The road to Alaska is an adventure by itself. Few travelers, few restaurants, fewer gas stations and even fewer places you “MIGHT” want to use a restroom. But what scenery, what mountains, what a road. Highly recommended. Moose was one of several we spied along the road, thankfully not in the road.
Richmond, Virginia /
A beautiful city with the James River’s white water rapids flowing through the center. I-95 bridge with pillars underneath from the bridge built before the Civil War.
Rugged /
The Rough Riders would be at home here and that is appropriate because this is Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit in North Dakota. Not many people make the extra drive to the north unit after visiting the unit nearer to the Interstate, they are missing a treat. The expansive views, the bison and the wildflowers, the sheer size of the landscape before you - even one is reason enough to make the drive.
Pretty ... and Common /
The Bluebird is a success story. After years of decline because of a reduction in nesting sites, the Bluebird made a stunning return to the landscape after thousands of nesting boxes were set up by volunteers across the land. Read more here: https://www.wildcommons.media/blog/bluebird-man-bluebird-conservation-success
One more... /
from the Fourth. The day was pretty perfect at Isle of Palms, SC, and the beach goers were set up early for good spots. Nice breeze, low 90’s and lots of sunshine. Felt great in the shade.
And Four More /
What a day on the beach at Isle of Palms. I was there for about an hour, plus a walk early morning and late evening to watch fireworks. In between we had pancakes for breakfast, hot dogs on the deck of the Owners Beach House and hamburgers & corn in our house before the fireworks. All American Day for sure. Plus, there was a fly-over along the coast with jets, army transport planes, helicopters and the War Birds, old WWII era planes. I did not know this was occurring so I missed the jets and the transport and was caught on the beach with my very wide angle lens, not ideal for the shot but I got a couple of the old planes. People on the beach had scores of American flag to wave at the planes. Next time I will be ready.
Sunday Post: Photo is from the Alaska near Homer /
July 4th /
Happy 250th.
Lots of challenges on the horizon - will we keep the values that provided for this amazing country or squander them because we don’t know human nature nor history.
Photo is from the Yorktown harbor where the new nation was secured.
Almost the Fourth /
For the Third of July we remember the end of the battle of Gettysburg and the beginning of the end of the Civil War. The flag is from Glacier National Park on Two Medicine Lake.
Nearly the Fourth /
As we approach the Fourth, let’s celebrate the Second with the decorations at the Owners Club at Wild Dunes. Please note the giant blob emerging from the left. I was able to defeat it in hand-to-hand combat. Therefore Jill was safe. Whew.
Pharaoh? /
This rock formation along a hike in the Oak Creek Canyon south of Flagstaff, AZ, reminded me of a mummy that I saw at the British Museum in London. It had a gold band for the beard of the Pharaoh and the wrapped head of course.
Ready for a Close Up /
This is Broken Arch in Arches National Park. Easy to see how it got its name. It is an easy 2.5 or 3 mile circuit hike that you start and end in the last parking area for the campground. Not nearly as busy as most of the park. Highly recommend.
Down East Maine /
The coast changes dramatically once you head east from Portland. Now the coastline is rough, rocky and wild. Great swaths of pine forrest come to the edge of the rocks and often are hit with spray from the crashing waves. Just beautiful.
Sunday Post: Photo is from the Painted Desert in Arizona /
Hiking in Arches /
This trail leads to three arches you cannot see from the highway. It is a lightly visited part of the park that you access from the campground restroom area. There is parking for four or five vehicles. There is little shade on this hike but the day’s temperatures were pleasant. Broken Arch was the main destination for the hike, about 3 miles in total.
Wide Open Spaces /
West Texas feels like the Texas of the old movies, space, wind, wildness and beauty. Take a deep breath.
Monet- ish? /
I really loved this photo taken at Zion National Park along the Weeping Rock Trail. Magical colors and textures. It just feels like the style of Claude Monet, “known for Impressionism that emphasizes capturing light, texture and color in a momentary view of a scene, often painted en plein air.”
Linn Cove Viaduct /
Bridges are an important part of the Blue Ridge Parkway’s design concept. There are 176 bridges on the parkway: 10% of all the road bridges in the National Park Service. Bridges are the largest structures on the parkway and have to be functional in addition to visually appropriate.
Here the beautiful roadway seems to vanish in the mist. From an article on the LCV:
The Linn Cove Viaduct is the most famous bridge on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Design began on the Linn Cove Viaduct in the late 1970s. The challenge was to complete the final section of the parkway around the natural environment of Grandfather Mountain without damaging it. This famous bridge is 1,234 feet long and was completed without a single structural problem. There was not one crack in any of the pre-cast concrete segments.
The Linn Cove Viaduct was completed in 1982 and then work began on curbing and grading the roadway around it. The viaduct was opened to the public in 1987 completing the 469-mile Blue Ridge Parkway.
Tularosa Mogollon /
That is the name given by archeologists for the people and the style of pottery they made that lived in these cliff dwellings, the Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument. To get to this remote part of New Mexico is a bit of a detour - it is over an hour north of Silver City NM at the literal “end of the road.” And it is a winding mountain road as well. These were not the only people to live in the area or to use the cliffs for protected living but they were the ones who built the dwellings that you can walk through today. It is also the immediate area where Geronimo the Apache leader was likely born. He was born about 1829 died 1909 and was the last Apache leader to surrender to the US.
Bubble /
This is a view of North Bubble from the trail that circles Jordan Pond just a short distance from where the trail splits off toward the Jordan Pond House and Popovers! A favorite spot and easy 2 mile walk around the lake. Up to the Bubbles, North and South, not quite so easy.
