Our World: On the Road Again

The route of our trip out west in September.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them.)

This is my post for the Our World meme.  This meme is a second generation of My World Tuesday created by Klaus Peter and is hosted by five wonderful ladies.  To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.

As you’ve probably imagined, Betsy and I were on the road over the past couple of weeks.  We had a fabulous trip out west, and I want to share an overview of our 5,455 mile adventure.  The image above shows our trip on Google Earth.

We reached this Welcome Center in Colorado on September 13, 2012.

Our first major destination was Colorado Springs, where we visited Pikes Peak, the Garden of the Gods, and the Royal Gorge.  We also met with blog friends Sally and Jim.

Betsy at the Continental Divide at Milner Pass, Rocky Mountains National Park. September 17, 2012.

We then went on to the Rocky Mountain National Park, where we were able to drive the Old Fall River Road which had been closed by snow when we visited last year.  We also visited areas of the park that we didn’t get to last time.

Beehive Geyser, Yellowstone National Park. September 21, 2012.

Then it was off to Yellowstone.  We got to visit many sections of the park, and would be hard pressed to name a favorite area.  But in spite of all that we saw, we left many things unseen so we would have a good excuse to go back.  We also met blog friends Linda and Doug while at Yellowstone.

Betsy at Mount Rushmore. September 25, 2012.

We started home by way of Rapid City, South Dakota, where we visited Mount Rushmore and Custer State Park.

It was a marvelous trip, and I’m sure I’ll have much more to share in the days ahead as I work through some of the 2,000 pictures I took!

Click HERE to check on Betsy’s summary of our trip.  Her pictures are completely different.

Looking For Waterfalls in a Drought

Tomahawk Creek near Mountain View, Arkansas. August 5, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

Don’t get me wrong — Betsy and I had a wonderful time in Arkansas as we celebrated her birthday.  But I have to admit that our timing wasn’t the greatest.  We enjoy ‘collecting’ waterfalls, and we planned our trip — several months ago — in order to see some waterfalls in a part of Arkansas we hadn’t visited before.

But Arkansas is in the midst of a terrible drought.  We thought things were dry here in eastern Tennessee, but the situation is much worse in Arkansas.  We were amazed at how dry and brown the pastures and lawns appeared.

Tomahawk Creek, Mountain View, Arkansas. August 5, 2012.

All of the rivers we saw were low, and many of the creeks were bone dry.  The two above pictures show Tomahawk Creek near Mountain View, Arkansas.

We hiked the Lost Valley Trail of the Buffalo National River.  Although there was no water in Clark Creek which paralleled the trail, we enjoyed the hike.  Since there was no water in the creek, we were able to explore a natural bridge carved by the creek in greater detail than we could if water had been flowing (more about that in a later post).

Clark Creek, Lost Valley Trail, Buffalo National River, Arkansas. August 6, 2012.

We didn’t see the waterfalls we had hoped to see, but we did enjoy our trip very much.

An Almost-Super Moon

Moon off Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May 6, 2012.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

Betsy and I were in Simpsonville, South Carolina, on the Saturday night of the super moon.  Unfortunately there were heavy clouds and storms in Simpsonville that night, so we missed the super moon.

Fortunately Sunday night, at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, was beautiful and clear.  The not-quite-so-super moon put in an appearance over the ocean almost opposite our room.  I was able to get this picture from the balcony of our room.

Moonlight on the ocean off Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May 6, 2012.

We watched the moon rise in the sky and lay a silver stream of light on the surface of the water.

Moon rise at Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. May 6, 2012.

The sight was so incredibly beautiful that we both felt it made up for missing the super moon the night before.

This Is As Close As We Got

The spray from the Canadian Falls at Niagara as seen from Three Sisters Island, New York. September 10, 2011.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them once or twice.)

When Betsy and I visited my daughter Kelly and her husband in Buffalo last month, this is as close to Niagara Falls as we got.  The spray in the picture above is from the Canadian (Horseshoe) Falls.  The picture itself was taken upriver from the falls on a footbridge on Three Sisters Island.

There were all kinds of activities going on around the main entrance to Niagara Falls State Park, so we did not attempt to get to the American falls.  Instead we drove onto Goat Island in the Niagara Rivers and walked to Three Sisters Islands.  Three Sisters is land donated to the state by a man who had three daughters.

We had not been to Three Sisters before this trip, and thoroughly enjoyed our walk to the islands and the up-close views we got of the river as it rushed toward the Canadian Falls.  I’m sure there will be more pictures in the days ahead.

The Niagara River, Niagara Falls and Three Sisters Island. (Image from Google Earth).

This picture, taken from Google Earth, shows the location of Three Sisters relative to both the American and the Canadian Falls.

My Daughter, the Photographer

Kelly capturing the scenery at Whirlpool State Park, New York. September 10, 2011.

(This picture can be enlarged by clicking on it.  Clicking a second time will make it full-sized.)

Betsy and I went to Buffalo earlier this month to visit my daughter, Kelly, and her husband, Chuck.  Although they both have full-time jobs, Kelly is trying to get established as a photographer.

I’m not prejudiced, of course, but I think she’s pretty good — even if she does use a Nikon.  She’s shot several concerts, and was sent to San Diego in August by a record label to shoot a concert out there.  Kelly has already had a couple of shows, and she will have a show in Nashville in November, at the time of the CMA (Country Music Association) awards.

Chuck is a supportive husband in these endeavors, and serves as her manager.  They also make a pretty good-looking couple.  (Again I’m not the least bit prejudiced).

Kelly and Chuck, Whirlpool State Park, New York. September 10, 2011.

You can see a sample of Kelly’s work at

http://www.kellyeschultz.smugmug.com/.

On the Road Again

Highlights of our most recent trip. September, 2011.

(Note:  All pictures may be enlarged by clicking on them.)

Betsy and I hit the road again earlier this month.  Since we headed west in June, we decided to head north and east this time.  The main purpose of our trip was to visit my daughter and her husband near Buffalo, New York.

We had originally planned to go on to Vermont to see some of the covered bridges in that state, but hurricane Irene wiped out three of the bridges we wanted to see, plus several the roads we were going to travel.  So we basically decided to play it by ear and see what we could find.  After leaving Buffalo we drove toward Cleveland, Ohio, to visit Cuyahoga Valley National Park.  The park, which is relatively new, contains a waterfall we had wanted to see on an earlier trip, but did not.

A blog friend of Betsy’s had said that Hocking Hills State Park in Ohio was a wonderful place to hike and visit waterfalls.  We decided to stop there for a visit as well.
We had both wanted to visit Blackwater Falls in West Virginia, so we drove there, having an adventure on mountain roads to get there.  Blackwater State Park is absolutely beautiful, and we will definitely plan on going back so we can spend more time there.  After leaving Blackwater Falls we took a ride at the Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, where we traveled to the top of Balk Knob behind a steam engine.

Engine leaving the station at Cass Scenic Railroad State Park, West Virginia. September 16, 2011. (Photo by Betsy)

We also wanted to revisit the New River Gorge in West Virginia.  We had seen the upper New River last year, but this year we saw the New River Gorge Bridge and drove down to the bottom of gorge and back up.  We also visited several other parts of the New River National River before heading back home.
It was a wonderful trip, and I now have hundreds more pictures to organize and get ready to share.

You’ve been warned!

Dragonflies

Dragonfly at the Italian Garden on the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina. August 5, 2011.

While Betsy and I were in the Italian Garden at Biltmore, I was photographing water lilies when this dragonfly started flying around the blossoms I was trying to photograph.  When I moved to a different flower, it also moved.  I didn’t have the proper lens to get macro of the dragonfly, but I liked the way the wings looked in the sunlight, so I got the picture above.

Dragonfly at the Biltmore Estate, Asheville, North Carolina. August 5, 2011.

A little later I got him in a better pose.  I haven’t had much experience capturing critters like these, but I did like the way these pictures turned out.  I may have to try this again with the proper lens.

The Agate Bridge

The Agate Bridge at the Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. June 13, 2011.

The Agate Bridge in the Petrified Forest National Park is a 110-foot long petrified log across a gully washed out by centuries of flood waters.  The stone log, which was harder than the sandstone around it, resisted erosion and remained suspended as the softer rock beneath it washed away.

After the Petrified Forest National Monument was established in 1906, conservationists felt the bridge needed architectural support.  In 1911 masonry pillars were erected beneath the log.  In 1917 the pillars were replaced by the concrete span seen in the picture above.

Current National Park Service philosophy allows the natural forces to continue to act upon unusual features.  If it was discovered today, the Agate Bridge would be left in its natal state.  Even with the support placed under it nearly a century ago, the same forces that created the Agate Bridge will eventually cause it to fall.

For another perspective of the Agate Bridge click HERE.

Could That Be Snow?

Could that white on the mountain be snow? Taken on I-40 near Flagstaff, Arizona. June 14, 2011.

As we drove toward Flagstaff, Arizona, on the morning of June 14, I noticed some white on a mountain top ahead of us.  Could that possibly be snow?  Two days earlier we had been driving across Oklahoma and Texas and the temperature outside had been 102°.  That white must be some kind of fence or building.

I kept my eye on the mountain as we drove, and quite frankly I kept changing my mind.  “That is definitely snow!”  “That can’t be snow.”  My Beautiful Bride, the snow expert in the family, was busy on her laptop, so I didn’t say anything.

After another twenty miles or so, I finally told Betsy that I thought there was snow on top of the mountain ahead of us.  Of course, she thought I was out of my mind, but when she looked up, she, too, thought it was snow.  So, as any blogger would do, I pulled to the side of the road to get the picture above.  So what do you think, snow or no snow?

On Highway 89 east of Flagstaff. June 14, 2011.

When we got off the interstate and headed north, we got a little closer to the mountain.  That is definitely snow!

Looking back toward Flagstaff. June 14, 2011.

Betsy was definitely excited now.  When we were north of Flagstaff, we could look back at several peaks which still had a snow cover.  It was hard to believe we were looking at snow while driving across what the map said was desert.

Wide Open Spaces of Texas

The Texas landscape west of Amarillo. June 12, 2011.

One of the first decisions Betsy and I had to make when planning our trip west was to fly or to drive.  There were advantages and disadvantages to each means of travel, but since our Prius, Mrs. P, is comfortable and gets 50+ MPG, we decided to drive so we could see more of our great country.

I must admit that I found the different landscapes we saw on our recent trip to be fascinating.  I’ve spent most of my life in the Midwest, in the Carolinas and here in Tennessee.  The wide open spaces of Texas were amazing.  At times it seems you could see forever.  We thought Texas looked as dry as it is in fact.

We passed a corral around an old-fashioned windmill.  We didn’t see any cattle around what I assume is a water station, but it did help break up the horizon.

Trees with green leaves were so rare that we were excited to see the trees around those buildings in the distance.  If you look closely you can see wind turbines on the horizon to the left of the trees.

As we got closer to New Mexiico, we began to see some mesas on the horizon.  We also noticed a little more green in the landscape.

There were even more windmills now and then.