Thursday, August 6, 2009

Wet July in Lanesborough, Part II

The first 3 pictures are of birds I took out of my sister-in-laws kitchen window. A blue jay, canary and cardinal.



The baby birds came out of a nest but couldn't fly. The mother came and got one of them, but the other died.

A cotton tail rabbit wanted his picture taken.

My friend Jan and her daughter Kaitlyn, on Kaitlyn's 20th birthday. We had cake and ice cream.

Our 6 family tag sale at my nephew's place on Rte #7 in Lanesborough, MA.

Pownal,VT. tractor pull, pulling a wheelie. Even the kids get in on the act.



At the Hinsdale,MA. Fireman's muster. The different fire departments compete against each other. They have timed events.



We had 12 inches of rain in July and the farm was real wet. The animals didn't seem to mind though.



It's a good thing my Motorhome wasn't parked on the other side of this creek. My usual parking space is all marshy.

Wet July in Lanesborough, Part I

We had 12 inches of rain in July, three times the normal rainfall.

Motorcycle rally at Stephentown, NY. It was an all day event starting with a ride at 9:00am am, lunch at noon, then a lot of motorcycle events. The "Slow Race", where the last one across the finish line wins.

One of the bikes had a V-8 motor in it. A "Boss Hog".

One of the bikes had quite a few lights on the rear. When he left I noticed that none of them worked when he puts on the brake and maybe don't work at night either.


This bike looks familiar. Nobody bought it.





They have a burn out contest to see who can put up the most smoke. One guy ran it until his tire blew out. I don't know who buys the new tire.


Then the hot dog bite, where they have a hot dog hanging on a string and when the rider comes up the passenger has to stand and try to get a bite out of the hot dog. The hot dog is dipped in ketchup first, so usually the passenger just gets a face full of ketchup. The 2 gals were the winners of the hot dog contest.

I went to the Fair in Adams,MA. and there has been so much rain in this area that there was mud and water everywhere.

I saw my first oxen pull there. They are well trained, and can pull quite a bit of weight.


The Border Collies did a good job of herding the geese.


The Bag Pipers did a good job of entertaining everybody.

I sat in the bleachers watching the Destruction Derby, but had to use the umbrella as it rained all during the event. There were only a few of us that had umbrellas, but I guess the people back here are used to watching these event in the rain, because it didn't seem to bother them. It would have made a huge wet "T" shirt contest as there were a lot of women there with no umbrellas.




We finally had 2 days with no rain, so we mowed half of the hay field and got it dried, baled and in the barn before it rained again that night.

This is my great niece and her family with my duck, "Muckluck Annie"

This is my "Biker Babe, Taylor Grace

Stay tuned for more of my Wet July in Lanesborough.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Mount Greylock

Thursday, July 9th was the first good day (weatherwise) that we have had for a while, so I rode up to Mt. Greylock on my Harley. It is Massachusetts' highest mountain at a little over 3400 ft. It has a war memorial tower at the summit honoring WW2 veterans. It has been closed for the last 2 years while they built a new road to it.

The Appalachian trail goes right by it and they have a lodge with a restaurant and rooms for an overnight stay.

I stopped at Jones Nose ( A favorite blueberry picking site) on the way up and also at a turnout with a fantastic view of New Ashford, MA.


The tower has a spiral staircase and you can walk to the top and be rewarded with fantastic views if the weather is clear.


The Albany,NY. TV station has a tower at the summit. It has been replaced at least twice as it comes down when they have real bad ice storms.


I went down the back way into North Adams,MA. and then rode up to Rutland,VT. I gassed up in Rutland and then headed back South. I stopped on the way and watched a horse show. ( Jumpers) and then continued on to Bennington,VT. the home of Hemmings Motor News. They still have a full service gas station,(check your oil?)
They have a real nice museum there of old cars, trucks and fire engines. Also free pop corn. Every other Thursday in the summer months they have a car show with over 200 cars showing up.

I was invited to go on a bike run out of Pownal,VT. last Sunday, but I already had a breakfast planned. It was a benefit ride put on by the Pownal Rescue Squad.
The weather is suppose to be nice again tomorrow so maybe another ride is in the making.
Till I get more news.. Adios

The Car Show

On Sunday, July 5th, I went to the car show in Pittsfield with my brother Donny. I got to see some friends there that I hadn't seen in a while. One of them I had gone to grade school with. They had over 2000 cars there and nothing newer that 1972. It is one of the better car shows in the country.








I didn't buy anything.