Rails to trails

I walked today, about 3 miles which took me an hour.  That's about what Ara and I did earlier in the week.   I had intended to walk yesterday and then visit the depot which is only open Wed., Sat. and Sun., but I had driven halfway to the trailhead before realizing I was wearing Birkenstocks, so I just skipped it.

It was a beautiful day and there were quite a few folks out walking as well as biking.  Even so, I had stretches of trail all to myself and it is a very peaceful walk.  I've been told it goes all the way to the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie, and I'm not sure but would imagine that is 40 or 50 miles of trail, round trip.

I took several pictures:  (click to enlarge)

The pond winds around and I couldn't see either end of it.  The stuff floating in the water is lily pads.  I thought the box on the pole might be a birdhouse but I got close enough to read the sign, and these are bat boxes, a sustainable way to keep the insect population down.

More pictures of the woods on either side of the trail as well as the pond.  

Back at the depot.

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I remember as a child riding the train to my grandparents' farm in Kentucky and every little station we pulled through had those old wagons ready to pile on the luggage and freight for that stop.  They were usually pulled by one person and sometimes the luggage seemed to be stacked sky-high.

That's all I've done for today, and no doubt all I'm going to do except to pack for our weekend trip down to the Washington, DC area.  We will visit my aunt who lives in Northern Virginia, one of my mother's sisters, who just turned 86 a week ago.  I have always been close to her but in the last few years just couldn't do the drive into the metro DC area.  My son arranged for us to take the train from NY, and we will be joined first by two nieces (Katy and Stephanie) at Penn Station, then Ara at Philadelphia, and on to Baltimore near the airport.  My son Steve is in for a conference near the Baltimore airport (BWI) and we will be joining up with him tomorrow evening.  We'll stay at a hotel in that area and will all take the train into DC and Northern VA on Saturday.   It should be a noisy and loving gathering, and I'm so excited about it.  My oldest son, Mike, has arranged the entire thing as well as my own trip to NY and back.  He is one of the most generous and thoughtful people I know!