Give a Hoot

Photo: Woodsy the Owl

Has anyone noticed that Woodsy the Owl is not around anymore? The U.S. Forest Service still has Smokey the Bear on patrol, but Woodsy has been missing for a while.

Photo: Old Smokey the Bear poster

Well, it turns out that the Forest Service has phased out Woodsy, maybe because he's "too controversial" because of the 1980's spotted owl saga. Below is a photo from an internal U.S. Forest Service website, explaining to staff how to burn their Woodsy costume!


Sooo sad! I think I have a photo with Woodsy from a National Fishing Week event from 2006. I'll have to dig that up.

I find it most strange, since I think that Woodsy's mantra of "GIVE A HOOT, DON'T POLLUTE!" is still needed! Smokey just tells us to prevent forest fires.

Smokey went through a make-over last year, and now he has these tough looking posters and his own website.


In other related odd forestry news, Betty White became an honorary Forest Ranger last year. One of my favorite forestry factoids from 2010.

This blog is in remembrance of Woodsy. Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute!



Old Woodsy video



Modern Smokey video, somewhat creepy.

Glamping

My favorite term I've learned this month is "glamping." It stands for "glamorous camping." It's a trend for high-end camping. I can't stop saying this word. Glamping.

It's also pretty ridiculous, but fun to examine. Try putting in "glamping" in Google images and you'll be smiling.

There are also several websites dedicated to glamping, such as "Glamping Girl" and "Go Glamping." This has also led to using the term "happy glampers."

This glamping example seems to cross the line. Isn't this a house?

Adventure Park at Sandy Spring

If you're in the D.C. area, I highly recommend the Adventure Park at Sandy Spring - the nation's largest aerial forest adventure park.

One of my favorite features was that we had our own zipline device we carried with us the whole way. About every third element required ziplining between trees, sometimes a combo zipline/trapeze or snowboard feature.


Photo: Start of courses

Photo: Adventure Park course, view from the trees.

Other elements usually included balancing on logs and barrels or climbing higher in the tree-tops. The Adventure Park had 5+ courses to choose from, up to a "double black diamond" level that had a 70% fail rate. A ticket allows three hours at the Park, so we were able to complete three different courses.


Video: Tom snowboard zip-lining

During a hot summer, zip-lining through the trees was mighty fun.

Germany in Minnesota

Photo: Homemade quilt from Tom's mom, a wedding gift. They really know how to greet family in Minnesota!

Last weekend I visited Tom's hometown for the first time. He grew up in New Ulm, Minnesota, about 2 hours southwest of the Twin Cities.


Tom doesn't read my blog, so he won't mind me posting this photo of him in the New Ulm paper about his Eagle Scout award.

New Ulm is a very German town, with "Herman the German" presiding. He is the third largest copper statue in the U.S., after the Statue of Liberty and a Portland, Oregon, statue.

New Ulm is home to America's second oldest family-owned brewery, Schell's (oldest is Yuengling). The family opened the brewery in the 1860's and chose New Ulm because it looks like Germany. The above photo is on the grounds of the family's estate, next to the brewery that we toured on Saturday.

Photo: Tom, his Dad, and his uncle, at Schell's Brewery

New Ulm even has its own glockenspiel! We watched the noon chimes.

Tom's Dad took me for a tour of New Ulm on his red Harley. We even went to the other side of the tracks, by the butter factory. Last month I met Al Franken and we talked about Tom growing up in New Ulm. Senator Franken said, "They make butter there." That's right. Every time you have a lil' wrapped piece of butter, it's probably from New Ulm. A few years ago, the butter factory caught on fire and butter melted all over the streets. Everything was fine for the motorcycle ride, though. Beautiful day.

No trip to the "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is complete without a lake-house weekend. We spent Fourth of July on Lake Mine Belle.

Fourth of July is also Tom's Mom's birthday. She went tubing on her 65th birthday!

Tom and I rode a paddleboat into the sunset. Romantic Minnesota :)

A wonderful weekend in Minnesota, land of the Germans, the Norwegian "Ingebritsons" and a whole lot of fun.

Did I mention Tom is an Eagle Scout!? So trustworthy.

Spoonbridge and Cherry

Photo: Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg, of Shuttlecocks and Broom and Dustpan fame. Minneapolis, Minnesota, July 2011