Hobby Thread - June 29, 2024 [TRex]

MisHum has had a busy day of posting, so let's give him a break with a good hobby thread. Welcome hobbyists! Do not adjust your interweb. This thread is headed to the great outdoors. A spin of the Ace of Spades wheel of hobbies has come up with national parks.

National parks aren't themselves a hobby, but they are a place where many hobbies flourish. Travelers enjoy visiting. Military historians scout battlefields and learn about tactics from the past. Geologists observe timelines of earth and stone, caverns, remnants of lava flows, waterfalls, and other natural wonders. Climbers scale cliffs. Photographers and painters translate and record scenery. Hikers wander though forests, mountains and beaches. Animal lovers watch birds, bison and bears. Astronomers revel in the dark skies above undeveloped land. Campers get away from urban life and sleep under the stars. Canoers paddle in peace.

The United States has a wide variety of parks. Other countries have their own national parks as well. What parks have you visited? What are your favorites? Which ones are hidden gems? Which ones are high on your list to visit someday? Do you have a personal goal to visit all national parks? Do you remember family vacations that toured parks? Do you have favorite memories made in national parks?

As usual, keep this thread limited to hobbies. Politics and current events can wait for other threads.

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Hobby threadists are smarter than the average bear!

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Top photo - The The Battle of Antietam was fought in Maryland. The battle takes is name from a creek of the same name that wound its way through the battlefield. It was the first Confederate invasion into the north. The south called the same fight the Battle of Sharpsburg, named after the town nearby.

It is known as the deadliest one-day battle in American military history. Surely the sunken road is haunted. Seeing the tophography and walking around the stone bridge, it is very difficult to imagine contesting the ground under fire. The area lights up in the fall as the trees turn vibrant colors but a black and white photo seemed more appropraite.

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The largest US National Park by acreage is Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve in Alaska. How big? At 13.2 million acres, the park is bigger than Yellowstone, Yosemite and Switzerland combined. It isn't alone for large national parks in Alaska. Seven of the ten biggest national parks are in Alaska. For example, Denali is 6.1 million acres.

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Everybody has opinions on hidden gems, underrated parks and best kept secrets:

10 Underrated National Parks You Have to See

America's best kept secrets: 20 unique national parks

America's Best Kept Secrets: 10 Hidden Wonders Of U.S. National Parks

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20 Epic Day Hikes in the National Parks - Good photography.

10 of the Most Famous Hikes in the US National Parks. More good photography.

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Full list of national parks in order of 2023 vistation numbers.

If you're a stats geek, raw visitor stats are available on the NPS website. Stats are available at a national level and for each specific park.

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Yellowstone Act, Approved March 1, 1872

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the tract of land in the Territories of Montana and Wyoming, lying near the headwaters of the Yellowstone River, and described as follows, to wit, commencing at the junction of Gardiner's river with the Yellowstone river, and running east to the meridian passing ten miles to the eastward of the most eastern point of Yellowstone lake; thence south along said meridian to the parallel of latitude passing ten miles south of the most southern point of Yellowstone lake; thence west along said parallel to the meridian passing fifteen miles west of the most western point of Madison lake; thence north along said meridian to the latitude of the junction of Yellowstone and Gardiner's rivers; thence east to the place of beginning, is hereby reserved and withdrawn from settlement, occupancy, or sale under the laws of the United States, and dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring-ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people; and all persons who shall locate or settle upon or occupy the same, or any part thereof, except as hereinafter provided, shall be considered trespassers and removed therefrom. 16 U.S.C. 21

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The Great Sand Dunes National Park is located in...Colorado. Surprise!

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Mount St. Helens is purportedly the second most wired volcano for monitoring in the world next to Mt. Fuji. Don't know who tracks these things but that's what the interwebs tell me. I didn't know that you can climb to the top:

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The National Park Service looks after 429 sites known as units, but only 63 are formally designated as national parks. There are 84 national monuments, 19 national preserves, 75 national historic sites, 18 national recreation areas, 10 national seashores and three national lakeshores. There are 11 national battlefields, 9 military parks, 4 national battlefield parks, and a single national battlefield site. The battlefield/miltary terminology appears to be a relic of Congressional word choice at the time of designations rather than anything substantive.

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Seeing a volcanic lava flow pour into the ocean is on the TRex bucket list:

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Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

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Did you miss last week's hobby thread with an astronomy theme? The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content. Memorable comment:

20240628-Screenshot 2024-06-27 210331.jpg

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If national parks are not your thing and you have trouble finding something in the content that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different hobby next time around. Send thoughts or suggestions to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Yogi and Boo-Boo may or may not have endorsed this thread content. Thanks for being here.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 First?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 05:31 PM (omVj0)

2 I finally broke down and bought a National Parks Passport this year. Now I need to get some more stamps in it.

Posted by: Bert G at June 29, 2024 05:33 PM (VARTN)

3 Welcome Hobbiests

Made, but didn't put it together yet, a press to compact gunpowder to grain it. It should work

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 05:33 PM (fwDg9)

4 Well, whaddaya know! I whistled up the others from the Pet Thread.

My best memories of national or state parks were all out West, in New Mexico and Colorado. In NM I've been to Carlsbad Caverns, Bandelier and Chaco Canyon; in CO, Garden of the Gods and another state park, the name of which I can't recall, SE of Denver proper on the way to Colorado Springs. Hiking or doing much of anything outdoors here for most of the year is insane. The dry climate out West is so much better.

Oh, and in '14 I visited Palo Duro Canyon in TX near Amarillo, once upon a time the Comanche winter quarters.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 05:35 PM (omVj0)

5 Favorite on west coast: Yosemite
Favorite on east coast: Gettysburg and Smokey Mountains
Favorite in the middle: Glacier
Still on the list: Olympia and Denali

Posted by: Grateful at June 29, 2024 05:36 PM (IQ6Gq)

6 Towada-Hachimantai national park in Japan-- stunningly beautiful, especially in autumn, along the Oirase river...

Posted by: JQ at June 29, 2024 05:38 PM (njWTi)

7 I realized this last week that in the better part of 40 years. I'm doing a project with no real point.
I'm doing a small project in my small machine shop, and I realized it's not FOR anything.
It's a... hobby I suppose.

It's been so long anything I've done was for itself, I barely know how to feel.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 05:40 PM (bFId9)

8 My first trip to NM in '92 was great. I rode the aerial tram from the base of the Sandia Mountains just east of ABQ, terrified at the height, and strolled around at the peak. ABQ sits at 5K feet, like Denver. The peak of the Sandias is 5000 feet higher. They warn you at the base of the tramway that it can be chilly up there even in May, and it was.

Two days later I hiked at Bandelier Natl. Monument, near Santa Fe. It was drizzling, rare for NM in late May, and I wore a rain jacket I bought near the Plaza in town. What amazed me was that the air, despite the rain, was do dry that my hands were not sticky in the pockets. Astonishing.

The jacket, an Eddie Bauer, to this day remains rolled up in my trunk bag in the car for sudden rain showers.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 05:40 PM (omVj0)

9 As a kid visited countless NP, all over the country, well east coast then, been to others as a Adult in other parts

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 05:40 PM (fwDg9)

10 This is an awesome topic - I could talk about hiking all the time - but I have to head out for dinner with family.

Glacier is my favorite NP of those I've visited so far.

My impromptu stop at the Arches on a road trip from Laramie to southern California was much too brief and it's high on the list for another visit, along with Canyonlands.

Thanks for this thread, I will very much enjoy catching up with it later while others are on the movie thread :-)

Posted by: screaming in digital at June 29, 2024 05:41 PM (iZbyp)

11 Splitting rails was my hobby, as a kid.

Posted by: Abe at June 29, 2024 05:42 PM (XeU6L)

12 One of the best things about growing up in Cody WY was its proximity to Yellowstone. And when I was a kid the entrance fee was 3 bucks.

I have been to a lot of parks over the years, Yellowstone will always be my favorite. Key is going before Memorial Day or after labor day.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, My Two Cents at June 29, 2024 05:42 PM (Bv0Y3)

13 The Kid asked me. Dad why are you going to all this trouble? I realized I had no answer.
For the fun of it.
It's interesting.
It's an odd feeling

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 05:42 PM (bFId9)

14 An old college buddy of mine made it a life goal to visit all of the national parks in the lower 48 states. He was able to visit most of them, then fate caught up with him.

He suffered a near-fatal fall along the Appalachian Trail (I forget what part he was in) and while he mostly recovered, the long term damage to his body means he cannot travel anymore.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 29, 2024 05:43 PM (BpYfr)

15 Carlsbad Caverns . . . I drove out to hike in the Guadalupe Mountains just across the TX border, then the next day took the tour of CC. It remains a constant 65 F. or so all year round there, and I was glad of my rain jacket and rubber-soled shoes on the moist walkways. Gigantic chambers, like a natural version of the Superdome.

We walked down on the tour, but took the elevator back up. Its deceleration at the top was startling.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 05:43 PM (omVj0)

16 We're not too far from Lincoln's birthplace.

Never been there.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at June 29, 2024 05:43 PM (Q4IgG)

17 More animation and assembling shots into scenes. Each scene then inspires ideas, to be discarded or dealt with. It can be fun, but it's a bunch of work.

I know I could have AI do it, or some of it, but then I go from "creator" to "spectator."

Posted by: BeckoningChasm at June 29, 2024 05:44 PM (CHHv1)

18 I realized this last week that in the better part of 40 years. I'm doing a project with no real point.
I'm doing a small project in my small machine shop, and I realized it's not FOR anything.
It's a... hobby I suppose.

It's been so long anything I've done was for itself, I barely know how to feel.
Posted by: LenNeal
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Replacing the cheesy plastic mailbox flag/mount for the elderly widow across the street, I milled it all out of aluminum. Final count, 22 pieces.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 29, 2024 05:46 PM (XeU6L)

19 An old college buddy of mine made it a life goal to visit all of the national parks in the lower 48 states. He was able to visit most of them, then fate caught up with him.
------

I know a couple who did that, after he retired.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 29, 2024 05:47 PM (XeU6L)

20 We live within easy driving distance of two of the smaller TX state parks.
Both feature some nice CCC structures from the '30s.
I've done all the hikes at the closest one, including the perimeter of the park during a First Day Hike.

Like some states, we have such a variety of natural beauty, that we are blessed with our park system.
I have to say Palo Duro is my favorite, though.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024 05:47 PM (y7DxH)

21 In CO, I visited Great Sand Dunes one Saturday. I drove down from Denver in the '84 Mercedes 280CE coupe and stopped at the park. It's utterly amazing, the sandscape that could be in Saudi Arabia, and then you turn to see snow-capped mountains in the near distance (the same range, the Sangre de Cristos, that extends down into NM by Santa Fe).

The state park SE of Denver had trails going along the same Cherry Creek that runs up into downtown Denver. What amazed me, and what I've never seen mentioned in travelogues, were the natural stone sculptures atop the canyon walls. Sculpted by years of wind, rain, and snow, some of them look just like dinosaur heads, maybe life-size ones.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 05:50 PM (omVj0)

22 18 Replacing the cheesy plastic mailbox flag/mount for the elderly widow across the street, I milled it all out of aluminum. Final count, 22 pieces.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 29, 2024 05:46 PM (XeU6L)
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Sounds like a good old fashioned over-engineered science project. Love it.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 05:50 PM (IQ6Gq)

23 17

I tried animation with a single exposure BH 8mm camera and worked HARD to make a 10 second overlayed animation on mylar comic book bags. Then half killed myself to get the film developed for 10 seconds of a cowboy riding a horse drawn by 13 year old me.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 05:50 PM (bFId9)

24 Tweaked my Intertubes settings. (Taps mic) Test, test, test.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 29, 2024 05:50 PM (LDP8y)

25 The only national parks I've visited are Gettysburg and Bull Rub Battlefield Park. Gettysburg is, as many here know, spectacular and the chance to tread the various sites of the battle is eye opening. Even on a hot, sunny day Devil's Den was cool and eerie. It was as if the echoes of the fighting and dying still reverberated. If there is a haunted place, Devil's Den is it.

Bull Run Battlefield Park is smaller and the battle itself was hours not days. But it has its features of interest in the terrain and historic importance.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 05:51 PM (zudum)

26 back from the garden tread hobbit hole:

1.8 gallon - 【Odor-Blocking & Fruit Fly Free Compost Pail】Say goodbye to the smelly decomposing waste. Our compost bin for kitchen counter comes with a precisely-fit lid, you can let the scraps build up for several days without worrying about attracting fruit flies or terrible smells into your kitchen. _YouGuessedIt
------------------

But wait! Bob Villa says you need 10+ gallon container for 2 ppls and it takes at least 3 to 4 months to make. There's accumulating waste every day and it's all going to go into a 1.8 gallon container. Oh, and Bob says Stink is a problem.

Posted by: Braenyard at June 29, 2024 05:51 PM (0b3lL)

27 24 Tweaked my Intertubes settings. (Taps mic) Test, test, test.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 29, 2024 05:50 PM (LDP8y)
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All clear. Welcome.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 05:51 PM (IQ6Gq)

28 The thing about the project having no real goal, is now resonating with me. To be a true hobby it has to be just kinda pointless.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 05:52 PM (bFId9)

29 29

Drop it.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 05:54 PM (bFId9)

30 I have to say Palo Duro is my favorite, though.
Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024

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Palo Duro is startling. You drive east out of the college town of Canyon, TX, and there's plains and more plains, and -- suddenly! -- the ground on your right drops away and there's the canyon itself, an enormous gash in the earth.

I was there in late May. By 10:30 in the morning it was already too hot to hike for long.

I drove down into the canyon on the steep road provided, and hiked along a stream down there. When I came back, and saw the steepness of the road I'd traversed on the way down, I said, "I came down *that*???" Both going and coming, I put the Buick Regal into a lower gear, and had no trouble. I'd hate to try either one if there'd been snow or ice.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 05:54 PM (omVj0)

31
Our National Specialty was held in Gettysburg a few years ago. Her Majesty went up with Val and Delilah. They arrived near midnight and the navigator took them through the battlefield. HM said she could feel the ghosts. Even the dogs were unsettled.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM (1Nxff)

32 I have always wanted to visit Palo Duro. Sounds really amazing.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, My Two Cents at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM (Bv0Y3)

33 25 The only national parks I've visited are Gettysburg and Bull Rub Battlefield Park. Gettysburg is, as many here know, spectacular and the chance to tread the various sites of the battle is eye opening.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 05:51 PM
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We were just there two weeks ago. I debated showing Gettysburg as the top photo. A good example of being on-site helping to better understand the battle. No substitute for standing in places like Devils Den or looking across the ground of Pickett's charge. It had been too long since we'd visited. We won't wait so long again.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM (IQ6Gq)

34 Please stay home. Our National Parks are dirty, dangerous places. The animals will try to eat you while the weather will try to kill you with either heat, dehydration or freezing.Oh and the bugs are bad too ! Nation Park passes are very expensive.

Remember "staycations" or maybe try a nice, civilized theme park ?

Posted by: Next2Nothing at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM (tA1/w)

35 I got a new fuel pump for the Spitfire. Somebody had put an electric pump on it and did a really poor job and it was too much pump for that little motor. Also it started leaking from the top the last time I drove it.

The new mechanical pump looked right. but a few seconds after I fired the car up the carb float bowls started overflowing. Too much fuel pressure. I did some research and sure enough, the new pumps nowadays are putting out 10psi and the carbs only need 1-3.

It seems the diaphragm spring is too stiff in the new pumps and the actuator lever is too long. The common fix is to put a pressure regulator in the line. I started looking at it though and realized I could use the bottom half of the old pump and spring with the new top, valves, and diaphragm. I did that and it works just fine.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM (vFG9F)

36 The thing about the project having no real goal, is now resonating with me. To be a true hobby it has to be just kinda pointless.
Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 05:52 PM (bFId9)

To fit in with today's theme: A model railroad setup of the Yellowstone Park "Loop" would be awesome.

Posted by: Idaho Spudboy at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM (LDP8y)

37
The state parks here in PA appear to be severely underfunded, but then again we have a (D) governor and two (D) Senators. So the 'tards in Philly get all the money for whatever they want.

Don't expect a normal functioning place to pee at a PA state park. It's all porta potties that look like Fettermonster was the last occupant.

He left a big one.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 29, 2024 05:57 PM (RKVpM)

38 I've been to southern Arizona, Tucson, in '85. In early June it already hit 107 each day. Cooled to 65 by ealry morning, but still that's too hot.

Mrs. Wolfus No. 2, who had lived there as a kid, guided me. We visited the mission on a hill outside of town, I've forgotten its name, and the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. We were walking around in the mid-morning. When we got back home, I washed my face, and only then realized that I'd been sweating; the moisture had evaporated immediately, leaving the salt.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 05:58 PM (omVj0)

39 Been blessed to visit many Civil War battlefields, and the National Park Rangers have been exceptionally helpful with their maps of the battles with troop placements - day by day. Petersburg battlefield is now largely residential, but the Ranger printed a map and we found the intersection where my great great grandfather was captured.

Posted by: Grateful at June 29, 2024 05:58 PM (IQ6Gq)

40 Thanks for mentioning Palo Duro. New to me, but the on-line photos look compelling. **adds to the list**

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 05:58 PM (IQ6Gq)

41 31 HM said she could feel the ghosts. Even the dogs were unsettled.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM
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No question.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:00 PM (IQ6Gq)

42 I'm doing a small project in my small machine shop, and I realized it's not FOR anything.
It's a... hobby I suppose.
It's been so long anything I've done was for itself, I barely know how to feel.
Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 05:40 PM (bFId9)

Just a quirk- I really need a hobby to have some useful outcome. Which is why I like knitting, quilting and gardening.
Yes, I'm binge-watching BritBox, but I now also have a shawl for someone.

Theater costuming was the closest I came to "Art", I guess.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024 06:01 PM (y7DxH)

43 I found some old medals in an antique shop and cleaned it. Look at the top loop of this one - almost worn through.
Is there a safe way to hang it on a chain to wesr it?

https://x.com/typesaway/status/
1807171707582722164

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at June 29, 2024 06:01 PM (Ka3bZ)

44 I have always wanted to visit Palo Duro. Sounds really amazing.
Posted by: Pug Mahon, My Two Cents at June 29, 2024

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Seems to me I read it's the second *deepest* canyon in the US, at least west of the Mississippi? Second after the Grand Canyon? Or maybe the second longest. Something like that.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:01 PM (omVj0)

45 Not a hobby exactly but I just saw a flock of Little Chickadees landing on my trellis in my garden beds and glorying in the sprinkler shower and fluffing their little feathers and literally taking a shower in the garden sprinkler. It has been mighty dry around here for the last month and a half. Mostly females but a couple of males showed up.

Posted by: Beverly at June 29, 2024 06:02 PM (Epeb0)

46 An old college buddy of mine made it a life goal to visit all of the national parks in the lower 48 states. He was able to visit most of them, then fate caught up with him.

He suffered a near-fatal fall along the Appalachian Trail (I forget what part he was in) and while he mostly recovered, the long term damage to his body means he cannot travel anymore.
Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel
------------

Tinyurl isn't working for me. But if you search "Tuesday History: Tracing the doomed tracks of Elisha Mitchell"
you will find an interesting article. No one knew the territory better than Mitchell, but...
Worth a quick read.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 29, 2024 06:02 PM (XeU6L)

47 Mount St. Helens is purportedly the second most wired volcano for monitoring in the world next to Mt. Fuji. Don't know who tracks these things but that's what the interwebs tell me. I didn't know that you can climb to the top:

----------

When Vesuvius blows again, it's gonna be lit.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at June 29, 2024 06:02 PM (0omqp)

48 Carlsbad Caverns are a hidden gem and worth putting a few extra miles on your ride to get there if you happen to be close. Half a millions bats can’t be wrong! Thanks for the thread TRex!

Posted by: HappyFun at June 29, 2024 06:03 PM (aIURK)

49 I've been to quite a few national parks. My folks took my sister and I when were kids on a tour of a bunch of the western ones in a rented RV. Camping in the parks was fantastic.

But one of my favorite national parks is basically the island of St John in the USVI. The majority of the island including the bays and reefs surrounding the island are national park/national monuments.

Great diving and snorkeling all around the island.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:03 PM (LkLld)

50 . Mostly females but a couple of males showed up.
Posted by: Beverly
-----

This Springs young tom turkeys are walking about in groups. Fortunately, they don't drink beer.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 29, 2024 06:04 PM (XeU6L)

51 Apparently the Gateway Arch is the only National Park here in MO. There's a National Historical Park in Ste. Genevieve down the river from St. Louis, but I'm not sure if that counts as the same thing.

I did go to Gateway Arch over a Fourth of July holiday a number of years ago and had a good time with some friends. They had a free concert (Isaac Hayes performing along with some other bands) and an air show, among other attractions.

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 29, 2024 06:04 PM (BpYfr)

52 I was at Crater Lake NP earlier today to try a POTA activation. I didn't get enough contacts for it to count, but it was still fun to try. The only downside is I managed to get a carbon fiber sliver in my thumb from the antenna mast, and now I need to dig it out. Oh, and my setup location was crawling with huge black ants, some of which I'm pretty sure stowed away in my riding gear...

Posted by: PabloD at June 29, 2024 06:04 PM (abej6)

53 I'm not sure we can keep current events out of this thread. After all, Beau single handedly turned back Pickett's charge, you know. Sadly, he gave his life for it.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:04 PM (0eaVi)

54 Please stay home. Our National Parks are dirty, dangerous places. The animals will try to eat you while the weather will try to kill you with either heat, dehydration or freezing.Oh and the bugs are bad too ! Nation Park passes are very expensive.

Remember "staycations" or maybe try a nice, civilized theme park ?
Posted by: Next2Nothing at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM (tA1/w)
====
Exactly what I was thinking, why would I go to where there are bugs and animals and weather??

Posted by: San Franpsycho at June 29, 2024 06:06 PM (hLUfO)

55 Mr. S has stayed in the cow camp cabins at Palo Duro- it was an experience.
We stayed in one of the CCC cabins, which was very enjoyable. It was November, so quite chilly at night, but the days were pleasant.
The best part was parking down at the Visitor's Center and watching the stars come out over the canyon. So amazing.

There's a nice little museum in Canyon, the Panhandle Plains, if you like that.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024 06:07 PM (y7DxH)

56 45 Not a hobby exactly but I just saw a flock of Little Chickadees...
Posted by: Beverly at June 29, 2024 06:02 PM
***
Bird watching counts as a hobby. Thanks for posting.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:07 PM (IQ6Gq)

57 Yeah, we went to Gettysburg a couple of times for school trips. The veil feels thin there.

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at June 29, 2024 06:07 PM (Ka3bZ)

58 Exactly what I was thinking, why would I go to where there are bugs and animals and weather??
Posted by: San Franpsycho
-------

Smoky Mtn. Nat Park is infested with 'Squeal like a pig' locals. Avoid, avoid, avoid.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at June 29, 2024 06:08 PM (XeU6L)

59
But one of my favorite national parks is basically the island of St John in the USVI. The majority of the island including the bays and reefs surrounding the island are national park/national monuments.

Great diving and snorkeling all around the island.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:03 PM

I hated absolutely everything about the US Virgin Islands except St. John.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 29, 2024 06:08 PM (RKVpM)

60 44 VMom, I believe a jeweler can apply solder. Unless you know someone who has that skill....

Posted by: Grateful at June 29, 2024 06:09 PM (IQ6Gq)

61 Let's see. Jellystone, check; hung around The Five in southern Utah; Redwoods, check; Crater Lake, check; near Glen Canyon; Grand Canyon, check; expect to hit the Badlands and surrounding area next year. Yeah, I've been in a few natparks.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:09 PM (0eaVi)

62 Favorite parks are Yellowstone, Olympic, Death Valley and North Cascades.

Hard to pick one, but my favorite NP hike is the southern beach hike in Olympic NP.

I've wanted to see Isle Royale, Mammoth Cave Everglades, and the civil war sites.

My son and his family went to Texas for the eclipse and took the time to see 12 NPs on the trip. I've been to 20 plus many monuments.

Posted by: Hal Dall at June 29, 2024 06:10 PM (uBxyf)

63 While eating was thinking of my favorite NP, Gettysburg first, Shenandoah 2nd

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 06:10 PM (fwDg9)

64 I recently bought a 2017 T@g teardrop trailer. It's the model that made me fall in love with them. The owners actually dropped it off for me, so I just took it out on the first trip. Went for an overnighter at an undisclosed local for a Mini MoMe. Not sure if we are keeping it a secret. No problems with it. It's tricky to back up as it tends to jackknife either way. I did use the AC but not the kitchen. I'm happy with the changes I did in the main part, but still need to rework that kitchen.

People seem to like teardrops as folks came up to me twice to compliment me on it. My plan is to take a lot of overnighters in this area. There are lots of little parks around and they seem to be uncrowded.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:12 PM (xjTDL)

65
Grand Canyon

North Rim >>>> South Rim

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 06:12 PM (1Nxff)

66 My compost bin is a plastic truck bed with fencing on 3 sides. I don't think it smells at all much, mushrooms to me smell like compost

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 06:12 PM (fwDg9)

67 >>I hated absolutely everything about the US Virgin Islands except St. John.

I used to like St Thomas many years ago but it has become way too crowded and touristy. The cruise ships have contributed a lot to that part.

The vast majority of St John is national park so it's much quieter and what all the islands were like when I was young. the BVI is better.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:12 PM (LkLld)

68 PabloD- had to look it up, but that sounds so interesting.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024 06:13 PM (y7DxH)

69 I have been to quite a few national parks. Some of my favorite visits / hikes have been:

Gettysburg, Pa
Appalachian scenic trail VT , GA, VA
Giant City State Park, Il
Smith Mountain Lake, VA
Joshua Tree, Ca
Grand Canyon, Az
Petrified Forest , AZ
Organ Pipe , AZ
Big Bend, Tx
Fort Frederica, GA
Cumberland Island GA
Natchez Trace, AL

Posted by: Piper at June 29, 2024 06:13 PM (pZEOD)

70 61 expect to hit the Badlands and surrounding area next year.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:09 PM (0eaVi)
***
Recommended. The Black Hills are great (for lots of reasons beyond Rushmore).

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:13 PM (IQ6Gq)

71 Bull Run Battlefield Park has a couple of features of note. There are several Civil War era cannons on the field and they are great to photograph at sunset, silhouettes against the colorful sky. I think Ken Burns used a shot of that in his documentary.

Another feature is a large statue of Stonewall Jackson looking suitably heroic. It was at First Manassas that Jackson got his nickname.

A point of humor. One time I was there testing an old Graflex 4x5 press camera for a friend and thought the statue would be a good subject. (The camera was used to cover the Green Bay Packers in the 1930s.) Of course it attracted attention from all the tourists with the look, the tripod and using the cloth while focusing. Older folks remembered them but the kids were fascinated. Here was this huge camera, compared to the little digital things in a breast pocket they were used to. They thought this was the latest thing with all that chrome trim and big lens. I lowered the tripod way down and let them look through it. The look on their faces when the image was upside down got them both interested and giggling. It was a fun moment.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 06:13 PM (zudum)

72 53

Claire IX enlists Range to hijack a deep space probe, as she has devised a way to support her electronics. She engineers a way to get to Luna, and takes off, alone, into Space.
She bids goodbye to Range X, and takes the Book Treasure Island. She admits she hopes to find Phil Ks soul, beyond material Space.
She is electric so immortal, but takes her love of a human man, and his humanity, with her into Deep Space.
She is serene and reads the famous poem

Touch the face of God

There, I've ruined it.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:14 PM (bFId9)

73 I tried animation with a single exposure BH 8mm camera and worked HARD to make a 10 second overlayed animation on mylar comic book bags. Then half killed myself to get the film developed for 10 seconds of a cowboy riding a horse drawn by 13 year old me.
Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 05:50 PM (bFId9)

I had fun doing that years ago, when we had the old B&H. Three clicks, move, three clicks, move....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:14 PM (0eaVi)

74 48 Half a millions bats can’t be wrong! Thanks for the thread TRex!

Posted by: HappyFun at June 29, 2024 06:03 PM (aIURK)
***
Imagine if they were fireflies!

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:15 PM (IQ6Gq)

75 Been working on my 28mm Medieval Knights collection. Right now got some foot knights under construction. Don't really know I do these things but it is relaxing.

Been to Shawnee National Forrest in sourthen Hellinois. Wasn't impressed by much there.

Maybe I'm just too picky?

Posted by: Outside. In my garage. at June 29, 2024 06:15 PM (89Sog)

76 I hated absolutely everything about the US Virgin Islands except St. John.
Posted by: Divide by Zero at June 29, 2024 06:08 PM (RKVpM)

----------

Hey, WTAF???

Posted by: The USVI Tourism Council at June 29, 2024 06:16 PM (0omqp)

77 sal - I'm just getting into both Parks on the Air and Summits on the Air. They're great for encouraging me to get out and hike or, as was the case today, jump on the motorcycle. It's also a chance to do some "real-world" Morse code comms under less-than-perfect conditions.

Posted by: PabloD at June 29, 2024 06:16 PM (zbaYl)

78 Seems to me I read it's the second *deepest* canyon in the US, at least west of the Mississippi? Second after the Grand Canyon? Or maybe the second longest. Something like that.

Hells Canyon is deepest, Grand is grandest and second I think.

Posted by: Hal Dall at June 29, 2024 06:16 PM (uBxyf)

79 For hiking disasters look not too much farther than “Otter” a long term hard core long distance type. He started back up the continental divide trail inn the winter and ended up postholing in remote New Mexico, ended up starving in a remote forest service campground.

Posted by: Common Tater at June 29, 2024 06:16 PM (ldF7/)

80 I got a new fuel pump for the Spitfire. Somebody had put an electric pump on it and did a really poor job and it was too much pump for that little motor. Also it started leaking from the top the last time I drove it.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 05:56 PM (vFG9F)

So, your hobby is strafing Germans?

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:17 PM (0eaVi)

81 I hate camping. We built houses for a reason.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:17 PM (bFId9)

82 I snorkeled at Trunk Bay on St. John's once.

It didn't suck.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at June 29, 2024 06:18 PM (0omqp)

83 62 Hard to pick one, but my favorite NP hike is the southern beach hike in Olympic NP.

Posted by: Hal Dall at June 29, 2024 06:10 PM (uBxyf)
***
Great recommendation. Thank you.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:18 PM (IQ6Gq)

84 And more on the Boro front. I got my orders for patching materials. The best is from NezaStudio on Etsy. She has Japanese and Chinese material. I love indigo dyed stuff and got some great tie dyed pieces. Since I don't have a large fabric stash, I ordered a bit more. I'm going to patch my oldest tiered denim skirt as it's got definite wear. I'm not sure it's the sort of thing that would be appreciated here, so will likely be something I do for my own enjoyment.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:18 PM (xjTDL)

85 66 My compost bin is a plastic truck bed with fencing on 3 sides. I don't think it smells at all much, mushrooms to me smell like compost
Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 06:12 PM (fwDg9)

At the moment, mine is a pile on the ground, b/c the old one pooped out after six years.
He will make me a new one after the leaf bin is done.
I'm sending the kids a photo- it's so their Dad.
It's for leaves, but you could cage a wild pig shoat in it.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024 06:18 PM (y7DxH)

86 "but they are a place where many hobbies flourish."

Skirting dangerously close to involving politics, but - have you been to a national park in the last 20 years or so? I avoid them like the plague. Basically nothing is allowed.. ever.. anywhere. Except being an obnoxious tourist I guess.

On the other hand, I spend quite a bit of time on other types of public land. National forests, BLM land, etc. National *Monuments* sometimes can be pretty cool, vs parks.

Posted by: somedood at June 29, 2024 06:19 PM (GKLAN)

87 71 Bull Run Battlefield Park has a couple of features of note. There are several Civil War era cannons on the field and they are great to photograph at sunset, silhouettes against the colorful sky.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 06:13 PM (zudum)
***
Great post. Thank you!

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:20 PM (IQ6Gq)

88 87 71 Bull Run Battlefield Park has a couple of features of note. There are several Civil War era cannons on the field and they are great to photograph at sunset, silhouettes against the colorful sky.

----------

Cool. The scene of The Great Skedaddle!

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero43) at June 29, 2024 06:21 PM (0omqp)

89
Within a half-hour drive from Schloss Hadrian is the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, a confluence of freshwater and salt marshes. It's the winter home of some 300 bird species, especially a huge number and variety of waterfowl. It and the nearby San Bernard NWR make us one of the best birdwatching places in the country.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 06:22 PM (1Nxff)

90 Great Hobby Thread Thanks TRex.

Hoping to see some sites this fall on our planned trip.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian Who Lives In The Thawed Out Tundra at June 29, 2024 06:22 PM (QXQ4l)

91 Recommended. The Black Hills are great (for lots of reasons beyond Rushmore).
Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:13 PM (IQ6Gq)

I figured, but Rushmore is the main target. Don't know how much time we'll have. Might try Devil's Tower, maybe Custer. Driving, so who knows.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:22 PM (0eaVi)

92 43 I found some old medals in an antique shop and cleaned it. Look at the top loop of this one - almost worn through.
Is there a safe way to hang it on a chain to wesr it?
--------

Put it in a round or oval bezel.

Posted by: Braenyard at June 29, 2024 06:22 PM (0b3lL)

93 In Yellowstone, the most overrated place is Grand Prismatic Spring. All those wonderful, colorful photos you see are taken from the air with a zoom lens and then the colors oversaturated using Photoshop. The overlook is actually pretty far away and the view at a low angle, so unless you visit on a hot August afternoon, you will see lots of obscuring steam and fog. The parking lots are always overflowing (and no space for RVs and trailers), as the lots were designed to be adequate for visitation levels of the 1990s. The main reason people go there is because they've been told to put it on their bucket list by people who want to share their disappointment. It's the Morning Glory Pool for the 21st Century.

(Tour overflights are prohibited, so if you want to see it from above, it helps to have friends doing surveys on their research permit.)

Posted by: Raoul Ortega at June 29, 2024 06:23 PM (a/7LW)

94 The weird thing about that Sci Fi book is how romantic it is. It wasn't intentional. PKD in his early short stories was deeply hopefully romantic.
I parodied that and Claire IX really took on a life of her own.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:23 PM (bFId9)

95 84 I'm not sure it's the sort of thing that would be appreciated here, so will likely be something I do for my own enjoyment.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:18 PM (xjTDL)
***
Please keep posting. I'm sure others will appreciate. Send me a photo and I'll post. I've been pondering a needle/thread theme and it would fit nicely.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:23 PM (IQ6Gq)

96 I'm going to patch my oldest tiered denim skirt as it's got definite wear. I'm not sure it's the sort of thing that would be appreciated here, so will likely be something I do for my own enjoyment.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:18 PM (xjTDL)

I'm sure it will be lovely- I've put patches on a few of my things, but I've just used whatever's in my stash.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024 06:23 PM (y7DxH)

97 I did get a National Parks pass, but suspect I'll be at state parks more. There's a place I want to see in Nebraska. It has a sod house. I once worked for a woman that grew up in a sod house so would like to see the real thing. I would like to go to South Dakota at some point.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:24 PM (xjTDL)

98 Claire IX enlists Range to hijack a deep space probe, as she has devised a way to support her electronics. She engineers a way to get to Luna, and takes off, alone, into Space.
She bids goodbye to Range X, and takes the Book Treasure Island. She admits she hopes to find Phil Ks soul, beyond material Space.
She is electric so immortal, but takes her love of a human man, and his humanity, with her into Deep Space.
She is serene and reads the famous poem

Touch the face of God

There, I've ruined it.
Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:14 PM (bFId9)

No, that's the blurb.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:25 PM (0eaVi)

99 88

I would dearly love to be escorted by Euros to a battlefield, The Scene Of Our Defeat!

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:25 PM (bFId9)

100 91/ OrangeEnt
Rushmore is amazing, even if they've overbuilt the walkway to it.
I'll recommend Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument...thought it would be a quick drive thru, but again, I was wrong.

Posted by: Grateful at June 29, 2024 06:26 PM (IQ6Gq)

101 A follow-up to my comment at 71 about the old 4x5 press camera. The older folks reminisced and the kids were fascinated. But a teenager said who wants to carry all that gear around, take all that time to focus and only take one shot at a time. That was when he found out the battery on his digital camera was stone cold dead. Karma can be a wonderful thing.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 06:26 PM (zudum)

102 Imagine if they were fireflies!
Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:15 PM (IQ6Gq)

Then, you'd have half a million owls following behind them.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:26 PM (0eaVi)

103 Nice post, TRex, and on one of my favorite topics. We've driven cross-country with our kids three times and stopped at many different National parks, monuments, historic sites, etc. I want to go and do more. My favorite is Glacier, and I would love to go back.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 06:26 PM (bS+DD)

104 I should add that Mr. S, after his early retirement, was a dedicated traveler. He did some extensive national stuff, but his first love is Texas.

He loved the Brazoria Refuge.

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024 06:28 PM (y7DxH)

105 98

Interesting it means someone, even one person, is less concerned about the resolution and more about enjoying the characters and what they do.

Thank you for the input.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:28 PM (bFId9)

106 Had to take a break. Anybody want a slightly used black cat? Eats a lot, is affectionate, but breaks water glasses. It was the second to last of four I've had for a long time. He panicked when trying to jump up near me and knocked the glass down -- water and shards of glass all over the place.

I've cleaned up and vacuumed; pretty sure I got all the glass. Grrrr.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:29 PM (omVj0)

107 97 There's a place I want to see in Nebraska. It has a sod house. I would like to go to South Dakota at some point.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:24 PM (xjTDL)
***
There's a surprising amount to see in that neighborhood. Lots of wagon train history and train line towns. For example, check out Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:29 PM (IQ6Gq)

108 "the most overrated place is Grand Prismatic Spring"

The "Grand Prismatic Overlook Trail" off of the Fairy Falls Trail will give you a higher perspective of the spring. Much better view than walking around it.

Posted by: Next2Nothing at June 29, 2024 06:29 PM (tA1/w)

109 >>I would dearly love to be escorted by Euros to a battlefield, The Scene Of Our Defeat!

I have a good friend in the UK. One time when he was over visiting I took him on the Freedom Trail tour of Boston and over to Charlestown to see Bunker Hill and then out to Lexington.

He was good sport about it but I think by the end he was bit tired of me saying "And we kicked your ass over here ...".

Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:30 PM (LkLld)

110 One point of two I picked is been to each of those many times. The Grand Canyon is spectacular that's for sure but was a day trip, down and back

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 06:30 PM (fwDg9)

111 The Buffalo Bill museum looks good too. I'm within driving range of some interesting stuff. Had planned to car camp but got a chance to get a trailer. Should open up a lot of places for me.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:31 PM (xjTDL)

112 Rushmore is amazing, even if they've overbuilt the walkway to it.
I'll recommend Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument...thought it would be a quick drive thru, but again, I was wrong.
Posted by: Grateful at June 29, 2024 06:26 PM (IQ6Gq)

Thanks. We're going to have kids with us, so it's hard to tell what they don't want to do at this point, or have the patience for. We're discussing it this summer to prepare for next summer.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:31 PM (0eaVi)

113 106 Had to take a break. Anybody want a slightly used black cat? Eats a lot, is affectionate, but breaks water glasses. It was the second to last of four I've had for a long time. He panicked when trying to jump up near me and knocked the glass down -- water and shards of glass all over the place.

----------

How much he weigh?

Posted by: The Canton Palace at June 29, 2024 06:31 PM (0omqp)

114 My writing hobby is a truly vicious vampire character a female who is just wholly unpleasant.
I've spent a year trying to figure out some very strange stuff. My writing has very much suffered.
But, it's improving a bit.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:31 PM (bFId9)

115 Seems to me I read it's the second *deepest* canyon in the US, at least west of the Mississippi? Second after the Grand Canyon? Or maybe the second longest. Something like that.
*
Hells Canyon is deepest, Grand is grandest and second I think.
Posted by: Hal Dall at June 29, 2024

***
I'm not sure. Palo Duro has some distinction, though; maybe it's the deepest in Texas.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:32 PM (omVj0)

116 People seem to like teardrops as folks came up to me twice to compliment me on it. My plan is to take a lot of overnighters in this area. There are lots of little parks around and they seem to be uncrowded.
Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:12 PM (xjTDL)

You may not want to hear this, but people like teardrops because they are cute as puddin' pie.
A recreational vehicle Double Feature: 'Listen, Darling' and "The Long, Long Trailer".

Posted by: sal: tolle adversarium et afflige inimicum at June 29, 2024 06:32 PM (y7DxH)

117 Goatexchange, seagoing Navy truly is an adventure.

Posted by: Eromero at June 29, 2024 06:32 PM (o2ZRX)

118 Do us both a favor and get rid of that last glass now yourself. Or else.

Posted by: Stirling at June 29, 2024 06:32 PM (hLUfO)

119 I will try and see what I can do on Boro. The skirt really needs to be patched before I wash it again. It's ripping along the seam of the tiers. Will slapp some patches down then decorate later. I used to hand sew a lot.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 06:33 PM (xjTDL)

120 114 My writing hobby is a truly vicious vampire character a female who is just wholly unpleasant.
I've spent a year trying to figure out some very strange stuff. My writing has very much suffered.
But, it's improving a bit.
Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:31 PM (bFId9
If she’s a redhead she could be my exwife.

Posted by: Eromero at June 29, 2024 06:34 PM (o2ZRX)

121
He was good sport about it but I think by the end he was bit tired of me saying "And we kicked your ass over here ...".
Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:30 PM (LkLld)

________

I want us to return to naming aircraft carriers after battles where we kicked Limey ass. Plus "Wasp" and "Hornet".

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 06:34 PM (1Nxff)

122 83 62 Hard to pick one, but my favorite NP hike is the southern beach hike in Olympic NP.

Great recommendation. Thank you.

The northern part of the trail is the great stuff, do an out and back from 3rd Beach near LaPush. The southern part of the route is inland.

Posted by: Hal Dall at June 29, 2024 06:35 PM (uBxyf)

123 "So, your hobby is strafing Germans?
Posted by: OrangeEnt"

The way one of my other projects is going I would like to strafe some German engineers.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 06:36 PM (vFG9F)

124 Put it in a round or oval bezel.
Posted by: Braenyard

Oh that's an idea
Thanks

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at June 29, 2024 06:36 PM (Ka3bZ)

125 I have a good friend in the UK. One time when he was over visiting I took him on the Freedom Trail tour of Boston and over to Charlestown to see Bunker Hill and then out to Lexington.

He was good sport about it but I think by the end he was bit tired of me saying "And we kicked your ass over here ...".
Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:30 PM (LkLld)

Old joke: A group was taking a tour of Civil War battlefields. The guide was a southerner. At every stop he pointed out where the Confederates ran off Union troops. After a few parks, a woman called out from the back in a Yankee accent and asked, "Didn't the north win a single battle? The guide replied in a drawl, "No ma'am, and they never will as long as I'm guiding the tours."

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:37 PM (0eaVi)

126 Cowpens
Guilford Court House
Kings Mountain
Five Forks, VA
Vicksburg, MS
Grand Gulf State Military Park
Port Gibson
Port Hudson
Chattanooga
Chickamauga
Yorktown
Bennets's Place

Been to a few battlefield parks. I want to visit some more, Gettysburg, especially, now that the Little Round Top site is open again.

Posted by: mrp at June 29, 2024 06:37 PM (rj6Yv)

127 121/
We used to attend the Miramar air show, where they used proper music to accompany bombing flight simulations and talked about "raining death from above."
Now it's all too proper, less someone be offended.

Posted by: Grateful at June 29, 2024 06:37 PM (IQ6Gq)

128 Hobby related but not about national parks. I picked up a few adult coloring books to play with colored pencils. They will let me experiment with color choice and blending without waiting to draw an image worth the effort. One of the books is an H P Lovecraft theme. I expect lots of dark greens and other 'spooky' colors will be involved.

I have sets of both wax and oil based pencils which blend differently so this is a cheap and immediate way to experiment. Got the books at a local Ollie's, mostly for two bucks or so instead of ten dollars.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 06:38 PM (zudum)

129 One of my hobbies is science fiction fandom, which means going to conventions and such. Last week, I finally got to Libertycon, which has been on my list for some time. There was a guy in a Moron Horde T-shirt at the "Writing Hoyts" panel. If you are him, please let me know . Unfortunately, I picked up a case of "con crud" so I'm posting this from bed. Please forgive the typos.

A ham of my acquaintance did a POTA activation from Hocking Hills state park, in Ohio. I remember Hocking Hills fondly, so while y'all talk about national parks, don't forget about the state parks, too.

Posted by: Cybersmythe at June 29, 2024 06:39 PM (iZEhM)

130 ENTERPRISE.

Posted by: Eromero at June 29, 2024 06:39 PM (o2ZRX)

131 He was good sport about it but I think by the end he was bit tired of me saying "And we kicked your ass over here ...".
Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:30 PM (LkLld)
---------

When my brother-in-law would drive into DC with his British wife, he would always warn her not to burn the White House down.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 06:39 PM (bS+DD)

132 I've spent a year trying to figure out some very strange stuff. My writing has very much suffered.
But, it's improving a bit.
Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:31 PM (bFId9)

I just had a published author look at my last sci-fi novel. Said they had to stop reading because it was so bad. Gave me a couple of tips, but....

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:39 PM (0eaVi)

133 123 The way one of my other projects is going I would like to strafe some German engineers.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 06:36 PM (vFG9F)
***
Sounds like a Top Gear episode!

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:39 PM (IQ6Gq)

134 I put 1/2 of a crankshaft carrier in the freezer in the garage to see if the assembly will go together any easier. I know Mrs fd saw it but she didn't say anything.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 06:40 PM (vFG9F)

135 122 83 62 Hard to pick one, but my favorite NP hike is the southern beach hike in Olympic NP.

Great recommendation. Thank you.

The northern part of the trail is the great stuff, do an out and back from 3rd Beach near LaPush. The southern part of the route is inland.
Posted by: Hal Dall at

Don't forget Rialto Beach and Hole in the Wall.

Cape Alava is also mighty fine.

I also love Mt Rainier National Park. "Grove of the Patriarchs" is an amazing little walk through thousand year old cedar trees.

Posted by: nurse ratched at June 29, 2024 06:40 PM (rDeS1)

136 Had to take a break. Anybody want a slightly used black cat? Eats a lot, is affectionate, but breaks water glasses. It was the second to last of four I've had for a long time. He panicked when trying to jump up near me and knocked the glass down -- water and shards of glass all over the place.

I've cleaned up and vacuumed; pretty sure I got all the glass. Grrrr.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:29 PM (omVj0)
---
Sorry, Wolfus, I already have a slightly-used black cat. She doesn't eat all that much and also isn't prone to breaking glassware, so I think I'll keep her around for a while...

Posted by: "Perfessor" Squirrel at June 29, 2024 06:41 PM (BpYfr)

137 have a good friend in the UK. One time when he was over visiting I took him on the Freedom Trail tour of Boston and over to Charlestown to see Bunker Hill and then out to Lexington.

He was good sport about it but I think by the end he was bit tired of me saying "And we kicked your ass over here ...".
Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:30 PM (LkLld)

Old joke: A group was taking a tour of Civil War battlefields. The guide was a southerner. At every stop he pointed out where the Confederates ran off Union troops. After a few parks, a woman called out from the back in a Yankee accent and asked, "Didn't the north win a single battle? The guide replied in a drawl, "No ma'am, and they never will as long as I'm guiding the tours."
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:37 PM (0eaVi
I love it.

Posted by: Eromero at June 29, 2024 06:41 PM (o2ZRX)

138 "Said they had to stop reading because it was so bad."

Never give up ! Never surrender !

Posted by: Next2Nothing at June 29, 2024 06:42 PM (tA1/w)

139 "ENTERPRISE.
Posted by: Eromero"

Alabama?

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 06:42 PM (vFG9F)

140 Greetings! I forget if it is a national or a state park, but Glacier Bay in Alaska is a sight to behold. Take a cruise that will put you smack in middle of the Bay and you can watch the glaciers calving into the bay, maybe even get splashed a little.
In the lower 48 Yosemite is a marvel. It's packed right now.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at June 29, 2024 06:43 PM (MeG8a)

141
I just had a published author look at my last sci-fi novel. Said they had to stop reading because it was so bad. Gave me a couple of tips, but....
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024

***
We all have "trunk" novels and stories, stuff we put in a trunk because they wouldn't sell and we realize that overall the pieces aren't good (but they provided solid practice, and some of the scenes are pretty good).

I had stuff I wrote in high school and college, and later. Awful purple prose. Don't know where they are now -- but I hung on to them for some years.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:44 PM (omVj0)

142 126 Five Forks, VA

Gettysburg, especially, now that the Little Round Top site is open again.

Posted by: mrp at June 29, 2024 06:37 PM (rj6Yv)
***
1. Congrats. Never met anyone else that knows about Five Forks. I have an ancestor who was there.
2. Double check Little Round top. We were there on June 16 and it was still closed. If open now, it has to be very recent.
I'm still bummed to find the old electric map is gone without a replacement.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:44 PM (IQ6Gq)

143 >>When my brother-in-law would drive into DC with his British wife, he would always warn her not to burn the White House down.

Always fun to tweak the Brits.

Just the other say we got a new state monument in our local state park that might interest you. It's got a bright, shiny light.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 06:45 PM (LkLld)

144 TRex,

I like that top photo of the battlefield. The black and white brings out the textures of the wood, grass and trees against the smooth white of the monument. Very effective.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 06:45 PM (zudum)

145 I have mentioned this before but my hobby project is turning an 1892 Colt revolver into a single shot knock about pistol. It's harder than it sounds.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:47 PM (bFId9)

146 I was surprised to find that I've been able to do 6 or 7 of those most famous hikes - all the ones in Utah and Arizona, and the scenery is every bit as spectacular as they describe.

I've been to quite a few battlefields, although not the big East Coast ones, and I find them very enlightening. You understand the battle in a way that you never could by just reading about it.

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 29, 2024 06:47 PM (S6gqv)

147 Yorktown been to a couple times, as a kid then once when stationed in Virginia

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 06:47 PM (fwDg9)

148 Do us both a favor and get rid of that last glass now yourself. Or else.
Posted by: Stirling at June 29, 2024

***
Black cats can be adopted outside of October, you know.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:47 PM (omVj0)

149 138 "Said they had to stop reading because it was so bad."

Never give up ! Never surrender !

Posted by: Next2Nothing at June 29, 2024 06:42 PM (tA1/w)
***
Maybe it should have been set in a National Park.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:48 PM (IQ6Gq)

150 Been to Fort Sumpter too

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 06:48 PM (fwDg9)

151 I visited several Civil War battlefields while I was stationed at the Pentagon. Looking at most of them, PVT Me would've volunteered to hold the horse or be the gear guard back at camp. Tactical decisions seemed to be "Alright, we're going to line up and walk across this open ground, uphill, against their cannon and troops that are behind that wall." We you stand quietly, you can hear the ghosts

Posted by: Stacy0311 at June 29, 2024 06:48 PM (x/1ET)

152 PVT Me would've volunteered to hold the horse or be the gear guard back at camp. Tactical decisions seemed to be "Alright, we're going to line up and walk across this open ground, uphill, against their cannon and troops that are behind that wall." We you stand quietly, you can hear the ghosts
Posted by: Stacy0311 at June 29, 2024

***
"Please, Mister Custer, I don't wanna go!"

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:49 PM (omVj0)

153 139 "ENTERPRISE.
Posted by: Eromero"

Alabama?
Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 06:42 PM
Ships from First War Of Independence to Starfleet.

Posted by: Eromero at June 29, 2024 06:50 PM (o2ZRX)

154 Excellent post and links TRex. Thanks.
St Helen's, May 18th, 1980. Was in Spokane, WA when it blew. By early evening large, grey, ash snowflakes were falling out of the sky.

Posted by: scampydog at June 29, 2024 06:50 PM (mcmsB)

155 *waves Hi*

I have no useful hobbies, but hoping to pick something up when I retire in 3 years.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 06:51 PM (5p7BC)

156 Wolfus, my work released lately is being declared brilliant. My The Kid is deeply impressed and asks What Happened?

Well, I got into a Civil War with political religious and cosmological ingredients, got shot in the head, and who you know as your dad is really kind of not the guy who wrote those books before I went to war.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:51 PM (bFId9)

157 "Said they had to stop reading because it was so bad."

Never give up ! Never surrender !
Posted by: Next2Nothing at June 29, 2024 06:42 PM (tA1/w)

Some of the points were correct. I had already thought of doing the changes. I was told I don't know anything about space travel and how spaceships work and should read up on it. I suppose, but since no one has ever traveled in interstellar space, how can we really be sure what it's like at near, or light speed? Doesn't mean I discount what was said to me. After all, I want to try many genres to see what I do best. I think I can fix the story.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:52 PM (0eaVi)

158 155 *waves Hi*

I have no useful hobbies, but hoping to pick something up when I retire in 3 years.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 06:51 PM (5p7BC)
***
*Waves back* Welcome! Hobbies don't have to be useful. If they were, then they'd risk being work. No need to wait another for three years to post again.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 06:53 PM (IQ6Gq)

159 Not a federal park, but the little park at the site of the Battle of Chantilly, currently administered by the Fairfax County Park Authority and is located at the junction of U.S. Route 50 (Lee-Jackson Memorial Highway) State Route 286 (Fairfax County Parkway) and State Route 608 (West Ox Road) and easily available for all the NOVA horde and visitors to the DC area.
It essentially was the final battle of the Second Bull run campaign and it occurred on Sept 1, 1862. Interestingly, one of the most able commanders of the Union Army died in this battle (MG Kearny) as did BG Isaac Stevens who was the first territorial governor of the Territory of Washington, later Washington State.
It is a small park, only 5 acres, but the impact on the war was significant, in that it stopped the confederates from taking what was an open road to Washington DC.
Interesting and hallowed ground.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 29, 2024 06:53 PM (W/lyH)

160
Names for Space Force ships

USS Joe McCarthy
USS Pat McCarran
USS Donald Trump
USS Whittaker Chambers
USS Walter Judd

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 06:53 PM (1Nxff)

161 JTB, if you're here: I've been trying Three Nuns pipe tobacco recently. It is muscular stuff, and so I have only about ten-fifteen minutes of a bowl at a time. It should make a good mix with Capstan Blue or another milder Virginia.

Still haven't opened the tin of Gawith Best Brown Flake. I guess I'm waiting for a special occasion.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:53 PM (omVj0)

162 I had stuff I wrote in high school and college, and later. Awful purple prose. Don't know where they are now -- but I hung on to them for some years.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:44 PM (omVj0)

Yeah, not tossing it. I deleted one story because the ending was too far fetched. Wish I hadn't because I like a couple of the scenes. I could have re-used them in another story.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:54 PM (0eaVi)

163 Also I'm trying to learn how to sharpen knives. What an Art that is.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:54 PM (bFId9)

164 I love national parks. Have been to Yellowstone, Acadia, Glacier, Shenadoah multiple times...

Posted by: Iris, Team Hedgehog at June 29, 2024 06:54 PM (n3DL0)

165 Whoa Dave in Florida?

Good to see you.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:56 PM (bFId9)

166 Went up to the property early this am, which is filled with hobbies. Today was doing some brush hogging, a quick electrical fix on a tractor, and general putzing around. No-father-good-in-law was bored so he disc'd up some fields.

Posted by: scampydog at June 29, 2024 06:56 PM (mcmsB)

167 LenNeal what are you trying to use?

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 06:56 PM (fwDg9)

168 Dave in Fla! I sent up the bat signal for you in one of the debate threads on Thursday night! Good to see you.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 06:56 PM (bS+DD)

169 Yeah, not tossing it. I deleted one story because the ending was too far fetched. Wish I hadn't because I like a couple of the scenes. I could have re-used them in another story.
Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024

***
I keep "More Stories" and "Notes" documents on my hard drive with other writing projects. Those good scenes I cut out and save. Good lines I come up with or read/hear someplace, too. (Hey, if you're gonna steal, steal from the best.)

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:57 PM (omVj0)

170 Anyway, time to go. Have fun in the remains of the thread.

Nice subject, TRex. Thanks.

Posted by: OrangeEnt at June 29, 2024 06:57 PM (0eaVi)

171 Two battlefields I visited that were quite worthwhile were Chickamauga, in northern Georgia, and Missionary Ridge, on the outskirts of Chattanooga. At Chickamauga, probably the biggest battle by casualties in the deep South, the armies fought to a draw on the 1st day, but on the 2nd day a mistake in orders opened up a gap in the Federal Line that Longstreet immediately exploited, collapsing the Federal lines and causing a rout of the Federal Armies. It would have been a catastrophic defeat save for General Thomas, who in the middle of the rout organized a strong defense and stopped the confederates dead in their tracks.
When you walk the battlefield along the lines of the Federal retreat, you come to an area where you suddenly find this huge rock palisades rising up on the edge of a little valley, with only a few narrowing entryways to reach the top. Obviously this was where Thomas organized his defense, and it was so effective that the Confederates, confident that they had won assaulted it recklessly and took 5,000 casualties in less than 3 hours at that spot. It's sobering now to look at the peaceful spot and imagine how thickly stacked the bodies were then.

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 29, 2024 06:57 PM (S6gqv)

172 155

The ENTIRE POINT of a hobby is that it is not useful in any particular way.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 06:58 PM (bFId9)

173 My gosh, almost six o'clock and time for dinner.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 06:58 PM (omVj0)

174 "Ships from First War Of Independence to Starfleet.
Posted by: Eromero"

I had to catch up. Seems like it would be a natural. We probably get Starship Milley.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 06:58 PM (vFG9F)

175 Hey LenNeal!

Hi Bluebell, sorry I missed the bat signal, that must have been a fun thread

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 06:58 PM (5p7BC)

176 "I was told I don't know anything about space travel and how spaceships work and should read up on it."

If they aren't named Elon than they probably don't know either.

Posted by: Next2Nothing at June 29, 2024 06:58 PM (tA1/w)

177 Oh Dave, it was three or four fun threads. It was just like old times, and people we haven't seen in a long time were coming out of the woodwork. It was nice to have a fun thread instead of an excruciating one for a change.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:00 PM (bS+DD)

178 159 Not a federal park, but the little park at the site of the Battle of Chantilly... It is a small park, only 5 acres, but the impact on the war was significant, in that it stopped the confederates from taking what was an open road to Washington DC. Interesting and hallowed ground.

Posted by: Diogenes at June 29, 2024 06:53 PM (W/lyH)
***
Great recommendation. We've never been but will make a point to visit. Thank you!

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:00 PM (IQ6Gq)

179 "The ENTIRE POINT of a hobby is that it is not useful in any particular way.
Posted by: LenNeal"

That's not necessarily true. Why does it have to be like that?

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 07:00 PM (vFG9F)

180 If banking is your hobby
Did the Bidens have 175 LLCs? I knew of 22.

Posted by: SMOD at June 29, 2024 07:00 PM (GITLP)

181 Some time back a commenter mentioned a space museum either in the middle of KS or NB. They have an SR-71 and some other interesting items. It also does special effects and models, IIRC, for Hollywood.

Posted by: Braenyard at June 29, 2024 07:01 PM (0b3lL)

182 These days I seem to have only one hobby, going into the office

Went in today to finish up things that fell through the cracks this week.

But I do have an Alaska cruise in 2 weeks, so hoping to see the glaciers discussed above.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 07:01 PM (5p7BC)

183 Probably the least well-known NP we visited was Teddy Roosevelt in ND. Small but beautiful, although the buffalos showed no inclination to get out of the road.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:01 PM (bS+DD)

184 Knife sharpening is like asking about cleaning supplies. I'm mostly concerned at the moment with sharpening older yard tools with flat files, very crude stuff.
I'm getting back into stone work back in The Day I worked with a guy who made knives out of industrial hacksaw blades and hand honed them, those things were dangerous

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:02 PM (bFId9)

185
I don't have a hobby. I have Her Majesty's hobby.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 07:02 PM (1Nxff)

186 Denali? Screw that noise. I still refer to it as Mt. McKinley.

Same with Mt. Evans. DGAF about native American whining.

Posted by: Maj. Healey at June 29, 2024 07:02 PM (aFNOf)

187 181 Some time back a commenter mentioned a space museum either in the middle of KS or NB. They have an SR-71 and some other interesting items. It also does special effects and models, IIRC, for Hollywood.

Posted by: Braenyard at June 29, 2024 07:01 PM (0b3lL)
***
Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska. Half an hour from Omaha.
Been close, but wasn't able to make it happen. Still on the list.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:03 PM (IQ6Gq)

188 Bluebell, with luck we might not need to spend the next 5 months suffering massive anxiety. But we will see.

And I better shut up, this is a no politics thread!

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 07:03 PM (5p7BC)

189 181 Some time back a commenter mentioned a space museum either in the middle of KS or NB. They have an SR-71 and some other interesting items. It also does special effects and models, IIRC, for Hollywood.
Posted by: Braenyard at June 29, 2024 07:01 PM (0b3lL)

I believe that will be the Strategic Air Command museum just west of Omaha.

https://www.sacmuseum.org/

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 29, 2024 07:04 PM (S6gqv)

190 Probably the least well-known NP we visited was Teddy Roosevelt in ND. Small but beautiful, although the buffalos showed no inclination to get out of the road.
Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024

***
On my drive back from Great Sand Dunes, I was on a state road, string-straight and smooth. I ran the 280CE up to 100 and was enjoying it, until I passed a sign: "WATCH FOR BISON ON ROAD."

I slowed down quick. Didn't see any bison, but I wanted as much lead time as I could get if I did.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 07:04 PM (omVj0)

191 I've come to the realization as I get older that I need to have hobbies that don't involve making things. In other words, no more making things that I have no room for and my kids aren't going to want either.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:04 PM (bS+DD)

192 188 181 Some time back a commenter mentioned a space museum either in the middle of KS or NB. They have an SR-71 and some other interesting items. It also does special effects and models, IIRC, for Hollywood.

A great air and space museum is the Red Barn and the adjoining Museum of Flight near Seattle.

Posted by: Maj. Healey at June 29, 2024 07:05 PM (aFNOf)

193 I think the coolest National Park is Dry Tortugas.

You have to take a 2 hour cruise out of Key West to get there.

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 07:05 PM (5p7BC)

194 The Old hick I knew making blades, that thing with lateral stroking with a thumb? You couldn't do that it would slice your digit to the bone.
Shit was crazy sharp.
You could not go near the edge.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:06 PM (bFId9)

195 Diogenes, are you talking about Ox Hill? I haven't been down that way in many years and I've never been to that field but I will go on your recommendation.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:06 PM (bS+DD)

196 183 Probably the least well-known NP we visited was Teddy Roosevelt in ND. Small but beautiful, although the buffalos showed no inclination to get out of the road.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:01 PM (bS+DD)
***
Hidden gem. Sounds like the same greeting party we had with about the same interest of moving.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:06 PM (IQ6Gq)

197 That's 200 miles away. That's doable

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 07:07 PM (xjTDL)

198 Bluebell, can I recommend Japanese sand sculptures?

By definition, you will have to get rid of the clutter

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 07:07 PM (5p7BC)

199
National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton.

That is all.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 07:07 PM (1Nxff)

200 191 I've come to the realization as I get older that I need to have hobbies that don't involve making things. In other words, no more making things that I have no room for and my kids aren't going to want either.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:04 PM (bS+DD)
***
Don't let the shiv collection hear you...

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:07 PM (IQ6Gq)

201 191

So, no more hot glue and rhinestones?

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:08 PM (bFId9)

202 If you are driving down I-75 to Florida, in the middle of Georgia at Warner Robins is the Robins Air Museum where you can see a Blackbird and a whole bunch of other cool airplanes for FREE! If you have time it's worth the stop.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 07:08 PM (vFG9F)

203 I've seen videos of that TR park. There's a guy on You Tube that travels back roads and finds all sorts of interesting things.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 07:09 PM (xjTDL)

204 Shaving can be a hobby: collecting and using vintage and new safety razors (and even straight razors, I guess), trying new brands of blades and soaps and creams. It has the advantage among hobbies of being useful at least once a day, or every other day, etc. You have to shave if you're not doing a full beard. Why not make some fun out of it?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 07:09 PM (omVj0)

205 Isn't there a Warbirds museum near there too, fd?

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 07:09 PM (5p7BC)

206 198

The MadTV Zen Garden?

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:09 PM (bFId9)

207 Hidden gem. Sounds like the same greeting party we had with about the same interest of moving.
Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:06 PM (IQ6Gq)
----------

It was a huge herd, and they just settled down in the middle of the road and wouldn't budge. Sounds like you've been to that park so you know how quiet it is, and this was in 2005 and our cell phones didn't work west of the Mississippi. I was nervous any about them getting too close to the car with our 5 little kids. We had quite a wait, just us, no other cars, for about 20 minutes. Then they finally decided to mosey along.

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:09 PM (bS+DD)

208 161 ... "I've been trying Three Nuns pipe tobacco recently. It is muscular stuff, and so I have only about ten-fifteen minutes of a bowl at a time. It should make a good mix with Capstan Blue or another milder Virginia."

Hi Wolfus,

I don't have any Three Nuns at the moment but agree about it being muscular. I learned to smoke it in a smaller bowl pipe and to puff gently. Same with the Mac Baren Rustica blend. A mild Virginia would soften Three Nuns. I keep some Lane BCA on hand to mix with harsher blends or to add some aromatic notes to a bland mix. I also enjoy a bowl of it by itself now and then.

If CS Lewis used Three Nuns as his regular smoke he must have been tougher than we are.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 07:10 PM (zudum)

209 So, no more hot glue and rhinestones?
Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:08 PM (bFId9)
----------

I was never any good at crafting of any sort, which was fine with me!

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:11 PM (bS+DD)

210 Missionary Ridge was another good battlefield to see, it really is a knife's edge ridge, very tall and steep with only maybe 50 yards on the top till the drop off on the other side. (some great houses up there today, you can see 30 miles in either direction from up there) Story about why the Confederates go routed and the Federal troops were able to climb without being shot at - the Confederate Officer guarding the top put his line at the absolute crest of the ridge, but it was too steep for them to see the slope. He should have put them on the edge, where he could command the slope and stop any assault.
This is known because a letter survives from a fellow officer who knew him and hated him, and wrote back to command "this idiot has positioned his men completely wrong, and it will give me a good laugh to see him find out his mistake when the battle comes." So he noted it, rode on by, and said nothing to correct the error, and that bit of personal rivalry caused one of the most momentous confederate defeats of the entire war.

Posted by: Tom Servo at June 29, 2024 07:11 PM (S6gqv)

211 "Isn't there a Warbirds museum near there too, fd?
Posted by: Dave in Fla"

It's all one museum. Started in part by General Robert Scott, author of "God Is My Co-Pilot".

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 07:12 PM (vFG9F)

212 I was told I don't know anything about space travel and how spaceships work and should read up on it. I suppose, but since no one has ever traveled in interstellar space, how can we really be sure what it's like at near, or light speed?

If you're writing at that level of soft sci-fi, it's all magitech anyway.

If you're trying to do hard sci-fi at the level we could conceive of today (moon base, Mars base, asteroid-belt mining) you might need some solid science background.

But even then, should you not write a "road trip" novel if you don't know the chemistry that makes a catalytic converter work?

Posted by: mikeski at June 29, 2024 07:13 PM (DgGvY)

213 207 Sounds like you've been to that park so you know how quiet it is...

Posted by: bluebell at June 29, 2024 07:09 PM (bS+DD)
***
Yep. We were in the north unit (took us a while to figure out there were two different parts). I also remember the cannonball formations!

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:13 PM (IQ6Gq)

214 Air Slace Museum in Virginia is worth seeing

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 07:15 PM (fwDg9)

215 199 National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton. That is all.

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 07:07 PM (1Nxff)
***
Yep.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:15 PM (IQ6Gq)

216 My daughter had it mind that when we returned from a last visit to my mother in California (who is now in hospice care) that we should return to Texas by way of Route 40, so that we could take a side jaunt from Flagstaff to see the Grand Canyon. My daughter has a veteran pass, giving free access to national parks - and so we drove up very early one Saturday morning to see the Canyon ... and oh, my! How absolutely breathtaking! It seemed that the place was so very still - it was a holy place, that everyone should keep a reverent hush.
But there is nothing along the rim of the Canyon, and a long drop down, and we both have a fear of falling from great heights, so we stayed on the paved trail and didn't let We Jamie out of his stroller until we returned to the car ...
My new ambition as for a vacation is to stay for about a week at El Tovar, and see the Canyon at sunset, dawn, and under moonlight...

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at June 29, 2024 07:15 PM (Ew3fm)

217 If CS Lewis used Three Nuns as his regular smoke he must have been tougher than we are.
Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024

***
He also was a major relighter -- was always having to apply a match to his pipes. Maybe that was enough of a break.

I've been mixing Stirling Flake (yes, the Rattray's blend I named my cat after) with Capstan Blue, 50/50, in a fairly thick-walled Savinelli I've had since the Eighties. Virginias can run hot, and a thin-walled bowl heats up. The Stirling is reportedly strong stuff, too, but with the Capstan it makes for a lively mix, not strong at all.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 07:16 PM (omVj0)

218 ***
Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska. Half an hour from Omaha.
Been close, but wasn't able to make it happen. Still on the list.
Posted by: TRex
--------------------

Thanks

Posted by: Braenyard at June 29, 2024 07:16 PM (0b3lL)

219
I was told I don't know anything about space travel and how spaceships work and should read up on it.

_______

Why, you may be our next NASA administrator!

Posted by: Hadrian the Seventh at June 29, 2024 07:16 PM (1Nxff)

220 216 My new ambition as for a vacation is to stay for about a week at El Tovar, and see the Canyon at sunset, dawn, and under moonlight...

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at June 29, 2024 07:15 PM (Ew3fm)
***
Great post and great ambition. It is very different at different times of day with different lighting. We had the good fortune to see a storm approach the canyon and get completely swallowed up. Reset our sense of proportion and scale.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:18 PM (IQ6Gq)

221 210

I was recently invited to a former scene we couldn't go further due to indiscriminate land mines. Guy asked me if I'd do anything different I admitted No, I did see any way out. I was almost killed in that one and I worked hard.
I did my best, I'm sorry.
Guy tells me his youngest brother was killed in the valley. What am I supposed to say.
I gunned it out and we ran dry, what then.
It was a shit position.
30 years later people tell me very few people walked out.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:19 PM (bFId9)

222 If you're writing at that level of soft sci-fi, it's all magitech anyway.

If you're trying to do hard sci-fi at the level we could conceive of today (moon base, Mars base, asteroid-belt mining) you might need some solid science background.

But even then, should you not write a "road trip" novel if you don't know the chemistry that makes a catalytic converter work?
Posted by: mikeski at June 29, 2024 0

***
I'd make it easy on myself if I could, and have the viewpoint character be a non-tech-minded passenger. No need to explain how the star drive is supposed to work, since he doesn't know it either.

Somehow, though, Larry Niven in his early work made his FTL ships and his Known Space feel *right* -- you get the impression that you could go down to the space port and watch the ships take off.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at June 29, 2024 07:19 PM (omVj0)

223 Notsothoreau, I really enjoy hearing about your varied interests, especially those which are textile related. Since I just retired, I am changing my office into a sewing studio. I have enough materials and tools to last until I am 185. Or so.

Posted by: Gouverneur Morris at June 29, 2024 07:20 PM (J8OCH)

224 Ok, I *DO* have a hobby, at least for the next day or two.

Responding to Democrat fundraising text messages. Highly amusing

Posted by: Dave in Fla at June 29, 2024 07:21 PM (5p7BC)

225 Time to say thank you for being here and participating in this little corner of the interwebs. Great contributions. ALWAYS presume that some part of the horde is interested in your hobby, so keep sharing. Surprised that nobody found and commented on the secret link! Let's do this again next week. Cheers!

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:22 PM (IQ6Gq)

226 212

I write. Oddly enough, SF romance.
It's somewhat soft but the book got real input from Rand Corporation and NASA.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:22 PM (bFId9)

227 My favorite national park is the smallest in Michigan: Wagner Falls State Park ( 22 acres ). near Munising in the Upper Peninsula. The trail to the waterfall is a half mile, if that, and it is perfect for taking kids for a "hike".

Posted by: NaughtyPine at June 29, 2024 07:23 PM (HCquq)

228 Yes, that's what my knitting stash is like. And my fiber stash is not far behind. But not a lot of material. That Etsy seller I mentioned has handwoven Chinese cloth, most of it dyed with natural dyes. I love to buy stuff like that, just to see how it's made.

Fortunately, I didn't get deep into weaving.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 07:23 PM (xjTDL)

229 Haha Dave in FLA

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:24 PM (bFId9)

230 191 ... "I've come to the realization as I get older that I need to have hobbies that don't involve making things. In other words, no more making things that I have no room for and my kids aren't going to want either."

bluebell,

House space is always an issue, especially horizontal space. This is on me because I keep buying books. (Sigh). I recently saw a video on how a professional artist started with a tiny space: a table, a foldable, table top easel, and some storage. I've taken a similar approach to reloading ammo and fly tying. Storing the materials is a bigger challenge but can be worked out.

Now I just have to figure out where I can put some more book cases.

Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 07:25 PM (zudum)

231 TRex, another great thread.

Posted by: Ben Had at June 29, 2024 07:25 PM (uRE6U)

232 Sci Fi. Write it then fill in the tech.

Posted by: LenNeal at June 29, 2024 07:26 PM (bFId9)

233 231 TRex, another great thread.

Posted by: Ben Had at June 29, 2024 07:25 PM (uRE6U) Thanks! **Clink**

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:27 PM (IQ6Gq)

234 228/
I have materials, but far more yarn and threads. Very much into counted cross stitch and making my own patterns. It's not a hobby, it's an addiction...

Posted by: Grateful at June 29, 2024 07:28 PM (IQ6Gq)

235 Good cheddar and sour cream will improve dry tortagas considerable, maybe some Pete’s

Posted by: Common Tater at June 29, 2024 07:29 PM (ldF7/)

236 Of the 20 Unique Parks only been to Mammoth Cave

Posted by: Skip at June 29, 2024 07:29 PM (fwDg9)

237 Hey PabloD, sorry to hear that, but it gets better every time you try!

Crater Lake, so very cool!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they have been lying to us for decades at June 29, 2024 07:30 PM (tQtDb)

238 Mine is inherited. One Christmas, when I was a kid, I got a cross stutch kit. I wasn't really into it, so my mom worked it up. There's some stuff I've dabbled in and decided not to pursue.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 07:30 PM (xjTDL)

239 I'm late; but, there is a State park I really want to visit, it is in Murfreesboro Arkansas: Crater of Diamonds State Park.
https://is.gd/PH6FVl

37 acres of ground that you can mine, by hand no electric devices, for a small entrance fee.
You keep whatever you find too.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:30 PM (sWgBC)

240 239 I'm late; but, there is a State park I really want to visit, it is in Murfreesboro Arkansas: Crater of Diamonds State Park.
https://is.gd/PH6FVl

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:30 PM (sWgBC)
***
I've heard of this but was never sure if it was a tourist trap. Anyone been?

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:32 PM (IQ6Gq)

241 I did embroidery as a kid, but counted cross stitch allowed me to combine art and stitchery. I have far more threads and linens than I should have...

Posted by: Grateful at June 29, 2024 07:32 PM (IQ6Gq)

242 HO trains, please

Posted by: All cats at June 29, 2024 07:32 PM (bFId9)

243 242 HO trains, please

Posted by: All cats at June 29, 2024 07:32 PM (bFId9)
***
A train theme for a hobby thread???? Buckle up kids!

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:33 PM (IQ6Gq)

244 Last year I went Up Norf to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore; got out into the islands, amazing wilderness isolation ...

(Ace would like that word: "isola" is Latin for island )

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they have been lying to us for decades at June 29, 2024 07:33 PM (tQtDb)

245 Now I just have to figure out where I can put some more book cases.
Posted by: JTB at June 29, 2024 07:25 PM

I came to the realization this week that I have as many bookcases as my little home can handle. I have too many books. L'gasp!

Posted by: NaughtyPine at June 29, 2024 07:35 PM (HCquq)

246 Favorite Sequoia NP, those trees are just impressive.
Runner up Lassen Volcanic NP.

Honorable mention Bryce NP.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:36 PM (sWgBC)

247 Crater of Diamonds SP is on the up&up; a real kimberlite pipe that has actually yielded a few real diamonds. saw it with Mrs Eez back last century; we were going to mine for quartz crystals up around Hot Springs ... & found some real beauties, it was kind of a local industry.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they have been lying to us for decades at June 29, 2024 07:38 PM (tQtDb)

248 I've heard of this but was never sure if it was a tourist trap. Anyone been?
Posted by: TRex

I have read a bunch about it including the young lady who was walking back to the entrance and saw a stone that caught her eye beside the trail. A good sized diamond.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:38 PM (sWgBC)

249 Dave in FL, I know you have a hobby that is beyond me... running races.
How is that going?

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:41 PM (sWgBC)

250 246 Favorite Sequoia NP, those trees are just impressive.
Runner up Lassen Volcanic NP.

Honorable mention Bryce NP.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:36 PM
***
Good ones. Big trees are always impressive. Sequoia, Redwoods, Muir woods. Love Bryce but haven't been able to hike there - just done the driving tour. Haven't been to Lassen but there are some good photos on the web.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:41 PM (IQ6Gq)

251 If you keep your eyes on the ground while walking around you can find good stuff. I've found more than a few arrowheads that way. #2 son found a $100 bill.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 07:41 PM (vFG9F)

252 Looking at propane heaters for a small trailer. The smallest one to be purchased uses a 12v system to circulate the air. My old trailer had a 18k btu propane furnace that used convection to circulate the air.

Convection, propane furnace would make dry camping a lot simpler.

Posted by: Braenyard at June 29, 2024 07:43 PM (0b3lL)

253 The newest military national battlefield is near Monroe, MI: The River Raisin National Battlefield Park. It's new, small, and not as impressive as many of the other parks, but it holds the distinction of being the only battlefield park in theUS devoted to a land battle during the War of 1812. Interestingly, there are quite a few battlefield parks on the other side of the border.

Oh, and River Raisin was a British victory.

Posted by: MichiCanuck at June 29, 2024 07:43 PM (vbH4y)

254 I still have two small bookcases to put together. I do need a storage shed. I'm going to turn the covered back porch into a carport for the trailer. And I have garden tool still in the house.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 07:44 PM (xjTDL)

255 My new ambition as for a vacation is to stay for about a week at El Tovar, and see the Canyon at sunset, dawn, and under moonlight...
Posted by: Sgt. Mom

It is quite the trench!
We take visitors up there whenever the guest has time. A long drive, yes, but the entire drive is 'visit time'.

Hope you enjoy it!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:45 PM (sWgBC)

256 Mr Buddy has a propane heater that runs off a cannister and is safe for use indoors. I haven't tested it yet but you might check into it.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at June 29, 2024 07:45 PM (xjTDL)

257 My hobby is writing, but the local library has a summer reading program from June 17-August 17. I reread my favorite books from my teenage years managed to finish the entire program this week.

Posted by: NaughtyPine at June 29, 2024 07:48 PM (HCquq)

258 Mr. Buddy requires something like 4 sq. in. of air space - a crack in the window or door. I bought one for a home backup - donated it, brand new.

Posted by: Braenyard at June 29, 2024 07:49 PM (0b3lL)

259 Oh, and River Raisin was a British victory.

Posted by: MichiCanuck at June 29, 2024 07:43 PM (vbH4y)

I had family slaughtered in that attack.
My roots in MI go really deep.
There are places in the Irish Hills where I couldn't throw a rock without hitting a cousin.
It's the reason my uncle does 1812 reenactments.

Posted by: Reforger at June 29, 2024 07:49 PM (xcIvR)

260 >>>Honorable mention Bryce NP.

We did Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon during one camping trip. I liked both Bryce and Zion more than the GC.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 07:50 PM (LkLld)

261 My new ambition as for a vacation is to stay for about a week at El Tovar, and see the Canyon at sunset, dawn, and under moonlight...

Posted by: Sgt. Mom

If you can check out staying at the North Rim. It is much less used and as pretty (or better). The last time we were there wild turkey and buffalo were out frolicking.

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:51 PM (sWgBC)

262 I use a little Mr Buddy in our RV when it's really cold to take the chill off. I wouldn't run it all the time though.

Posted by: fd at June 29, 2024 07:52 PM (vFG9F)

263 260 We did Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon during one camping trip. I liked both Bryce and Zion more than the GC.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 07:50 PM (LkLld)
***
Zion is astounding. It has so many different facets and different ways to experience it. The rock formations are varied and dramatic.

Posted by: TRex at June 29, 2024 07:52 PM (IQ6Gq)

264 We did Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon during one camping trip. I liked both Bryce and Zion more than the GC.
Posted by: JackStraw

Depending what is going on at the GC it might just be 'a trench'. If you catch fog, clouds, sunrise or set, or a storm on the far rim it is really pretty.
I've taken the mule ride to 'Hidden Gardens' for lunch twice (My mom said she couldn't walk for 3 days after that ride).

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 07:57 PM (sWgBC)

265 Nood Move sign!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 08:02 PM (sWgBC)

266 >>Depending what is going on at the GC it might just be 'a trench'. If you catch fog, clouds, sunrise or set, or a storm on the far rim it is really pretty.
I've taken the mule ride to 'Hidden Gardens' for lunch twice (My mom said she couldn't walk for 3 days after that ride).

I hiked down halfway. I am not good with heights. One of the bigger mistakes I've made.

Posted by: JackStraw at June 29, 2024 08:04 PM (LkLld)

267 The Little Round Top are opened up last week. I found out when YT videos making the announcement started popping up.

I've been to all the parks I listed in #126. Cowpens twice. The last time with my Dad, one of my brothers and two nephews.

When I went to Five Forks, it was almost wholly undeveloped - no marker signs; I didn't see a visitors center. I wanted to see the spot where Sheridan leapt over the Confederate works, but couldn't find that, either.

Posted by: mrp at June 29, 2024 08:08 PM (rj6Yv)

268
I hiked down halfway. I am not good with heights. One of the bigger mistakes I've made.
Posted by: JackStraw

Yeah, that would *do* it!

Posted by: AZ deplorable moron at June 29, 2024 08:08 PM (sWgBC)

269 Responding to Democrat fundraising text messages. Highly amusing
Posted by: Dave in Fla

Vindman keeps begging me for money.
I wonder if he's related to Zelynskyyy

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at June 29, 2024 08:09 PM (Ka3bZ)

270 he gets his cut, vmom

Posted by: sock_rat_eez - they have been lying to us for decades at June 29, 2024 08:58 PM (tQtDb)

271 Late to the thread…but I am hitting the TX State Parks. Now that I am a member of the Blue Card Mafia entry fees are waived. Two nice ones are close by: the popular Palo Duro and the less well known Caprock Canyons.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at June 30, 2024 02:33 AM (tAhMh)

272 3rd sentence: *its

Posted by: bradc at July 01, 2024 06:09 PM (Pg5yA)

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