...And Then Homeland Security Interrogated Us...

Yesterday Todd and I went on another covert op, um, canoe trip. This time we put in at Hope Dam in the Pawtuxet River. We paddled north to what we hoped would be the Scituate Reservoir. Due to our lack of map, we paddled through some creepy stretches of river that looked like alligators should have popped out of the water and swallowed us whole.

Here's Todd in the back of the canoe, paddling us upstream while I leisurely take a picture.

Scraggly tree in river.

Beej ready to fend off an alligator. Or a zombie. Or a zombie alligator.

Then we stumbled upon something entirely unexpected. The state of Rhode Island is relatively flat. It's been said that the highest point in RI is the landfill in Johnston. But if we're strictly sticking to non-man made points of elevation then the highest point in the state is Jerimoth Hill at 812 feet. As a result of living so close to sea level, we don't have waterfalls. But yesterday we stumbled upon one just south of the Scituate Reservoir. We tied the canoe to the side of the river, and went to check it out.

It's relatively flat, but still a water fall.

Just to the right of this waterfall we noticed a clearing in the woods, and went to check that out. We walked through the woods and ended up at the dam that holds Scituate Reservoir, the source of water for the City of Providence.

Todd is climbing up the stairs to the dam, as we blatantly ignored the no trespassing signs. There was a missing rail in the fence. If they really didn't want us to check it out, they should have repaired the fence. Today our calf muscles are sore from this climb, so I guess that's karma for ya.

Well, we could get prosecuted. At least we won't get shot. That would suck. For all the talk about no trespassing, there's a road that runs along the top of the dam. A road that any old shlub can drive on. We can't walk up the side of the dam, but we can drive our cars on top of it.

There are surveillance cameras on this building. Todd had joked that we'll get busted by Homeland because we climbed up the illegal staircase in the dam, took a bunch of pictures, then walked back down again within a few minutes.

Scituate Reservoir.

This is the view from the top of the stairs. If you look really close in the woods, you can see where I may have left my car. Somewhere near the horizon.

On the hike back to the canoe Todd found a Lady Slipper, an endangered flower.

Well, maybe we won't get interrogated by homeland. But just in case this blog is confiscated by the feds, you'll know why.