Tornado in Friendsville!

A tornado ripped through Friendsville on Wednesday night and thankfully no one was injured! Luckily Jen & Keith didn't have any damage to their house, and Rob & Christie only suffered downed trees on their property. Mike & Agnes suffered the partial loss of the roof on a building they own (they rent it to folks that run the Friendly Cup coffee shop). We went to help drag around some trees and I got a few photos of the damage...

A view of downed trees in the Yough (view from Mike & Agnes's Riverside Hotel)

Keith and Curtis getting a piece of the roof out of a tree in front of the coffee shop.

Bears and more bears!

I ran some errands after work and got home late tonight and on my way over Piney Mountain (just a few miles from our house), there were two bear cubs that ran across the road in front of me and the mama bear was still on the other side of the road...so I sat there (in the car) to watch the cubs climb the tree and was hoping to get some photos...but didn't.

So, after I got home...even though it was late (almost 9), I decided that I still wanted to get some jogging in...so Luna and I hit the road. I only planned on going about 1/2 mile down the road (through a field) but decided to keep going a little further (into a wooded area). Just when Luna and I decided to turn around we heard a noise in the woods and since it was dark and there are always deer there...Luna and I both stepped toward the side of the road to see if we could see the deer...then we heard a grunt! Immediately, I knew it was a bear and yelled for Luna to stay with me and the mama bear ran out on the road after Luna...then Luna chased her into the woods (just off the side of the road) then came back when I called her...then the mama bear ran out again after Luna and again Luna chased her back in the woods and immediately came back to me. So...while making some loud noises...Luna and I walked slowly away and by then I could see and hear the cub climbing a nearby tree. Luna did such a good job! She listened very well in the midst of the excitement and I was proud of her for defending us! I should've known better to be jogging that late...and really should've been making more noise as we jogged along. Anyways, it didn't appear that Luna or the bear made any contact with each other...but hours later I noticed a little blood on the floor and Luna has a tiny bite mark or scratch on the tip of her tail :(

I wouldn't have gone jogging so late without her...and I'm SO happy that she was there to protect me! If I would've been alone...the mama probably would've come out after me...they were SO close to the side of the road! I've never been within a few feet of an angry bear before...it was pretty exciting. She was just protecting her babies...like any good mama would and I wish we've would've warned her that we were coming so she would've had time to get her cub to safety...and we would've walked right by and probably never even knew they had just been there moments before! For those of you that don't know, black bears (except some crazy ones up north) avoid contact w/humans and will only defend themselves and their cubs...they won't attack otherwise (again...there are some crazy ones in Canada that have stalked and killed people...but no accounts of that kind of activity anywhere near here). Our mistake was not making any noise to warn her and by the time she knew we were there we were just a few feet away!

Who would've thought I'd come across two mama bears in one night!!

She looks so sad in this picture...but she's actually heading to get a doggie treat.

As you can see...the bite on her tail isn't anything to be concerned with...THANK GOODNESS! You can barely see the blood at the tip of her tail.

more Climber Cole

Grandma Sue sent along her pictures from the festival.

He was SO excited to try the climbing wall..and he did very well!

All by himself!

more Climber Rylie

Rylie giving her little bro some help!

Roush, Shelby and Rylie "working" at the gates.

Donivan Family Reunion

We headed off to Clearville today for the Donivan Family Reunion (my grandmother's maiden name is Donivan...and it's Cole's middle name).

Rylie and her cousin Caitlyn doing some 'homework'.

Aunt Brenda and the kids during a candy toss.

Cole was excited about his goodies!

Luna and Chance

Look how much he's grown!

He's as tall as Luna already! At four months he's quickly approaching 50lbs!

Yough River Festival!

Saturday was the 2nd annual Youghiogheny River Festival which benefited the Yough River Watershed Association and American Whitewater Association. I helped do some of the organizing for the fest and we had really good attendance this year...not to mention lots of good food, vendors, and bluegrass music! Rylie spent the whole day w/me at the festival and had fun playing with her buddies (Ellie, Grace, and Maddie) and Cole spent most of the day w/Grandpa Rusty and then came later in the day w/Grandma and Grandpa. The kids had fun picking out their ducks for the rubber ducky race and had lots of fun playing with their friends. I was pretty busy most of the day and didn't get as many pictures as I had wanted of the fun we had....:( There's always next year!

DNR Fisheries Manager, Alan Klotz giving an electroshocking demonstration on Bear Creek.

It looks like Rylie's in the water...but she's on the shore. They wanted to get a good view of the electroshocking upstream.

The crowd gathered to check out the fish collected during the survey.

Festival Fun

The crowd checking out the fish caught during the electroshocking demonstration. Luna's daughter (Rivers) is the lab pictured!

Ellie, Rylie and Grace (Rivers is in the background)

Reed is the high climber on the right.

Climber Cole

When we were walking by the climbing wall, Cole decided that he wanted to try it out...so he did it! Uncle Buck and Christa arrived right as Cole started his climbing and they needed to talk to me, so I had to run and talk w/them...and I can't believe I didn't get a photo of him on the wall :( Grandma Sue probably did and I'll post those pics when she sends them along. Cole really loved the climbing wall!

Getting all geared up!

Climber Rylie

Rylie did great on the climbing wall!

Cole wanted to go again...but mommy wasn't going to pay for another round.

Festival fun w/Roush and Shelby

Craig (Ellie's dad) took her to get an airbrush tattoo...and she picked this one out all by herself!! How cute is that! Surprisingly, Rylie didn't want a tattoo...even though Grace and Ellie both got them! We'll see if that holds true when she turns 18!

Uncle Buck and Christa brought Roush and Shelby along to help them with their volunteer work, collecting money at the gates. Of course, Rylie and Cole wanted to help take care of the puppies while Uncle Buck and Christa did the hard work.

The crowd gathered in hopes of winning one of the raffle items!

Little Yough Music Fest!

We enjoyed another Friday night at the Little Yough Music Fest and were joined by our friends Ms. Carolyne (daycare teacher) and her kids Ellie and Reed. Grandma Sue was there too and we picked Grace up from school so she could join in the fun. Rylie and Cole absolutely LOVE going to the music fest and were so happy to have their good friends join them for the fun! Can't wait 'till next week!

My "speed" setting on the camera wasn't set...the girls were moving too fast! As usual, they were the first ones on the dance floor!

Ms. Carolyne joined in the dancing fun!

One of Cole's favorite parts of the music fest is trying to convince mommy or Grandma Sue to let him stick his feet in the water. Since he was having kind of a grumpy day, I let him have his way and get his feet wet. Of course, it didn't take long for the other kids to notice that Cole was gone and that he must be doing something fun that they were missing out on!