Wild Pennsylvania

I made it back from field camp and I started taking Chemistry II right away. Whew! John and I celebrated the halfway point of my chemistry class by going camping in Pennsylvania. I found a park called Penn-Roosevelt State Park. The campsite we went to was a walk-in site, so we had to walk into the woods about 500 feet to get to it. There weren't very many people there and it was nice and secluded.

We went hiking around Greenwood Furnace State Park about 12 miles from Penn-Roosevelt. This was an old settlement where they used to make charcoal and pig iron. This is a big furnace where they would make iron.

Post-hiking reward!

The second day we were camping the afternoon was very nice, but right around 4:30 pm, it started to rain. We took a nap in our tent and waited to the rain to stop. We had a campfire and right when we were putting it out, it started pouring again! In the middle of the night our tentpole busted with a loud CRACK! Thankfully the whole works didn't fall down. It was still raining the next morning and we had to put everything in the car wet, but it all got dried out on our porch when we got back.

11 Miles and 2,500 Feet

Memorial Day weekend John and I went hiking in Shenandoah National Park. We stayed in Front Royal, Virginia at the northern end of the park. On our first hike we went 5 miles and ascended 750 feet. About halfway through this hike we came upon a couple that said they just saw a bear with two cubs just up the trail. We went on, but never saw the bears. We were trying to make a bunch of noise, so either the people before us or we scared the bears off. As we were finishing this hike, a guy with a big backpack and lots of gear was hiking with his head down and just as were were about to meet he looked up and jumped. He thought Chopper was a bear cub! Just the day before he had seen a bear running from the trail. So there were bears around, but we did not see any.
Later that afternoon we went on a three mile hike and ascended about 1000 feet. There was a great view at a hang gliding launch site, you could see a very long way because the day was pretty clear.

The next day we were heading home, but we wanted to go on one last hike, 3 miles and 750 feet. We hiked to the top of the highest point in the park. This is where they release the rehabilitated raptors back into the wild. It was a really pretty view.

You can see more pictures at: http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r53/klub0002/Shenandoah%20National%20Park/

Appalachian Trail - Gathland St. Park to Garvey Shelter

Last weekend we decided to hike another section of the AT. Thankfully we looked ahead, saw that it was going to be hot, and we went early. We have been steadily chipping away at the AT, this time we went 7 miles (3.5 miles one way) from Gathland State Park to the Ed Garvey Shelter.

The hike was really nice and I was glad that we went early. The trail started to get very busy when we were nearing the end of our hike. At the end we were all really tired and needed a rest in the shade.

Field Trip to Frostburg, Technically Finzel

On April 18th, I went on a field trip to western Maryland to measure some sedimentary rocks in a road cut. There is about 1 million years of sedimentation shown in this particular outcrop.

This is a picture of the rocks we were measuring. The purpose of the trip was to get us to recognize how different depositional environments can be interpreted from the rocks that are left behind. The large tan section in the middle was a meandering stream bed.

In this picture you can see some crossbedding in the sandstone.

This was my favorite stucture at the outcrop: fossil traces from roots!

Now I have to make a stratigraphic column from the data I collected. I'll let you know how it goes.

Cherry Blossom Time!

The first weekend in April was a very bloomy time. The trees in the park near our apartment were blooming:

The Cherry Blossom Festival was in high gear down in DC. There were so many people there, it was pretty crazy. Usually if you go to the Tidal Basin on a non-cherry blossom day, there isn't hardly anyone around. The steps of the Jefferson Memorial were crawling with people when we were there.We walked by the Obama White House for the first time since he's been in office. They were still in Europe, so the rooftop snipers weren't around.

It was a great day to stroll around DC and look at the trees.

Spring Break!

For a little spring break, John and I went to Atlantic City, NJ for a night. We stayed at the Trump Taj Mahal. They recently opened a new tower of hotel rooms that are pretty swanky. Since we were staying on a Sunday night we got a good deal on the price. The room was pretty big, even bigger than our apartment! There was a jacuzzi tub, two bathrooms, and a wet bar.

The Taj Mahal is close to a few other casinos and we walked along the boardwalk and visited quite of few of them. The weather was rainy and cold, but we didn't mind too much.

This is a picture of me at a fountain in the Taj Mahal. I got the idea for the awesome pose from another person doing the same pose. A lot of the decor is golden. Either golden or marble.

To see more pictures of our room: http://s141.photobucket.com/albums/r53/klub0002/Spring%20Break/

Newest Project Complete!

FrontBack

This is the newest sweater that I have finished. The new Holley baby will look great in it!

SNOW DAY!!!

Here are some pictures of our park and Chopper's and my snow day. This is the most snow that we have had here since John and I moved to Baltimore. My university is closed today for 3.5 inches of snow! Yeah!

Chopper had a lot of fun bounding through the snow. We ran around the park like crazy people. It was a lot of fun.

Whistle Stop, Baltimore!

This weekend was Barak Obama's Whistle Stop train tour. He started in Philadelphia, went through Wilmington, Delaware to pick up Joe and his wife and then came to Baltimore to make a speech. After the Baltimore stop they went on to D.C.

Everyone got into the spririt of things:

We live about 1 mile from the train station and the street in front of our apartment building and several other streets around our neighborhood were completely shut down. You couldn't park your car on the street and when it got close to the time they were going to be here, you were not even allowed to be on the street.

Barak was going to give his speech at 4:15, so we left at 3:00 to go down to the War Memorial Plaza. We had to go through a metal detector, which went surprisingly quickly. There were quite a few people there, but I think that the cold weather kept a lot of people away.

Morgan State choir performed before the president elect showed up. They were very entertaining.

When Obama arrived (on time, which was surprising) there were about 4 people that were introduced before him. Every time a new person was introduced and it wasn't Obama the whole crowd groaned. It was pretty funny. Some people had been there since 1:00 pm, so I think they were getting cold and crabby.

Obama's speech was very good, short and sweet. I was very glad that we went.

Another project finished

A friend of mine is having a baby in February, so I have been working on a baby sweater for her and I've just finished it:

Front

Close Up of the Design

Back

Chickies Rock, PA

To start the new year out, John and I thought we would go on a hike. Last year we had a goal of hiking 100 miles, we fell short by 2 miles. This year we are starting early, so we can be sure and get to 100.

In my Structural Geology class last semester, we were supposed to have taken a field trip to Chickies Rock in Pennsylvania, but it was cancelled due to weather. So I drug John out to visit the largest anticline on the East Coast: Chickies Rock. It was a nice day, the sun was shining and the temperature was about 36 degrees. We made it to the top of the formation and got a great view of the Susquehanna River.

Chopper had no problem negotiating the rock formation - I think he's part mountain goat.

We were planning to also hike along the river to view the rocks from below, but in Pennsylvania it is still hunting season and we didn't have any bright orange, so we decided to not hike further. One mile down and 99 to go!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year! We did not go out on New Year's Eve, just stayed in and watched Robbie Knievel jump over a fake volcano on a motorbike on tv. As you can see, Chopper was very impressed:

The New Year's Extravaganza in downtown Baltimore was postponed because of wind. Apparently the organizers did not want searing hot fireworks to fly into the crowd and cause irreparable harm. So, they had them on New Year's Day at 7 pm. We went to that. It was a great show.Watch a short video: