Weekend Wanderings!

Even with the rain, we had a wonderful weekend to get out. We headed into Connecticut just as the rain was ending, so we were able to enjoy a nice ride and visit a few places. I wanted to stop at Mystic Village which has a quilt shop, but it was no longer there. But we were still able to enjoy a walk through town and get a few goodies at the Christmas shop.

One place in Mystic that I love to visit is the Elm Grove Cemetary. I was hoping to see more foliage, but most of the trees had turned. It is still beautiful to drive through though, it is a garden cemetery on the Mystic river, a peaceful place to walk through.

What a beautiful setting for a family plot.

Since we were in the area, we took a drive to Ender's Island, where there is a Catholic retreat center. It was so windy, it was hard to enjoy the views and take photos. I love the buildings on the island, all made of stone, like the church.

There were still flowers in the gardens and views from Block Island to Fisher's Island in New york. In the distance I could see Latimer Reef Lighthouse.

The great thing about being out later is, we were a half hour from sunset so we headed to Napatree Point. What I didn't think about was, the wind. Coming over the dunes, I was hit with blasts of sand and close to the water, the ocean spray, so it was hard to stay still or get good shots. I was able to get a decent one and you can see the waves coming in. It was so beautiful, but hard to enjoy with the sand getting all over my camera.

Sunday was a beautiful day and much warmer, so I decided to hit the beach, while the tide was out. There weren't too many people in the morning, so I found a lot of nice treasures laying on the rocks.

And with the time change, it was still early enough to go for a ride. I needed more apples so we headed to the orchards to buy them from the store.

Along the way I spied this steeple and stopped for a look. The banks of the river were over flowing, so it was hard to get a shot, since we had to stand in the tree line.

We also stopped on the Thames river, where  you can walk out to the old train tracks. Another nice place to go for a stroll.

Since it was getting late, we decided to do a short hike up Lantern Hill. I wanted to see if I could spot the foliage from the first lookout. Of course the views were limited, so we went to the next height and the next, where we had nice views, but still hidden by the tree lines. So our short hike took us up the hill to the top, which was well worth it. The views are spectacular and you can see all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

The sun was getting closer to the tree line and I really wanted to watch it set, but not from the top. It is a steep climb, so we went down to a lower level to watch it set. Since my photo  had a lot of black space, I added a saying I found on the web. We were able to get down before it got too dark, and my muscles are killing me today, but it was nice to finally get in a real hike.

I hope you all had a nice weekend and your own adventures.

Anniversary Week Continues and Another Giveaway!

I hope you are all enjoying my photos of my vacation week. After a long winter it is so nice to be outside every day and enjoy the beautiful weather we are having.

First I will announce the winner of the last giveaway. What is Bill looking at? If you looked in the right hand corner, you would have seen sky writing, lol. While we were out, a plane was writing an advertising and the wind was blowing it away as soon as he was forming the letters, not sure how effective that was.

The winner of my newest pattern is Gayle! If you could please email me so I can reply to your email, I will get your pattern out to you.

Yesterday we went for a paddle from the Barn Island launch in Connecticut. I love this area since it has a nice launch and you can paddle out into the sound where you are surrounded by RI, Connecticut and looking out you will see Fishers Island, which belongs to NY, so we are surrounded by 3 states. We paddled down the cove for a bit and cut across to a sandy island sitting between the states.

This is the area that we launch from, our destination is out to the right.

This is looking down the beach towards Napatree point in RI. As you can see, we had the beach to ourselves, most of the people go to the further end, we stay in the middle. We have the inlet on one side and the ocean, on the other. I actually swam in the ocean, even if it was a bit cold.

At the ocean, the seagulls were flying around me.

And seagulls squawking at me.

These two were doing a happy dance for me.

When I got back to our tent area, I heard a chirping and looked down. I thought this poor sand piper was hurt, it was dragging it's wings through the sand in front of me. Then she stood  up and flapped her wings and walked away, lol. I realized she was playing hurt to steer me away from her nest.

And on the inner beach, I found two of these cute babies walking around. I have never seen a baby seagull, they are too cute.

I also spotted a couple of these guys, I have no idea what they are, but they sure are funny looking and they do not sit still for photos.

And for the final photo and the giveaway photo! I thought this seagull sitting on the crates, would make a nice photo, so I took a shot of her. Then she took off and started dive bombing me, lol. I didn't realize I was disturbing a nesting area. Can you see what she is hiding, in this photo? I didn't notice until I saw the photo, when I got home. I will pick a name from all of the comments and the winner will win their choice of any of my epatterns. I will draw a name on friday night and show you more photos from today's trip and anything we do on friday.

Happy Anniversary!

Today is our anniversary and of course I spent it, doing my favorite thing, paddling.
Today marks our 38th year together and I won't say it is perfect or bliss, but we love each other and we work through the tough times and the differences.

I saved my favorite place for today and the original plan was to go to the island but I changed my mind and we paddled to Napatree Point at Watch Hill. Watch Hill is famous for it's grand homes and stretches of beaches at the point.

We started at Barn Island in Connecticut and headed to Napatree point in RI.

As we got up the point the waters got too shallow to paddle, so we had to walk the boats into the shore.

We had our own quiet beach area, no one around on this side. Bill got himself a present, now he can sit on the beach without worrying about the sun.

We spent the day enjoying the views and walking along the beach. We also went over the dunes to the other side, this is where most people go and a lot deeper. It is wonderful having vacation before school gets out, no crowds.

The winds were picking up and the waves were getting higher, but fun riding along as we headed back to the launch. The end to a perfect day.

We will probably do more paddling this weekend at our local launch, but I think I am about ready to relax at home and start sewing again. Next month will be my 5th blog anniversary, look for a special giveaway. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Saturday Beach Walk!

Today started out with rain, but it turned into a beautiful sunny day with a cool breeze coming off of the ocean. What better place to walk then along a long stretch of beach on our southern coastline.

There were a lot of people and no parking, but today was my lucky day and someone left a spot, as we came around the parking lot.

We had to walk through the private lots to get to the main beach area, this is the view looking down the beach.

It is a mile long stretch, and ends at a rocky point. The views are spectacular, open waters and lots of boats out today. This is a view, looking towards the Watch Hill lighthouse.

Of course I didn't stop there. We trudged further, across rocks and really smelly piles of muscles left by the seagulls. We decided to stop at this point, a perfect spot to take in the views and have a rest.

We had to turn around and go back to the beach, a long way back. I was getting tired, so we decided it would be fun to take off our shoes and walk through the water, this time. It was a lot of fun to splash in the water and cool down. I hope you had a wonderful saturday, as well.