Philly Whirlwind

Just to change things up a bit, we decided to head to Philadelphia for my birthday. Ryan wanted to see a band called Transatlantic in NYC the night before, but due to work constraints, it was going to be very difficult to go, and we also had trouble finding tickets. There were tickets available for Philadelphia, so we were able get those. Their new album was called "The Whirlwind", so we decided that would be the theme of our trip. Looking for other things to do, we found the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and-a Duck Boat Tour!
The Duck Boat, or DUKW is a six-wheel-drive amphibious vehicle that was designed by General Motors during World War II for transporting goods and troops over land and water and for use approaching and crossing beaches in amphibious attacks. It was later turned into a tourist attraction in such cities as Boston, Philadelphia, and Branson, Missouri, among others. It turned out to be a great way to see the sights and get a great overview of the city, with some really bad jokes mixed in. As we departed for our journey, the second most popular mode of tourist transportation was apparent. The were so many horse drawn carriages in the vicinity of the Liberty Bell, as well as several protesters claiming it was animal cruelty and dangerous for the animals to be in such proximity to the cars. First on our ride was Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were created and signed. We rode past several other historic locations, some of which were hard to get pictures of due to fences, walls, or poor angles. Such places as Dolly Madison's garden, a cemetery where famous people were buried, old neighborhood row homes, among others. We also drove through some of the busy tourist areas with more modern sights:


The last picture shows the building where Larry Fine of the Three Stooges fame, was reportedly born. As we continued down the road was passed the location for the evenings concert as well.
We left the busy downtown area and headed out towards the water. Soon we would turn the land vehicle into a water craft. As we drove along, part of the tour included narration, as well as some corny jokes. As we drove across a stretch of cobblestone road, the loudspeaker reverberated with that famous boxing introduction "Let's get ready to rumble!". was huge We arrived a short time later at the Benjamin Franklin bridge. The bridge is an amazing structure, spanning almost 2000 feet, and providing 3 modes of crossing-walking, driving, and train. If you look closely, you can see the train running across the bridge.
We turned down a ramp and splashed into the Delaware River, turning into a boat. since we were sitting in the back, we were able to get a nice shot of the entry. We did a short tour in the river, passing by a sailboat, a Naval destroyer, several old marina buildings that had been turned onto luxury waterfront condos, and of course, other duck boats!The cruise in the river was definitely unique. One could just imagine what it must have been like when these vehicles were used during D-Day ferrying troops to shore. The boat version of the duck did not move too fast in the water, so I imagine they must have been sitting ducks (no pun intended). But all too soon the water portion of our journey was ending and we headed back up the ramp to shore. As we returned into the city, we were led through a very picturesque area, alive with colorful murals. While we have lots of graffiti at home, here they are much more creative. The next mural was billed by our tour driver as the biggest bicycle mural ever.
After the tour was complete, we went to Independence Hall and did the short tour of the Hall, and we were able to see original copies of the Declaration of Independence, and other historical documents, like the Constitution, also drafted and signed in this building.We checked into the hotel after Independence Hall, had some dinner and went to the show. It was a standing room venue, so we were on our feet for almost 6 hours between waiting in line and the show. While we were in line, which ran down the block, around the corner, around another corner, we were in the back of the venue. While waiting in line, we were able to hear the band do their sound check. Standing in the alley behind the venue, the walls were done with broken glass, plates, and other materials to form an amazing mosaic. The show was great! They played the entire new album, The Whirlwind, which basically was one song with several parts. After a short intermission, they came back and played one of their older songs, which again was quite long, and the drummer mentioned "OK that was 2 hours and we played just 2 songs so far". They played a little over 3 hours in all.

For the finale everyone switched instruments, and the drummer decided to crowd surf! Bold move for sure, but they had him out pretty far in the audience. The weekend was a blur to be sure, but fun. Sometimes you can pack a lot in on a weekend and be exhausted, other times it seems like your barely scratched the surface. This was a barely scratched the surface weekend, with a little history, a little entertainment, and a "whirlwind" of activity- Next up our trip to Jamaica!

Carpe Geocache!

Greetings to all who may read my other blog "Snoscootrs Wild Ride" I decided to branch off and make this more of some of our adventures and "misadventures", and leave the other one to cover more of the development of our land up north and our various trips snowmobiling.
Today's adventure took us to Miller's Pond State Park in Durham. We decided to go for a hike since the weather was forecast in the low 70's. We did a little research and found out there were some geocaches there as well. What are geocaches you might ask. Well Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hidden containers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share your experiences online. More information can be found at http://www.geocaching.com/ After sitting on my butt most of the winter, it was good to get out and walk and enjoy nature a bit. We arrived at the park and there were a few cars there, and a few people out and about. Down the less beaten path we went, GPS in hand looking for our first cache. We passed by the pond, which looked very inviting on this extremely warm day. Past trees, rock walls, and the occasional motorized vehicle deterrent we went, enjoying the beautiful fresh air. As we crested one small hill, we heard a strange noise, which at first was difficult to identify. It sounded a little like geese, but really. Walking further, the sound got louder. Still not sure what it could be, we rounded the next corner, and realized what it was. Hundreds of small frogs in a small vernal pool, croaking and jumping around. Here is a small video of them.

As we walked deeper into the woods, it became apparent the walk to the geocaches were farther than anticipated. Taking the red trail, we headed toward the closest one on the GPS. As we reached yet another hilltop, there was a sign informing us that the trail was a share biking and hiking trail. And based on the tracks we saw bicycles had been through recently. It appears the mountain biking community in conjunction with the local Department of Environmental Protection have worked on creating a biking trail within the confines of the park for them to enjoy. This was apparent very soon after seeing the sign as we came upon a man-made mountain bike obstacle, consisting of several trees with a portion of the trunks chopped and smoothed to make a flatter surface to ride the bikes on. Very cool stuff, but not for the balance challenged like myself.Over the course of the next few hours we would pass several more of these strategically built into logs, around boulders, and across small streams and wet areas. But finally we were getting close to the first geocache. We thought we would take a shortcut off the trail and do more of a line of sight path, as the trail was getting there but in a meandering sort of way. With the detour we were able to get a nice picture of a babbling stream, intensified by the spring snow pack melt. Up the hill on a parallel course to the stream, we finally arrived at the first geocache. It was a small container, a money safe for when you are swimming, painted brown to blend in with the environment. It was supposed to be in the tree (see the picture at the beginning), but we actually found it plain as day on the rock below its home. Apparently the last person who found it didn't put it back.Heading back along the trail, we searched for the next one, which wasn't too far away. This one was a regular cache, which consists of a larger container with multiple items in it. The first one was contained a log that you sign signifying the find, while the new one has items and the general rule is you sign the log, and leave an item and or take an item. We took a small zipper pull compass and left a Quebec snowman Christmas ornament. The hiding place was right on for coordinates as well.
We kept following the trail, as the GPS showed a few more ahead. The next one was a DNF or did not find. We searched for quite a while, but it seems like this one may have either been placed in the wrong spot or possibly "muggled" which means found by a non geocacher. We kept going toward the next one watching the time and track we were taking. We were actually heading even farther away from our starting spot. Deciding to change course, we started navigating back toward the parking lot, and part of the trail was flooded causing a detour from the detour. After portaging around the miniature pond, we were back on track, heading for the parking lot. We only hiked 3 miles, but it seemed like so much more. And finally we did see a massive tree down along the trail, which begs the question "If a tree falls in the woods...."