Aquidneck Island - February 19, 2017

Mug Shot

This Sunday morning started off at Graziano;s 501 Cafe in Island Park on the northern tip of Aquidneck Island. We love this little cafe that sits right on the water's edge, good food and friendly service. We also discovered they have wings night..we will be back. A short trip down the island from here brought us to the famed Cliff Walk in Newport. This walk runs

Along Cliff Walk

behind all the mansions that were the summer houses of the wealthy at the turn of the century. Newport must have been quite a place back then. We found that the path was crowded and lacked any kind of toilet facility which became an issue as we walked. We abandoned the walk after a mile and a half and found comfort at the Audubon Nature Center on First Beach.  From here we made the three minute drive out to Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown. Here the walking was much less crowded and the scenery

Walking the trail

more to our liking. We have hiked this two and a half mile trail in the past and this hike was just as nice as those that came before. The walk around this refuge is always filled with spectacular views and loads of wildlife. I am not great at recognizing and naming different species of birds but I know when there are birds that I have not seen before..or rarely seen. Lots of ducks I did not know. It is the serenity that I like here, even though

Looking toward Little Compton

this warm Sunday brought our the crowds, with full parking lots and such, we never felt that we were in a crowd. The sun was offer up a great sparkle on the water and provided warmth on our walk. I had brought along my drone hoping to get some good footage but the wind was up and I still don't feel as though I have the skills to fly in high wind. I did bring my camera though and took a couple of hundred photos, so not all photos in this entry are iPhone photos. As we walked around the trail we stopped from time to

Along the shore

time just to take in the views..this is such a stunning place, we are lucky to have this right in our back yard. We talked of coming back more frequently as we now have more time to do this sort of thing. It will be fun to watch the seasons change here and the different migrant birds as they come and go. This location sees a couple of Snowy Owls each year, we didn't see any but were told that they

Doesn't get any better than this. . .

are here. I did get some good shots of deer. There were several feeding in a field just off the trail. I had my long lens on the camera and got a few shots and decided to see if I could get closer. They ignored me almost completely as I approached and would just take a few steps away as I took a few steps in their

Pappa returning from shooting deer

direction. These deer are certainly used to people walking by. After a while, and a hundred photos later I just tired of taking pics and let them graze in peace. We wrapped up the day back in the car with a total of a bit over 4 miles of walking for the day. A nice Sunday indeed. Below are a few more photos.

Along the shore

West Island, Little Compton - 3 miles away

Beach stones

Not in the wild, but in a display case, stuffed, fooled ya...

A Windy Day - Colt Park, Bristol - February 16, 2017

Since we can now walk just about any day of the week these posts may come more frequently. Today we took a walk in Colt State park in Bristol, Rhode Island. Colt Park has been the site of many of our

Guardian Lion

family activities and a favorite place to go and toss Frisbees fly kites. Today though I don't think you could do either as the wind was up steady over 25 knots and small craft warning flags were flying. With the temps in the low 30's the wind was piercing. Colt State Park was the home of Samuel Colt, the nephew of the famous Sam Colt of the firearms trade. This Colt was a banker and

Colt Park Headquarters

farmer. Samuel Colt was the founder of the Industrial National Bank, the long standing and largest Bank in Rhode Island. This park was once his farm where he raised cattle and pigs and where the public was always invited. A more complete history of the park can be found here.  Carol and I mad our way from the parking lot just below the park office along the road and paths toward the stone bridge and the water. Walking was tough as the roadway had traffic and the path were still filled with

By the stone bridge.

snow. When we reached the stone bridge we met a lady, who was gracious enough to take a picture of us, but who had also just had a bad experience with a Park Ranger. The ranger threatened her with an $85 fine for not having her dogs on a leash. Now understand that is the rule, you must have your dogs on a leash. However beside this woman and us, there was no one else foolish enough to be out walking around in this cold wind. Here dogs were no threat to anyone. She was ripping mad and was heading

On the pier

to her car and said she was going to go back and give the ranger a piece of her mind. We hope it all turns out well for her, she seemed nice, mad, but nice. Once we left the stone bridge area our walk took us straight int the teeth of the wind. I put the chin strap down on my goofy hat, just in case. We walked over tho the fishing pier which we also

Sign about the boats

had to ourselves. Narragansett Bay was about as rough as I have ever seen it. The wind was doing it's job. Just next to the pier were a couple of signs with information about the bay islands and the kinds of boats that work the bay. There were no boats out there today. On our walk along the bay side of the park we were amused by birds (Brants, Canada Geese, Gulls and Pigeons) trying to take flight into the wind - all turned back. The wind

Snowy roadway

seemed to be increasing and the wind chill seemed to be dropping. We made our way down a long snow covered roadway back to the office parking lot and to the warmth of our car. Another good walk, and on a weekday, imagine that. The office

At the end of the walk.

area and parking lot were guarded by two large bronze Lions on top of the stone walls. This is indeed a lovely place

Missing time

Nana and Kathy at Caratunk

A lot has happened since I last posted here. First off, Nanna and I have still been walking. We didn't miss a Sunday from our last post through early January. Nana retired on the first of the year and Pappa on the 13th of January. Yes, Nana and Pappa is now officially retired, so what you would expect is a lot more walking, but that isn' how it has developed, at least not yet. But let me get you all caught up first off.

Pappa at Parker Woodland

Back on November 6th we went to Caratunk with our friend Kathy and hiked the 2+ mile loop through the woods where we found a Hickory tree which I believe Kathy had never identified before. The following weekend, November 13th, after a breakfast at the Seaplane Diner (a favorite) Nana and I headed out to Greene Rhode Island and hiked Parker Woodland. This was a great 4 mile hike and I would recommend this walk to just about anyone, not too strenuous and lots of variety. We explored the old Vaughn Farm ruins.. very interesting. Easy to follow trail with lots of rocky outcroppings. The

Rehoboth State Forest

following weekend, November 20th we started the day at the KP Diner on RT 44 in Rehoboth and hiked the Rehoboth Forest. We had lived in Rehoboth for over 25 years, and it is where Nana grew up, but we had never hiked the forest. This was another easy

Hope Farm, Bristol

walk and only a little over two miles but plenty of a walk for the weekend before Thanksgiving. On December 4 we had breakfast at Green Eggs and Hame in Bristol and hiked the three mile loop around Hope Farm on the shore of Mount Hope Bay. This was a great walk which provided fantastic views of the bay. We even strayed off the trail and scrambled along the rocky shore for a while. There is a cottage there that apparently you can rent out.

Cumberland Monastery Trail

That would be fun. We are continually being surprised at what we can find within minutes of home. This is a very cool place that I am sure we will revisit in warmer weather so we can stick our feet in the water. The following weekend, December 11th we found J's Deli in Cumberland and headed for the Cumberland Monastery Trail. As a stupid side note, I was

Norman Bird Sanctuary

thinking that this was the Buddhist Temple just up the road..you would think that at this advanced age I would know the difference between a Monastery and a Buddhist Temple... This too was a very good walking trail, wide and well marked with lots of dog walkers and there was a footrace going on as well. We got a free water at one of the water stops for the race. Parts of the trail were not very passable because of high water, and moving ice, but we made our way through. The weekend before Christmas we were at the Norman Bird Sanctuary in Middletown. This is a must do hike for anyone living in

Hunt Mills

Rhode Island. This day we saw several different kinds of birds and several deer grazing right next to the trail. Even though there is a fee - this hike is worth it.  Friday before Christmas we got in our Christmas Day hike as

Roger Williams Park, Christmas Day

we might be other wise occupied on Christmas Sunday. Hunt Mills, in East Providence, offers a variety of short walks along the river and around the old mill site, and as a bonus it is only a couple of miles from home.  We did make time Christmas afternoon to get in a short two mile walk around Roger Williams Park and had a great chat with our west coast family..cell phones are great. Although there were may people in the park it felt as though we had it to ourselves. The weather was crisp and Nana dressed for the occasion. On December 30th we found ourselves in Cromwell, Connecticut hiking up a very steep hill in a bit of a

Green Hill Mountain Loop, Cromwell

snow squall. We got away for the weekend to celebrate the coming year and found this great hiking spot thanks to our hiking app - did I mention how helpful phones can be. Once we got to the top of Green Hill the view was spectacular, but coming and going was a bit dicey..steep up, steep down and well worth the effort. The next day, we were still in Connecticut, we went to the Mark Twain house which I would recommend to everyone, yes everyone..what a great man he was and the house tour give particularly good insight into his life. On the way home from

Beaver sign, Browning Mill Pond

Connecticut we stopped in Exeter, Rhode Island for our New Years Eve walk around Browning Mill Pond. Even though we have done this before it is always a satisfying walk. The terrain is varied and it has really good views through the forest and around the pond. We discovered a spot where beaver had been at work. This is another of those walks that everyone should do, as it is very easy access and not too long or strenuous. On January 15th, just two days after my retirement and the day before our big trip south we went to Taunton,

Boyden Wildlife Refuge, Taunton MA

Massachusetts and hiked the Boyden Wildlife Refuge. We did almost two miles and again a pretty cool place, but it was in need of some repair as some of the trails had deteriorated and a few were even closed and inaccessible. We still had fun, and we had another excuse to stop at the KP Diner in Rehoboth. So this pretty well brings us up to the point of the 'Road Trip' - we did a long drive south to visit friend and to explore - that experience can be found by clicking this LINK.
So now that we are caught up with what happened before the road trip, here is a brief few lines about our Valentine's Day hike yesterday in Lincoln Woods. We hiked the road loop around Olney Pond as

Broadway Diner, East Providence

it was cleared of the snow..we have had several inches (maybe about 18 - 20 inches in Lincoln Woods) over the past week. The park crew had plowed the road around the pond, a 2.5 mile loop, so walking wasn't too bad, with only a few slippery spots.  We

Lots of snow

started the day at Broadway Diner, another local favorite, although yesterday they were not up to par... there was a toast issue... When we parked in Lincoln Woods, we parked right in front of some bird feeders and I had my camera with me so I got quite a few shots of woodpeckers, flickers, tufted titmouse, chickadees and several other birds.

Flicker in Lincoln Woods.

I will try to be more punctual in writing this blog, excused are fewer now that I am retired, so I will try and Nana and I are not longer confined to the weekend. Hopefully this year will bring lots of great hikes and new places. Happy New Year to all who take the time out of their busy lives to read these words. Nana and I appreciate all of our friends and wish everyone a happy and healthy 2017 and beyond. . .