Feathered Feeder Friends

Our bird feeders at Thousand Trails Hershey have been getting lots of regular visitors.  Hope you will enjoy these pictures. 

The Mourning Dove above has many friends and they serenade us morning and evening.

Ooops!  This isn't a feathered friend at all.  It is the hanging basket Randy got his Mom for Mother's Day.

European or House Finch

American Goldfinch

Male Downy Woodpecker (The males are always prettier!)

Ruby Throated Hummingbird, Female

Dixie after a bath.  Also not a feathered friend.

Bedtime.

This is the Red Breasted Nuthatch and is a new sighting for us.  Above is the Female and below is the Male.

We also saw for the first time a Cedar Waxwing but never with a camera handy.  Apparently they stay only a short time in the spring and early summer and then move on.  Other regular visitors to our diner included the cardinals, chickadees, sparrows, titmouse, wrens and we saw northern orioles in the treetops but got no photos!

Our new Squirrel Buster feeder really works.  The outer cage is mounted on a soft spring that collapses with more than a pound on it and closes off the seed ports.  It is so effective the squirrels don't even try anymore.  It also thwarted the Grackles as they could not perch on the small wire perches and could not cling to the mesh and still reach the seeds.

June Birthdays

A belated gift for Kendalyn recalled childhood memories of her Uncle Randy, who ordered the Snoopy Snow Cone Maker, and her Mom who enjoyed playing with theirs so many years ago.

A team effort succeeded in making tasty snow cones for all who dared try them!

These scrumptious cupcakes were enjoyed for Larry's Birthday a week earlier (he got the  Black Forest version, upper left).

On Cathy's day of celebration, Randy and I had adjusted the level of the RV.  The noise of the  hydraulic jacks must have made Dixie think we were getting ready to move which is always scary for her.  But a brief time with her Thunder Shirt and a little TLC from Randy calmed her shortly.

A normal pose for Kendalyn with her nose stuck in her electronic game.

Finally Dixie is feeling better as she realizes we are not moving today!

The surprise "guest" of the day was the delivery man from Edible Arrangements with a gift of goodies from Cathy's lifelong pal, Diana Sullivan.  

Cathy reads the gift card wishing a happy birthday from Diana.

Before the wrapper was even removed, Kendalyn called "dibs" on the honeydew slices.

It tasted as good as it looks, too.

And here is the happy Birthday Girl.  Oh, she also got an Amazon Gift Card and a birthday picnic dinner with fresh little-neck clams, burgers, beans and pickled eggs.  Your scribe, however, was too busy cooking to record the repast on camera.

Kendalyn's 9th Birthday Party

Kendalyn's birthday party was held at the YMCA which has a great game room for kids.  Kendalyn is trying out the Skee-Ball before her guests arrive.  The play area in the background was a popular place for them to gather and have fun.

Later as the others began to explore they figured out they could get high scores at Skee Ball if they stood beside the targets and tossed balls from there. 

Ping Pong is harder than it looks!  Rory, Laura's friend, is attempting instruction.

Below it looks like he has the girls' attention, though.

More Skee-Ball with Mom looking on.

Then there are the BFFs 4 ever!  Claire and Kendie have been friends since Kendie's first day at Tiny Treasures. Even though they attend different schools, they still get together and have "play dates" as often as possible. 

Mom forgot to bring fire for the candle, so Kendie is showing her disapproval. Oh well, she remembered everything else!

Kendie wanted a cupcake theme so Rory made cupcakes for the party, Kendalyn chose Cotton Candy, Strawberry Shortcake and her favorite Mint Chocolate for the icing flavors. YUM!

Kendalyn invited her whole class, she had a pretty good turn out. This was the Silly Face picture, Evan had the best silly face according to Kendalyn.

The climbing wall was a huge hit, the kids started asking to climb as soon as they walked in the door. Kayla made it to the top of the climbing wall at least 3 times. 

Up, up, up goes Kendalyn, ok so maybe not up, up, up, how about just up.

Creative camera shot makes it look like Kendie climbed up the wall much farther than she really did. She had fun trying though. Look at that concentration!  Below, back on terra firma!  Whew!

Population Explosion

The Canadian Goose population at Thousand Trails Hershey is exploding and seems to be in good shape for the future!  Here is our latest discovery, a new nest with 4 eggs and an attentive Mom on guard.  Alas a few days later the nest was broken up and the eggs were in the pond.  Whether predators or an angry goose were responsible is not known.

Above we see a family with two young ones and at left are two larger babies getting swimming lessons.

A slightly larger family of 4 goslings gets swimming and dining instruction on the campground pond.

Above are six babies heading to the pond for early training in being self sufficient geese.  While to the right we have the largest family we have noted consisting of 7 offspring.  One can only imagine the noise and droppings later in the year when flight training begins and land-based browsing is included!

Ahh!  Keeping warm by huddling together after a swim while Mom and Pop keep a close lookout.

Andersonville GA Civil War National Historic Site

The Andersonville prison, officially known as Camp Sumter, served as a Confederate Prisoner of War camp during the American Civil War. The site of the prison is now Andersonville National Historic Site in Andersonville Georgia.  This is the entrance to the Visitor Center and Museum which documents stories of prisoners of war from all wars.

The site was chosen, in part, by the fact that this stream passed through the property and was deemed adequate as a fresh water source for the camp designed to hold 10,000 prisoners.


However, The water supply from Stockade Creek became polluted when too many Union prisoners were housed by the Confederate authorities within the prison walls. Part of the creek was used as a sink and the men were forced to wash themselves in the creek.

Initially the enclosure was about 16.5 acres and enlarged in 1864 to 26.5 acres (keep in mind a football field is about an acre) and at its peak held about 35,000 prisoners.  In all nearly 13,000 died there as the direct result of crowding, malnutrition, and illness.
This image from the internet shows a birds-eye view of the double walled prison.  Trees were cut and installed 5 feet deep and 15 feet above ground in two rows forming the inner and outer walls.  The area between was known as the "dead zone" and any prisoner seen in there would be shot by sentries.


This monument to Providence Spring momorializes an event recorded by survivors.  During a storm a lightning strike near this spot opened an abundant spring which the prisoners were able to access to supplement the tainted water from Stockade Creek.

 A section of the double fence and entry gate has been recreated to show what the reality was.  Sentries were posted in the towers on either side of the entry.  The towers were known as "Pigeon Roosts".

A pass-through in the door had a heavy lock and hinges for security and afforded easy access to pass small items in or out without opening the entire gate.

Today a paved road encircles the original location of the prison.  If you look carefully you can see a series of white posts which demark the locations of the inner and outer fences.

Shelter for the prisoners was non-existent and they made their own from whatever materials they could find or had with them.  Called Shebangs, the minimal shelters were typically lean-tos, fashioned from tent material or ponchos.  Examples are recreated on the site where Cathy examines one.

Escape tunnels were attempted, though none succeeded.  The sites of the tunnels are marked, as this one with modern fences.  Others are denoted by concrete markers.

The dead from the prison were buried in trenches with the only record being kept by a young Union soldier, Dorrance Atwater, who was chosen by the camp commanding officer to do the record keeping.  Fearing the Confederates would never release the record, Atwater kept his own list which is the basis of identification of the 13,000 prisoners who died there.  Grave markers were installed after the prison closed in May 1865.  Clara Barton, founder of the Red Cross, with the help of Atwater, completed the installation of markers in July and August 1865. 


Today the cemetery contains nearly 20,000 interments. Administered by the National Park Service, Andersonville National Cemetery uses the same eligibility criteria as cemeteries administered by the National Cemetery Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).  And, as with all Civil War sites there are State monuments erected to honor those who fought and died here.  This is the Pennsylvania monument honoring 1,849 dead at Andersonville.

The New Jersey Monument recognizes the sacrifices of its veterans.

Now, to something a little bit lighter and more enjoyable.  You know Georgia is the Peach State, right?  Well what is more peachy than Peach Cobbler?  How about Fried Peach Pie?  We had been told by our campground hostess to stop at Lane Packing Co. for lunch.  Located just outside of Ft. Valley, in the heart of Middle Georgia, Lane Southern Orchards has been growing peaches and pecans for more than 100 years. The farm now totals almost 5000 acres.  Our Peach Cobbler and Fried Peach Pie are shown shortly before they were devoured!

While Cathy was walking Dixie at one of our rest stops driving to Chattanooga, she found this four-leaf clover.  We hope it is a sign of coming good luck for us!