Weekend Wanderings!

I hope everyone had a good weekend, though it was over shadowed by the sad news on Sunday. My heart breaks for the families in Texas.

With so much sadness in the world lately, I do enjoy hiding my rocks and hoping it will bring a smile to the people who find them and a little happiness in other's lives. One thing that really made me feel good is that not only do we help others who find them, but also those who hide them.

Usually we take Nick on one day and he loves finding rocks and I have to tell him that he can only keep one and rehide the rest, which is hard for a four year old. This weekend we found a rock and he checked it out and then put it back in another place on the bridge. Then when we came home, I remembered I had found a heart shaped rock that had gold in it, and he loved it. Then he came over to me and said, I want you to have it, he is finding joy in giving to others now and that warms my heart.

Another story with rocks is that a neighbor loves to find rocks when she goes out and last week, she found one with an angel. She really didn't want the rock, but something made her take it and then she remembered me and bought it over. This rock is perfect for my room and she will sit there for awhile and someday, I plan on giving it to someone who needs it more than I. It says, "Your wings were ready, but my heart was not". Something simple as leaving painted rocks can touch so many others. If you are interested in joining in, you can go to my Facebook group, DSmiles4Miles. It is not just for rocks, but any type of gifts that you can leave in areas you visit, or gifts that you can give to others, to bring a smile to their day.

This is the rock she found, and this is my memorial table for my daughter. The angel is the one we had at her grave, until the stone came and the rocks are hearts and special items I find on the beach.

We took Nick out Saturday and I really wanted to go further up north but I needed to keep it to a few places with Nick along. We drove straight to the falls, no sight seeing or stops, so we could have more time enjoying the area. The falls were running full force, I tell Nick to smile and I get the grimace, that and I think he was a bit nervous being so close to the falls, lol.

From there we walked along the path and through the covered bridge.

Then along the river path and through the woods, a great place for a little boy to play and explore.

From there we went across to East Haddam, I wanted to see the oldest Bell and the Nathan Hale Schoolhouse. The school house was placed on the hill, over looking the Connecticut river, so it is more of a park like setting and another place, Nick could run around.

He went and set in the car with Bill while I took photos of the church and graveyard. It was hard to get a clear shot of the bell, but it was originally made for a Spanish Monestary in 815AD. A sea captain found the bell and used it as ballast for his ship and eventually it made it's way to East Haddam.

Then it was off to the castle. At this point, Nick was getting tired, so we took a quick tour around the castle and then a short hike into the woods. I really wanted him to go in the tunnel, which is part of the old mini railroad trail. The original owner of the castle, built a track around his property and had a small engine and cars to take his guests for rides.

Nick was nervous and couldn't wait to get out, then he said, lets go again.

We had a nice walk around the path, back to the car and by the time we got back, his energy dwindled. I decided he needed something to eat and we got him a meal in the next town, but by the time the food came out, he was fast asleep. So he got a good nap on the way home and was full of energy again when his parents came over and we had dinner together.

Sunday was another cloudy day but the rain held off and we were able to take a drive to the ocean. I was dragging, so a relaxing few hours on the beach was just what I needed. I found a few heart rocks and sea glass to add to my collection. Today I crashed, mostly resting and hoping I get my energy back tomorrow for all the ideas that are running through my head;)

Weekend Wanderings!

Another two days of adventures so I will put day one up today and Sunday will be on Wednesday. A few weeks ago we went to the castle with Nick and he is too young to do much hiking, so we decided to go back and enjoy the day, just at the castle.

We always start out with the castle, the views are spectacular from the balcony area and I was looking forward to seeing the foliage from that viewpoint.

Bill enjoying the views, Bean is people watching as usual. The hills were alive with color, harder to see with the distance but I think I could live here, just love the views and the river.

As we headed to the paths, we went through the picnic area where you can see the cats on the top, the owner loved cats. If you would like to learn more about William Gillette, click on his name for some fun information about his life.

From there we headed down the path which used to be the old railroad trail. The owner built a small scale rail that ran through the property and he took his guests on rides. Covered bridges and train stop platforms, are along the path.

We followed one trail that led to a dead end. I guess the years took their toll on this cliffside, so we had to turn around.

Coming across the road bought us to the other side of the rail trail, some areas are closed, and I don't think I would trust walking across this bridge.

The trail led to the tunnel, it goes under the hill, the owner's guests must have loved staying with him.

It is pitch black inside the tunnel, but my camera has night vision, but spooky, none the less.

We passed by the pond, the drought has really effected the ponds here, but still beautiful with the fall foliage.

Crossing over the bridge by another pond, the grounds are so beautiful.

We decided to head back and enjoy another look at the river and Bill and Bean were having fun exploring the castle alcoves.

As we headed down to the cars, Bean got the attention of a group of sisters. He loves all the attention and I think half the time was spent stopping, to let people pet him. It took 10 minutes for the father to notice his girls were talking to an old guy with a dog, lol. I will never understand parents who spend more time on the phones than enjoying the time with their kids, every moment is precious.

It was a wonderful day and wonderful to spend more time exploring the castle grounds. We headed home and stopped in Norwalk by the river to enjoy the views for a rest break. There were a few families and the kids were feeding the birds, so there were hundreds of birds flying about and swimming around the docks. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and some adventures of your own.

Weekend Wanderings!

Saturday was a beautiful day and I knew we had rain coming on Sunday, so I really wanted to get out and do something different. The problem was, Bill had to take the dog in to have his eye checked out and they were crowded so we got a late start. The good thing is that it is summer and the days are longer. The bad, getting a late start meant no parking at the regular spots. I just checked my maps and looked for some side roads and found one that looked good. It had a church on one side and a faculty parking area on the other, but school is over so we were able to park there.

I have lived in Rhode Island all my life and have never walked along the cliff walk in Newport. I finally got to and it was the perfect day to go, sunny with a nice breeze. The path starts at the beach and ends at another beach 3.5 miles down. We weren't able to do the whole walk, but close to 5 miles. The further end was rougher with cliffs and Bean was not doing too well with the spaced rock paths, he kept falling in the cracks. Maybe if he payed attention to where he was going instead of trying to head to the water or people walking by, he might have walked better;)

The path follows the coastline, nice walkways for the most part and a lot has been rebuilt since the storms that destroyed a lot of the trail.

All along the shore are beautiful homes or should I say mansions. Some are out in open areas, but most were either hidden by tall fences or plant growth.

Can you imagine owning the home with this gazebo, I would be out there, all day. Bean was more interested in who was coming, of course he got lots of attention from passerbys.

In two areas you go through a tunnel, one was long and dark, Bean was a bit weary of that one but this one was unique and shorter. I would like to go back and do the entire walk, you just can't beat the scenery on both sides. The walk and parking is free, but they do have trolley service, so you can always park your car in town and visit places by trolley.

After our walk we drove along Ocean Drive, it goes past all the mansions and old homes and follows the coastline. We found a fishing area to stop and enjoy and let Bean have some fun in the water. I think this will be a future paddling place.

The next stop was Fort Getty. The coast was a popular place to defend the country and easy access by the ships. Another great thing about getting a late start is, by the time we got here, people were leaving, so we were able to get a front parking space.

This is the start of the walk, a lot of people come down and just sit on the lawns and docks and enjoy the day. They were also setting up a wedding while we were there.

We walked along the path, following the old fort. It is a large fort and has a large inner space, as well.

We walked to the end and instead of going around the fort, inland, we came back along the water. It was just too beautiful and cool next to the water. Everyone was enjoying the water, even though the fog was rolling in. This is another thing you can do for free, they do charge if you want to take a tour of the fort, but the park itself is free for use. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Weekend Wanderings Giveaway!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, we had one day with rain and one beautiful day, so we were able to get out and enjoy some fun this weekend.

Saturday started out nice, but I knew that we were going to get rain, so I thought it would be a good day for the aquarium. We were able to walk around outside for a bit, then when the rains came, we enjoyed the indoor exhibits. I even sat through a 4D preview movie, very fun but I am not sure I would want to watch a whole movie that way. They also had bubbles, no idea why they did that, lol.

The seals were being silly and giving us quite the show with their antics.

Even the fish in the tanks were being silly. Not sure what this silly guy was thinking as he stared out at me.

I finally figured out if I turned off my flash, I could get better photos of the fish in the tanks. I will have to work on learning more about settings and practice each time I go. I love the seahorses, maybe a future design idea.

And even the penguins were being silly and fun to watch.

Sunday was Gillette Castle Day. I wanted to go back and walk around the grounds and old railway paths. I almost missed this, until someone pointed up to it, can you see what I saw?

And to the right of this kitty, there is another. William Gillette loved cats and the castle was filled with real kitties. He has an interesting life story and history in theater and the beginnings of motion pictures.

There are over one hundred acres and he had over 3 miles of trails for his miniature train,  that you can walk on.

And we stumbled onto the path with a tunnel, it as a bit creepy since it was so dark inside, so I made Bill go first, then Dani, then I followed, lol.

I made Dani crouch down so I could get a photo of the inside. I used a flash and this is the only photo with orbs. I also lightened it, so you could see the interior, it was almost pitch black, walking through. Nothing in the tunnel to reflect from and nothing on my camera, so who knows?

And speaking of ghosts, look who we met up with, on the way back, Sherlock and his wife Mary.

The next stop was to be a ferry ride, across the river, but the road was closed, which meant driving around a longer route. Since I wanted to go to the swing bridge, I looked on the map and saw that we were closer, just driving up to it. We had to take a detour, so much for saving time. Then when we got there, we saw a line and the sound of sirens. So, we gave up on waiting to go over the bridge and drove around the cars and parked on the banks further down and walked up for a nice view of the bridge and the river.

Then we decided to go see the waterfall at Devil's Hopyard before heading home. The falls were beautiful and a nice way to relax at a long day.

Unfortunately we were too early for foliage, but we got to enjoy a nice walk around the falls and then across the covered bridge.

And now for this week's giveaway. You can use the smiling fish or the penguins and give me a caption for either photo. Or you can do one for each and put them in separate comments for two chances to win. The winner will get their choice of any of my epatterns or booklets.I will pick a name and announce a winner on my friday posting.