Tag Archives: walking/hiking

2020 Photo Challenge #37…

This week’s assignment is to focus on the shadow of your subject rather than the subject.





https://nowathome.wordpress.com/2020/09/14/2020-photo-challenge-37/

The Top of New Jersey…

HIGH POINT STATE PARK,  which is the highest point in  New Jersey is located in Montague in Sussex County. At 1,803 feet above sea level it is the highest peak of the Kittatinny Mountains.  At the peak of the highest point is the 220 ft High Point Monument– from the top you can see New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

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There are 291 stairs to the top. I climbed them on my first visit to the monument in Sept, 1972.. I snapped this picture because I knew I’d never do it again. The monument isn’t open for the season yet so I didn’t have to find out if I would or not.. I like to think I would have tried.

View from the top Sept 1972.   Same view now but from base of monument.

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Views of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania

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With a little help from this…

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You can see really, really far… 🙂

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 There are also hiking and biking trails, picnic areas and a lake.

As the name of my blog implies yes, I am obsessed with Martha’s Vineyard… but I am also proud of my home state of New Jersey.

(There may have been some liberties taken with a few of the photographs… can you guess which ones?)  🙂

 

Looking Back At April 2009 (Dog Sitting)…

April 2009…A friend of my daughter Deb’s asked us if we’d like to dog sit for their two Labs, Silas and Balou.  So Deb, her dog Chappy and I set out for MV .No matter how many times I go to the Vineyard my heart skips a beat or two when I see the above sign and the rotary welcoming you to Cape Cod. This was our first time sailing on the then new ferry, Island Home. Seven miles and 45 minutes later we touched tire in Vineyard Haven. We were about to start an Island adventure like none before.

100_8616 (2) Here is Deb surrounded by a happy, friendly threesome. Chappy on the left, Balou in the front and Silas being petted. We have never met nicer dogs, they are well behaved, sweet, gentle and loving, patient and fun. There wasn’t one moment that we didn’t enjoy being with them. Oh, okay, maybe when Balou was trying so hard to tell us things and we just were too slow on the uptake… but generally speaking (or woofing) things went very, very well.

100_8636 Except for the weather. Two of the days we were there were wet… very, very wet. And when they said soaking rain they meant it.

100_8646 (2) This picture was taken from inside our dry car looking out at Edgartown Harbor. Wet, wet, wet. It was windy too. And wet.

But there were times of no rain and actuall brilliant sunshine and so off on our walks in the woods we would venture. The 4 leggeds were happy to be out and about sniffing, walking, and being together.

In all too short a time our dog sitting adventure came to an end and it was time to head home.

Chappy is waiting to say goodbye to his new friends. He had a great time with Silas and Balou.

The Island Home is waiting for us and all too soon we are setting tire in Woods Hole and back to reality.

This of course is my take on our dog sitting adventure but Chappy himself made a guest appearance on the blog and really, you should read his… CLICK HERE

Here’s a little bit of what Chappy eloquently had to say:

*’a friend of my mom’s invited us to dog sit… I didn’t actually notice anyone sitting like a dog (except my dog friends) but humans have weird jargon sometimes. I just go with the flow and don’t ask questions.

And….

Oak Bluffs is another of our favorite towns to walk around in.  If you look really really close you can see mom and me standing outside the movie theatre on the corner.  She’s taking photos and I’m trying to keep one eye on her and one eye on gram who wandered off to the other side of the information booth.  Man, keeping them together would be so much easier if they were both leashed.

❤

Weekly Photo Challenge: Pedestrian…

New York City… pedestrians hurrying to get to a Broadway matinee…

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…a couple stopping in Times Square to get engaged…

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…or nonchalantly walking behind a big celebrity.

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I’ve also enjoyed the pedestrian walkway at Walkway Over The Hudson in Poughkeepsie, New York, which is the world’s longest elevated pedestrian bridge.

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https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/pedestrian/


Walking Over The River …

Recently on my daughter Deb’s birthday we went for a walk over the Hudson River on the beautiful Walkway Over The Hudson,

(the above photo is from Google, all others are mine)

The walkway is in Poughkeepsie, New York… it was a former railroad bridge built in 1889, the bridge deck stands 212 feet above the river’s surface and is 1.28 miles long, making it the longest, elevated pedestrian bridge in the world.  The day we were there was sunny, cloudy, breezy, windy and as you can see still lots of beautiful foliage.   Here we go…

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pizap.com14471878998221Deb & Chappy                                        Deb & best friend Dawn

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view up river …
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down river towards NYC which is approximately 85 miles away…

IMG_1663 looking straight down …

pizap.com14475459731561half way point…

pizap.com14475460666361and another stunning view of the Mid-Hudson Bridge..b

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barge coming up river…

pizap.com14475461502601After we had lunch and rested for a bit we started back across the bridge..

I want to give honorable mention to 14 year old granddog Chappy who never once slowed down and enjoyed every moment of the bridge walk. IMG_1696
One last look…
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This was so much fun and if it were closer than almost 2 hours from where I live I’d walk it more often.

Here are links to Walkway Over the Hudson:

http://www.scenichudson.org/parks/walkway

http://nysparks.com/parks/178/details.aspx


Coffee With Chappy …

I had no intentions of doing a fourth Saturday coffee outing but Deb’s dog Chappy (my granddog) joined us and made it extra special.  He was so happy to be going out with us that he actually relaxed in the car.

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We headed out to western New Jersey to Blairstown which is set in the rolling hills of Sussex County.  The sky was dotted with puffy white clouds everywhere.

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As always though… coffee is first.  Deb & I have been to the coffee shop before.  This was Chappy’s first time there though and he really enjoyed sitting outside being admired by passerby’s.

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Of course Chappy doesn’t drink coffee but usually we can entice him with bites of whatever we’re eating but he didn’t seem to be interested in my bagel.

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Although this shot makes it look otherwise, he still refused. (This was a lucky shot, I didn’t realize until later I’d gotten his tongue at just the right moment).

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Chappy’s ready now to move on to the next phase of our outing… a walk around town.

100_8207So off we went…

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Through the grounds of the Blair Academy…

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Wandering around town taking in the sights… (and sniffs)

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I thoughtfully browsed in a store for a bit so Chappy could relax with his mom.   Dogs always look comfy no matter where they are.

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If you’re looking for hope, here it is… Hope, New Jersey.. we drove thru it on our way home  :)

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Dog Sitting On The Vineyard …

Back in 2009 a friend of my daughter Deb’s asked us if we’d like to dog sit for their two Labs, Silas and Balou.  Absolutely yes, so Deb, her dog Chappy and I set out for MV.

My creation No matter how many times I go to the Vineyard my heart skips a beat or two when I see the above sign and the rotary welcoming you to Cape Cod.

 This was our first time sailing on the beautiful ferry, Island Home.

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Seven miles and 45 minutes later we touched tire in Vineyard Haven.  We were about to start a new Island adventure.

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Here is Deb surrounded by a happy, friendly threesome.  Chappy on the left, Balou in the front and Silas being petted.  We have never met nicer dogs, they were well behaved, sweet, gentle and loving, patient and fun. There wasn’t one moment that we didn’t enjoy being with them.  Oh, okay, maybe when Balou was trying so hard to tell us things and we just were too slow on the uptake… but generally speaking (or woofing) things went very, very well.

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The next afternoon we were all sitting around relaxing… well, some of us were but Silas and Balou seemed antsy and clingy.  We finally figured out that since they lived in a house with two little children that there was always chattering and things going on.   Things obviously were a little too quiet for them.   I don’t remember the book I was reading at the time but I simply began reading out loud and before I knew it I had three dogs sitting at my feet listening to me.  I think we all enjoyed it, I know I did.

 

My creation

Things continued to go well … except for the weather…Two of the days we were there were wet… very, very wet.

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The picture below was taken from inside our dry car looking out at Edgartown Harbor.  Wet, wet, wet.  It was windy too.  And wet.

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But there were times of no rain and actuall brilliant sunshine and so off on our walks in the woods we would venture.  The 4 leggeds were happy to be out and about sniffing, walking, and being together.

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In too short a time our dog sitting adventure came to an end and it was time to  head home. Chappy is waiting to say goodbye to his new friends.  He had a great time with Silas and Balou, we all did.

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The Island Home is waiting for us.

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Setting tire in Woods Hole.  Back to reality.

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A Walk In The Woods …

A few years ago along with my daughter Deb, her dog Chappy and two dog friends, we went walking in the Tisbury/W Tisbury woods of the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission.

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While the 4-legged walkers sniffed their way through the woods I let my eyes feast on the beauty. Looking down I saw this beautiful green mossy growth…

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…and this old stump that somewhat resembles an airplane part (to my eyes anyway).

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Raising my eyes a bit there was …

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And finally, looking skyward and spotting something nestled among the trees !!  Do you see it – is it a bird, is it a plane !!

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I’m looking forward to my next walks on the Vineyard… there’s no better place to stretch your legs and your paws.