

 not a zoo was really something as were the “beggin’ burros of Custer State Park.

Of course it is “where the deer and the antelope play”.

 I couldn’t help but compare my Pronghorn experience in Arizona with the Pronghorn experience in South Dakota. In South Dakota there were Mule Deer, White tail and antelope around every turn. Some even seemed to be posing for the photo ops, very few seemed skittish.. Sometimes it seemed like they were as busy watching us as we were them. In Arizona I saw 1 pronghorn way off in the distance and 1 mule deer family while I was on a tour bus at the grand canyon. The difference is notable.

We didn’t eat in fancy restaurants but the food was good and everyone we met was nice and helpful. The Foothills Inn was clean and everything as promised. Our stay there was very pleasant. I have no complaints.

Mount Rushmore takes your breath away when you see it for the first time. It is truly a monument for the ages. I only wish the weather had been better when we visited the mountain. Maybe next trip. Sorry I missed the Needles Highway but Iron Mountain Road was a great experience. Had our budget and time allowed, we definitely should have included a visit to Crazy Horse and not just the drive by. Next time?

　
Hill City to Keystone and back on a vintage train.

 The 1880 Train did not disappoint. It was a relaxing ride through the Blackhills while the narrators gave us quick bits and stories sprinkled with lots of humor.

　
　
The caves, Wind Cave and the mining tunnel at Thunder Falls…both interesting and worthwhile visits. There are still many more caves in the area to explore as well as more passages and tours in Wind Cave. I guess you could say we only “scratched the surface”.

The Mammoth Dig isn’t a cave but it’s a great indoor activity for a rainy day. Well worth a visit.

Rapid City is a great city.. We only just touched on what there is to do. I’ve heard there’s shopping and art but we only had the one day so we got to visit Skyline Dr and Dinosaur Park, checked out the presidents in downtown and ended at the Journey Museum. The city has a beautiful park as we learned on our trolley ride and so much more that we missed.

 It deserves more than one day. To paraphrase a saying…so much to see, so little time J

I can’t forget to mention the “Longest Dirt Road” that crossed Pine Ridge Reservation and meeting with members of the tribe. A nice, nice memory! Maybe next time we’ll find a Pow-Wow and visit Wounded Knee.

We need another visit to Wall Drug with it’s “Free Ice water” . Great souvenir shopping so bring your wallet! They are also online. http://www.walldrug.com/

Last but certainly not least was magnificent scenery of the Badlands. That rugged beauty impressed me as much as the Grand Canyon but in a different way.

I’m so glad I have so many pictures and wonderful memories. My friends said I wouldn’t want to come back to New England. Well, I wasn’t ready to leave South Dakota, there was still so much to see and do, as one  reader expressed as they told us of waterfalls and sights we missed, but I am not ready to move there. LOL I would consider a 2^nd vacation and next time someone says to me “what’s in South Dakota I’ll know just what to say…”So much you just won’t believe it ‘til you see it!”

　
That about sums up the South Dakota vacation. It’s time to start planning the May trip to Sedona, Arizona. I also have some day trips coming up that I will fill you in on as they roll around. As always suggestions, comments , cheers and jeers are welcome. I hope I’ll be hearing from you, my readers!J

Just a quick reminder…there’s only a few more days to vote for your favorite name for the Prairie Dog.

Also, remember this site is going away soon (target date is March 1) but I'll still be sharing my adventures at http://aroundustyroads.com/

The Journey Museum

The Journey Museum is a modern facility located in Rapid City. The museum is set in 7 acres of gardens. The premise of the museum is of a journey through the time and history of The Black hills. The journey begins with the Native American Creation stories before moving on to the geology exhibit, paleontology, archeology, Native Americans and the pioneers.

I confess that we didn’t spend the amount of time to do this museum justice. We were limited by the time restraints of the trolley schedule. We also only glimpsed the gardens because by now the weather was taking a turn for the worse.

The geology presentation was interesting if a bit dry. I’m sure “rock hounds” would eat it up but before long I was edging to the back so I could slip into the next exhibit.

The exhibit halls were roomy and well presented and the facilities immaculate. The next room had Teepees set up so you could actually see how the plains Indians lived. There were some holographic presentations but some of them were not functioning. Native American Artifacts and pottery were displayed in cases around the room.

We moved on to the Paleontology exhibit where the dinosaurs seemed to be alive. That was an excellent exhibit.

If I get back to Rapid City I am definitely going to revisit the museum. From what I’ve read, we missed a lot by being pressed for time.

That about wraps up our time in the Badlands. We had an early flight out of Rapid City in the morning so we grabbed the trolley back to the Dinosaur Park where we’d left the car and headed back to the hotel to pack and call it an early night.

Next post: Final thoughts and South Dakota wrap-up

Rapid City, SD~ City of Presidents

Rapid City is sometimes called The City of Presidents because it proudly displays life sized bronzes of United States Presidents on the street corners of downtown. We strolled around the downtown taking pictures of and sometimes with each statue. I am not going to include them all in this post. If you want so see them all you’ll have to go yourself but suffice it to say this is an on-going project that will eventually included all of the presidents with new ones being added consecutively.

The project is funded entirely by private donations and each artist has ties to South Dakota in some way. . Each artist researched the president they were assigned to depict the familiar and/or notable characteristics of that president in their work.

Some of the older presidents were hard to identify. For example William McKinley is presented with a telephone in his hands because he was the first president to use the telephone in a campaign for office.

I did not know that so seeing the phone I thought of Alexander Graham Bell even though he was never president. I wondered if they were statues of famous people , not just presidents, especially since there were several statues of Native Americans, but I was wrong.

Using a map we picked up at the visitor center I believe I have identified all of the statues we visited.

1) James Monroe 2) John Quincy Adams 3) Lyndon Johnson 4) William Howard Taft 5)Martin Van Buren 6) John F. Kennedy ( I definitely recognized him as I’m from Massachusetts) 7) Andrew Jackson 8) Franklin Pierce 9) Theodore Roosevelt (another familiar face) 10) James Buchanan 11) Warren Harding 12) Woodrow Wilson (With a little discussion we also got his identity) 13) Millard Fillmore 14) Zachary Taylor 15) John Tyler 16) Harry S. Truman (Yes we recognized him too) 17) Henry Harrison 18) Gerald Ford (Another familiar face) 19)James Madison 20) Thomas Jefferson (We recognized Ol’ Tom with his copy of the Declaration of Independence) 21)George Washington (Of course. He has the most famous face in US history) 22) Jimmy Carter (Oh yes, we knew him too) 23) Andrew Jackson 24) Ronald Reagan (Yes we knew Ronnie’s statue) 25) Dwight D. Eisenhower (Yes again) 26) Richard Nixon (Of course) 27) James Polk 28) Grover Cleveland 29) William McKinley 30) Ulysses S. Grant (another yes) 31) Franklin D. Roosevelt (Yes) 32) Herbert Hoover 33)Calvin Coolidge 34) George Bush Sr (of course) 35) John Adams.

It was fun and challenging trying to ID all of the Presidents before we checked either the plaque or the map. I thought about making flash cards from the photos to practice so I will remember them but I’d rather just look it up. HA HA

It took quite awhile to walk all those blocks so we were glad to get back on the trolley.

The trolley continued through a park that we hadn’t even realized was there and then pulled into the Journey Museum. As we hopped off here the driver told us the last trolley was at 4:30 and not to miss that.

I’ll tell you about the Journey Museum in my next post.