"CRUISER"Day 34 Visiting Family in Roanoke, VA.
Saturday May 23, 2009
The day was bright and partly sunny, there was smoke in the campground lingering from Friday night’s campfires, but there were bird songs in the air. A bird that we have been “chasing” a longtime reappeared and Jim finally traced it to its source. It was a Swainson’s warbler. A rather plain bird except for the white eye line, the rufous cap and the song. It is very striking and identifiable once you see it. Its call is “ seuw, seuw, seuw.”
We had promised my niece Cathy that we would visit her family today, so with a leisurely AM that we really needed, we left for their place in Roanoke (15 miles away) at 10:45 AM. We were south of town about that distance so it was an easy trip to get to their house driving up I-81 and east on me- 581. I-81 is the direct route from Mexico to NYC, so it is heavily used. Here is a synopsis of the highway’s use:
Following the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, Interstate 81 provides a link between the Northeastern Megalopolis to points in the Mid-Southern states, adding to its appeal as a major trucking route. Combined with all of Interstate 59 and a portion of Interstate 75, Interstate 81 follows U.S. 11 for its entire journey from New Orleans to northern New York State. Interstate 81 does not enter major metropolitan areas; (ed. Note: a good fact for truckers to know) it instead serves smaller cities such as Roanoke and Winchester, Virginia; Hagerstown, Maryland; Harrisburg and Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Binghamton and Syracuse, New York. After passing through Watertown, Interstate 81 crosses the St. Lawrence Seaway to meet Ontario 401 in Canada..JPG)
RED BELLIED WOODPECKER
Saturday May 23, 2009
The day was bright and partly sunny, there was smoke in the campground lingering from Friday night’s campfires, but there were bird songs in the air. A bird that we have been “chasing” a longtime reappeared and Jim finally traced it to its source. It was a Swainson’s warbler. A rather plain bird except for the white eye line, the rufous cap and the song. It is very striking and identifiable once you see it. Its call is “ seuw, seuw, seuw.”
We had promised my niece Cathy that we would visit her family today, so with a leisurely AM that we really needed, we left for their place in Roanoke (15 miles away) at 10:45 AM. We were south of town about that distance so it was an easy trip to get to their house driving up I-81 and east on me- 581. I-81 is the direct route from Mexico to NYC, so it is heavily used. Here is a synopsis of the highway’s use:
Following the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, Interstate 81 provides a link between the Northeastern Megalopolis to points in the Mid-Southern states, adding to its appeal as a major trucking route. Combined with all of Interstate 59 and a portion of Interstate 75, Interstate 81 follows U.S. 11 for its entire journey from New Orleans to northern New York State. Interstate 81 does not enter major metropolitan areas; (ed. Note: a good fact for truckers to know) it instead serves smaller cities such as Roanoke and Winchester, Virginia; Hagerstown, Maryland; Harrisburg and Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Binghamton and Syracuse, New York. After passing through Watertown, Interstate 81 crosses the St. Lawrence Seaway to meet Ontario 401 in Canada.
.JPG)
RED BELLIED WOODPECKERWe had a fine time with Cathy, Bruce her husband and Emily (12) their daughter. There were two dogs there today as one was being “house sat.” “Cruiser” is a Basset Hound (see) and Cinnamon (neighbor) is a Springer Spaniel. We had not seen Bruce in 3 ½ years so we did catch up some. We had a light lunch, exchanged information about the families (my sister’s and mine) mainly and then went to a neighbor’s home whose pool is used by the Keisers on a regular basis. That was refreshing in the 85 degree heat. Jim even did some “not so fancy dives” off the ½ meter board.
We finished the visit with more chatter and sharing, did some pruning of the Japanese Maple that was keeping 6 foot tall people from entering the front door, and ended the day with a supper at Red Robin one of Emily’s favorite places. She had an overnight with her best friend, Marla, that night. Red Robin was busy on this Memorial Day weekend and it was good to see the Americans enjoying the Holiday in different ways, celebrating the Holiday (Memorial Day) Those who died to keep our country free are the ones to thank. I wore my USA Flag shirt all day.
The evening was relaxing time. Tomorrow we head up the Blue Ridge Sky Line Drive. We will do just part of it , the northern ½ as the speed limit is slow and we want to stop and enjoy the scenery along the way. Wanna believe that we will see some birds? We will overnight in Winchester, VA. Then on further through great Civil War historic towns like Harpers Ferry (John Brown and integration) and Fredricksburg.
Today we saw another Bald Eagle floating “downstream” with the currents of air, while we were swimming in the pool.
There will be a few more postings, ”The Good Lord willing”, as they say.
GRANDSON BRAETON ARDELL AND SCOTT AFTER WINNING
MEDALS AT THE NATIONAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD.(GRAND HAVEN MI)
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