Ken Lockwood Gorge Wildlife Management Area

Sometimes when you say "I live in New Jersey" most people think that we live in a city of off a exit on the parkway. Well that is far from the truth here in the western part of the state. Ken Lockwood Gorge is located in the High Bridge area and has some of the most beautiful scenery.

Hiking along in the morning will bring some magical sights as the sun shines through the trees. 

A small stream runs down the mountain.

Old railroad bridge that is now part of the Columbia Trail. The bridge elevation is at around 80 feet and length of 260 feet. 

We are looking toward the changing of the seasons this fall and how the george will look. Stay tuned !

Hershey Park - Camping / Concert / Roller Coasters

A summer is not complete without visiting a amusement park, camping and going to an outdoor concert. While we have been to concerts at Hershey Park before last year was the first that we stayed for a couple of nights and camped at Hershey Highmeadows Campground (now called Hersheypark Camping Resort). Since the visit was so good we decided to do it again this year.
Our drive out to the campground early Friday afternoon was somewhat uneventful, there was a truck accident on I-81 north that caused delays from people looking at what happened. Once we arrived we were greeted by the campground staff that gave us our parking pass and site assignment. Check in here is the best of any campground we have ever visited, full payment is due one month before arrival so the office visit is not required. Once at our site we did our normal setup all of which takes less then one hours time.

After dinner on Friday we took the shuttle bus that runs from the campground to the entrance to the park to visit Chocolate World. This is a free tour that explains how some of their process work with the production of making their chocolate. After that we headed back to the campground and called it a night since rain was setting in.
Rain showers were still in the area on Saturday morning but if you looked at the radar map there was nothing  showing in the area, very strange. After breakfast the weather cleared then it was time to take dogs for their walk. With breakfast behind us and the dogs walked it was now time for us to head out for the day. Again we took the shuttle bus over to the park, this is the most convenient way to travel to and from the park. Our first coaster was Great Bear, I did not ride this one last year but Ginger said how great it was so off we went. I have to agree it was one of the best coasters I have been on (not that I have been on many). That was followed by Trailblazer and then, oh no Storm Runner. This concluded my coaster adventurers for the rest of the day! Storm Runner was a little too much for me so a walk over to the zoo and then to the Aquatheatre for the show "Our Friends From The Sea".
Once back at the campsite we walked the dogs, made and broccoli, kalamata olive pizza for dinner then got ready to see the Dave Matthew's Band that was playing at the stadium. This was by far one of the best concerts I have seen, the band was great and the weather was amazing.

Where does the time go?

So here we are in mid June, I know I need to write more. So fast forward from our kitchen renovation project we have traveled and some faces have changed in our home.
In early April Ginger and I said goodbye to George and Shadow. We knew that George's health has been slowly declining over the past year but then again he was 14+ years to the good. Shadow just a year younger than George has had a couple of seizures over the past year and her last week was a especially tough one for her. Now that some time has passed the tears are less frequent but the conversation and stories remain the same. I am not a writer and even if I was I do not know if words could describe them, yes they are both dogs but with very different agendas.

So what does a couple do when they loose two dogs in the same week? Well they adopt another, bring her home and start the process over again. Lilly was rescued by our local No Kill shelter, then we rescued Lilly from that shelter ! Lets not forget about our youngest puppy Gracie who is 11+ and has now moved into the older sister position. She is doing better then expected with the lack of presence from George and Shadow thanks to her new younger sister, friend and housemate Lilly. More pictures (and stories) to come.

Kitchen Flooring

Here it is Wednesday and the new Flooring has arrived ! The "old" flooring was a Armstrong tiles that were installed in 2000, we can't complain as it help up to a lot of traffic from both us and our three dogs. Below is a older picture that shows the flooring that is being replaced along with our old countertops and cabinet fronts.

This is what the floor looks like after all the tiles were removed. All the seams were checked for looseness and screwed where necessary and then patched with a filler / leveling product.

Here they have the roll moved inside the house. The product we are using is Congoleum Air Step Advantage (Clam Chowder 88000). Seeing how heavy it is and the planning before making the first cut there is no way I would attempt this.  

Most of the major pieces are cut out and now the installer will go around the room and trim around all the baseboard. This product is a loose lay application. 

Here is the finished floor. I replaced the quarter round for the painting that starts tomorrow. 

Lets plan for 2013 !

So now that the snow is melted and we will springing ahead with the clocks this weekend it is time to make some reservations for 2013. Our first trip might not be exciting to some, see we do not need to travel hundreds of miles nor travel through several states. This campground is located right in our own state of New Jersey, it's a county park in northern Morris county around 30 miles from home. Mahlon Dickerson Reservation is the name of the park and with 3200 acres and 20 miles of trails it has everything we enjoy, there is the tent along with RV camping, hiking, bicycling, photography, geocaching, cooking and visiting with friends who live in the area, what else can you ask for? That visit will be sometime in April.
Next we move onto the month of May for a weeks vacation where we will be visiting Tuckahoe State Park, located on the Delmarva peninsula in Maryland. This state park has a lot of what Mahlon has to offer but with a 60 acre lake along with kayak rentals, 20 plus miles of multi use trails this is guaranteed to keep us busy. Amphibian wildlife viewing is at a premium in this park, this is where the photography comes into play.
The month of June will consist of our second trip to the Firefly Music Festival that is held in Dover Delaware. We went to the inaugural festival and our visit was so good that it made the decision to go this year a easy one. We will be sitting out on our trip to Bonnaroo Music Festival that is held in Manchester Tennessee, we have made that annual journy since 2006 with only missing 2008. Not that is is not a great festival it's just there are extra costs since that is 1600 miles round trip vs. the 300 that Firefly is.
A weekend visit to Hershey Park in Hershey Pennsylvania is guaranteed to be a fun time, between going to see The Dave Matthews Band and visiting the park for a day will be an excellent way to spend a July weekend.
Here I will jump to October since as of now we have no planed trips for August or September. My Nephew and his Wife Jennifer are expecting their first in August. We will let them get some things settled before we visit in October. This will be our longest trip of the year since they live in Cartersville Georgia. Along with the visit we will plan on stopping off at the Virginia Safari Park in Natural Bridge and then once in Cartersville we will take a drive with the car to some sights in Atlanta.
Well thats about all for now, beside going on the vacations and weekends away the fun part is planning them.

A Labor Day Weekend Hike

What to do on this Labor Day weekend? Go for a hike around Merrill Creek Reservoir ! It has been many years since we circled around this reservoir and today turned out to be a great day to do it.

 
From the visitor parking lot through the first mile or so through the woods it was extremely quiet today.

Even though it is the first week of September there were plenty of wildflowers to be seen. I really need to get a app to identify all the wildflowers.

 
Watch out for the Bald Eagles! If you like spotting birds then this is the place for you. There is always a group of people here with spotting scopes and binoculars in hand keeping track of whoever passes through. Here is also the first signs of fall, many leaves are starting to turn into their bright colors before descending on the forest floor beneath them.

Happy Birthday Shadow and everything February

Happy Birthday Shadow !! The month starts off with Shadow's (one of our three dogs) birthday. We adopted her when she was a little over a year old and has been a great dog ever since, to be honest she does have one annoying habit like making noises in the car when going to the park but we still love her.
Next up, what is Mr. Puxatony Phil going to see or not see for that matter. No shadow?? So six more weeks of this cold hard winter we are having. To be honest I think this time he was wrong, it has been the mildest of winters that I can ever remember.
Ok, now that spring is around the corner that can only mean a couple of things.. Ribbit.. Ribbit. According to Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey the frogs and salamanders need some help crossing busy roadways. After attending a class / orientation on Amphibian Crossing we are set to help these creatures cross roadways on rainy nights in easy spring. More details in a later blog to see how we did.
We are always looking for a new place to go hiking, I forget how I found this place but it looks to be a winner as far as hiking is concerned. The Mariton Wildlife Sanctuary in Easton, PA offers many miles of hiking. One of the areas is by the power lines that look promising for bird watching come spring.
The month of February ends a little on a low note, Ginger and I have had colds for the past couple of weeks. Looks like this has been going around throughout our workplaces.
Can't wait for longer days and warmer weather.