Bryant Pond Telephone Company

May 21, 2011 - Riggs' Anniversary Trip
As you travel, it is amazing what you can see if you take "The Road Less Traveled".....through Woodstock, ME!

Augusta State House

May 21, 2011 Riggs' 25th Anniversary Trip

We traveled from Rockland, ME to Jefferson, NH on the 21st.  We just took our time and on the way we passed through Augusta, the state capital of Maine.  It was Saturday so the state house wasn't open but we walked around enjoying the sunshine and took a few pictures.

My First Lobster!

May 20, 2011

Having grown up in the "sticks" of the Missouri Ozarks, I had never eaten lobster.  For one thing, crawdads are something you fish with and a crawdad THAT size would scare all the fish out of the creek!!!  Tami and I determined that on our anniversary trip we were gonna eat at a real, bona fide lobster pound.  After researching and checking places that were open (the lobster pounds apparently are seasonal) we decided to try the "Lobster Pound Restaurant" in Lincolnville, ME on Penobscot Bay.  We weren't disappointed!  My lobster was caught in the morning and was on my plate that afternoon.  I will have to say that it was some of the best tasting meat I have ever had!  We found out there is no comparison between seafood on the coast and seafood in the mid-west...somehow it just loses something coming over the mountain.  So...Just scroll down through these pictures and help me savor this Maine Lobster!

On the main drag in Lincolnville, ME

Bon Voyage!

Checking to see if it's still alive!

And you thought those were for cracking pecans...!!

I wasn't brave enough to try the part inside the body...

The end of a tasty meal!

Tami wasn't sure she would like the lobster so she ordered scallops and crab meat...I did share the lobster with her

Is There Something Wrong With This Picture?

The story you are about to read is true...the company names and LS numbers have been paint-shopped out to protect the guilty.

We were surveying a lot in a certain city in the western Ozarks when...we found this perplexing scenario.  What you see below is plastic ID caps on the top of 5/8" rebars that have been driven in the ground to mark a lot corner.  It is required under Missouri Minimum Standards for Boundary Surveys that markers are identified with the Surveyors LS# that set the markers.

We found the marker on the bottom first and while we were digging around it...we uncovered the other one!  Now it wouldn't be AS bad if they were set by different surveyors...you've heard of the "pincushion effect"...but they weren't.  The same surveyor set both of them to mark the same lot corner!  I know that this could probably be blamed on a slack field crew or forgetfulness or any number of things but ultimately the PLS is the one large and in charge!

1912 Sandstone - Wright County MO

Found this sandstone today at the SW corner, Lot 7, NW1/4, Section 4, T29N, R13W 5th P.M.  Doug Richardson is tying the corner in with GPS.  We also found the stumpholes of the two witness trees.

 Below are scans (with my highlighting and scribbling) of the County Surveyors Record Book where this survey was recorded.  As you can see, I have to interpret County Surveyor Williams handwriting and relate this to my search on the ground.

I have highlighted below the particular corner that we found today.  The distances are in links so you need to multiply by .66 to get the distance in feet/10ths feet.  There are 100 links in a chain so a chain is...66 feet.

Acadia National Park

May 20, 2011 - Riggs' Anniversary Trip

With the weather less than perfect, Tami and I visited Acadia National Park in Downeast Maine.  There was lots of fog, a little rain but still spectacularly beautiful!

Beaver Dam Pond

Bridge for one of the Carriage Roads built by John D. Rockefeller, Jr.

Another Carriage Road bridge

"Tow Mater"

May 20, 2011
As we were driving around in Rockland ME... lo-and-behold... there was Mater of "Cars" fame!  Pretty famous with the kids since it's about all you see in the toy section of Wally World.  Of course we had to stop and check him out and all the other nice rigs.

Deputy United States Surveyor Lashley

Ran across this picture of Dan Lashley (1947-2008) from our Surveyors Rendezvous in 2004.  Dan had taken up the mantle of Norman Brown, portraying a Deputy United States Surveyor and expounding on the methods of the first surveyors in Missouri.  The brass contraption on his front is a sextant - used to determine latitude.  Dan's surveying savvy and insight are greatly missed by those of us in the surveying profession.

Rockland Breakwater Light

May 20, 2011
As you can see from the video below, it was foggy when we chose to go to the Rockland Breakwater Light.  Actually...it was foggy for a lot of our anniversary trip but you can't plan the weather!

This is the bottom line...we never made it all the way out to the Light.  It was almost dark by the time we started...it was over three/quarters of a mile walk out to it...and because of extenuating circumstances we turned back after about a half-a-mile.  It was very rough walking but so tranquil and peaceful with the foghorns and the water birds calling.  I must have some of the sea in my blood because I'm ready to go back to the Maine coast! Check out the link above and see the satellite view in Google Maps

Owls Head Light

Well...here I am...blogging about our anniversary trip last year!  Maybe I'll finish by the time our 30th rolls around!

While we were in Rockland ME, we drove out to the Owls Head Light in West Penobscot Bay at the entrance to Rockland Harbor.  The station was established in 1825 and the present lighthouse was built in 1852.  It is presently in operation as you can see (and hear) in the video and the foghorn just added to the atmosphere of the day.  Tami and I watched this video and got homesick to go back to Maine!  Go figure!  This foghorn is at least three miles as the crow flies from  the Berry Manor Inn but we could hear it very plainly in our room with the windows slightly opened.  When you're standing within thirty feet of it, it jars your teeth!!

And last but not least...the grave of Spot, The Lighthouse Dog...