Green Bank Observatory Green Bank West Virginia

We visited the Green Bank Observatory in Green Bank West Virginia.It is a 150 mile drive on country roads from our home in southern West Virginia.

This is a picture of the Robert C Bryd Green Bank Telescope.It's height is 485 feet which is taller than The Statue of Liberty and nearly as tall as The Washington Monument.It weighs 17 tons.It's surface totals 2.3.
acres.

This telescope replaces one that collapsed.Construction began in spring of 1991 and it was dedicated on August 25,2000.

This picture was taken two miles from the telescope.We took the bus tour that stops at the telescope.Digital cameras are not allowed in that area due to radio wave interference.Would love to have had a close up picture.That thing was huge.

Wild and Wonderful West Virginia

This past Saturday we took a day trip to a part of West Virginia that we have wanted to visit.It was a 150 mile drive on windy mountain roads.The drive was well worth the visit to Green Bank Observatory.

This is the view that awaits you at the Green Bank Observatory.

I wanted to share one of our mountain views before I shared a picture of the big telescope at the Observatory.

Isn't This Adorable

I took this picture of my granddaughter patting the head of a little girl statue at Broadway On The Beach in Myrtle Beach.I love random shots like this that show the innocence of children:)It was like she wanted to be right there with the children enjoying a book together.

Myrtle Beach

We just returned from a vacation to Myrtle Beach SC.We rode their new Sky Wheel which gives you a bird's eye view of the beach.I took this picture from the sky wheel.There was condensation on the outside of the window.That is why there are water droplets on the window.Wish the picture was a little clearer.Down in the right hand corner is a view of their new boardwalk and promenade.You can barely tell it in the picture but that is the promenade area in the picture.

We were on the Sky Wheel early evening so you can tell by the picture that there weren't many people on the beach at that time.

We hadn't been to Myrtle Beach in a few years.They are really developing it into a friendly walking town.The new boardwalk and promenade makes walking very convenient.Probably more so when the beach is crowded.Since we went in early June the beach wasn't crowded and the weather was just right.As a matter of fact I believe it was cooler in Myrtle Beach than it was here in the mountains of southern West Virginia.Three days this week it hit 90 or above here.Don't think it reached 90 when we were in Myrtle Beach.If it did the cool ocean breezes made it feel cooler.We did feel the heat more when we were walking at Broadway At The Beach since it is more inland and away from the ocean.

The Joys of Spring

Don't know how this picture downloaded twice but I will keep both since they are such nice reminders of springtime in my youth.Our younger daughter took this picture a few years ago when she was in the DC area for the Cherry Blossom Festival.What a lovely picture of the Washington Monument framed by cherry blossoms.

This picture depicts a joy of spring time from my younger days growing up in the Washington DC area.Just remembered that they are called Japanese Cherry Blossom trees.What a fitting tribute to our dear friends in Japan that are going through such horrific days now.My thoughts and prayers are with them.The trees were given to the US by Japan.I remember learning the history of them growing up but hate to say it but I honestly don't remember now.I do remember learning a song in elementary school that was partly in Japanese that told about the cherry blossom trees.

Just did a web search and found info on the cherry blossom trees.Here is a link to share with you the information I found:http://www.nps.gov/cherry/cherry-blossom-history.htm

How appropriate that I remember one word from the song we learned in elementary school.The word is Sakura which means cherry blossoms.

I have an online blogger friend who teaches English in Japan.Thoughts and prayers are with her and her family.Her last post was before the earthquake.Will keep checking to see if there is any news from her.I loved hearing about her daily life while living in Japan.

Our crocuses are in bloom.Thought I'd better change my profile picture from the icy picture to the crocus picture.I am in a spring frame of mind and no longer winter frame of mind.

Couldn't ask for a prettier day.The sun is shining brightly and it has already reached 45.We are heading to the mid 50's today.Sure beats the weather we had last Sunday.We ended up with 6 inches of snow which wasn't even predicted.They had been predicting a trace of snow by evening.

My daffodil shoots are higher now than they were this time last year.We could still get some snow this month and even into April but to be honest I would rather not see any more snow.I am ready for Spring to arrive and stay here without any reminders of winter.

I've Been Busy.....

I've been busy Walking It Out.This game is so much fun and a great way to get in shape and get daily exercise.

I usually Walk It Out about an hour a day.It's very addicting to keep walking so that you can expand your island.My island is coming along rather nicely.

Back on January 1st I went back to Spark People to have the tools that I need to lead a healthy lifestyle by eating right and getting plenty of exercise.I highly recommend Spark People as a great way to connect with like minded people of all ages.Everything you need as far as tracking what you eat and your exercise is right there for you at no cost.

I am down 13 pounds since the first of January.I want to lose 2 pounds this week so that I will have a 15 pound weight loss for the year on my first weigh in for March.

Just looked back at the picture on my previous blog that I took almost a month ago.We have been so blessed that the month of February has been mostly snow free.We needed a month like this after the two previous months.That big pile of snow finally melted away last weekend.That was the first time we had completely bare ground in two months.

How High Will It Go?

Decided to take a picture of our snow bank after we finished shoveling today.We are wondering how high it will go.Thankfully this snow bank won't block our sight of view as we back out of our driveway.If we find that it does we will need to shovel some snow off of it.

Wanted to figure out how high the snow bank is so I put my shovel up against it.Now I need to measure the height of my shovel.As you can see, our road is still snow and ice covered.The plow finally came through for the first time today.Hopefully the temperature going up to the low 40's tomorrow will help our road condition improve.Now they are saying that we might get a little snow tomorrow night.Don't want to hear that.

View Out Our Front Door Our Winter Wonderland

This is the view that I saw when I looked out our front door this morning.We have experienced such a snowy winter.Just in December alone we have had about 30 inches of snow.

Wednesday morning we had some rain and freezing rain.That was followed by snow.That meant that there was a nice layer of ice under our snow.We still hadn't gotten rid of the snow that had remained on the ground from previous snow falls.

This morning we got a few more inches of snow.We had done some shoveling of our driveway yesterday but knew since we were expecting more snow we would wait till today to get the job finished.

Our trees have remained covered in snow since the heavy weight snow we received on Wednesday.It has truly looked like a winter wonderland outside.I have been in awe of beauty of all of it.

Two Days Later And.....

Another winter storm.I took this picture this morning.Can no longer see where I had shoveled the driveway back two days ago.It was snowing when this picture was taken but sure doesn't look like it.

The snow has continued all day so it looks worse out there than it looked when I took this picture this morning.It's suppose to continue snowing on through tomorrow morning.

Schools were cancelled today and already cancelled for tomorrow.I knew I needed to get out there and do that shoveling on Monday before this storm moved in.We measured around 7 inches of new snow around 1 this afternoon.More has come down since then.

Better hop on my stationary bike and get my cardio in to prepare for more shoveling .Tomorrow is suppose to be another bitterly cold day so the shoveling may need to wait till Friday.

How I spent Yesterday Afternoon

You are looking at how I spent yesterday afternoon.I shoveled the driveway all by myself.I am so proud of my accomplishment.Just me and my shovel:)

The shovel is beside our car along with scraper for the car.I had forgotten to bring out the broom to clean off the car.Didn't have my car keys in my pocket so I couldn't use the scraper on the car since it was inside of the locked car.My plan was to get the driveway shoveled then go inside and get the broom and my car keys.Didn't want to go back in and get the broom sooner since our dog Max thinks he should be outside walking on his leash.That means I would be walking our dog and not shoveling the snow.

We learned last winter to park our car at the far end of the driveway near the street so that there wouldn't be as much to shovel to get our car out.That has really worked better for us.It's enough hard work just getting the driveway shoveled around our car at the far end.

I got the car cleared off after I finished shoveling the driveway.I then needed to clear off what came off of the car.Wanted to take a picture of everything cleared off but never did get around to that.I was rather tired when I got it all finished.

We are under a Winter Storm Warning starting at 6 PM this evening.We could get 6-12 inches of snow through Thursday morning.That snow would be added on top of the 8 inches of snow that we got last weekend.Some of that snow has melted but not all of it.

Since the beginning of December we have now received 40 inches of snow.December was the snowiest December on record.Wonder if we will break the record we set last winter of 82 inches of snow? That is one record we don't want to break but we are well on our way.

I have embarked on a healthier way of living since the first.I am watching what I eat and moving more.I know the shoveling would be good for me.I was tired afterwards.Not even sore today which really surprises me:)

Snow Melting Away

This is the pile of snow that was made from all of our shoveling back in December.The pile of snow was higher but thanks to two days in the 50's quite a bit of it had melted.

Even though we had a lot of snow on the ground just a few days ago it now feels like a memory.It started snowing the first week of December and didn't let up till last week.

It has been so nice to know that we can get out and about now and not be concerned about ice and snow on the roads.

Having so much snow last month made it very difficult to get out and really enjoy the festivities of Christmas.Both of our grand children's holiday programs were cancelled due to school snow days.That was a big disappointment.This is also the second Christmas season in a row that we weren't able to make it down to the Bristol Motor Speedway Light Spectacular.We also didn't make it to our local city's Holiday of Lights the last two Christmas seasons due to snowy and icy road conditions.The main roads are usually clear but it can be quite tricky getting back up our icy road as we found out the middle of December.Sure don't want that to happen very often.

We are all hoping and praying that the month of December will be ice and snow free so that we can enjoy all of the special Christmas festivities.Don't think we would even be disappointed if we didn't have a White Christmas.I know the last two Christmases were white so that should last us awhile!