Monocacy National Battlefield – Frederick Maryland

We still had some time to kill before we had to go to the airport so for our last little adventure we decided to go to the Monocacy National Battlefield to see where some of the events we’d been reading about actually took place. I’ve never been to a battlefield so I was just expecting a big field somewhere with nothing going on… that’s not what it ended up being.

When we drove in there was indeed a big field with a few cannons set up which is exactly what I pictured but there was also a large visitor’s center. I have to admit at this point my body was DONE with me, especially my feet which were on fire. So I was hoping for a very little display to see and then beat it back to the car. However the visitor center was like a well maintained museum in it’s own right. I sat in the gift shop and talked to the cashier a while waiting for my travel companions to make use of the facilities. I just needed to sit. He seemed a friendly older gentlemen who asked the usual questions – from where had we come from? Everywhere.

When my companions returned he gave us all a huge spiel about the park. It wasn’t just this field or even the museum attached to it. The park actually owned all sorts of properties across town and if we wanted to see all the sights we had to get a little map and do a driving tour! And if we wanted there was a few hiking trails as well – one which was supposed to have a nice view of the city. I had wanted to go on a hike but right now, in the condition I was in, the thought made me want to cry.

He also told us about the National Park passports which were like mock passports you could stamp at every national park you visit. We were all intrigued so we bought one. I was too tired to comprehend anything so I merely stamped mine with one stamp and called it good while my companions stamped theirs with all four at the station and added a sticker. I still have no idea where the sticker came from but I took a pic so y’all can see what it’s supposed to look like. In any event this will give us something else to do when we get home – visit all the national parks of New England! (Of which there aren’t many but you never know where I’m going to end up so I’m OK with that.)

When we drove off we made it to an old farmhouse which was basically taken over when Confederates marched through. The place seemed eerily quiet now. Peaceful. It was hard to imagine that it’d ever been a place of great violence and conflict. But it did get me to thinking about what it must have been like to be a farmer minding your own damn business and suddenly find your property filled with an invading army. What chaos! And how scary that would be! It was humbling.

The other stops on the car tour were basically other properties that were involved in this march as we followed the procession. It was very spaced out and hard for me to follow in any capacity. By the time we got to the hiking trail we wanted to attempt I was on the fence if I should push myself any further. My feet gave a defiant NO but the rest of me was like, “This is our LAST stop on this trip, you can’t falter now!” So I went on the little hike, hobbling the whole way. It was much farther than I had been led to believe and we never did get to see that view of the city but despite that it was a gorgeous area to be hiking. All the trees looked like they were about to spring to life and start lobbing apples at us – or maybe the weird “brain fruit” we kept finding on the ground. Everything about these things made me want to play with them and learn more. They were the size of a softball, hard as a rock, with the lumpy texture of a brain. I cracked one open and it seemed to contain a fibrous mush that smelled faintly of pineapple. Others that had been squashed in the road appeared to be decaying into an alien goo. What were these things?! Turns out they were hedge apples, grown in the area mostly to keep pest bugs at bay. They’re mildly toxic and horses that eat them foam at the mouth. Good to know!

We didn’t make it to that many stops on the self tour because by now the clock was ticking and we really did need to get back to the airport (and it’d be another 6.5 hour drive home from there.) That was no small feat and I paid for it dearly but it was worth it. This little trip out of New England was exactly what I needed to lift my spirits and get me back into the swing of things. It’s funny how travel can do that.

November 17, 2021 0

Acadia National Park – Bar Harbor Maine

Acadia is one of my favorite places to go. The park is enormous and has something to offer everyone. It has hiking trails of all levels and capabilities for the athletic among us but it also has a variety of stunning views you can either see directly out your car window or very easily access. If that’s not enough to tempt you there’s also a number of beaches both rocky and sandy and a few other attractions that lure the curious.

I have been to Acadia two or three times already, always off season, and I didn’t pay anything to get in because of this, but I guess I was either too early this year or they changed their policy. Some of the park remained free – like the drive up Cadillac Mountain, but by the time I got close to Thunderhole I approached a toll gate and had to fork over $25 for a week’s pass. That’s OK though, it was worth it.

This visit was a short one as I was busy socializing for most fo the day and only arrived at 2PM but I still packed a lot into a few hours! I especially wanted to drive to the summit of Cadillac Mountain to get a few nice foliage photos and enjoy the fresh mountain air. I was shocked how many people were here! But I guess when the weather is a freakish 70-some-odd degrees people are more likely to come out and enjoy nature at its finest. I stopped at several points to take a few snaps and enjoyed the summit as well as the Overlook at Blue Hill the most as far as the mountain went. I ended up shuffling out onto the bare rocks at the summit and enjoyed a bit of time just soaking in the view – which included all the colorful trees I could wish for, a delightful pond, a few islands off the coast, and unseasonably blue skies. It was hard not to stay here forever. Unlike many parks Acadia is open 24/7 all year long…. Obviously this means I must return once more… at night. The view must be amazing then! I wonder if you can hear loons or if wolves exist in the park…

Anyway, that flight of fancy erased from my mind I continued onwards, driving back down the mountain. On my way I had to stop the car to let a deer pass and took a shot out my car window of a second that was staring at me from a few feet away. I got one good snap before another car barreled by in the travel lane scaring them both off.

I wanted to see Thunderhole – which is this rock formation at the coast that makes a thunderous noise when the waves from the ocean rush through it. I have been told about it for years from all sorts of relatives ad friends and had yet to check it out… but first I passed Sand Beach, the main sandy beach in the park, and had to get out to amble for a bit. It was low tide. I had never been here during low tide. I must say all the exposed rocks gave it extra character! There wasn’t too many people there at this time of day, or year, certainly no polar bear swimming club to be seen, but there were a few families playing with nerf balls and kites. I’m surprised there weren’t any dogs – as they are allowed in the park.

After Sand Beach I came across something called Otter Point. Apparently Maine has sea otters. There were probably fifteen photographers here, all piled up in different points just waiting around.

“What going on here?”

“Otters.” I giggled, winking at a strange woman who was laughing with me. “They must be waiting for otters! I don’t see any, do you?”

“No…….”

Truth be told these people were probably all here to take advantage of the sunset which was closing in soon. It was a good vantage point for that – though not the best conditions today. It was a bit gray out.

After this I FINALLY found Thunderhole! I parked at the gift shop, which was afforded no electricity of any kind, and made my way towards the crowd across the street. Here there were railings out onto the rocks so I scrambled down, wondering if I would hear anything at low tide. As it turns out the rocks were making a little noise, not much, but enough to placate me. I took a short video. The day after this my great uncle told me there’s a louder more impressive Thunderhole somewhere else nearby that doesn’t have railings. Apparently several tourists a year get swept out to sea trying to find it. This didn’t deter me. Now I want to go back and find it!

Thunderhole was pretty neat but there was still the tiniest bit of daylight left so I was off to see what else I could see. I ended up at a small unmarked beach that was littered with shells, piles of seaweed, and a bunch of tiny tide pools that were alive with barnacles, snails, shrimp, and probably a number of other little sea bugs. There were two people here, a woman scouring the dry sands at the top of the beach and a man staring intently into the tide pools. I wondered what they were searching for so I asked the woman who was close to me. She was picking up tiny pieces of sea glass to make a novelty travel vial out of. She said being a national park you’re not supposed to take rocks or shells or anything natural so she decided sea glass would be best. I felt no remorse for the three tiny rocks in my pocket – one brilliantly orange, one dark red, one green. I made no mention of the two little shells in the other pocket. They were two amongst millions. I felt no guilt about kidnapping them whatsoever. Besides I am pretty sure the dude was searching for something besides sea glass. Was he a rock hound? Or searching for clams? I’ll never know because he was way too far off to ask. By now the sun had gone down to the point that scouring the beach or looking for other overlooks was pretty pointless so I headed home. It was however a gorgeous day and I had a whole lot of fun.

<strong> If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!

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October 21, 2017 0

Grand Teton National Park – Wyoming

From the fossil fish dig I went straight to Grand Teton National Park. It was exceptionally cloudy and I stopped to take some rather mystical looking photos of the snow-topped mountains. I also walked a little ways around Jenny Lake which, for a lake, was beautiful. The water was crystal clear and the mountains overlooking it gave it a wonderful vibe. I dipped my hands in the water, which was so soft and cool. It was starting to rain and I needed to get to our campground before it closed. I’d already made reservations at Madison in Yellowstone.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!

June 24, 2011 0

Redwood National Park California

I went to the Redwood National Park hoping to see some big trees. I wasn’t sure if I would see any or not, knowing full well that most of the really big trees, the ones which are thousands of years old, have long since been logged before the days of national parks. However I had watched documentaries that say redwoods grow 6 feet a year and that in the canopy there are whole ecosystems we’re just now learning about in tree caves in and on branches, even whole species of amphibians living their entire lives up there. It’s a neat and romantic idea, still, on my way to this place I passed dozens of cheesy little small-town attractions like The Grandfather Tree and Confusion Hill. I actually stopped at Confusion Hill to see what it was about. There was a small very packed gift shop and signs all over the place saying to beware of the rare and elusive Chip-a-lope. And low and behold there were Chip-a-lope in the gift store, little stuffed chipmunks with antelope antlers on their head. Cute. There was something about a train ride and a twisted tree and their back yard seemed to be sectioned out into bizarre exhibits. I should mention the place was run by an old hippie woman, and probably her husband. I left confused alright, never finding out what the “mystery” advertised on the giant sign even was. Perhaps which drugs were used to inspire this place? I can voucher a guess on that one.

The area was rife with aged hippies. I should mention this, as that morning I accidentally flashed one when the back door of the Jeep unexpectedly flung up during my morning rituals. Then there was Confusion Hill and someplace I passed called Area 101 which looked like a small ghost town someone had boarded up and psychedelically painted with UFO’s and eyeballs. I stopped to take a photo of that bizzarro place only to be mocked by two of its patrons, old hippies, hooting and hollering and jumping around like monkeys. Touché. I smiled and waved in turn. Yes, I know I’m a dorky tourist. Might as well wear it with pride.

When I got to the actual redwood forest I drove quite a ways noticing most of the monster trees were indeed old stumps, cut down for one reason or another. Finally I got to the trails. I took the Ladybird Johnson Trail, starting with a wooden bridge that extended over the highway. It led me into the woods where I got to see giant dead trees, hollowed out by fire but still standing! I walked further. I found a cavernous tree off the path and meandered off to check it out. I have a hard time resisting such temptations sometimes. I took photos and checked it out thoroughly. It was more interesting than what was on the path and I was not the first one to think so as graffiti in the tree noted which of the many puppy-eyed teenagers loved whom. Back to the path I finally started hitting live giant trees. They were impressive but nothing like the photos I’d seen as a kid of people stretched arm to arm around the old trees, in fact they weren’t even as big as the “drive through” tree I passed, with a large hole carved out of it allowing cars to pass right through it. That tree was still alive, despite the harassment. There was apparently a “tall tree grove” but it was inaccessible without a permit. The signs stating this fact did not state how to get a permit or if it was possible.

In any event the trail was a nice one, especially for someone’s who’s out of shape tush has been doing very little except driving around the Jeep… and it was humbling to be in the presence of such wide and tall trees. Despite warnings of bears and cougar I saw no wildlife, save for a jay and a snake. The jays were demonized on the exhibit signs. I was told not to feed these opportunistic monsters because they were making some other more natural birds go extinct.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!

June 15, 2011 0

Joshua Tree National Park California

Disappointed by Vulture City and the Petrified Forest I had to wonder what was in Joshua tree. I imagined it to be someone’s back yard where a small child hugged a tree it had named Joshua. Can’t be disappointed if that’s how much you expect from something.. then again, I have been to the birthplace of Johnny Appleseed.

Joshua Tree is actually another park in the middle of a desert. When I saw that I expected another Big Bend horror story but I was so dead on my feet I needed to stay somewhere. I also hoped for showers. There were none. “Did your bathroom have a light in it?” “No.” “Did yours have soap and paper towels?” “Nope, none of that either, but the toilets did flush, that’s a plus…”

I talked to the personnel there who told me one of the main attractions to Joshua Tree, besides the elusive Joshua Trees themselves were the tortoises. Apparently it is home to a large population of endangered tortoises. I asked were we could see them and the woman claimed they were everywhere. The park itself was huge though, and didn’t have any gas stations so before settling in I left to find gas. The only place nearby did not have its prices advertised and only when you started pumping did you realize they were charging $4.20 per gallon. There were kids everywhere infesting the place but they weren’t just any kids, they were the kids you see in apocalyptic sci-fi movies. There was a van full of teenage girls here with their minister on some Christian mission. They’d written in marker all over the van’s windows with a number of suggestive things, “Hot Chickas on Board.” “We kneel for Jesus,” “Honk if you love Jesus!” I am not sure if their minister was just that out of touch with his flock that he had no idea they were treating this outing as a practical joke or if he just didn’t know how to control them. Either way the boys were even worse than the little prosti-tots.

The place was swarming with tween boys as well. A number of them smelled as if they had never known the word shower. One ten year old boy had bleached permed hair and since he probably already had curly hair to begin with… well he ended up with completely bleached kinky hair, standing straight up, decorated sparsely with a bead here and there. All the kids here were rude, obnoxious, and insinuating. A whole swarm of baby douches. I don’t really approve of that wording but what else could I call them? These kids reminded me of all those stereotyped spoofs of New Jersey.

Have you ever met someone who has had such a traumatic and fucked up childhood that you know they have no chance in hell of functioning normally as an adult in society? I think this godforsaken corner of the desert is where these runaways ended up with their seven children, who all devolved through successive generations until these little treasures came into the world… and ministers, naively, try to save them.

The store itself wasn’t much better than the kids who infested it. There was a shelf labeled “souvenirs” which only contained obscene bric-a-bracs, an Indian woman holding two pots in front of her boobs, a little cactus growing out of each, and a cowboy and Indian man each holding their britches open, a cactus jutting out from them. “What the fuck is wrong with this place?” Bizarrely there was no firewood on offer and the only water being sold was as a nearly solidly frozen two liter bottle of “frozen water,” what us sane people would call ice. I got out of there as soon as I could.

I returned to Joshua Tree so tired, but determined to at least see a tortoise to make it worthwhile. I stopped at the visitor center to pay and get everything settled. I walked back to the car where I found a couple Brits discussing the Jeep.

“Look at that license plate, it says New Hampshire. I’ve been there. Live free or die! I love that!”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean? What’s so free about it?”

“I don’t know, I have a T-shirt that reads that.” I was standing off to the side waiting to get into my car, without saying a word, silently laughing to myself that live free or die actually refers to the revolutionary war… live free of the British crown and their taxes or die. I could have said something but I was still a bit shell shocked from the last place we were at and didn’t feel like talking. Besides this guy’s accent was rough! I don’t know which town he originated from but I can tell you it was working class. I waited patiently for them to move out of my way to get back into my car.

I set up the tent in another gusty wind, fighting all the way, trying to get the stakes to actually stay in the loose sand. It was a challenge but when I finally managed the sucker was standing as strong as a tent can stand without use of cement.

I drove around part of the park looking for tortoises. I saw a lot of vaguely tortoise shaped rocks and nothing else. I drove through the cactus garden and checked out the Joshua Trees themselves, which were basically yucca trees with lots of different branches instead of a trunk and some leaves. Eventually I ended up at the springs. I’d hoped to see the oasis but it was a seven mile walk. There was no way I would have survived that, not today! I walked up to the springs and there was some HUGE palm trees, and tangles of plants. I could not keep my eyes open to enjoy its beauty until I heard an impossibly loud HISSSSSSSSSSS and saw someone jump three feet in the air. Rattlesnakes… They were here, thick as my fist and almost as long as I am tall.

I couldn’t keep my eyes open on the way back to the tent. It was 4PM and time for bed. I was toast. I slept like a baby on morphine. I got up to eat dinner a few hours later and went back to bed, not waking up until my alarm went off unexpectedly at 7am. I got up and did some cleaning and took a little walk. On my walk I saw a Jack rabbit, a weird bug, some odd birds, lots and lots of cactuses, evidence of a lapdog, but no tortoises. I took some photos and enjoyed myself, making sure not to wander off the path that I found that seemed to lead straight into the desert for no apparent reason. It led back to the campground. I returned after 30-45 minutes out there. The day before I was told (after setting up the tent) that this loop of the campground was going to be closed for the season today and I had to be out of there by 10, maybe 11 o’clock.

If you are enjoying Catching Marbles please consider adding a dollar or two to my limited gas money fund so I can continue going on adventures and sharing them with you! Thank you!

June 5, 2011 0