Aerie Report, May 28, 2010

The last two days have been 3-H days here at the Aerie: Hazy, Hot and Humid.

We did not get the record heat on Thursday we were told was a possibility, but it was hot enough as it got up to 87 late in the day. None of the T-storms showed up to cool things off either. They all swept past far to our east ending up in the NY-NJ area around 6 PM.

Today had all the makings of another scorcher but the weak front that moved through late yesterday kept the temperature to a mere 80 degrees. Still, the humidity started off around 70% and dropped down to just 60% late this afternoon. Once again, the widely scattered showers missed us almost completely. I say almost because we got about 10 drops around 1:30 in the afternoon and Terry, who was east of here driving home actually had to put her wipers on for a short time. Granted they were on the intermittent setting, but still....

We'll get one more "cool" day of around 80 before Sunday and Monday head back close to 90. After that, however, we'll be back to highs in the 70-80 range and lows in the 55-60 vicinity.

Just get rid of the humidity and I'll be happy. Cutting grass this afternoon was no walk in the park.

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I did see another--or maybe it was the same--garter snake while cutting the lawn today. It was all bright and shiny as if it had just shed its skin. (Last one I saw was dull and drab with scales covering its eyes that were nearly opaque.) It slithered off into the tall grasses on the edge of the lawn where I do not cut. I wished him(?) happy hunting in his search for crickets and worms.

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Yesterday I booked six nights at Ives Run Campground (a Corps of Engineers facility on Hammond Lake) via the government website: www.recreation.gov. Terry and I thought it would be easier to gear up by bringing the trailer down here rather than trying to bring all our stuff up to the Bolt Hole. We could have parked it in the Aerie's driveway, but with the number of dump trucks going up and down this road lately (windmills and gas lines) things are a bit cramped on the 1 1/2 lanes. Not to mention dusty. Besides, by using the campground (with its water and electrical hook-ups, we'll be able to test things out before we actually hit the road on June 9th.

I was pretty impressed with the reservation system for national campgrounds at www.recreation.com. You can pretty much search for federal facilities in any state, near any town/city, or by the name of the facility. You can see what sites are available, what size they are (an important factor when you've got a large RV/motorhome/trailer), what kind of hook-ups they have, what amenities they offer, and more. Then, once you've made a choice, you can book your stay paying by credit card.

So I'll be heading up to the Bolt Hole next week to haul the trailer down to the campground on the 3rd of June. Then the fun of packing up begins. Not that we haven't already started....