Gratuitous Kayak Beavers and Tour of Curse Inc.

We have discovered kayaks. We've been in canoes plenty of times over the years but I've always wanted to give kayaks a try. Oddly enough I don't have any pictures of me kayaking around, shirtless, like an Amazonian river guide (those are on Esther's blog) but I do have a few of Ben and Chan in the water. The kayaks were by virtue of friends that had borrowed them from yet other friends and brought them along to hang out at a little known campground on Smith Lake.

Right next to the campsite we were visiting were these two little (think large Guinea Pig) beavers that were incredibly oblivious to us standing only a few feet away. They were so unafraid of us that it makes me cringe imagining that somebody will someday take advantage of them in some horrible way. I sat in the grass for maybe half an hour watching one of them that had come up on land to munch on sorrel. I was probably two feet away from the little dude the whole time.  

Mid way through May, by virtue of the same friends, we joined in on a tour of Curse Inc., a native Huntsville company known for several game wiki sites, custom downloads, and their flagship product, Curse Voice. If you can't tell from the pictures below, this place looks like a cubicle drone's dream come true. They have a GAME ROOM with every console imaginable. The offices were full of all the limited edition, pre-order bonus versions of games. Swag. Such swag. A dragon's horde of swag. 

Green screen room? Sure, why not.

Kids, learn to code. Like right now. For really realz.

Wrapping up April; Retreading Familiar Hiking Grounds

Back at the end of April we revisited two trail that I've blogged about several times before; the Richard Martin Trail in Elkmont and the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge Arrowhead Landing. Both trails offered some Spring wildflower viewing. 

First up, Richard Martin with guest hiker, Nia the Border-Beast Terrier. On this particular day we started at the north end of the trail on the Tennessee/Alabama border (in the defunct town of Veto) and hiked south into Elkmont (for goat cheese at Belle Chevre) and then returned to the north.

Ragwort

Lamb's ear

May apple

Phacelia (scorpion weed)

Buckeye

Cranesbill

Creeping Buttercup

Fleabane

Squawroot

We stopped coming and going at the covered bridge so Nia could indulge her otter genes in the creek. That dog loves to swim. I've known dogs that would on occasion swim if there was a reason, but Nia freaking loves the water.

Dogs are terrible about bringing beach blankets so Nia did her best with the available twigs and leaves along the trail.

Just down from Belle Chevre is the recently opened Artisan South art gallery.

Don't tell anybody, but I went in for the gelato...

...which I may have shared.

There are good hikes and there are "SO GOOD IN THE MUD I MUST BATHE" hikes.

Tracklog of this hike can be viewed here.
All the pictures from this day are hiding right here.


Next up was a trek around the refuge that we took on a day that we thought would be warm enough to heat up a pizza in the van while we hiked. It was warmer, but probably not heated to health code standards. We ate it anyway; all the toppings were pre-cooked. Still not the "OMG THE VAN SMELLS LIKE LITTLE CEASAR'S" moment we were hoping for.

Leather flower

Hop clover

Rough bedstraw (?)

Blue-eyed grass

Morning star sedge

Horse nettle

Oak gall

Osprey nest alongside the Tennessee River

Black racer (identified by Dr. David A. Steen via Twitter)

I-565 bridge over the Tennessee River floodplain in the distance

Esther thought it would be great to set up the hammocks under the I-565 bridge and hang out in the shade for a while. It took her about 5 minutes to get hers anchored and me about 20 minutes to decide that I wasn't all that into setting up a hammock. This is a recurring theme with me and hammocks. 

All the pictures and hanging out in a hammock that I didn't hang RIGHT HERE.

Big Lagoon State Park

We just got back from a few rainy days of tent camping at Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola Florida. We teamed up with four other families and hung out and explored the area a little. The storms were pretty horrible; one family abandoned their camp at 2 AM and sought refuge at a hotel. Our tent held up well, but at the height of the rain, water was being forced through the canvas and leaks formed at the seems.

After setting up camp and giving everybody time to arrive and do the same, we took a walk out to the lagoon along one of the many trails. Right off the trail was an osprey nest in the top of a dead pine tree. The male and female were taking turns nest-watching and gathering food.

Along the shore of the lagoon several creatures were going about their business.

Blue crab

Clam shell covered with barnacles, an oyster and many calcareous worm tubes

Hermit crab

Orange milkwort and grasshopper nymph

Magnolia

On the following day we met with Mom from nearby Mobile for a meal together and then had a few hours at the Gulf Islands National Seashore to enjoy the beach. It was overcast, then rainy again. I greatly underestimated my UV exposure and got a little pink on the shoulders. 

Poorman's Patch

Laughing gulls

Goose barnacle

Hot beach babe

Giant sand flea

Beach monkey-cat

Ben got a little crazy with the digging all the way to China. He had been using goggles to keep his hair back, but the hair would not be contained.

I don't know what to call this. One of the kids had this technique for making sand castle walls that was pretty cool.

Barnacles

After sunset and another break in the rain we took a little night hike towards the observation tower at Big Lagoon. We were surprised to find many creatures including shrimp with reflective eyes that prowled the shallows, sandhoppers and ants crawling over piles of cast-off worm tubes and one of more dangerous creatures in the water...

Portuguese man o' war among the plumed worm tubes

Kurt shows how to hold a crab without being pinched

Southern toad (ID by Dr David Steen)

Squareback marsh crab

Beach wolf spider (ID by Catherine Scott)

On Monday we hid from the rain at the Naval Aviation Museum. I won't post all the pictures here, because airplane pictures rank right up there with pictures of fish... but here are some the various aircraft fuselage art and a few highlights from the museum. 

Could have used some of that G.I. foot powder this trip...

That evening the rain stopped again and we headed over to the pavilion near the overlook and the osprey nest. We built a fire in the pavilion fireplace and roasted marshmallows.

Leafhopper

Blackberry

The rare and illusive Florida swamp vampire wombat

The rain held off the rest of the night, but radar and the forecast indicated that the next day  would be a torrent so we planned to hit the beach again and get what time we could in the sand and surf before heading home a day early. The sky was a diffused grey the whole morning with no distinct sun overhead. Again, I probably got a little too much sun...

Shark tooth, about 1/4" long

Mole crab

Coquina clams

Great blue heron

The drive home...

All the picture from the trip are here:

4/11/2015
4/12/2015
4/13/2015
4/14/2015