Picture by Sheara.
Summer
NW611, the Spirit of Roanoke, the Queen of Steam
The excursion train from Manassas to Front Royal which Tim and Elspeth, Owen and Cora, had taken yesterday. We watched her rush by this afternoon at Gainesville, Virginia, just 10 minutes from McCormick House. In its day, this locomotive could pull 15 passenger cars at 110 mph. It was built by and for Norfolk and Western Railroad in Roanoke in 1950 for $251,544, and served routes such as Norfolk to Cincinatti. See details on NW611 by Virginia Museum of Transportation, and the Norfolk and Western railroad map. Another view, a second later that same day:
And even the railroad man sent to keep an eye on us waved to the driver:
Sandy got this shot of some of us spectators:
Japanese Honeysuckle
Japanese Honeysuckle on our back fence
Wilton Woods to Huntley Meadows Park and back
At the half-way point of our six-miler on my final day at work. Mario V. in red, Peter F. in black. There was a great blue heron standing to the left of the beaver lodge but he must have been too shy to smile for the selfie. 92F, 33C, 70%RH, 81DP, 114HI. Some of us took some walking breaks on the way back.
Losing my lunchtime running buddy at end of next month
Survivors of two consecutive 5km lunchtime runs with temperature at 95F/35C.
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PF achieved a major midlife triumph last month upon acquisition of the Mazda Miata.
Dad’s front doorstep
Elspeth, Nick, Sheara, Owen, Sandy, Tim, Gareth, Judi, Edwin, Beth with Anna, Mike with Nicholas. Then Erin with Dylan, David with Kai, Nancy.
On the back doorstep
Striking out on his own
Returning from the blueberries by the path across the corn field.
Oh no, where is he taking me?
Up the hill across what we still call the oats field, from the center of one of the two paths forming the X once visible from space. The satellite photo below was saved in 2008, but must have been taken earlier. The white rectangle is the roof of the house.
Which leads to another flashback: Dad coaxing Beethoven up the same hill at the same spot, 10/24/2008. (The hankie was required because the cat was deaf. )
Delmont to Saltsburg and back, 17½ miles
Starting at crack of dawn, Tim and I ran the Westmoreland Heritage Trail from Delmont to Saltsburg and back this Saturday morning in early September. What a lovely trail! We saw only one other likely round-trip runner, maybe half a dozen bicyclists, a couple of dog walkers, and a small group of Scouts hiking. The trail crosses a road only four or five times, mostly country lanes. The crushed stone surface was in excellent condition the whole way, although there were one or two spots where erosion from water runoff could use some attention. Being tired on the way back, we certainly noticed the trail is mostly uphill from Saltsburg to Delmont, and were then grateful for the shade provided by the almost complete canopy.
