Today was a warm with clear blue skies, the sun stating to gain momentum on bringing in the summer’s life of plants, trees and animals. Two years ago Nate and I kayaked down the Pushaw Stream, a near 10 mile journey; I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to go again with Robin.

This time around I did not want to kayak for 10 miles so we parked Robin’s car at the halfway mark, the point where the stream cuts through Sunkhaze Wildlife Reserve and flows underneath the Hudson Road. We drove my car to the end of a camp road on Pushaw near the beginning of the stream and were told to leave, that this particular end of the road was private; the woman was very rude and difficult to deal with so asked her neighbor if I could park in their turn around for a few hours, she allowed us. After the 30 minute parking ordeal we put in and kayaked to the dam and started out adventure.

It was evident that the stream had recently flooded due to melting snow as the bushes and trees along the banks were water stained in an even line; the bottom half were white and wilted whilst the top were green. Signs of summer were setting in; leaves have grown in fully, grass and other plants starting to thicken and signs of migratory animals showing up. When we arrived to the portion of the stream that hosted 20 Painted turtles there were none to be seen, which was very disappointing to me as I brought my camera specifically to photograph them sun bathing.

We continued on until the stream widened until it was 200 feet wide and just leaned back in our kayaks with our legs out basking in the sun as if we were reptiles, taking in God’s beautiful orchestra of nature. Robin noticed something was rustling in the grass along the shore; I looked over and saw that it was an American Bittern. I switched to my 70-300 lens and paddled slowly towards it, it either did not notice me or care that I was nearby. The fowl was intently looking down towards the water, slowly moving over and through bushes exposing its oddly colored green legs. It stopped and stood as if were a statue of stone, I too stopped and watched and suddenly it appeared that it tripped but it was actually catching its prey, a small Chub, swallowed whole.

We passed beneath the first bridge and entered into Hirundo Wildlife Refuge. The ecosystem changed from a wide stream and uncovered overhead to a narrower and shallow passage with the majority of the overhead being covered by large pines and deciduous trees. We Spotted a young beaver swimming along, unfortunately it was shy and submerged itself. I noticed a little stream joining Pushaw Stream to my left, it was a beautiful scene, a set of large maple trees hung over the mouth of the stream, its leaves illuminated by the sun and in the background a field, what a peaceful place or at least it would have been without the misquotes.

Shortly after we came upon a rocky area in the stream, the elevation dropped which created a fast moving area of water, Robin’s first “fast” water. Just before the elevation drop was the remains of an old stone bridge, an interesting item to see in the area. I can still hear Robin’s scream of excitement as she was pushed and pulled down the shallow water, after we passed I explained to her that at the end of the trip there’s another section similar to this but a bit longer and with faster water.

We reached the passage of fast moving water, I went first with my camera bag tucked between my legs and Robin followed behind me, the water was high here which allowed us to move very quickly over the boulders. I had such a good time that I went again by myself as Robin took a few photos of me, this time around my kayak was filled with water due to me preventing a flip.

(See Spring VA vacation for the rest of the vacation read)
On Monday May 5th Robin and I headed to the Blue Ridge Parkway for a hike down to Apple Orchard Falls; to Robins knowledge, that’s all it was but to everyone else they knew that it’s where I planned to ask her to be my wife. The trail is 1.2 miles to the falls and intersects with the Appellation Trail. We made various stops along the way, one of which calmed my fear of a wilted waterfall, we came across several flowing streams in which we stopped and photographed as well as several dead trees that were pecked to its structural limit. Near the end of the hike there’s a mini-waterfall with a very nice wooden bridge which Robin wanted to stop and watch as she has never viewed a waterfall in person, needless to say I was very anxious to head to the main attraction that was merely 600 feet away. I enticed Robin to hurry down the trail while she was playing with a millipede she came across stating that I was getting hungry.

As we descended down the man-made wooden stairs that carried us around the outer edge of the mountain a large waterfall came into view through an opening of trees; to Robins surprise she jogged down the stairs and crossed over the large wooden bridge onto a wooden platform where we sat our gear down and took in the beautiful vista while being cooled by the spray of the waterfall. I retrieved a small bag of Chocolate Chip cookies that we made the night before that hid the engagement ring and sat on a large boulder in front of the falls. I said to Robin, “Let’s have a snack”, she made her way to the rock and I handed her the bag of cookies. As she was opening the bag she noticed a smaller ziploc bag that concealed the ring, she asked, “What’s this little bag?” while reaching for a cookie and I suggested that she open the bag to see what’s inside. As she unraveled the bag she paused once she saw gold and I took it from her hands, got on my knee and asked her to be my wife. I will never forget the look on her face as I proposed and after as she was running around with joy. We were able to eat our lunch and photograph the falls once Robin started to calm down a bit. Robin is one of those women that are very good at guessing things, and fortunately I was able to through her off the entire plan, she was completely surprised by it.

Last November I ordered two round-trip tickets to visit Mom & Jack for Robin and I for the first week of May. Robin last flew on an airplane 22 years ago, at the age of 4. The outbound flight was set for 7AM which meant we both had to be up very early and at the airport for check-in an hour before takeoff. When we arrived we were told that we needed to be thoroughly searched by the TSA agents; I wasn’t surprised as this always happens to me. Months of planning to ask Robin to marry me were almost exposed as her engagement ring was hiding in one of my camera bag’s compartments, the TSA agent looked through all but that one with Robin at my side- once cleared we hurried to the jet and found our seats, I made sure that Robin had the window seat so she could enjoy the views. An hour and half later we landed Philadelphia, hopped on another plane to Cincinnati and then to Roanoke, VA where we were greeted by Mom & Jack. Robin was surprised to see the topographic differences between Maine and Western Virginia (not West Virginia) which consists mostly of large sharp ridged mountains and rolling hills.

We ate at Robin’s first Cracker Barrel on our way to the Blue Ridge Parkway which overlooks Roanoke, Lynchburg, Shenandoah Valley, etc. I always enjoy riding on the parkway; it’s amazing to think how much work was put into building the roads throughout all of the twists and turns of the mountain range for everyone to enjoy God’s Creation.

Just as I was surprised at the size of Thomas Road Baptist Church Robin marveled at its elegance. Jerry Falwell, Jr’s theme for the morning was “Deal or No Deal” similar to the TV show, each brief case had a word that described how we all feel when it comes to spreading the Word of God and how to overcome each “excuse”. At the end of the service we browsed a few of their stores; Robin purchased a needed Bible cover for me. After church we were treated to dinner at the Peaks of Otter restaurant that sits at the foot of Sharp Top Mountain. Virginia’s evenings are warm and it’s air quiet, free from the buzzing of mosquitoes, black flies, etc opposed to Maine, so Sunday evening Robin and I sat on the swinging seat on the porch and talked about our relationship, places she wanted to visit, which was good; I really enjoy having conversations such as that with her.

On Tuesday the 6th Robin and I headed to Sharp Top Mountain; we started at the Rangers station which is the base of the mountain. Half way up I found that hiking in a heavy polo shirt with an under t-shirt with a heavy camera bag was a good way to work up a sweat; Robin fortunately and embarrassingly helped me out for a few minutes. Three quarters of the way up there’s a ledge aptly named “Buzzards Roost“; it consists of a small number of very large protruding boulders with a 200′ drop off where you can see evidence of Buzzards eating their prey and salamander’s sun bathing. We climbed to the top of the roost and photographed the landscape, had a snack and cooled off. Robin is a personal trainer and Health Educator; because of that I enjoy giving her a hard time about her fitness (which is great by the way)- for most of the hike she was ahead of me and when she was tired she’d stop to while waiting for me to catch and then would start again as I caught up not allowing me to rest at all so I brought this to her attention and stated I was in better shape than her (which is not true). Robin ran up the mountain for the remaining 300′ which does not sound difficult but in the sun and the slope of the trail it is.

The top of Sharp Top mountain holds true to its name, the tip is narrow and steep consisting of very substantial boulders that are supported by smaller boulders that make a balancing act in the circus pale in comparison. We sat on top with our shoes and socks off overlooking Bedford enjoying the cool breeze flowing over our sweaty bodies whilst eating our lunch. From our perch we had a 360 degree view that spans for at least 60 miles valleys and mountains that would make any skeptic believe in the Ultimate Artist. Even our Sigg water bottles enjoyed the view. We both climbed out onto miscellaneous perches that most people do not climb to due to the amount of courage it requires. After climbing various ledges and filling our digital camera memory cards we took a different route, the paved route that the bus transports hikers from the base to the midpoint of the mountain; the walking distance is two hours longer than what it would be taking the actual hiking trail. Fortunately we were able to spot a Dark-eyed Junco and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

On Wednesday Robin and I visited Dixie Caverns in Salem; this was her first time being inside a cavern that has droves of Stalactites and Stalagmites (my first time in this particular cavern was last year as you’ll find out in the link to the left). I think Robin enjoyed the caves; it wasn’t what she expected and left the caverns with a better appreciation of God’s intricate detail in Creation. Later in t he day we drove to Liberty Park which is located in Bedford, it hosts a small man-made pond, tennis courts, baseball fields, picnic tables and hiking trails; I mentioned that it had wild ducks that you can (not legally) feed. Robin had a good time feeding the local ducks; they will eat anything you give them or at least anything we had to feed them. We walked around the pond and found Canadian Geese with six babies eating and resting; Robin also had a chance to feed them as well.

Our plan for Thursday was to drive to Busch Gardens which is four hours away; little did we know that at this time of year Busch Gardens is only open on the weekends despite their website stating they were open for the season. Fortunately we were close to other areas of interest. We stopped at the Virginia Living Museum which was packed full of little kids that were fortunately on their way back to school. We were able to get in for free since the credit card machine was down; originally I did not think the visit would be fun but it ended up being interesting thanks to the knowledgeable staff and friendly animals. Afterwards we headed to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge which spans 17 miles over and under the Chesapeake Bay. This bridge is a modern marvel; it’s astonishing to read about how it was actually built. We stopped at the mid-point and walked on the pier where people were fishing and sight-seeing for awhile before finishing the drive. I remember when I was roughly 9 or 10 that myself, mom, dad and brother drove across this bridge and stopped at the same gift shop where I successfully begged my mother into purchasing a Venus Flytrap, unfortunately they no longer sell them. The last stop for the night before trekking home was Virginia Beach, Robin and I walked on the beach bear foot looking for shells and taking in the scent of sea-salted mist while watching the bright orange waxing of the sun’s last gleaming for the evening.

The weather for Friday the 9th rained off and on which limited our options of entertainment and left one of the last things I had planned for our vacation, lunch at Red Robin and a visit to the Roanoke Star. Red Robin is a gourmet burger restaurant, and I thought it would be a fitting place to visit since Robin has something in common. We shared the “Blackened Bayou Burger”, steak fries (cooked in vegetable oil) and unlimited refills of the insanely delicious “Very Berry Limeade” which consists of Lime, lemon and blueberries. Robin met the store’s mascot as well. After we finished our dinner we drove to the star that overlooks the cities of Roanoke and Salem; when we arrived the sun was starting to set, leaving sight of only a dark blue hue sky illuminated by yellow, white and orange lights of the busy city below. Once the clock struck 8PM the massive star behind us clicked on and elucidated our platform. On the way home we had at times torrential downpours and heavy thunder and lightning which provide an interesting apace view of the mountain ranges.

Our departure on Saturday was dreaded due to a few reasons: We did not want to leave Virginia, Mom & Jack and the 8 hour layover in Boston. Unfortunately the layover was unavoidable but provided time for us to catch on reading; I was able to finish the 6th book in the Left Behind series and start the 7th.