Perfect.
On the Cliff Trail /
Once again at Santa Cruz at Channel Islands NP.
Scorpion Canyon /
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 /
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.
Nice Neighborhood /
This is the old lighthouse at Point Loma near San Diego, California. To the east a few of the city, to the west, the Pacific. Nice place.
Flowers @ Leo Cabrillo /
Leo was the side kick of the Cisco Kid. You are officially old if you watched that show!. We stayed two nights in a state park he was instrumental is securing. These flowers are along a hillside trail.
Orderly /
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
Pacific Surveillance /
Just off the high ridge at Point Loma - the Cabrillo National Monument - the sky is patrolled by this squadron of highly-trained amphibious assault force. (Aided by the Naval base nearby.)
Sunset Looking East! /
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.
Pyrrhuloxia /
Sure, you try and pronounce it. Great new bird found in the Organ Pipe National Monument. Lots more on that hike later.
Washita Battlefield National Historic Park /
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 /
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 /
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 /
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
Candy Store Memories /
We met Mike a native of Boston's North End. He was about 50 and he was interested in why I was taking photographs of what he saw everyday. So we chatted and then he started pointing out places he lived and played. We passed this door and he said that was the candy store and "when I got a quarter I went straight here." Sadly it is closed and has been for 20 years but his memory is fresh.
Obelisk /
These type of monuments like this one on Bunker Hill a part of the Boston National Historical Park were very popular at one point in the America's history. The obelisks were modeled after classical monuments. The most famous in the US is likely the Washington Monument.
Old North Church /
It is here in Boston that the lanterns were hung to indicate that the British were moving out of the city by the water route. It is a beautiful place with lots of history. The two brass chandeliers were hung in 1724 and used for the first time at Christmas that year. They are still in use today. Old North Church is one of several buildings that are a part of the Boston National Historical Park.
Comet Falls /
We were in Washington state three or four years ago and were able to visit Mt. Rainier National Park. The centerpiece of the park is the magnificent mountain that seems to loom over every vista but there is so much more. This was a short hike of about 2 miles with an excellent waterfall at the end. Comet Falls shoots off the side of a mountain and then crashes down in a cascade of water over three or four smaller drops. These two occur near the bottom.
HWL /
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow did most of his writing in the house both as a lodger before he owned it and owner after he purchased it, when he made use of this room as his study. He was a popular poet, author, professor (knew 11 languages) friend of nearly every 19th century writer of note and lived in this house that was George Washington's Headquarters during the siege of Boston.
Safe /
This lighthouse is along the ocean drive in Oregon. Just enchanting scenery. It still works and it is welcome on the often fog bound coast.
