I woke up on early Tuesday morning greeted by a cool breeze and a dark horizon, it was time to take a shower and head to the Bangor International Airport. When I passed through TIA's security checks I boarded the near-full aircraft to my surprise; most of the commuters were from Maine. Earlier during the week I had read an article on how to take photographs through an airplane's window as it's something that I've wanted to attempt the next chance I had; unfortunately my window was scratched to the point where they would show. The sun started to rise as the jet engines were warming, by the time we were in the air the sun was just above the horizon illuminating the dark blue sky that display a beautiful gradient. As we climbed higher Maine's many bodies of water were covered with a light fog- a common sight in the mornings of Maine.
I arrived to the Cincinnati, OH airport a mid-sized airport and from there we were up and down in about 45 minutes. I arrived to Roanoke Airport in Jeans and polo with an under T as it was cool in Maine but in Roanoke it was roughly 90. We had dinner at The Cracker Barrel, I had the same meal as last time- Hardy Breakfast.
Thursday the 30th was a little cooler, in the high eighties with very high humidity. Mom and I hiked Otter Creek Trail which was roughly four miles long consisting of river bed trails, tree root stairs, crossing the stream, walking under bridges and the woods up and down mountain stream crevasses. At the end of the trail a log cabin restaurant awaited us at which Jack treated us for dinner.
On Friday the 31st we headed out to Jamestown, VA to visit the original and permanent English settlement that began the US' history. Friday was probably the hottest day that I experienced for a very long time, the temperature was at 100 with very high humidity. When we first arrived to Jamestowne we drove the park loop that had informational signs depicting what the inhabitants did to survive. At the beginning of the trail a male Eastern Box Turtle was crossing the road; Jack stopped so I could take a look at it as I've never seen a Box Turtle before. Near the end of the loop there's a path that leads to a beach on the James River, since it was hot, mom and I went in knee deep- the water was bathtub hot something a Mainer is not accustomed to.
Once we finished the loop we headed to the original settlement where excavation was still in the works, we visited the first Christian Church, a remake of how houses were built, remake of the three ships that landed and a museum that hosted many artifacts that were dug from the site. Tools have always interested me, especially early tools man has used to ease his work; the museum had a lot of old tools ranging from eye glasses, ear picks, make-shift knives, hoes, metal shards meant to stop intruders, etc.
Afterwards, we headed towards Virginia Beach only to find out that traffic was very very heavy- what would normally take 45 minutes took us roughly two hours. Once we arrived we walked on the beach and I went knee high since I did not not bring my swimming shorts.
Sunday the 2nd was my first visit to Thomas Road Baptist Church since Jerry Falwell passed away a few months ago; his son, Jonathan Falwell is now the primary pastor for TRBC. I am always amazed at how God has blessed Jerry's work and the people he's help bring to Christ and one of the many things that show this is TRBC and its members. During the service I started to regret turning down a job interview for Liberty University last year because there are so many groups and outreaches that I would like to be apart of. TRBC posts the majority of their sermons on their website, even if you're not a Believer, I suggest that you at least check one out, especially "Preparing To Build, Part 8".
Monday's weather was a cool (for Virginia) 82 with partially clear skies, Sharp Top Mountain's visage was semi-clear. On our way to Sharp Top Mountain we stopped in an Angus field to snap a few photos. We purchased bus tickets to the top of the mountain as didn't want to spend the majority of the day hiking; while waiting for the bus one of the Game Wardens allowed me to take their pet Box Turtle out so I could properly photograph it. Once we reached the top, the skies were regrettably hazy but we still enjoyed the limited view. On our decent a Doe walked passed us, ate a few leafs of a lower hanging branch, walked passed us again, stopped and stared at us. Mom was just inches from feed her a handful of leaves; the Doe was very calm and curious, she followed us down the majority of the trail, eating and watching as we walked. As funny as this may sound, I think she was a gift from God as I was complaining that I didn't have an opportunity to take a decent shot of much today.
Later in the evening I photographed the Moon hours before the full lunar eclipse that I woke up for very early in the morning.
