(no subject)
Today was most excellent. See, I work for the National Parks Conservation Association, so every year each department is expected to go to a National Park for the day. We call it (very imaginatively) our "Day in the Park." It's part of our Core Values effort - most specifically our core values of commitment to mission and teamwork. It's just a day for us to bond, enjoy the park, and remember what exactly we're raising money for.
So today we went to the C&O Canal. There are multiple C&O Canal sites, since the canal went from Cumberland to Harper's Ferry. It was supposed to connect the Potomac River to the Ohio River (at the mouth in...either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia), but it only made it half-way before the B&O Railroad put them completely out of business.
We were at the Great Falls section in Potomac, Maryland. It's great because you can look out over the rapids and falls, go hiking, and take a canal boat ride. We walked out to the falls, took a mule-drawn boat ride, got a talk from a ranger and then went for ice cream. Mules, by the way, are very cool animals. I know this because I was in the group that was planning it, and we did a little quiz on "mule trivia." For instance, I'm sure you know that you cross a horse and a donkey to get a mule, but did you know that the horse always has to be the mother, and the donkey the father? If you switch it you get a hinny. :D And donkeys were cheaper, more reliable, stronger (pound for pound they equal about 1.5 horsepower), more intelligent (an example given was that mules stop eating when they're full whereas horses will just eat everything in front of them, or that mules do not do things to please you. If they get tired, they stop, whereas horses would exhaust themselves trying to please the owner), and could work for up to twenty years if treated properly.
The boat was actually pulled by mules (each weighing about a thousand pounds), and we went through a canal lock. It was very cool.
But the coolest part was when my coworker spotted a baby deer down in the side of the canal, right under the grassy part that meets the edge of the water. It was tiny and its mother was not in sight, so what did we do? We got Lance to climb in the water, take Maryanna's shirt and grab the deer and pass it up to us so that Maryanna could put her in the woods on the other side, so she'd at least have a better chance of living. It was awesome, although the deer was not happy at being picked up...it made a very loud noise (I'd never heard deer make noise before, but guess what? They do!) and struggled a lot, but it couldn't have weighed more than ten pounds.
Maryanna wanted to take it to an animal rescue place that will take in any kind of animal, but if we were caught sneaking wildlife off of NPS property...it would not have been good. So we had to leave her in the woods, but at least we know she won't drown in the canal stream, poor thing.
She was adorable, though. Our VP took some awesome pictures of Lance in the water getting the poor thing out, so on Monday I'm going to get copies and post them, because it was so hilarious.
So yes, that was my day! And now I'm home early and I'm thinking about going to the mall and returning a dress and then maybe going to see a movie or something. I'm not entirely sure.
So today we went to the C&O Canal. There are multiple C&O Canal sites, since the canal went from Cumberland to Harper's Ferry. It was supposed to connect the Potomac River to the Ohio River (at the mouth in...either Pittsburgh or Philadelphia), but it only made it half-way before the B&O Railroad put them completely out of business.
We were at the Great Falls section in Potomac, Maryland. It's great because you can look out over the rapids and falls, go hiking, and take a canal boat ride. We walked out to the falls, took a mule-drawn boat ride, got a talk from a ranger and then went for ice cream. Mules, by the way, are very cool animals. I know this because I was in the group that was planning it, and we did a little quiz on "mule trivia." For instance, I'm sure you know that you cross a horse and a donkey to get a mule, but did you know that the horse always has to be the mother, and the donkey the father? If you switch it you get a hinny. :D And donkeys were cheaper, more reliable, stronger (pound for pound they equal about 1.5 horsepower), more intelligent (an example given was that mules stop eating when they're full whereas horses will just eat everything in front of them, or that mules do not do things to please you. If they get tired, they stop, whereas horses would exhaust themselves trying to please the owner), and could work for up to twenty years if treated properly.
The boat was actually pulled by mules (each weighing about a thousand pounds), and we went through a canal lock. It was very cool.
But the coolest part was when my coworker spotted a baby deer down in the side of the canal, right under the grassy part that meets the edge of the water. It was tiny and its mother was not in sight, so what did we do? We got Lance to climb in the water, take Maryanna's shirt and grab the deer and pass it up to us so that Maryanna could put her in the woods on the other side, so she'd at least have a better chance of living. It was awesome, although the deer was not happy at being picked up...it made a very loud noise (I'd never heard deer make noise before, but guess what? They do!) and struggled a lot, but it couldn't have weighed more than ten pounds.
Maryanna wanted to take it to an animal rescue place that will take in any kind of animal, but if we were caught sneaking wildlife off of NPS property...it would not have been good. So we had to leave her in the woods, but at least we know she won't drown in the canal stream, poor thing.
She was adorable, though. Our VP took some awesome pictures of Lance in the water getting the poor thing out, so on Monday I'm going to get copies and post them, because it was so hilarious.
So yes, that was my day! And now I'm home early and I'm thinking about going to the mall and returning a dress and then maybe going to see a movie or something. I'm not entirely sure.