view

view
Along the Natchez Trace

Sunday, July 15, 2012

A New Habit?

I've been working at the visitor center several days in a row and since we don't get many visitors here I have time to work on photos and even compose a blog.  The good thing is that I can hook into the internet here and it is SO fast!


We (personally)  have Hughes Net...  and our dish situation isn't the best...  and to make a long story short, it's hard to stay connected while I'm in our rig.


So...  here I am again today...  posting a blog is getting to be a habit....


It's actually not as quiet as I wrote...  there is a Landspeed competition going on at the old Loring Air Base, which is right next door.  They are using the old runway for vehicles/motorcycles to drive down at top speed.  One of the visitors here yesterday told me that they had to limit the speed to 175mph (for motorcycles) yesterday because of head and side winds.


I can hear the engines of the vehicles...  LOUD!  I can hear the announcer as each participant finishes their run...  I'm hearing things like "178.654 mph"...  right down to the thousandth of a second!  Last year a woman on a motorcycle set a new record of over 300 mph.  I heard that she was planning to return this year to try to break her old record.  YIKES!


We live a more sedate life over here...  just a stone's throw away...  


Bill helped Steve, the new ass't manager here at the refuge, move last week.  Steve and his wife gave him a very nice "thank you" gift.....  several items of Maine "made" foods, including Dilly Beans, Christmas Pickles and Maple Syrup that they'd made themselves.


There's another Maine food item that I'd been eyeing at the grocery...  Ployes....  a buckwheat crepe or pancake that is popular there.  It's an Acadian food and of course we had to try it...
 That's Steve's maple syrup on the left....  and a bag of pancake mix on the right...
Truth is, I seldom make breakfast.  We're "cold cereal" folks.  So fixing breakfast this morning was a special treat for us.  I realize, that looking at the picture, this doesn't look especially tasty...  even with the bacon.  BUT...  trust me...  it was delicious!  Of course the real maple syrup made it extra good.

After breakfast Bill wanted to head to a couple of parcels of the Refuge that needed some signs moved around...
A team of "Visitor Services" folks came out here recently and made some suggestions as to sign placement ...  for better visibility, clearer info and just all around better signage.

While these signs look alike, one is "one sided" and the other has stuff on both sides.  These cost a small fortune, so rather than replace them, it was better to just switch and put the 2-sided sign along the road where it can be seen either way...  and the other one is in a field just off the road and really doesn't need the back side to be visible.  Okay... got that?  
Now... the signs are located about 10 miles apart.
So...  it took a little over an hour to get this job done.  
But it looks better now and doing this today will free Bill up for something else tomorrow.

Look what I saw last evening...
This big black bear was roaming around in the Weapon Storage Area when I was making my evening rounds...
I got several shots of him, but most weren't much more than a big, black lump in the weeds.
Today, Bill helped me put up one of the Game Cameras in this area.  Maybe I'll have better luck with that.

This scruffy-looking coyote got his picture taken by one of my cameras.  In a totally different area I came across a pile of feathers....  kind of think Mr Coyote found himself some dinner.

The photo above could qualify for one of those "The End" shots, but I like this one better...
Yep!  Mr Black Bear again...
Hustling his buns off into the woods.

And now it's almost 4pm.  Time to close the Visitor Center for the day.  I've been hearing a lot of thunder... (no, it's not the speedway vehicles this time)...  We really need the rain, so here's hoping that it will come this way.

I've had all of 5 visitors today...  no sales...
Maybe tomorrow...

Thats All For Today!


5 comments:

  1. I may need to get pancakes tomorrow for breakfast. No real maple syrup down here sadly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Your summer is just ambling along? How long will you be there? I remember winter comes early in Maine.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love buckwheat pancakes! I will have to try and find some mix to make them.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh boy I really miss Maine Maple Syrup! I brought back a couple of little jugs but they are all gone now.
    That coyote seems to have a VERY big mouth!
    Teri
    markteri.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. The photos and the work are fascinating, but I'm obsessed with the pancakes and Maine maple syrup. That used to be an old standby at our house and I haven't had it for years. My mouth is watering! Don't think I'll be finding maple syrup or pancake mix in Sevilla (and maybe that's a good thing)!

    ReplyDelete