Finally back online!

Well I've been without the internet for awhile now. I'm looking forward to catching up on what I've missed and hope to add a few blogs here and there.

To clear my mind

A little over a week ago my wife and myself made a huge step in our lives together. We made an offer on our first house. With the owners on vacation we knew we could be waiting days for a reply. With my wife sleeping, I could no longer circle our apartment in nervous anticipation any longer. I had to go out and clear my head.

It was a beautiful day in the 70's with a slight breeze. Perfect conditions to hit the trails. I decide to check out Arcadia. The last time we were there was in one of my previous posts on letterboxing in the winter. I arrived to see a wedding taking place in the field by the entrance. Out of respect I kept my camera at my waste and continued on to the trails. I had a good chuckle when I first stepped foot on the trail and a Subara was blocking the entire path, with a bumper sticker that says "Share the road". Irony at it's best!

I made my way to the tree house overlooking the wetlands with the thoughts of the house spinning through my head. Incredibly I only passed a couple of people along the way.

I made my way up the spiral staircase and soaked in the peaceful sights and sounds. It's almost impossible to see, but a bald eagle perched itself in the large tree straight ahead. I played the waiting game for him to come out so I could grab another picture, but he won .

A great heron cruised the shallows looking for small baitfish and frogs

I took a few minutes to brush up on local bird names

Maybe it was the eagle waiting for dinner, but there were very few birds flying around in the open air. I took some calming deep breathes and headed back down along the river trail

I hiked for about an hour at Arcadia and didn't put a dent in my nervous energy. I decided to head up to Mt. Tom State Park for some more hiking. I've always wanted to check out the Nature Trail, but for some reason never had. It is a self guided nature tour with signs along the way that provide information about local plants and wildlife. It is a great hike.

This picture of the crawling roots makes me realize how much I need a better camera.

There is a point in the trail that comes to a "t". You can either take the high road or the low road. I chose the high road and was rewarded with a beautiful scene. The opening is small in the summer, with trees smothering the view, but it is still worth the extra effort.

After soaking it in I continued on.

There were some nice wooden bridges that have signs of recent upgrades.

These rocks caught my eye as they stood out in a stacked up row. There was small scale rock harvesting here at one point.

You pass over a few smaller brooks that offer a very calming sounds of breaking water over the rocks. I took a few minutes to sit down and clear my thoughts.

I made it to the end of the trail and felt abit more relaxed. With alot of sun left I set coarse for the peak. It would be a waste to turn around this early. I marched up past the visitors center and headed towards Goats Peak. The park was very busy, with picnics and families grilling and enjoying the beautiful day. I made it up to the old parking area and took a nice snapshot. It's a great view of the Oxbow marina.

I took a few sips of water and headed off again. My goal was goats peak, but I passed the trail and ran into the Eyrie House ruins by mistake. I have hiked up here so many times and have never seen these before.

The remains of a very well built house looks over the path.

The craftsmanship is really amazing to me.

Glad I made the mistake I enjoyed the view and then explored the area.

An old lookout tower is now a prisoner of the modern era, riddled with satellites and radio antenna.

With some daylight left I moved on to Goats Peak

I made my way to a very special place for me. The spot where I proposed to my wife. I took a seat on the bench and felt very relaxed. At that very moment my wife called to see if I had heard any news on the house. Timing is everything.

Right after I got up I received a call from our realtor. She had told me our offer was excepted. I was happy and nervous at the same time. I was thinking "We did it!" and also thinking "What did we just do?" Now with my head buzzing even more then it was that morning I took a minute to think things over on the lookout tower. A beautiful day with big news.

Knowing things will soon change drastically, I took my time getting down the mountain. The five hours of hiking was exactly what I needed to burn out the nerves.

Stay away from the brown anti-acid

My wife and myself headed up to LookStock '09 at Look Park Tuesday. It was a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the original festival. It boasted 5 1/2 hours of music to try and match the original line up. Click HERE for the set list.

We arrived at roughly 3:30pm. The line was already streched out pretty far. The crowd was an interesting mix of young and old, hippy and yuppie. It turned out to be an incredible day. It was a little warm in the sun, but once the shade rolled over it was extremely comfortable.

They were doing bag checks to keep you from bringing in anything you could buy. Someone tried to sneak in some Butternuts beer. It's cans look alot like a harmless can of soda pop.

The grand entrance to the Pines



One of the MC's for the day. I believe he was from the River radio station. He was a funny guy talking in the language of the burnout.
Primate Fiasco entertaining the crowd
Slowly filling in.

One of the originals?

The arts are for any age!

What would LookStock be without a protest or two.

I grabbed a couple quick videos of the performers. Hope you like these short shots.

We had a great time enjoying the music and eating some local food. The weather cooperated and the music was great. A very well put together show that had people of all ages saying "Peace".