York River (1/10/2015)

It was a cold but clear weekend, and so it was great to visit the museum in Jamestown.  We drove the "Parkway" on the way back and hit our favorite pull off just around sunset.  It was extreme low tide, and part of the mudflats were laying bare.  Moreover, there was no wind and the river was glass.  Took a number of experimental photos using the art filter on my camera.  Here is a normal one followed by a black & white manipulated one.  Donna remarked that it looked like Scotland out there.  We were in Scotland four years ago, and yes this reminded us a bit of Skye, minus the mountains and the vistas.  Honestly, we can find nice places even here on the Chesapeake Bay, that give you wonderful vistas and a great experience of nature.  Very different than what some might think of when you mention the east coast.  It is not that polluted, and even here you still can find solitude

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I've never sailed up the York River, although it seems you could go even past West Point.  I really want to try it one of these days, but the river gets narrower and the wind should be right.  There are very few facilities up the river; the south side being mostly military.  It is amazing to see big warships and military freighters docked at facilities just past this point.  We kayaked the river once, a little further up the river, and boy it was rough that day; we even took on water.  I drive the Parkway almost every morning on my way to work.  At this spot I am always reminded that the world is round (sorry flat earth people).  When it is clear you can see smoke coming up from under the horizon.  The smoke comes from the saw mill in West Point.  Being 20 feet above the water line (at least) that would indicate that the plant is at least 8 nautical miles away (1.17.times the square toot of your the height of your eyes above the water in feet equals the distance in nautical miles ... see this wonderful website).  According to the map it is 20 miles, so the plumes I see in the morning are very tall can come from far below the horizon (my calculation show that at the point where the smoke comes above the horizon the plum is already 300 feet above the ground surface).  This is important for us sailors and boaters. 

Anyway a nice end to a chilly weekend.