Tom and I headed to the Eastern Shore of Maryland this weekend, to kayak and camp.
We found a local pizza shop in Crisfield, Maryland, that would rent us a kayak, since the state park rentals were not open for the season, yet. We packed up the boat and headed to Jane's Island, where we camped on a platform in the marsh. It's a public campsite, but to us it felt like a private island.
I messed up this photo because it would have looked like Tom was walking on water. He did find an oyster. The beach! After we kayaked back to shore Sunday morning, we headed to the beach up by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and then biked around to Kent's Narrows nearby to enjoy more of the Bay views.
I think I found the job that is the perfect combination of my career as a conservationist and my husband's career as an architect. Veg.itecture! This is a thing!
Enjoying the new Nature Valley Trail View site. It's like Google Street View for trails in the National Parks. Features hikes in Grand Canyon, Great Smoky Mountains, and Yellowstone National Parks captured in 360 degree video. Hopefully more to come. Thanks to my cousin JC for sending me the site.
This week I received my first DUCK-SHAPED award, a very exciting event. The award is for my company's partnership with many groups to protect wildlife on the South Fork Snake River Area of Critical Environmental Concern in southeast Idaho near Idaho Falls.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages the area and has been a true leader in protecting this amazing section of river over the last two decades.
More than 300,000 people visit the South Fork each year to enjoy world-class fishing and floating, abundant wildlife and one of the most scenic rivers in the West, supporting 350 jobs and generating $12 million in income per year. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service study of Idaho’s ecosystems rated this area as the most valuable, biologically diverse and unique ecosystems in the state.
I rafted the South Fork in 2009 and they had to pull me out of the boat; I did not want to leave. It was a beautiful, adventurous and serene day-float. I hope to go back and take Tom.
When I read a biography, it often feels like I am spending time with that person. This last month my husband would ask me what I was doing and I would say, "I am hanging out with John Wesley Powell."
I've been reading A River Running West: The Life of John Wesley Powell, and learning the amazing story of this one-armed Civil War veteran who was the first American to navigate and explore the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon and beyond.
Photo: J.K. Hillers, Powell expedition starting out in southwest Wyoming on the Green River.
In southern Utah and northern Arizona, the U.S. map still said "UNKNOWN" until Powell's journey in 1869.
The author writes a comparison with Lewis and Clark:
"Powell's journey down the legendary river of the West was one of the greatest events in the history of American exploration. Only the travels of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark compare in significance or drama." Lewis and Clark wrote extraordinary journals with vivid descriptions, but they each had two good hands to write with. They had as an audience a highly literate President Jefferson who imagined their journey and gave them everything they needed.
"Powell, in contrast, raised his own funds and recruited his own party, with no one else to depend on." Photo: J.K. Hillers. Powell's boat moored on a bank of the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, 1871 or 1872. Powell rowed from a wooden chair tied on top of the boat.
Powell was from the Midwest, became a western explorer and then lived in D.C. for the last 20+ years of his life. I cannot compare myself too much to him, since I did not raft the Colorado River with one arm and/or start the U.S. Geological Service, but it was interesting to read the biography of a man who journeyed from the Midwest to the West to D.C., like me. And in terms of policy wonkness - I enjoyed reading about all of his endeavors to lobby Congress on western issues, which is my line of work.
As a side note, the book also covers how Powell's parents helped start Wheaton College in Illinois and a lot of history about the Mormon pioneers in Utah, two other aspects which were fascinating to learn about.
Photo: The Colorado River from the book Chasing Water, by Pete McBride
As I was reading about Powell, I attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival's tour in D.C., which included a fascinating film about the Colorado River in the lineup called Chasing Water. The film flies over a lot of the Colorado River, and it was a good way to watch and think about Powell's journey.
I learned that the Colorado River no longer reaches the ocean. The water is diverted for other uses such as southern California farming and runs out before the end. Very sad.
Photo: Colorado River delta, now dry. Photo by Peter McBride.
The Chasing Water movie trailer is a good overview, see below, and a 12 minute version is on Patagonia's website.
"In 2005, Kevin Gallagher thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. Each day he took 24 pictures of 24 successive steps along an exemplary stretch of trail. In 2011, Gallagher released "The Green Tunnel," a time-lapse compilation of these images that compresses the thru-hiking experience into a short, fascinating four-minute video."
Photo: Obligatory image Benjamin Franklin, since this is a post about Philadelphia.
Today I FINALLY made it to Philadelphia. I think it's the only large city in America I have not visited, yet, so I wanted to check it off my list and see the historic sites.
I had a great day touring around with a friend. Our first stop was the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where Senators Casey and Toomey of Pennsylvania were hosting a Martin Luther King, Jr. ceremony with other local leaders. Leave it to me to take a break from DC and run into a couple of Senators.
The main reason I am blogging about Philly is that I wanted to share this Pumpple Cake I saw. If you look closely, you'll see on top it's an apple pie baked into a vanilla cake and the bottom layer is a pumpkin pie baked into a chocolate cake. Wow! You can find this at the Reading Terminal Market.
I did not eat a piece of Pumpple Cake, but I did have a Philly cheesesteak.
We also visited the giant Philadelphia Museum of Art. I am trying to avoid using the phrase, "the building with the steps from 'Rocky'," but I cannot help it.
I saw van Gogh's Sunflowers and lots of other amazing art. Glad to visit Philly.
While reading Ken Jennings' new book Maphead, I spent time thinking, "Am I a maphead?"
When I considered that I spent weeks in anticipation for a book called Maphead to come out, grabbed it from the library and read it as soon as possible, and often describe my job as, "I love my job. I get to look at maps most of the day!"...I realized that yes, I can safely say I am a maphead.
Even if you do not self-identify as map-head, if you like traveling or geography, Ken Jennings' book is a terrific read. If you have not heard of Ken Jennings, he is a super-cool nerd known for holding the longest winning streak on Jeopardy. 74 wins in a row!
The book is speckled with fun geography facts, like how for a while there was a "Joe, Montana," and that Victoria Island in Canada is the world's largest triple island. What's that? It's an island with a lake that has an island, and that island has a lake with an island.
Photo: Joe, Montana. Town now is back to Ismay, Montana.
Photo: Victoria Island, Canada, world's largest triple island. Blue circle is the second island, red circle is the triple island. Photo from The Backyard Geographer blog.
The website that had the graphic of the largest triple island also had a photo of a sweater within a sweater. Amazing-ness.
The book covers the National Geography Bee, the rise of GPS technology, the trend of geocatching, hunts through the Library of Congress' map room and much more. He tells many catchy, compelling, personal stories. An enjoyable read.
Video: In the book, Ken talks about Lilly Gaskin, 2 year old map master. She can identify over 100 countries.
Tom and I headed to the Eastern Shore of Maryland this weekend, to kayak and camp.
I messed up this photo because it would have looked like Tom was walking on water. He did find an oyster.
The beach! After we kayaked back to shore Sunday morning, we headed to the beach up by the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and then biked around to Kent's Narrows nearby to enjoy more of the Bay views.
