End of the Road /  by Dave Hileman

Litterarly at the end of a road in West Texas and figuratively at the end of the road for the RV and the vehicle. I just wondered who thought it was a good idea to move here or did they have zero options and just end up in this most desolate place? Just for reference, it was 119 degrees here last week. Imagine.

Art Installation /  by Dave Hileman

A few miles out of Maria, Texas, on a lonely, nearly empty road, you find this “store.” It is a Prada mook up complete with product on the shelves and signage. Nothing in view for miles. The store is just a prop, no working doors or sales staff et al just a contemporary expression of art in the 21st century.

Inside Out /  by Dave Hileman

Most of the cliff dwellings you can only see from the out side or peek in through a door, this one is taken inside the dwelling. You can see holes where a second story and a third story floor would have been. Unique opportunity.

Three Quarter of a Century Mark /  by Dave Hileman

Getting old but still loving every day. Cindy shot this of me getting up from a photo shot I was taking along a stream bed in Maine just a couple of years ago. Planning is ongoing for the fall trip with about a dozen more parks planned.

Crisscross /  by Dave Hileman

Still dealing with the injured finger yet with a bit of improvement. Therefore, not much writing as I post already edited photos. This is on a stream in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.

Monument Valley Horseplay /  by Dave Hileman

The Indians of the Navajo Nation were adapt at offering the tourists opportunities for experiences. One man had this beautiful horse out on a small promontory where you could have your photo taken. The young man with the family that we were on our tour with chose to go. I was able- the family paid, to take his photo as well as several with his family. Neat memory. I would love to have stood a bit more to my right but that was not possible so I opted to get the distant landmark separated from the subject.

Humpback Bridge /  by Dave Hileman

This is a beautiful covered bridge with an interesting feature, the hump in the bridge midway across. The bridge is just a couple minutes off I-64 near the WV -Virginia line. Well worth the five minutes. I have injured my finger so typing and work are limited. I will write more about the bridge later.

Acorn /  by Dave Hileman

Thought I would sneak in another shot of my new favorite Western bird, the Acorn Woodpecker. I saw my first one ever at Big Bend NP but after that saw a dozen or more. This one was at Gila Cliff Dwellings in New Mexico

Inspiration /  by Dave Hileman

Just in case you wondered where Mr. Lucas got his ideas for the Star Wars characters, may I suggest Beartown State Park in West Virginia. Around every corner you will encounter a new idea.

Relic /  by Dave Hileman

This massive tower was used to fill the coal tender for steam locomotives. It stands along the C&O in Ronceverte, WV. The RR station is in the distance along with an abandoned bridge over the tracks. If you look very closely you might see a “hobo” as they were called when this tower was operational standing along the tracks.

A Glorious Fourth /  by Dave Hileman

No fireworks photo this year, no sparklers, no picnic. We get the basics of celebration. We see in this simple photo symbols of faith, work, sacrifice - without which there would be no America. We see ideals embodied by those who strived to live in freedom and self-reliance. We see in the community Church, generosity and grace and open arms - hallmarks of America. We see in the tiny flags fluttering over some of the graves service to the last devotion. America is worth preserving, worth the hard work and sacrifice and worth holding tight to a Constitution that emerged from the Declaration of Independence we celebrate today that allows all of us to strive for a “more perfect union,” if I may borrow words from Abraham Lincoln. God Bless.

160 Years Ago Today /  by Dave Hileman

This peaceful pastoral scene was full of thunder, smoke, screams, yells, flashing metal and booming guns as the Army of Northern Virginia under Lee gave one last desperate charge across these fields to dislodge the Army of the Potomac led by Meade and pull a victory out of the encounter at Gettysburg.

“…that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

—Abraham Lincoln

The small marker on the other side of the stone wall is the furtherest the North Carolina troops advanced

The Pennsylvania Monument lies at the heart of the Union line