Humpback /  by Dave Hileman

Crossing the bay on the way to Santa Cruz we saw a huge pod of dolphin, maybe 2 or 300 hundred and out of the midst of them rose this Humpback Whale. So cool to see. 

Happy 46th Anniversary /  by Dave Hileman

Not everyone is willing to undertake the effort CJH makes to have us function well on these trips. Planning, food, navigation and more is always her area and it pays off so much while on the road. So blessed to have shared 46 years of married life, two excellent sons, special daughters-in-law and fabulous grandkids. Now we are seeing a small portion of the beautiful country together. We should be at Yosemite today with dinner at the lodge. 

Smells Great /  by Dave Hileman

The only significant trees on Santa Cruz Island are these Eucalyptus trees. They are huge and fragrant. The pack-in small campground is located under the trees. 

Lunch? /  by Dave Hileman

Having a mussel for lunch. This star fish has begun the 4 hour process to pull a small opening in the shell and then will eat scrub the shell completely clean. 

Scorpion Canyon /  by Dave Hileman

Not the nicest sounding of names but what a neat place. Channel Islands National Park is a gem. A string of five islands in Santa Monica Bay off-shore from Ventura, CA. You get there via a boat that takes 1.5 hours to the closest island. We only had 2 hours on the island because of high winds  we had to go on the later boat and did not get to stay all day. I also missed the Island Scrub Jay that is found no other place in the world but it was about a 2 hour hike one way! No time. Very beautiful place. Would love to return and explore more islands for longer times. 

I Built Several Models of this Car /  by Dave Hileman

Two or three static models and at least two slot cars. He was my favorite driver and this the most elegant of F-1 racers. He was the only American to win in F-1 with his own car he built and as the driver of the same car. He won in 1967 the most dangerous year. 

Orderly /  by Dave Hileman

I am always struck by the beauty and orderliness of these military cemeteries. This one on the Pacific Ocean on Point Loma a couple of miles from the Cabrillo Monument is especially beautiful. The breeze off the ocean kept it a perfect temperature. And the contrast between what these men and women were asked to do can't be more stark to the clean lines and order of this place and the chaos of the world they had to engage. Thanks is always inadequate. 

"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NLT

Sunset Looking East! /  by Dave Hileman

The mountains and the lack of clouds did not leave much of a sunset toward the Western sky, so you look East as the sun lowers and you get neat color. These are the Ajo Mountains and are a part of the Organ Pipe National Monument. It is on the extreme Southern boarder in Arizona. It is hot - and unique. Glad to have visited, glad I don't live here. 

Washita Battlefield National Historic Park /  by Dave Hileman

This is not a battle that most people would know if they had a moderate interest in history. But you ought to visit here. We were here in the evening - no one else anywhere around. It is in an isolated area of Western Oklahoma and you have to make the decision to go there because it is not on the way to anywhere else. It was not quiet. The wind blew in the tall grass and the trees. The Washita River, a small stream by Eastern standards, gurgled and splashed across some rocks and birds were singing ever step of the 2 mile hike. This was not a shinning moment in America's history. Custer - in a harsh winter storm - attacked and destroyed the village of Black Kettle. He killed Chief Black Kettle and between 13 and 103 warriors (his number is the high one, survivors the lower) and about a dozen women including Black Kettle's wife. Black Kettle and his wife were both were shot trying to cross the river. Many escaped to other nearby villages. Custer returned to the fort with 50 or so women and children captives. This all occurred about 9 years before Little Big Horn. The photo is the site of the village.

Piles of Gypsum /  by Dave Hileman

The White Sands National Monument is a unique place of more than 275 square miles of gypsum dunes and interesting adaptive vegetation. The dunes are open to walk anywhere which is really neat. And they sell Sand Coasters! You can sled down the dunes. We took a sunset tour with the ranger and learned more than I will retain. But the experience is unforgettable.  

Yucca at Dusk /  by Dave Hileman

This is one of the plants that not only live but thrive on the White Sands National Monument in Alamagordo, NM. What an amazing place. The sand is gypsum and this is by far the largest dunes of the kind in the world, over 275 square miles (number 2 has 2 square miles). It is soft, does not hold heat from the sun and is full of moisture deep underneath the surface. 

Random /  by Dave Hileman

Umbrellas and chairs at the North Carolina Museum of Art. There is no seeming arrangement of the chairs they are just where anyone left them but the umbrellas are fixed. So the chairs are often re-arranged to get in the shade or for the number of people in a group or around a table if they are having a picnic. Feels like life sometime. Chaos but around principles or purpose or reason, maybe unknown?

"For the lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth
and put everything in place.
He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos." Isaiah 45:18 NLT