MAY 2, 2015 VANDERBILT ESTATE

     Another beautiful day that was perfect for walking and 18 people agreed.  We did our usual tour down to the riverside.  It's always such a nice view and we spent some time enjoying it and relaxing with the group.  Then we headed back uphill some dispersing into the gardens where we encountered fellow member, Katy, who volunteers there.  Others headed in various directions.

     Spring planting has begun and some of the rose bushes already have leaves.  Others have just recently been planted.  While the official garden didn't have that many flowers blooming at present, there were quite a few "wildflowers" around and, of course, I took pictures of many of them.

      Five of us had an excellent brunch, as usual, at the Eveready Diner...one of our favorite places for after-walk brunches. 

      After brunch CJ and I visited fellow member, Eileen, who is recuperating from hip replacement surgery.  We were happy that she seems to be progressing.

What a wonderful spot to sit and enjoy the view

view closeup

I saw many spring flowers o the way to the river.  These are Dutchman's Britches [sp?]

don't know what these tiny flowers are

Bloodroot

The view at the bottom of the trail

Enjoying a trip on the Hudson

Another river view

Relaxing at the bottom

One of the many religious structures along the river

Such a pretty place.

This stream flows under the bridge near the parking area

The short cut which is quite steep.

Some daffodils in the garden

The bridge and stream at the entrance

Pretty magnolias at the garden

I found several patches of "wildflowers" as I walked around

Vinca

An iconic garden view

The end of the mansion and a little bit of the wonderful view

Closeup of artwork above entrance...there are many lion heads

      

APRIL 25, 2015 LOCUST GROVE

     What a great day!!  It was a bit cool to start but then the weather was absolutely marvelous...perfect for walking.  And what a turnout!!!  There were 20 of us.  Actually there were 21 because Lila arrived late at 9:45 and missed walking with us so she walked solo and met us in the parking lot after to say hello.

      It was extra specially nice for me since my cousin, June, was visiting from Vermont.  She said she enjoyed meeting all of the nice Walkers and, of course, the walk.

      I had a prior commitment for the afternoon and brunch didn't happen.

John thinks these are Colt's Tails

Yeah it's just a dead tree but I thought it was interesting

I am constantly amazed at the number of stone walls we encounter

A rowing crew [probably from Marist], freight train and the Mid Hudson Bridge [Too bad there wasn't a train on our side too]

Thank you June for taking the group picture.  Yours came out better than mine.

A little piece of the river.

John thought this might be in the buttercup family & Suzanne checked out its reflective abilities.  It reflected.

New life on a fallen tree

So nice to see green and pretty purple flowers at the tree's base.

Yellow & purple combined.

The Samuel Morse home with yellow flowers in foreground.

We visited the official gardens.

APRIL 18, 2015 WALLKILL VALLEY RAIL TRAIL AT ROSENDALE

        It was a perfect day for walking {YEA!} with blue sky, sun and the temp got to the high 70s.
        CJ and I arrived at about 8:45 and Jean & Bob a couple of minutes later.  The four of us sat and waited.  At about 9:10 we began to think there would be only four of us and then all of a sudden people began arriving and we ended up with an excellent attendance of 16.
        Deposits of dolostone which is used in making "natural" cement were discovered in Rosendale and it became a cement-making center.  The cement was used in such projects as the D & H Canal, the Brooklyn Bridge and the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty. The mines are closed but one factory still remains [according to Wikipedia].
        All but two of us had not been to this location previously and I had been looking forward to crossing the trestle and it was worth it.  I prefer walking on wooded paths and the sections of the Wallkill rail trails I've been on [in New Paltz, Gardiner and now Rosendale] have not been paved which makes me happy.  It was a nice walk.
        We walked 2.5 plus miles and five of our group decided to continue a bit further as the rest of us turned back.  Eight of us visited the Rosendale Cafe, a vegetarian eatery.  We sat outside on the patio enjoying the balmy weather, good company and good food.  The service was good too.

The Binnewater kilns were closed in 1971

a closeup of one of the kilns

We passed this as we started walking.  There's still some snow and it was COLD hee.

The background is actually all stone croppings.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the trestle so I "stole" this from the walking map.

Some trail scenes

Don't know the purpose of this but it was interesting.

Checking out the pollywogs

On our way back

Sign before we recrossed the trestle

Looking toward town

and the other direction

After lunch, CJ and I visited High Falls and then went over the mountain to Mohonk on our way home.

Chapel Farm, a favorite of photographer G. Steve Jordan.  Too bad I didn't notice the branch as I was taking the pic.  Budding trees in the back ground.