38. Rail Trail

Week 38  4/15/16

After our busy week in Colorado, we were game for a local, familiar "adventure." We have hiked and biked the rail trail in Holliston many times including on New Year's Eve, as mentioned in adventure 23. One day we'll walk there all the way from our house, through our property, the Idylbrook park, the Bettania property, Wenakeening Woods, and onto the rail trail, following it to the center of Holliston. But we've only done it in pieces. This time we parked at a lot on Rt 126 and walked through a bit of Wenakeening Woods to the trail. We continue to look for signs of spring but didn't see many this day - only a bit of green in the wetlands and hints of buds on trees. The archway under Highland Street has a nice echo.

Before heading to Jasper Hill Cafe for lunch, I took a picture of Paul near the Mudville sign which is not far from his childhood home. They say this is the Mudville of "Mighty Casey."

37. From the Mountains to the Prairies

Week 37  4/5 - 4/13/2016

On our second trip to visit Julia and John in Colorado we saw some different sights, not all of which we are showing here. For example, just around the corner from their house, a pathway opens to a beautiful open park with an expansive view of the Rocky Mountains. We continued beyond to some open space trails through grassland with many birds and wildflowers. And on another day, Paul had a golf date with his high school friend he had not seen in more than 20 years. During golf, Julia and I went to the Longmont Museum and Cultural Center.

On our first full day we went to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge very close to Denver. This spot has a unique history that it is important to know about, so one can see what a change has taken place. The visitor center has a wide range of artifacts tracing the beginning of farming on the site, followed by the abrupt displacement of farm families to make way for a chemical weapons manufacturing facility begun after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. This is an explosion-proof telephone.

Between 1971 and 1976, the chemicals were destroyed - sarin, mustard gas, napalm and so forth. Here is part of the control panel used for the demolition of the chemicals.

The land was cleaned and converted to a wildlife refuge with dozens of species of birds, waterfowl, fish, mule deer and bison. Two man-made lakes were created, drawing many animals to the area. A sign near the smaller lake, Lake Mary, claims that it was bulldozed by a general. Paul is not so sure. Even on a weekday, there were quite a few people walking through. One man asked if we'd seen the nesting eagles this year. We had not, but we did see an osprey. The small lake has nice benches and viewing platforms. Julia discovered a hidden talent of hers - possibly magical. We had not yet seen any fish after about 20 minutes of looking at the lake. She said "I want to see a fish right this minute." Immediately, a large fish jumped out of the water. Looking at the list of known fish in the area, and judging by what we saw, it could only have been a bass. That was the only fish we saw jump the entire day.

Although Julia and John saw the whole herd of bison next to the road on their last visit, we only saw a few from a distance this time.

Another trip was to Eldorado Canyon State Park, a hiking and rock climbing mecca, apparently. There is a little bohemian-type town before the park entrance with a very bumpy road and many twists and turns. It does not at all look like the entrance to a state park, but the buildings and so forth are very interesting to look at, since we had to be traveling quite slowly.

We skipped the rock climbing ourselves, but enjoyed watching others do it. Most of the climbers were barely colored dots on the rock faces but we were able to watch a few people being coached through a difficult spot right near our hiking trail. We followed the easiest, Fowler trail, from which we could see some of the most popular climbing rocks, and then over an incline on a ridge. I would have loved to have taken the Rattlesnake Gulch trail, if only for the name, but also because there is also an old abandoned hotel up there. Next time, maybe.

Below you see Paul watching climbers. I'm glad we had a couple of pairs of binoculars with us. Even in person it is deceiving how far away and high the climbers are until you see a tiny yellow dot on the side of the mountain.

Julia is NOT watching climbers. I'm not sure what she's doing. Near this spot, we were told to avoid a certain trail due to nesting of golden eagles.

We ate our picnic near the spring brook.

While Paul golfed, Julia and I visited Boulder, including the tiny Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art. We enjoyed the exhibits, including this large installation below, and also some films upstairs.

Buffalo Bill is buried on Lookout Mountain near Golden, Colorado. Here is the view looking down toward Golden from the mountain near the grave.

The Buffalo Bill museum was very large. What a complicated man he was...

I wish I'd gotten pictures of the Colorado School of Mines in Golden. It looks like a very active campus with many programs and students, which surprised me. Golden also has a nice little historic area with replica farm buildings, houses, and some animals.

With John joining us, we went to the city of Denver for the first time, and toured the Molly Brown house. The guide was very knowledgeable and I'm sure could have continued long beyond the hour tour. Here is the front of this house.

We have been to a few aquariums, but all in cities near a coast. Denver has an aquarium that is a bit different. It does have quite a few marine exhibits from different oceans, but has more fresh-water exhibits than I've seen before. There was also an immersive experience of a slot canyon flood. We chose to stand in the dry area, but could have been splashed if we chose.

There were many clever ways to feel as if one was in the water with the fish. My favorite was a tank that curved in an arc overhead. Here is a different one Paul tried.

And of course we tried the "underwater dining adventure." A huge moray eel slowly emerged from his hiding place while we ate, and finally wandered off.

There is an amazing amount of acreage that is designated as city open space, and many areas to hike On our last day, we hiked about five miles on the Flatirons Vista Trail in Boulder. In this area we realized that we were looking across at the other end of a trail we had taken from Eldorado Canyon. The trail was extremely muddy and the mud was sticking about an inch deep on the bottom of my boots, so we turned back.

In a more dry area we enjoyed some very new wildflowers, beautiful trees and many species of birds, including many singing meadowlarks. If you can see this video, I hope you can hear the meadowlark song near the end.

36. Revolution

Week 36  4/4/16

A couple of weeks before Patriot's Day we decided to visit Concord. At the parking lot we discovered one of the projects of the wonderful Community Preservation Act - The Robbins House. This was the home of the children of a former slave and Revolutionary War veteran Caesar Robbins. The house was not open for the season so we peeked in the windows.

From the parking lot we viewed the monument and walked over the bridge, which I believe is the 6th bridge on the site.

Near the bridge and at other places in Minuteman National Historic Park and the Battle Road, were several monuments marking spots where British soldiers were buried. Paul and I wondered about who might have buried them, or if they were buried at all. We guessed they were probably buried by the colonists for several reasons. In the very well-done film at the visitor center, and in other information we read, the point was made that both sides felt as if they were fighting against family.

In this view of the Concord River, you can see what a beautiful day this was.

Back in the center of Concord, we visited two burying grounds, first the Old Hill Burying Ground, which is the largest and with graves dated from the 1600's and mostly in the 1700's. They were in excellent condition, and almost all could be read. In front of the burying ground, houses have been built so close that some stones are only a few feet from the houses. We read many of the stones and enjoyed the carved art. It seemed as if each epitaph was unique and personal, some giving nearly a life story of the person buried there.

Finally, we walked a few miles on the Battle Road Trail. We parked near the Brooks Farms and walked westward through farmland and over some boardwalks in the wetlands. Then we retraced our steps and kept going eastward beyond the "Bloody Angle" where colonial regulars from several towns ambushed the British soldiers. Finally, back to the car. There was much more we could have seen in Concord, but it will wait for another day.

35. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Week 35  3/25/16



It's been cold so rather than hiking in the woods we decided to visit a Boston museum. On the way to the Woodland T station, we stopped at the Holliston Public Library to borrow their day pass to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Paul says the library has changed a lot since he went there as a kid. My grandmother worked there when she lived in Holliston, which must have been in the 1930's.

We walked to the museum from the Fenway T stop. Once there, we couldn't get enough of the courtyard. Every time we exited a gallery we found ourselves gazing here. Paul and I first visited this museum in 1977 on one of our first dates. We both remembered the hanging nasturtiums and mentioned this to a guide. She told us we must have visited in April because this is done for Isabella Stewart Gardner's birthday each year. Even though the art and furnishings must stay where Mrs. Gardner placed them, that isn't true for the plantings in the courtyard. Museum staff changes the plantings somewhat but tries to keep the same tone. I asked about the two cacti that you can see below the central tiles. They don't seem to fit with the rest of the landscape. The guide said they were surprising to her also and that she hadn't been told why the cacti were being used.

Despite Mrs. Gardner's direction not to move things, the museum is able to put some of the masterpieces temporarily on display in the new wing while they renovate the second floor of the old museum. This gives them a chance to be seen in much better lighting than ever before. We spent quite a while appreciating all of this. Paul took photos which I will post here later.

I liked the furnishings of the museum a lot. We both did. The columns and windows are kind of mix and match, and we could see where they had been ingeniously made to fit. The door below caught my eye because the wear can be seen, and there are metal fixtures that look like they serve a purpose as latches or something, but it wasn't clear. And I love the knocker.

34. A Sound Journey

Week 34  3/14/16

Early spring is a wonderful time to be outdoors. There is something new every day and the blossoming weather is unfolding ahead. This day we saw many new buds and tiny leaves and were a able to see through the trees to hills and bodies of water beyond.

We started at Hopkinton State Park in an area where we hadn't visited before. This is the west side of Route 85. The first trail follows a spit of water attached to the Hopkinton Reservoir. It apparently doesn't have any other name. We found lots of this cat briar - sharp thorns - in one section. We'd never seen such a large area like this.

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Most noticeable was the sound of peepers and wood frogs. It was overwhelming. The video is mine. For more info, here is a web link to wood frogs. And here is one of spring peepers .

We had some more time and wanted to explore another area. Here is Paul at Waseeka Wildlife Sanctuary in Holliston. We have been here many times. We didn't find any waterfoul on this day but there is an osprey nest in a tree below.

33. Sudbury Path

Week 38  3/8/16

This was a very warm day, so we set out on a hike. I picked up Paul at work (Wellesley College) where we ate a picnic lunch at one of our favorite spots on the boardwalk in the wetlands near Lake Waban. We remembered watching reunion fireworks from this bench with Ben and Julia years ago.

We planned to follow one of the trails on the Wellesley Trails Grand Tour.  Maps and descriptions can be found at this link. The trails we followed were very clean and well-marked. The only exception to the latter was an marker just off the Babson College campus that was missing a nail, causing it to swing and make the arrow point the wrong way. We tried to fix this but didn't have the right tools.

The planned start to the Sudbury Path (4.6 miles) is a spot on the Wellesley-Needham town line, but an auto detour caused us to change our plans and park one of our cars at Longfellow Pond. So we began with the Charles River Path, which added less than half a mile to the total. The terrain was varied and interesting.

The Sudbury Path Trail took us along the Sudbury Aqueduct. Many times we were on a raised area as in this picture. There were also some pretty pump houses. We passed through the Town Forest.

At the Wellesley Country Club we followed the street for a short while. We had never seen this marker for the old Town Hall. The building was razed to make way for a clubhouse, so the town erected an obelisk commemorating the founding of the town and other historic events.

After crossing Forest Street and the Babson campus, we followed through more woodlands. When we reached Waban Arches we knew we were near our final destination and the parked location of our second car, Cheever House. 

Here is ton end of Waban Arches.

And the view toward the south from the middle of Waban Arches.

32. High Tide and Fun Times

Week 32  3/5/16

The Riverside Fishing and Poker Club, established sometime in the 80's I think (someone please send me this info) takes an annual weekend sojourn to The Gatsby House in Chatham. We think this might be the 12th year of the trip.

On the way to Chatham, this year, Paul and I decided to stop at the Lowell Holly Reservation in Mashpee. With a light snow, the walk was beautiful. American Holly trees, as seen in this picture, were especially pretty this day. We reached one of the two lakes and began walking around, but the wind was strong and we got cold.

The Gatsby House is large and can accommodate our group, which has been as large as 19 people. We have had a mix of weather, from very warm to snowstorms. The beach is within walking distance and everyone walks there at some point to collect shells, take pictures and bird watch. This year there was an especially high tide and there were more shells than usual, including some large ones.

Here are some friends with Paul - Jon and Ron - taking turns looking at several species of ducks and other water birds through Ron's scope.

The Gatsby House is visible from Chatham beach. It is the left house in this picture.

My interior photos were pretty blurry because I forgot to bring my camera battery and used my iPod. But I had to include this picture of Liz's chocolate bombe. We all enjoy food and there are several excellent cooks in the group, whom we all appreciate.