Black Rock State Park and more

George has mentioned in the past that we should go for picnics. He has also said that he would like to see every state park in Connecticut. I thought, "we can do that". Then we found out there are 139 state parks. Sounds a little intimidating. Today we decided to check one off the list and did not want to travel too far. As we looked at the list, we realized that some local spots we had been to, we did not know were referred to as state parks--for example, Satan's Kingdom in New Hartford. I still don't know if a trip to all 139 is a goal, but we plan on visiting some new ones we've never seen.

Today we went to Black Rock State Park in Watertown. The picture above was our view from our picnic table.

This picnic table was submerged in water-it doesn't look that way from the picture, but those leaves are all under water. This is where we ate--not. Though George did offer to take off his shoes and socks and roll up his pants to wade out there for a photo op. I just wasn't sure what was under those leaves and told him that was okay.

After we ate, we went for a nice walk along the trail.

We soon came to numbered sites for the state forest camp ground. Then we found these cute cabin rentals.

Here are some more shots from our little walk.

 

This is the picnic table where we ate. I loved the two trees which grew parallel and then at the top they became entwined and attached. George said they were married.

 

A few parting shots....

 

From here we drove up the road to the Black Rock Lake Dam. These are pictures taken from the top of the dam.

This is a view of the lake we had just come from at Black Rock State Park.

 

After this I needed a bathroom and we found one at a convenience store/gas station. While there we talked to the worker who kindly told us of the Thomaston Dam, not far from here. This time we could drive over the dam. We didn't have the energy for the walking trails, but did enjoy seeing the railroad built right along side the dam. I had forgotten that we actually rode the train along this dam. I just checked my old blogs and it was in 2008. There are a couple of pictures from the train if you look for that blog post along the side of this blog. It's under June 2008 "How I Spent My Summer Vacation."

 



I thought this was a neat shot from the picnic area near the dam


 

Thus ends our day. We can cross another state park off the list. Sorry we could not do it complete justice.

 

Please note that you can click on any of the pictures for a closer view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mother's Day 2014 Stanley Park, Westfield, MA

Beautiful day for a walk in the park. This is Stanley Park, serenaded by a piano in the tower. We were able to go inside the tower where we were treated with lemonade and cookies and a carnation for mothers. We enjoyed the beautiful view from the top.

USA Map as seen from the tower.

Stain glass windows in the tower.

An early evening walk

Stratton Brook Park
Reflections of Life
I love this spot and it's so close to home.



There was a little black bird on top of one of these weeds,
serenading us.

I spy with my eye.....look carefully....
a heron.

 

When he saw me watching him, he slowly got out of the
water and seemed to hide behind branches. Guess he's
camera shy. I have to bring my new and bigger lens
next time.
 



The beginning of a new life after working for 41 years

Easing into it. First Saturday off in 31 weeks--soccer and baseball....

A couple of tags sales and out to eat at J&G's Restaurant in East Granby--one of my favorites.

On Sunday it was nice not to know that all the rest of relaxing and chores did not have to be done today to be ready to go back to work on Monday.

Breakfast with George and Dad at the Log House in Barkhamsted, church, tag sales, home for lunch, a little nap, then a walk and home for dinner.
Our walk was in our beautiful Barkhamsted at People's State Forest. The river was flowing fast and the sound is always so soothing. There were only a few other people and dogs and even a horse.