Virtual Hike to Oldtown, Maryland

The next destination on my Virtual Hike was Oldtown, Maryland.

virginia, west virginia, maryland, Oldtown, Kent, virtual hike
The previous destination on my virtual hike was Harpers Ferry, West Virginia.

The virtual hike route went through areas in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland on the way to Oldtown.

virginia, west virginia, maryland, Oldtown, Kent, virtual hike
The route passed through the town of Charles Town, West Virginia on the way to Virginia, and then wandered back and forth across the border with Virginia.

virginia, west virginia, maryland, Oldtown, Kent, virtual hike
Much of the route was along smaller roads through the country.

virginia, west virginia, maryland, Oldtown, Kent, virtual hike
As the route progressed toward Oldtown it started following some hiking trails and again went along the route of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal.

virginia, west virginia, maryland, Oldtown, Kent, virtual hike
The virtual hike finally made it to Oldtown, Maryland. The town was started with the establishment of a trading post on the site of an abandoned Shawnee village.

My 7th Great Grandfather Absalom Kent moved there between 1760 and 1763 and was killed there in 1765 by the Shawnee. More about my 6th Great Grandfather, Absalom Kent JR., in a later Virtual Hike post but he would have lived in Oldtown when he was young before moving further west. He was born in Virginia.

There is much more that I need to research on this branch of the family.

The next destination on my Virtual Hike is where another important family event took place.

I have been setting shorter distances between destinations for better motivation for my daily walking and so far it has been working. I have been walking more each day and have made good progress on my Virtual Hike. I am still a few stops behind on my posts.

I am now heading west and have some interesting stops planned that are family or history related.

Steven

Images in this post are from Google Maps and Street View

Posted in Blog, Culture, History, Travel, Virtual Hike | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Carpenter Bees

Two weeks ago I helped clean up a downed tree and when looking through the pictures I found something interesting. See: Windy Sunday

valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta), female bee, black beeDo you see the black spot just above the tree and roof? I was taking a picture of where the trunk of the tree snapped, and captured this little black spot.

valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta), female bee, black beeI zoomed in and saw that it was a bee. Since I have seen these bees around, I knew that it was a female Valley Carpenter Bee (Xylocopa varipuncta).

valley carpenter bee (Xylocopa varipuncta), female bee, black bee, rose gardenHere is a Valley Carpenter Bee on a rose at the Community Rose Garden. I have also seen them on my roses. The pictures of the male shown below are from my rose garden.

This is a large bee and usually pretty easy to spot. However, they are dull compared to a male Valley Carpenter Bee.

Valley Carpenter Bee, Rose Bushes, Pollinators, Xylocopa varipunctaI like to call this a Golden Snitch Bee. It is really cool when I see one flying around. They zip around a lot and it is hard to get a good picture.

Valley Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa varipuncta, pollination, rose bushes, gold bee, snitchThis one is a bit blurry, but shows some pretty good detail of the wings and antenna.

It is always cool to watch the bees zip around the garden.

Steven

Posted in Animals, Flowers, Nature | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment