Camping on the Mohawk Trail

Just got back from a great camping trip. We went tent camping at Mohawk Trail SF in the Berkshires. Here are some of the things we did:

Hiked (halfway) up a mountain

Went swimming in Cold River

Cooked over a campfire

Took a cold shower

Visited glacial potholes

Walked along the Bridge of Flowers

And....saw a bear! Right at our campsite! Last night! It was so cool. It was a 18 month old bear (born around March 2007) so it wasn't huge, but it was still impressive. Hank put on a display of protection like I've never seen before - he was ferocious! FYI - the picture of me on my first post is me holding a black bear cub.

Here are some pics from our trip:

Here's our little campsite in the woods. We could see Cold River running through the trees and could hear the water. Very peaceful.

Here's Hank hanging by the campfire.

We spent part of Sunday at Shelburne Falls, a really cute town. We visited the Glacial Potholes - these are huge holes formed in solid rock by whirlpool action in a depression and smaller rocks getting caught in the depressions and acting like a scraper - making the pot holes bigger. Some of the pot holes still have huge rocks stuck in them.

At Shelburne Falls we also walked along the Bridge of Flowers.

Well, I took the walk while Jay stayed with Hank because they didn't allow dogs. Not even well behaved trained dogs on a leash. Grrrr.

Then we found a cute sidewalk cafe to stop and have lunch. Jay and I ate while Hank passed out on the sidewalk - he was so cute.

Going Camping!

Hola!

Jay, Hank, and I are on our way to Mohawk Trail SF to go camping! It will be Hank's first time sleeping in a tent. And visiting a campground that is regularly visited by bears! It will be interesting. We'll be home on Monday with lots of pictures. Hopefully we'll find cool trails, ponds, bridges, steams, and boardwalks along the way - here's pics of me and Jay on the bridge at Moon Crater Pond - one of our fav-o-rite places!

Jay's Other Girlfriend

I have a confession to make. My fiance, Jay, is in love with another girl. It's his "other" girlfriend. He's been with her longer than me, he loves her body and curves, and he enjoys taking her for a ride! Here she is:

The other girl is a 1968 Chevelle SS 396 (I think I have that right). Jay spent many hours this past winter changing her from an automatic to a standard. He did a great job and we took the Chevelle out for a ride last weekend. I am so lucky to have a guy who knows how to do everything - he keeps my car running, fixes the washing machine, patches holes in the roof, fixes my sunglasses and everything else around the house and yard. I don't know what I would do without my Jay. And I'm not jealous of his other woman - I think she's pretty cool even though Jay drives too fast when he's with her!

Destruction & Heaven

So today work took me to Cape Cod. I love Cape Cod and I love that my job sometimes takes me there. But....driving on the Cape today was DISGUSTING! There are literally thousands and thousands of large nasty cicadas flying all over the Cape. I must have seen 10,000 dead ones on the side of the road - probably more! And the sound when my van hit them - ugh. These things are huge and their guts are very pus-like. I was gagging at the pus-gut sprays on my windows- it was so gross!

I had to stop at the grocery store to get some bagels and cream cheese for our day at the beach and there was a live cicada sitting in the parking lot right next to my van. So I took this picture of it. Then - and I don't know what possesed me - I picked it up! The friggin thing made this horrible sound that I can't even begin to describe. Of course I screamed like a girl and the guy next to me laughed at me. Ew, ew, ew.

But then I arrived here:

And got to wade through an estuary with a net and about 30 other environmental educators catching cool creatures.

We caught six types of crabs (hermit, green, blue, fiddler, horseshoe, and rock), perriwinkles, a sea tunicate, minnows, a baby flounder, worms, steamers, quahogs, shrimp, jellyfish and more!

These little hermit crabs are just too cute!

Here I am bravely holding a big blue crab.

New England Gold

One of my favorite things to do is pick blueberries. And luckily I live in an area where wild blueberries are pickable from late June through August. There's something very mellow and relaxing about blueberry picking - just me and nature. I got to listen to birds and watch the bugs as I sat on a carpet of moss and methodically picked my way through some low bush blueberries. I saw a baby praying mantis which was cool. Here's what I picked today in about an hour (about 20 minutes of that hour was spent laying on the ground looking at the sky just enjoying the setting sun - like I said: relaxing). These beautiful blue babies are going into my blueberry muffins.

I also picked some sweet fern. I'm going to make some sweet fern tea with honey.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Something New

I've been reading other people's blogs for a few years now and decided it's time for my family to have our own blog. I'm somewhat jealous of people who've been recording all the great experiences they're having as they wander through life, so now it's my turn!

Here's me: Amy aka Doodlebug

And my Jay - aka Booger

Finally, our little man Hank!