Beavertail Hill State Park

My roommate Lindsey and I had planned on checking out Beavertail Hill State Park Tuesday, but a freak thunderstorm in the middle of the night left things a bit soggy, so we thought we would let it dry out for a day before heading out 25 miles for nothing. this morning I was up by 9:30 and we were able to get out of the house a bit after eleven. Ally was thrilled to be going somewhere. You just ask her "Wanna go?", her ears perk up and she bolts for the door. Why, halfway there and she was getting all excited in the back seat, bouncing from one side of the van to the other. This was our first time at this place. New surroundings and interesting smells get her excited.
As I draft this, she is snoozing in her favorite spot in the livingroom, on two giant pillows underneath the coffee table. She is having a doggie dream as I can hear her barking softly in her sleep. I am trying hard not to laugh as to wake her up (I get a dirty look if I do).
Lindsey and I both took along our digital cameras so as to take pictures of our time in the park. The whole reason we went to this particular park was that it had a trail that was supposedly accessible for wheelchair's. It's a darn good thing I have experience off-roading in my wheelchair, because that's exactly what it was. A good majority of the trail was loose gravel or other types of small river rocks. There wasn't much at all of hard dirt. A bit disappointing as I was hoping to travel the entire mile of nature trail. We got to the first bench (not even 1/4 mile) and stopped by the river. That was my exercise for the day.
Ally was getting anxious to be let off of her leash. She wanted to explore the new sights and smells, and mama wasn't moving her chair fast enough. As soon as I took her vest off and unhooked her leash, she made a beeline for the river. I cracked up laughing as I watched her make a flying leap, all four legs pointing in different directions, and splashing into the river. A little while later and she is trying to drag a stick twice her size out of the water for one of us to throw.
Wildlife was scarce at this time of the day, bummer. We did manage to hear a few birds calling, one of them sounding like a drowning cat. (er-ow, er-ow, er-ow,er-ow). A brochure I picked up a bit later said the area was frequently visited by different types of Swallows, even birds such as the great Blue Heron. I don't know which one I heard. I noticed too that the bottoms of many trees were stripped of their bark. Lindsey thought it might be the bugs that were causing this. I later read in the brochure that beavers liked to come on shore and gnaw on the trees.
A much too short time later and Lindsey had to head home to get ready for work. No worries, I had to rest up for a late night as Janine and I were meeting Jill and a mutual friend Brian for the Alison Krauss concert.