Virginia's Eastern Shore (9.28/2014)

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were on the eastern shore for a century bike ride.  We spent the night in Ocean City, which is kind of a tradition for us.  It was H2Oi weekend, which meant the town was full of souped up VWs and Audis that are water cooled.  Kind of cool, at first we were not sure what we saw, but it was fun.  Other times we were there it was hot-rod weekend etc etc. 

Three photos here this time.  We woke up Sunday, went for a sunrise walk on the beach and then drifted down the coast, for a large part avoiding the major highway.  The roads were decent and the scenery was spectacular at times (p.s., the back roads in MD are much better than VA; lawmakers please take note).  Great was a little hamlet call Public Landing, MD.  From there we took the road down to Wallops Island and Chincoteague.  Wallops Island is known for its NASA facility and our Virginia Space Port.  Chincoteague is known for the ponies, and let me tell you there is plenty of pony paraphernalia in town.  It is a touristy place, but fun to be and it was our lunch destination.  The second photo is my wife having lunch at a five star lunch place called “Right Up Your Alley”.  After some searching we figured out it was a food cart, and the food was absolutely great.  As one of the reviewers of yelp says: It “ brings a modern city feel to the historic, small town of Chincoteague.”  The fish tacos were wonderful, and actually so were the French fries (which we felt we desperately needed after a day of biking 60 miles).

Drifting further south we took a wrong turn and ended up at the gate of the Space Port and then going on we eventually we drove through Modest Town.  Wikipedia does not tell us much about that town, except that it was a stagecoach stop on the route from Wilmington DE to Eastville.  Truthfully, you can easily live a full life even without even seeing this town.  It is a shame, but this was probably the most run down, dilapidated place we came across during our drive.  Makes you wonder what the real-estate prices are in that town.  I am sure you can get some of the burned out buildings for cheap.  Come to think of it, I wonder if they were the results of that pyromaniac that was on the loose on the eastern shore.

After getting back on Route 13 our next big stop was the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  It is a great place.  The facilities are now 50 years old and great.  It is 17.6 miles long and a great place for tourists, fishermen and fishing boats alike.  The last photo of course is from the visitor’s center on one of the islands, down the tunnel to the other side.  You can see all the boats in the water.  Actually there is a fishing pier as well, and someone pulled up a big flounder while we were standing there.  It was a great end to a wonderful weekend on the eastern shore.

Salisbury,MD (9/27/2014)

This weekend we traveled into Maryland to participate in the Seagull Century.  The Seagull, for short, is an annual bike ride on the eastern shore of Maryland.  You can choose between a 100 mile ride or a 100 kilometer (64 mile) ride.  We chickened out this year and did the 64 mile ride.

We were biking with more than 7000 of our new best friends.  It was beautiful weather this year.  It started cool and warmed up to around 80 degrees.
There is a rest stop every 20 or so miles where you are fed on bananas, oranges, baglels, fig newtons, and pickles.  There is water and Gatorade to fill up the bottles and even a bike maintenance guy.

We always say that the ride is like the marathon for cyclists, but judging from the looks of it many people participate and it is doable; although you need to train.  Still, you see that people are unprepared.  Near the end you have people standing next to their bikes, completely out of it.  This time a woman was standing next to her bike 3 miles before the finish and she told us she was out of water.  Sad to see she appeared to be unprepared.  During previous rides (as this is our 12th annual ride) we literally saw people fall over into the ditch from exhaustion; but that day it was 99 or so.

Anyway, it was a great ride this Saturday.  This picture is one of our bikes at the finish line.  We just got in and were ready for a beer.  The bike were tired too and it was easy to lean them against each other waiting for us to come back after drinking a cold one.  Everybody leaves their bikes unlocked and I've never heard of any stealing.  Cyclist are a great colorful bunch.

Cape Charles (9/26/2014)

Traveling to the eastern shore of Maryland, we stopped at Cape Charles for lunch.  Cape Charles is a nice little town, absolutely worth visiting by car or by boat.  I wanted to see what people in our yacht club meant when they said you could just walk across the tracks to go out and eat/party.

Driving into town we noticed two buildings with similar architecture and a roof with blue shingles.  Both were abandoned and for sale.  On further investigation they were abandoned gas's stations/garages.  The information on the buildings said that they dated from the 1920s.  It would be really nice to restore and use for a restaurant or even a residences.  However, being in environmental consulting, I know what a risk these two properties may pose.  Location tells me that the groundwater plume of potential contamination may be very different between the two buildings.  This is partially based on soils and geology.  And then to think about all the lead based paint!  Fun too think about and absolutely the reason why they are both abandoned.  Must be a steal if you want them (and then pay out of your nose to clean up the soi).  Regardless, I love the architecture of these two buildings or just the town.

Anyway, Cape Charles is a great place to visit and have lunch.  We definitively need to include it in one of our sailing adventures!

Tappahannock (9/25/2014)

Today I traveled to Tappahannock to teach a class on stormwater.  I had a good time, but being the only teacher, I am exhausted.  In essence I had a good response form my students.  Interestingly, I was teaching in a church that was taken over by the county and it was interesting "preaching" stormwater.

Went out to lunch with some colleagues at Lowery's; and after not eating there for a long time, I found them average, but kind of expensive.  But it was good.  After class I drove around town and took this picture.  Tappahannock is known for its seafood, being on the water.  I think it is also famous for being the home of Chris Brown, the rap singer.  I kind of feel ashamed mentioning him as one thing this town is known for, since he is also known for spousal abuse, a thing all too common lately, as reported about in the NFL.  I just can't fathom that, and find it despicable.  A review of various websites doesn't tell me much about that town, Captain John Smith appeared to have landed in the area but was driven off by the native indians, for the rest not much.  I know Tappahannock a a place with very cheap gas, and it did not disappoint me again.  Gas was cheapest there on this short trip.

Anyway I was debating intersection with or without school bus, so here is the one with.  It gives a better contrast on a rainy, gloomy day.

Chesapeake Bay (9/20/2014)

Not sure what pictures to post from Saturday.  We were committee boat for a sail race across the Bay, which meant for us being the start and the finish line and sitting in the area for 5 hours or more.  We entertained ourselves with bird watching, boat watching and just living through the bronco ride that the waves gave us.  It was actually more fun than what everyone predicted.  We left the line and went to hide in a more sheltered creek, We read, ate, drank and napped for 3 hours and then we went to sit back on the line.

The most fun was a pair of pelicans that were showing off near the boat, or all the small fish (fry) were around our boat, for they were diving and eating right around the boat.  It was a great spectacle.

Gloucester Point (9/19/2014)

I had a meeting at the Virginia Institute for Marine Science (VIMS) today, and after the meeting I took a few minutes to drive down to the York River near the Coleman Bridge and take a few photographs.  It was fairly quiet down there, and even the water was quiet. It was another nice day to be on or near the water.

 The two photos below show a work boat going by the Alliance a picture of some seaside that was sailing tourist around, and a picture of seaside goldenrod that was growing near the boat launch.  You can see the Alliance in the background of the goldenrod picture.

The meeting went great, as an educator I was invited as part of a group to review or comment on some of the education and outreach programs they are doing at VIMS.  This was part of a NOAA grant they get.  I know it was a favorable review, I have given lessons for the program and taken classes they put on.  A great place to go to lectures if you have a chance!

Richmond (9/17/2014)

Staying with the Richmond theme (yes I am not traveling today, just commuting); one of my favorite lunch-time walks is along the James River.  It is wonderful to see the powerful river going over what we call the fault line.  The fault line is the transition zone between what we call the Piedmont and the Coastal Plane.  Interestingly enough, it is also where a lot of the major industrial cities are on the east coast.  I can imagine cities like Columbia, SC; Rocky Mount, NC; Petersburg, Richmond and Fredericksburg in Virginia; and last but not least Washington, DC (or at least slightly west of DC).

The advantage of being located near the fault line is cheep energy.  In Richmond the river drops more than 100 feet, and enterprising individuals figured out how to harness that energy.  They built canals to keep the water high and then make it drop through water wheels etc in order to generate energy.  At the same time the canals allowed boat traffic further inland through a lock system.

Historic features abound along the river and I just took this picture to juxtapose the old and the modern.  The cobble stones remind me of my home country (the Netherlands or Holland); as a biker, I have to think the famous race from Paris to Roubaix, a bike race over cobbles like this.  You can see the footprint of an older building and in the background of the picture you have a very modern building and the more conventional building of Dominion Energy.  Nice to see this contrast between old and new.  I really like new, very modern looking buildings, but the old is attractive as well.

Richmond (9/16/2014)

This week I am teaching in Richmond; kind of like a home game, with the exception that it was away from the office in the Science Museum.  I always enjoy teaching there, the place is vibrant with school children and other people who are at least mildly interested in the sciences.  Moreover, I was teaching in the "science room" where the walls have all kinds of details on the geology of Virginia.  I find this very appropriate given I am teaching courses in Erosion and Sediment Control and Stormwater.  It really is great to be out of the office and to be teaching.

The science museum is in the old train station, and when I lived in Cincinnati, that exactly where that science museum was as well.  They are majestic buildings and while it is a shame that these buildings are no longer used for trains, or train traffic has so declined and only one or two trains stop there every day, it is great to see them re-purposed rather that being torn down.  Still, it is a pity that this country is so car oriented and anti public transport.  I really love the U.S., but there are things I would want to improve.  I had a long discussion over lunch today with my fellow teacher, and yes we need to keep history and tradition in mind, but that does not mean we cannot improve where we see some inadequacies.  This photo is somewhat symbolic for this, there is a globe in front of the museum; somewhat symbolic of what I mean.  We are part of a greater world and should not be isolationistic in our thoughts and actions.

Yorktown (9/14/2014)

Sunday was a great day for a bike ride, the temperatures were mild, and the breeze was not too bad.  It was a great day for a training ride to get ready for the century ride we are doing at the end of the month.  After the ride it showed that we had gone 35 mile.

The ride was fairly uneventful, but at one point we had a motorcycle come by and right when he came by he put on the "after burners."  It was deafening and we were not sure if the guy did it on purpose or if we was just inconsiderate.  A little later a couple on bicycles wanted to pass and in good biking fashion they yelled " passing on your left." Actually we just coming to an intersection where we had to stop because a car was coming that had the right of way.  My wife said something like "go ahead, if you want to die", which was exactly what I thought.  They passed us after the car came through the intersection; we already had 28 miles in our legs, so we gladly let them go. It was a good ride, but it would be so nice to have bicycle paths or a wider, trash-free shoulder. 

This photo was taken at a rest point.  We love to stop at the end of Bay Tree Beach Road.  Bay Tree Beach appears to be an island that is connected to the mainland by a road.  The island has a tidal marsh between it and the shore.  On the northeast side of island is the Chesapeake Bay. There are a few valuable homes built along the beach, and it would be fun living there were it not for Northeasters or hurricanes.  I visited one of the homes once as member of the wetland board, and their bottom floor was a two car garage with garage doors on all sides.  When it storms they can open all the doors and save their home that way.  Water just flows through the garage.  This photo was taken of the marsh, looking southwest.  It is a nice place, you can almost always see a bald eagle, osprey or other critters there.  You sometimes have to zig-zag around the fiddler crabs when the water is high.  A great place and a great ride indeed.

Yorktown (9/10/2014)

I commute from Yorktown to Richmond every day when I don’t travel to somewhere in Virginia.  An exception is Fridays when I telecommute.  My favorite commuting routes brings me into Yorktown proper, along the Parkway, and only then will I pop onto Interstate 64 and do the rest of my commute.  On the way back I take a similar route.  Having these small traditions or shall we call it rituals is very important to me and I suspect, to many people.  For me, it gets the work day started and, in the afternoon, it is a nice end to a busy day and a crazy commute. 

What I don’t understand are all these commuters that get antsy and try to pass you on the Parkway while you already drive two or three miles over the speed limit.  To me the Parkway is not really for commuters; it is a ritual, a way to relax and almost meditate.

I clearly suffer from horizon deficit disorder (I just made up that term, but I have it).  I need to be able to see far and preferably see the horizon.  In the 80s we lived for three months in Durham, NC; and I still remember that feeling of claustrophobia; all those trees everywhere and no horizon.  I grew up on an island in the Caribbean and remember that on clear days we were able to see the mountains of Venezuela, more than 40 miles away.  I need to see the horizon, or at least past the next tree and this is why this ritual is so important to me.

This morning was magical.  We have had two days of rain in our area, and some was very heavy.  The town of Smithfield reported 12 inches (or 30 cm) of rain during the past two days).  So it was great to see the sun peak out of the clouds this morning.  Looking at the horizon I was amazed by the interplay of sun and light in our partly cloudy sky.  I saw sunbeams streaking down, while a tanker waiting to load (or unload) at the oil terminal was in the shade of a cloud.  I had to stop and take this photo of the scene. 

Back in the car, driving down the parkway I all the sudden saw a bald eagle coming my way flying above the trees.  Bald eagles are gorgeous majestic birds and I was absolutely amazed how big this one was, soaring over the trees, wings wide and looking in the direction of the river.  It was absolutely magical; a great start of a new day.  I just wonder how many commuters experienced the same thing.

Eagle in Yorktown (9/6/2014)

It was difficult to figure out what to use as heading here, but this weekend Yorktown has a distinguished visitor: the Coast Guard Sailing Ship the Eagle.  It was docked at the Coast Guard Station in Yorktown and Saturday it was open to visitors.  It is a beautiful boat, but I was a bit disappointed that we only got to see what is above deck and not anything like the living arrangements down low.  But then with all the people coming through it would have been impossible to police, so it is understandable.  The crew was very nice and helpful, making sure that everyone was comfortable and that my 87 year old father-in-law would not fall of the steep ladders.  I think what amazed me were the sheer number of lines (ropes) and blocks.  I did not see any labels on the lines; hopefully someone knows what would happen if you pull a certain line.  I've seen 30 foot sailboats where every line is marked by an overzealous owner with one of those label machines.  Also, where every line could chafe the boat had a piece of copper/bronze to prevent it.  We met a friend at the boat, and he told us that he served on the boat.  His first remark was that there was a lot of copper/bronze to polish.

I have added a couple of pictures here, I think they all fit Cee's Photo Challenge one of the things I sometimes do on this blog.  I love the photo of my wife behind the big steering wheel of the ship (I have no relationship to the others on the photo).  I've also added a photo of the emergency steering wheel, a photo of some small blocks (wheels inside) and last but not least a view of the York River and the Coleman Bridge.  I usually only publish one photo per day, but today I could not choose.

Gainesville, VA (9/4/2014)

When I travel for work, I go to a place to teach a class or participate in the teaching in a stormwater related class.  That is why I am always excited to go to the offices of Wetland Studies and Solutions Inc. in Gainesville (the Manassas area).  In building their office, the owner has made sure that they constructed a building that is LEED certified (for the layman this means it meets very high environmental and energy efficiency standards) and that it manages stormwater the way we teach it.  It is a great place for show and tell (and no, I am not endorsing them; I just like the way they built their office; they are friendly and I hear they are a good company). 

So what do I teach?  This time I was teaching an erosion and sediment control plan review course for people in local government.  In it they learn about the various measures that control erosion from construction site.  In addition, they learn about managing stormwater that runs off construction sites and form sites where construction is done and the people have moved in.

Teaching all this can be frustrating and gratifying at the same time.  It is a required class if you want to work in the field, and you always have the very few that think that it is a waste of time.  They obviously do not believe in it.  Some even want to debate anything you say that has a slight slant towards environmentalism.  Conversely the majority goes through the motions; and then you have the few that really like it.  But I am happy to report that the reviews that I get from my teaching are generally very favorable.  I really try to make my classes relevant, interesting and I try to stay very dynamic in my classes.  There is nothing worse than having to go to a class and the teacher puts me to sleep.  It means; however, that I am exhausted after a day of teaching.

Anyway, we teach about the importance if infiltrating water back into the soil.  Far too often we see that rainwater/stormwater is treated like the enemy.  People connect down spouts to the storm sewer or to a drainage ditch and pipe it out of there.  In addition to disastrous results downstream the water does not go back into the soil where it belongs and we are now noticing dropping ground water table.  Moreover, we then also have to irrigate our lawns with drinking water.  It is all so backwards, that it often infuriates me.  At home we have three operational rain barrels and one waiting to go on line; in the summer we hardly ever water our plants with drinking water.

Back to this photograph; the building I taught at has a green roof. The roof has a growing medium on top of the roof that is 3 to 6 inches thick.  Plants are planted in the growing medium and the plants use the stormwater that falls on the roof.  Any excess rainwater is captured in a cistern, but a lot of the rainwater never leaves the roof.  Because of this, the roof is much cooler, which means lower air conditioner cost.  In the winter the thick layer of growing medium results in lower heating bills.  I took this photograph on the roof.  It has a narrow path and even two pick nick areas.  Great for show and tell.  (A previous post by me and picture of the roof can be found here)

 

Manassas (9/2/2014)

Traveling again and this week's trip has taken me to Manassas.  While some of my friend malign the place, I really don't mind coming here.  The motel I stay at is relatively new but when you stay in one of the corners of the place there is a huge crack in the bathroom floor, just like that corner of the motel wants to fall of.

I like coming here because I have a Barns and Noble nearby, and I can buy the latest version of "Good Old Boat", and visit Total Wine next to it and buy a different bottle of wine to enjoy a glass in my room.  Furthermore, there are some neat international eateries, something we really don't have in Yorktown.

This picture was taken at my favorite hole in the wall: El Mirador (see my previous post on the restaurant here).  El Mirador serves food from Central America, absolutely not Mexican, and last night I was the only non-latino in the place.  The group in this picture is what I would call kids (being a 61 year old guy).  The girl who's face you can see just had a baby and she is eating there with her baby in the carriage and a boy and a girl her age across from her.  Kind of a sad scene in my eyes, kids having kids; although she looked very happy with her company and her child.  The TV was showing a Mexican soap.

Yorktown Battlefield National Historic Park (9/1/2014)

Labor Day weekend was spent as a Briedé family triathlon.  On Saturday we sailed, on Sunday we split wood, and on Monday we biked 28 miles (45 km) in preparation of a century ride we will be doing at the end of September.  Although it seems that spring is finally over and summer started, the ride was fun.  (If you live in our neck of the woods, you know what I mean: we had a very mild summer, and temperatures are finally going above 90°F.)  I am sure that many climate change deniers have a lot of fun with our mild weather, but it looks like it was a warmer July for many on the globe except in the eastern US, Siberia and northern Italy.  I am not sure what August will look like.  Oh well, it seems that a lot of us try to grab at straws to prove their point and I am probably one of them, but there is nothing as aggravating to me as people just following what the pundits say on radio and television without researching it themselves.

The photo below was taking during our ride from a bridge in the colonial battlefield park.  I took pictures here before of the lizard tail, but this was such an idyllic sight: a heron standing on a fallen tree.  I did not have my SLR with me, so you cannot really zoom in on the heron, but it is still nice.  Moreover, it is tough to carry a heavy camera on the bike, so my phone will have to do.  As I mentioned before biking itself is sometimes taking you life in your own hands.  Roads are narrow and drivers seem aggravated by cyclist and don’t respect them.  On almost every ride we come by areas where bikers were killed or hurt by a vehicle; although in not every circumstance was the driver at fault.  Cyclists need to be careful, as well.  But it always gives me chills driving by a site where a cyclist was killed.

I was struck by a letter to the editor in this morning’s newspaper (not yet published, but it should appear here).  In this letter the author wrote about a cross country running team from a local high school and how they were running along a narrow road without a sidewalk, where drivers can drive 55 miles per hour.  I think that is so common for our area, nowhere for citizens to go from one place to another to go without the mighty car, truck, minivan or motorcycle.  Life would be so much nicer if we could walk, bike, or use public transportation.