March to Destiny 2010

This year's March to Destiny took place last weekend in Shippensburg. Due to prior commitments I didn't make it in until after the street skirmish. I got there just in time for the review of troops that follows the skirmish. Here are two of the few pictures I took. The old hardware store behind the troops is Pague and Fagan Hardware Store. As you can see they've been around since 1856, so yes, they were there when the rebel army came through town prior to the battle in Gettysburg. I'll see if I got any other pictures worth posting. Saturday was hot and the sunlight at 3:30 in the afternoon was not good for taking pictures, much less for marching around in wool suits and petticoats.

The Lilies

Today is a day for flowers. And the yellow one is a garden flower. Took it at my Mother-in-law's house while I sat waiting for the hummingbird to come back to the feeder. It didn't. The orange lily, one of my favorite roadside weeds (so much so that I have them planted around the far side of my house and along the neighbors' garage) was actually growing wild along the edge of the road.

Mr. Toad

To continue the thought from yesterday... this is the reason my flower gardens are full of weeds. As I gallivanted around Harpers Ferry on Father's Day my family decided to pull weeds. That task went on with out a hitch until this hideous man-eater reared his head and gnashed his blooded fangs. I can tell by the weed line in the flower bed where he was at.

Wanted... Someone to pull weeds in evil garden... Must be insured... Must be brave.

Posies

I find myself more motivated to shoot pictures of weeds, sometimes, than garden flowers. Maybe it has to do with the fact my flower garden is full of weeds. It's Sunday. It's hot. I'm going to look for some air conditioning. Maybe later when the sun goes down I'll find something to take pictures of.

The Barn Swallows

Birdwalk, June 16th. When I got out of the truck these barn swallows, probably 6 or 7 of them, were in and out of this mud hole, They allowed me to slowly creep up and get these pictures if I stood still. They were still there when I got back from my walk and those pictures turned out better since the sun was higher and I had less shadow to deal with.

Cumberland County Fire & EMS Stations, and more

OK, I hope you figured out that the first one isn't in Cumberland County. The rest should have been a piece of cake. And now, survey says...

Picture 1 (picture 1 and 2 here) is the firehouse at the armory in Harpers Ferry, WV. Got to stay on theme. This is the building now more famously known as John Brown's Fort. This was his last stand. This is where he was captured. The building was built in 1848. They have two old hose reels inside. This is the larger of the two, it is a Silsby.

Picture 2 (picture 3 and 4 here) This is the other half of the West Shore Bureau of Fire, the former Wormleysburg Fire Company No. 1. Now Company 13, once Company 15. Located at 18 Market Street in Wormleysburg, they were organized in 1909 and merged with Citizens Fire Company of Lemoyne in 1998 to form the West Shore Bureau of Fire. This is Station 2.

Picture 3 (picture 5 and 6 here) This is South Newton Township Volunteer Fire Company's station on Firehouse Road in Walnut Bottom. The picture earlier this morning was their newest addition built just this year. The main portion of the station was built in 1979. SNTVFC was originally the Vigilant Hose Company Station 2 from 1967 until separating in 1976.

Picture 4 (picture 7 here) an easy one for the locals. This is West Shore ALS's house in the Shippensburg Township's garage along Walnut Bottom Road on the east side of Shippensburg.

Name That Station 6

How does that old Sesame Street song go? "One of these thing is not like the other..." There is an obvious trick this week, with reasonable cause. The rest is up to you. Answers at noon.

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Rolling on the River

Today I decided to share with you some scenic pictures from Harpers Ferry. Subject: the rivers. As I had mentioned earlier, Harpers Ferry sits at the confluence of the Shenandoah River and the Potomac River, giving it a sort of three river feel like Pittsburgh. Well, actually, nothing like Pittsburgh. The first is one of the bridge ruins near the mouth of the Shenandoah. The second it the railroad bridge looking back into town. The building you see there is the train station. It is still an active Amtrak station and CSX rail line. The last picture is taken from Maryland Heights Overlook. It is looking up river on the Potomac. The tan line on the bottom right corner is the remnants of the C&O Canal and towpath. When I got back down to the river, from my hike through hell, I noticed a lot of people tubing down the river. Just leisurely floating down the shallow river. Occasionally you would hear screams from them as they passed through a small rapid. I'm thinking that this may need to be investigated further...

Bowden, Harpers Ferry (PG 148)

In the past 3 years I have brought you 147 Painted Gentlemen. Most were barns, a lot were buildings in towns, some were not even signs and two or three were water towers. Today I bring you the first Painted Gentleman cliff. Like many PG's before this I don't know what the sign says or why it is where it is. Just imagine my surprise to look up and see this when I visited Harpers Ferry on Sunday. To put this in perspective look at the last picture. See the outcrop of rock just barely appearing on the left side of the picture? That is where the Maryland Heights Overlook is. On some of the pictures I took you can see people out on it. Painted Gentlemen... they're everywhere.

Maryland Heights Overlook

What does one do in Harpers Ferry, you would ask. Well, I don't ever remember being there before, so I did a little research. Armory. John Brown's raid. Railroad. Then I looked to see what everyone else is taking pictures of. And I find this view. This is the Maryland Heights Overlook. Called this because it is in Maryland. Yes that's the Potomac River down there. The town across the river is Harpers Ferry. In West Virginia. And the hills on the left side over across that river? That's Virginia. And that's the Shenandoah River. OK, the hike. 2.8 miles? I think I can manage. Oh. My. God. Could I have PICKED a hotter more humid day? I don't think so. An hour and a half later I started down hill to the outlook. Yes I said downhill. At this point every step downhill means two steps back up the hill. But it was oh-so worth the view. The walk out added another 45 minutes to the journey. Thank goodness I had the foresight to bring an extra shirt. I would have had to fall in the river to get a dryer shirt at this point. I did some zoom pictures from up here also that turned out pretty good, but we'll save them for later. Seriously, if you go here, do the hike. Prepare yourself, take some water and a snack, but do the hike. Worth it.

(I just realized, as I was typing this. Today, June 22, is my DOE anniversary. Date of Enlistment. I left for basic training 27 years ago today. Man that make me feel old.)

Harpers Ferry, WV

Father's Day found me heading out early and ending up in Harpers Ferry, WV. There's a lot to be said about this small town with a big history. In a nut shell in 1859 abolitionist John Brown set out to raid the US Armory at Harpers Ferry to help free slaves and end slavery. He failed. The President of the United States sent in his best man... Colonel Robert E. Lee (yes, that Robert E. Lee). John Brown was captured, put on trial and hanged. Throughout the Civil War the Union held the town, then the Confederates held the town, then the Union, then the Confederates... I spent most of the morning and into the afternoon here before heading home to spent suppertime with my Dad and everyone else. I learned a few things that I'll use on my next trip down. One is that this tunnel faces west, so morning is a terrible time to try and shoot pictures of it. And number two thing I learned, I'll share later.

Pale Rider

Some more pictures from last Sunday's birdwalk along Big Spring. These white butterflies, or moths, were everywhere. And fairly approachable. There will be more of them on different flowers later. I even caught a bee buzzing by on that last picture.

Cumberland County Fire and EMS Stations

And the answer is...

Picture 1 (picture 1 here)... OK, trick question, this is the back buildings at Newburg Hopewell Volunteer Fire Company. These building house Tanker 51 and Engine 151.

Picture 2 (picture 2 and 3 here) Lisburn Community Fire Company, 1800 Main Street, Lisburn (Mechanicsburg), Pa. They have no website, sorry.

Picture 3 (picture 4 and 5 here) Here is the trick... this is Newburg Hopewell's main station. The other buildings sit back behind this old school house. This is why they want to build a new station. NHFC was organized in 1957 and moved into this building that same year.

Picture 4 (picture 6 and 7 here) Camp Hill Fire Company, 2198 Walnut Street, Camp Hill, Pa. Organized in 1908, built this station in

Name that Station 5

All righty, as long as you all play, I'll be here to challenge. Again for this week these are all Cumberland County. Answers at noon.

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