Ready for a Hayride

After putting insulation around the edges of the trailer (gotta protect the riders), picking up a trailer load of hay on our trip to Covington, placing the hay bales around the edges of two trailers and moving them under the shed to keep them dry...whew, we are ready for the hay ride.

So, jump in beside me and let's go for a ride.

Until next time...

A Review

Instead of repeating things about this refuge, you can go to our blog from last year...September through December.  We will be adding new things to come...so keep checking back.

This year we will be having the 17th Annual Wild Things.  Last year, the government was shut down and this was cancelled.  We are expecting 5000 to attend.

We have been busy getting things ready.

If you are in the area on the 18th, come by and join in the fun.

Wallace is pressure washing the area...you can see the difference where he put the initials of the refuge (has not been cleaned yet).

We trimmed many branches from a couple of these oaks, some of the branches were on the ground.  All the crepe myrtles have been cleaned of suckers, these you can see in the background.

This is just some of the cleared brush we hauled out to the burn pile.

Then we moved to the backyard where we trimmed several areas. These are some of the camelia trees.  After trimming, we spread pine straw underneath them.

Friday is our fun day, the day we do the brochure run.  It is a day of travel mixed in with trash pick up.  Some would not think it is fun...we do, and we do a good job of it...even if I do say so myself.

Until next time...

Went Right to Work

Our first assignment was to take fellow volunteers on the brochure run and show them the ropes.

We are pictured here picking up new trash grabbers.  We need those as we make our rounds, not only filling brochure racks, but we pick up trash as we go.

Uh oh, we had to call in the big guns for this mess...those grabbers can't take care of THAT!!!

This is our start at the Big Branch Marsh area.

Well, it looks like we need another camera to catch these litterbugs.


So we continue on our route to another refuge...Bayou Savage.

And this is what we find there!

Again, we reported this find and others will have to take care of this.

The trash can was overflowing in this area.

We ended up with a whole truck load of trash by the end of the day, I wish I had gotten a picture.

Southeast Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge is made up of eight properties including the 110 acres where we are parked and call home...Bayou Lacombe Center.  This property was once privately owned and then known as "Bayou Gardens."  A wide variety of camellias, azaleas, and other flowering trees and shrubs were planted.

It was also a Catholic High School in the fifties, and later a seminary retreat center for the church.

This property is also where the visitor center is located not too far from where we are parked.

This Great Blue Heron posed for us

and we came upon this Box Turtle by the side of the road.  This is one of my favorite turtles...I love the way he can totally close up for protection.  The plastron told me he was a male, and one of the biggest ones I have found.  After the photo, I placed him down the way he was traveling...and said live on!!! 

Until next time...

Montgomery, Alabama

and you know what is interesting about this city...yep, the State House.

This is the first peek.  The dome with the flags.

This one  is the seventh one to visit.

Montgomery became the capital in 1847 and is located on "Goat Hill."  The Dexter's had a goat farm on this location, and the building is on Dexter Street.

To our left is a statue of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America, in 1861.  

This is a view of the floating staircase from the second floor. It is the most fascinating thing to me.

It is a three story spiral staircase, but the view from the first floor is the entry with all the security stuff that makes it unsightly.

Just had to show another view...hey, it is shaped in an S...I have a lot of pictures of just this staircase!!!

They think it was built by a freed slave by the name of Horace King, a bridge builder and engineer.  He also served in the Alabama legislature.

This is what you see as you enter, a statue of the first woman governor, Lurleen Wallace.

Behind her is the Fallen Heroes room.

This is looking up into the Rotunda.  A beautiful stained glass skylight dates from 1906.

There are lovely murals depicting the history of Alabama, circling beneath the dome.

This was another beautiful feature of this building.

This is just one of the murals.  It is of Jefferson Davis being sworn in as President of the Confederate States of America in 1861.

There is a total of eight murals with beautiful vibrant colors.

This is the old House Chamber. It has been restored to its original appearance.

Notice the lavender painted walls, and no desks...just wooden chairs without any cushions.

This caught my eye.  What a beautiful stove.

I meant to ask about it, but forgot.

Our tour was a self-guided tour, and the stove is not even mentioned in our literature.

The old Senate Chamber, where delegates from the seceding southern states organized the Confederate States of America in 1861.

It has been restored as well.  Notice the spitoons on the floor.

From the gallery above, you get a good look at the whole room.



Upon leaving Montgomery, we traveled back to Selma on the National Historic Trail where the march for voting rights was led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.  The march ended on the street in front of the Capitol.  It was a five day march back in 1965. There were over 300 people who participated in the event.

The famous bridge, Edmund Pettus Bridge where the march began.

Until next time...

Up the Hill and Around the Curve

as we make our way to work each week.  This is our last week to spend at Moosehorn for the season.  We have been busy routing signs, painting the edges and installing them.  Bill brought in some mums for the four planters and I got them planted as one of the last things to do.

We also re-installed a couple of counters. Hopefully these will work right and get an accurate count.  This one was reading 100%...that's great. Now to keep the spider webs out!!!

Well, this finishes up our last week of work...now to get things ready for travel.

Next, up on the roof I go, hoping I don't have an accident.

Somebody has to do it...I'd rather it be me.

Wallace gets to do the rest while I am busy inside.

We had a pizza party, and Bill asked me what my favorite memories were...oh, there are so many!!!

We had a great time, sharing funny things while we ate.

Our spot is now empty.

Any what a lovely spot indeed.

We turned in our keys.

We said our goodbyes.

Here we are in Woodstock, Virginia at a Wal-mart for the night.  We were the only ones until THIS pulled in beside us. Did you notice, it is a Prevost.

We stopped here to visit some friends who are camp hosting at Big Meadows...Lunda and Mel. We had a great visit with them.

We are now at a Corps of Engineers campground in Demopolis, Alabama...site 31.

We are recuperating from our time on the road from Maine (all one nighters).

We move on to Louisiana Monday for our three month stint at Southeast Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge...same place as last year at this time.

BUT, we took a little side trip yesterday and will share that maybe tomorrow...stay tuned.

Until next time...

Musings

What a wonderful view...this bench is next to the new office building at the refuge.  We are sitting here thinking about all the things that have happened this summer.

One of the last things I failed to mention is when the Secretary of the Interior stopped by for a little visit...Sally Jewell...she is the one in the center with the blue jacket.  She spent some time talking with each one of us and then wanted to hike a trail...of course it had to be the Charlotte Trail.  I'm sure glad I spent some time trimming, mowing and cleaning the interpretive signs on that trail...she did not seem to notice though.  It was a nice visit.

We have had a wonderful summer with our Moosehorn Family, but it is time to move on to our next destination...Louisiana.

Until next time...

Open House

We moved into the new office June 23...next thing to do was open house.  We have been planning it for some time and it finally came to fruition.

Bill Kolodnicki, project leader, gave the welcoming.  In attendance were two state representatives, the mayor of Calais and a rep from Homeland Security.  There were about 40 people for the ribbon cutting that started at 2:00 pm, with others coming and going throughout the evening.  It ended at 7:00 pm.

The refreshments were laid out on the conference room table...the picture was taken before the fruit bowl and punch were put out.

We had a video of the building while it was being built projected on the screen.

I arranged two vases of flowers for the table and reception desk, and prepared my favorite punch of lime sherbet and 7 up (which was a big hit).

With our limited budget, the black-eyed Susans came from the refuge.

The building is geothermal and supported by a solar system, with a back up generator in the event of emergencies.

The cake was delicious.  The photo is actually the back of the office.

Several of us bought or made the desserts.  I baked peanut butter crisscrosses.

Until next time...