Denise Goldberg's blog

Home, tired...

2012-02-01T21:57:00.001-05:00

I'm home from my too quick (as always!) wander. I need to catch up on sleep, and I need to snap back into this time zone. I know that will take time; I seem to adjust much more quickly on the east to west time change.

From yesterday's Salton Sea sunset...

To the airport

2012-02-01T10:30:00.000-05:00

Denise & I woke up really early this morning. Our flight was at 6:55 AM, and Denise thought it might be a good idea to leave herself some extra time to find the airport. It's a good thing she did that or we might still be on the ground!

Oh! I just looked out of the window. We're just above a layer of bright white clouds with visible ground beyond the edges. Very pretty.

But back to our airport adventures... Denise looked at a map, then she decided to print directions from Google Maps. Somehow she didn't realize that the turn towards the airport just after we exited from I-10 was backwards. So we headed toward the airport on I-10, exited, turned left (following the directions), and drove the equivalent of two exits on the freeway backwards! No, the car moving in a forward direction, but the direction was backwards! Luckily there was a gas station that was open, so Denise stopped to ask directions. Yikes! We need to go do that again, turning the right way this time. At the airport we followed the signs for the rental car return. And you know what? The last sign we saw was leading out of the airport. There should have been another sign signaling a right turn into the return area, but there wasn't anything visible. We passed the turn, then Denise turned around again. Luckily the sign was easy to see coming from the other direction. It's funny, the person checking us in said that other customers had complained about the lack of signs. He also said when the workers passed that on to the people in charge of signs they said there wasn't a problem. Huh?

The Palm Springs airport is small, quiet, calm, and hidden in plain sight. Denise said she expected to see signs to help her find the airport. I saw two signs - both within a block of the airport. That's really silly, isn't it?

We're on our first airplane right now, heading to Dallas. I told Denise she should take a nap because she really didn't get enough sleep last night. She doesn't seem to be listening though. Maybe later...
--- Rover

Posted from the air, just east of Palm Srpings

Back to the Salton Sea

2012-01-31T23:36:00.000-05:00

Today was a day in two pieces - a morning garden wander, and an afternoon shared (re)visit to the Salton Sea.

I started with a visit to the Moorten Botanical Garden. It's the home of many different varieties of cactus and desert plants. When I arrived just after 10 for a 10 AM opening, it was still closed. As I was peering through the gate the owner was walking by. I asked if the garden was open today and received a "yes, I'm just moving slowly today". I walked the garden paths twice, absorbing the many different looks of cactus. I saw remnants of water and sprinklers, so I asked if the spiky plants are watered. The answer? Yes; many of the cactus in the garden were not local to this desert. They are watered twice a week. Very interesting.

The afternoon was spent with a "meet in person for the first time" friend. After tossing around some local to Palm Springs photo locations we decided to head to the Salton Sea. We traversed the east side of the lake, stopping at several pieces of the Salton Sea State Recreation Area, wandering in other abandoned-feeling places too. A few clouds dropped in just in time for a spectacular sunset.

Thanks for sharing my day Lori.

Tomorrow? It's a two plane travel day with an early start.

A birder's paradise

2012-01-30T23:45:00.000-05:00

I wonder where the day went. I headed out a bit after 8 this morning, and it was after 5 when I walked back into my room. Hmm... I didn't cover that much ground, I just circled the Salton Sea. The lake is 35 miles long with a width that varies to a maximum of 15 miles. If I had just driven to and around the lake it would (should?) have taken a lot less time. I don't think I know how to stop looking around, finding interesting sights, and just stopping. Feeding my curiosity takes time!

It took me a while to realize the clumps of salt in the water reminded me of Badwater in Death Valley. The Salton Sea is second to Death Valley in terms of elevation. Badwater has the lowest elevation in North America; the Salton Sea is the second lowest.

I started down the west side of the sea, stopping first at the Salton Sea State Recreation area. A quick conversation with a volunteer in the visitor center fueled my wandering thoughts. I walked, I listened to the birds, I played with my camera. I drove a bit further, walked, listened, played.

A few thoughts from my wanders
...the Salton Sea is a birder's paradise. I was awed by the number of birds on the shore, one the water, flying, singing.
...the "beach" is incredibly hard for walking. There was sand far from the water; the close to the water piece seemed to be made up of shells or more likely little pieces of fish skeletons. Dead fish lined the edge of the beach; in some places they were also floating in the water.
...following unnamed roads based general direction and a gut instinct (instead of following the safe route of numbered roads) can be a good thing
...the Salton Sea is on my list of "must return to" places.

On top of the world

2012-01-29T23:50:00.000-05:00

Denise was going to write today but then she said that words weren't flowing for her. I always like playing with words; I'm happy to write again! When we got to the high point of our last hike today, there were two other people there with us. One of them got a phone call, and I heard him tell the caller that he was "on top of the world". Denise & I were there too!

We started today by heading in the wrong direction to find the first trailhead. I told Denise she should look at the map before we started driving, but she didn't listen. it didn't really matter though; we only drove a few miles to the west when we needed to head east. The Fortynine Palms Oasis was waiting for us. We hiked up and up, then down to find the oasis. Just before we got to the end of the trail we could see the tops of tall palm trees ahead. Wow, what a contrast - from desert to tall green palm trees, fan palms, so green. It was an out and back hike, so we again headed up and up before turning downhill again.

I bounce along the trail in bare paws, but Denise wears hiking shoes. We saw two women wearing those funny barefoot running shoes - you know, the kind with toes, like this:Denise doesn't think she could wear these on smooth ground, and these women were hiking on uneven and rocky terrain. One was on the Fortynine Palms trail, and the other on the Ryan Mountain trail. Neither of those trails were flat!

Before we moved on to hike up a mountain we made a quick stop at the Arch Rock Nature trail. That was a very short loop that started in the White Tank campground. Wow - those campsites were really tiny. There was barely enough room to park a car plus pitch a tent. There were lots of interestingly shaped rocks on that trail. It was a nice break between our long walks.

Then, it was time to walk up Ryan Mountain. The trail went up, and up, over rock steps in places, some smooth terrain, with quite a bit of uneven footing. Up, around a corner, up again, ending at the top of the 5th highest peak in the park. Of course the fact that we walked a mile and a half uphill meant that we needed to walk down for the same distance. That was a good end to our first (but not last) visit to Joshua Tree, a good hike, a feeling that we were on top of the world.
--- Rover

A change in lodging

2012-01-29T18:57:00.000-05:00

After a full day's wander at Joshua Tree and a drive back to Palm Desert, I went to check into my hotel for the next three nights. There was a sign posted at the front desk saying that the power would be out from 1 AM to 6 AM (tonight) because of some work the power company had scheduled. Yikes!

I know, I know, I should be sleeping during those hours. I really didn't like the thought of waking up in the middle of night to find I had no power though. The hotel was handing out flashlights, but...

I asked if there was another hotel close in the area, and I was told that the Homewood Suites just two blocks away had rooms. My reservation was at a Hampton Inn, both hotels owned by Hilton. While I drove the two blocks, the desk clerk at the Hampton Inn called the Homewood Suites with information from my reservation. Ah, nice - the price I was quoted for my reservation at the Hampton Inn was honored here too.

Meeting Joshua Tree

2012-01-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

Denise was right when she thought that this trip won't be our last visit to Joshua Tree National Park. What a beautiful place!

Our first stop was at the visitor center to get some information on different trails for wandering. The person we were talking with kept pointing to photos in a book, and you know Denise and books, don't you? Yes, she bought a copy to take with us.

We spent the day wandering in the park, driving, stopping, walking, absorbing desert beauty. Denise thought we'd do a long hike and some short hikes. Somehow we ended up doing lots of short hikes; I think tomorrow will be a day for a couple of the longer trails.

We drove to Keys View, a high point in the park with views to the south. We could see the Salton Sea, the San Andreas Fault, and Palm Springs from there. I was riding in the camera pack but I kept the zipper cracked so I could see the view. The wind was so strong that Denise was having trouble standing still; I figured would have flown away if I had tried to walk in that wind!

Did you know that Joshua Tree National Park lives in two different deserts? We were in both the Mojave Desert and the Sonoran Desert today.

we walked the Cholla Cactus Garden nature trail late in the afternoon. There was a big warning sign at the trail entrance warning us not to touch the cactus. It looked spiky, but it appears that it is both spiky and prickly with the additional factor of having hooks on the end of the spikes. Here's a description from the brochure the park service provided:

Be on guard that you do not walk too close to the cholla cactus. At the slightest touch, the spines will penetrate your flesh and are extracted only with difficulty and pain.

The cactus spines were shiny in the late afternoon light, very pretty.

Tomorrow will be another Joshua Tree day.
--- Rover

Just a bit further...

2012-01-27T21:56:00.001-05:00

We landed in Palm Springs in sunshine and warmth. The temperature was comfy, in the 70s. Denise was surprised that the airport is an open air place. There are pieces of buildings, but the secured central area is open to the outside air. Very cool.

Denise picked up the rental car, went out to the lot and turned right around to ask for a different car. Funny thing is, apparently Denise is the second person today who didn't want that particular car. I though it was a nice car but Denise said it was too big. The person at the Hertz counter thought maybe they had misclassified the car class; it just didn't feel like a mid-sized car. We got a Volkswagen Jetta instead. That works quite nicely, and Denise had a conversation about photography with two of the people working at Hertz while they were finding us a better car.

We headed north and a little bit west before turning east to head towards Joshua Tree. Just before we got to I-10 there were lots and lots of windmills. I just went looking for information and found a web page titled Palm Springs wind energy. The web page says that there are more than are 4000 windmills in the wind farm on the San Gorgonio Mountain Pass in the San Bernadino Mountains. Wow!

We ended our day in Twentynine Palms. Tonight should be an early sleep night. Tomorrow? We'll be wandering in Joshua Tree National Park.
--- Rover

Traveling

2012-01-27T16:00:00.002-05:00

Early morning, dark, pouring rain...

It was early enough that while there was traffic it was moving at a good rate of speed. I was lucky; there was enough of a lull in the rain that I was able to move from my car to the shuttle bus that would take me to the airport without getting soaked.

It's a two plane day, Boston to Dallas, Dallas to Palm Springs. I briefly considered trying to get a non-stop flight to LA then driving from there. I think that might have taken slightly less time than the two-plane hop, but with good connections I figured I'd stay in the air.

After flying for a bit over an hour and a half the pilot announced that we are over Ohio. The only other state I caught on the flight plan is Arkansas, one of the five remaining states in the country that I have yet to set foot in. One of these days I'll need to plan some trips to touch those states, hopefully in two sets of two plus a later lone state trip. This year? I suspect not, but you never know. I have quite a few vacation destinations jumping around my head right now; after I return from this trip I guess I'd better sort out the possibilities. I'm torn between a number of locations in North America, plus two possibilities in Europe. Acadia is a definite for one visit, probably two. One or more national parks in the west are calling to me. And...

I know, I know, it's pretty amazing to be able to fly across the country in a number of hours - but I'd love to be able to arrive in the blink of an eye. I can dream, can't I?

By the time the plane landed in Dallas the sun was shining. I briefly considered going for a walk outside. Walking inside along the concourse won out, no need to go through security again! It felt good to stretch my legs before boarding airplane number two for the just under 3 hour flight to Palm Springs.

Ah, a break, some walking, a quick bite to eat and it was time to board, time to fly. Plane # 2 of the day has wifi access with the first 30 minutes offered at no charge. Nice.

Posted from the air, somewhere over Texas to the west of Dallas

Flying? tomorrow!

2012-01-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

One more day until our California escape! I just checked the weather forecast - it seems like temperatures will be quite comfortable, especially in comparison with winter temperatures at home. Yes, I already checked; Denise is definitely bringing serious sunscreen with us. She needs to be careful or she'll be as red as I am!

We have a pretty early flight tomorrow morning. It's my job to make sure that Denise heads to the right airport since we're flying out of Logan Airport, not Manchester. I really hope we are leaving early enough to miss Boston's morning traffic.
--- Rover

Google+

2012-01-25T23:09:00.001-05:00

Google+, Plus Extract, and...

I've been playing on (or maybe I should say participating in) google+ since the end of July. There are days when I post, days when I look, days when I interact with other photographers.

I usually check the daily top G+ photos published on PhotoExtract.com's Plus Extract page each day. I've discovered some of the people I follow on Google+ via the daily tops. Out of each set of tops I find that only a subset appeal to me - but that's the nature of art, isn't it? It's worth checking the Plus Extract archives - if you're interested the selection for each of the last twelve days can be seen by clicking on the date on this page.

Another feature of Plus Extract is that I can request an extract of my personal top photos published on Google+ over the last two weeks. I've added a link to my personal "google+ tops" to the sidebar of my blog. To view the personal Tops that I requested covering January 9th through the 23rd, click here.

I think I'll keep playing on g+.

Buried in sand

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

On the beach, at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge... a splash of color, buried.

Plum Island afternoon

2012-01-22T21:02:00.001-05:00

Yesterday's snow moved away; today brought blue sky decorated with clouds, a cold morning with temperatures in the mid-teens. I decided to wait until it warmed up a bit, and I wanted to hit the coast when the tide was going out. Since high tide this morning was a bit after 10 AM I decided to leave home at around noon to head to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge.

It was a quiet day in the refuge. I don't think I saw more than 10 or 12 other people there, and the birds seemed to be hiding too. I had a good walk on the beach followed by a bit of a wander on the inland side of the refuge. Ah, there were some birds on that side, Canada Goose paddling around in open (inland) water. Much of what usually is flowing water was trapped beneath ice.

More photos from today can be viewed in the gallery Parker River - 2012 starting with this photo and ending here.

Saturday snow

2012-01-21T15:23:00.002-05:00

Ah, a snowy Saturday... The sky is still wearing gray, but the light snow that fell most of the day seems to have tapered off.

It was a good day for a walk in the woods.

A planned escape from winter

2012-01-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

Oh look! Denise listened to the thoughts I sent her through my wishing stone! We'll be heading out later in the week for what will probably be a too quick trip to southern California.

Where? Our destination is two new-to-us locations, Joshua Tree National Park, and a visit to the Salton Sea. Exploring new places is always fun, and escaping from winter temperatures will be a big plus too. Denise sometimes gets frustrated trying to make cold fingers work with her camera; I know she's looking forward to some warmer camera play. Soon...
--- Rover

No censorship!

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

I don't normally jump into politics here, but this is important.

If you haven't already, please tell your representatives that you oppose SOPA and PIPA. Censoring the Internet is a bad idea. Not familiar with the issues? Learn more here.

Tell Congress - sign the petition at https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/.

Color relieves gray

2012-01-17T06:30:00.000-05:00

A winter's day... we had a dusting of snow overnight, and today's forecast calls for rain and snow changing to all rain. That probably means the gray will stay.

I need color today; a flower from last summer brings a smile.

Motion

2012-01-16T06:10:00.000-05:00

The (very cold) air temperature kept me from camera play yesterday so I've pulled a photo from last March to share today.

Sanderlings skittering, quickly moving across the sand at the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge... I remember trying to move with these very fast little birds, attempting to capture their movement.

Soup Sunday

2012-01-15T19:44:00.001-05:00

A warm bowl of soup was just what I needed today.

I decided to try something new (for me), a sweet potato base. I started with about 10 cups of water, 3 pounds of sweet potatoes, a half of a pound of red lentils, and a pound of tofu. After about a half of an hour the potatoes were soft and my soup base was ready for the blender. After the blender gave me a smooth soup base, a little bit of spice and a lot of vegetables jumped into the pot - ginger, cumin, carrots, corn, zucchini, and portabella mushrooms. I simmered the concoction until the carrots were lightly cooked.

Ah, that was good! I had a big bowl of soup for dinner, lunches for this week, and some for the freezer for days when I don't feel like cooking. I think that base needs to be added to my list of must repeat soups.

Crisp

2012-01-15T19:16:00.001-05:00

Today was cold, as predicted by the weather wizard. Crisp, clear, cold, windy...

I waited until the temperature reached 10 degrees before heading out to walk this morning. The air was brrr! cold but for the most part I was warm. It wasn't until I was close to the end of my hour-long loop when I realized I should have pulled some fleece over my face. That chill disappeared quickly once I was back inside.

The forecast calls for a low of 2 degrees tonight, warming to the high 20s during the day tomorrow. After today I suspect that will feel balmy!

Mirrored?

2012-01-14T20:37:00.001-05:00

Funny, I can almost see a mirrored image here. The angle of the clouds and the angle of the waves don't match, but they draw my eye as if they do. The jump from rippled to smooth water is somewhat angled too.

A few more photos from today's very chilly wander can be viewed in the gallery New Hampshire coast - 2012 starting with this photo and ending here. More photos will jump into this gallery through the year; the newest photos will always be at the top of the gallery.

Replacing bridges

2012-01-14T20:37:00.000-05:00

My wanders today took me to the New Hampshire coast and to Portsmouth, where I saw the (current) Memorial Bridge for probably the last time. Construction on a replacement bridge is about to start. The existing bridge has been closed to vehicles since last July, with the pedestrian crossing closed as of last Monday morning.

I'm fascinated by the replacement process. The three sections of the old bridge - the center lift span, and the north and south flanking spans, will be lowered to barges and floated to the old Quincy Ship Yard. Then the new construction begins. The design of the new bridge can be seen on the "New Memorial Bridge" page here.

I wish I could see the floating of the old bridge sections; unfortunately for me I'll be far from here on holiday on the days the floating is projected to occur. I'll be sure to watch the progress over the next year and a half though.

13 times 3

2012-01-13T17:40:00.002-05:00

Today is Friday the 13th. Is that a good day for you, or a bad one? I suspect you'll be happier of the 13th is a good day for you because 2012 has three months where the 13th falls on a Friday. And, more than that - the Friday the 13ths this year are each 13 weeks apart.

Take a look at NPR's story Don't Like Friday The 13th? Then This Isn't A Good Year For You.

Splash!

2012-01-13T06:31:00.002-05:00

I need some color today, something brighter than a gray winter's day. Here's a splash of color from last summer.

Winter colors

2012-01-09T06:30:00.000-05:00

This scene on the edge of the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge wears green in the spring and summer months. On winter days without snow cover, the grasses are a golden color.

Sunday's coastal wander

2012-01-08T20:32:00.002-05:00

I was hoping for a repeat of yesterday's very unseasonable temperatures. I didn't get warmth, but I did get a day that I could use to satisfy my need for a coastal wander. The temperature hovered in the low 40s, the sky wore cloud decorations... ah, a good wandering day!

I headed to Kittery, spending the first part of my time on a road that passes through the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. My second stop was Fort Foster, a Kittery Park that houses World War II era cement forts along with a beautiful path for walking along the water. Many of my fellow wanderers were walking with dogs, most unleashed. When I commented to one couple that their dog looked like he was wet they just laughed. Apparently he loves playing in the water!

More photos from today can be seen in the gallery South coastal Maine - 2012 starting with this photo and ending here.

Angled & straight

2012-01-08T19:53:00.003-05:00

Seeing

2012-01-06T21:42:00.001-05:00

I think I was lucky; I learned from a young age to look beyond the surface, to see. My mother is an artist, and I'm sure that it was her influence that taught me to appreciate the things around me. It's funny, we had a very recent conversation about that, and today the topic jumped at me once again.

I posted the photo below on Google+ for the theme "Four Seasons Friday", sharing a photo showing off the current season. I chose this photo even though it is from last year, choosing to interpret "current season" as winter. To me that says snow. My photo was accompanied by the text

The ground here is still bare, so I've grabbed this winter photo from the 2011 winter season. This was a magic day... the ground was covered with snow, the air went from totally socked in with fog to a light ground fog. I was very glad I had a camera with me on my morning walk.

I got an almost immediate response from +Gib Goff, another google+ participant:

I guess I'll never understand how creatives can go for a simple walk and see such beauty, while others scowl and never see past their noses. Do they not see it, or just not realize it?

Sometimes I wish I was bionic with a little itsy bitsy camera mounted in my eye - for that split second when I see that one, beautiful shot. Then snap, it's captured, to share.

I can't tell you how many times I wished for the same thing! Sometimes I can capture an image to share, sometimes it is captured as a memory.

What about you? Do you see the world around you?

Thanks Mom, for teaching me to see!

Top 10 images of 2011

2012-01-03T20:09:00.000-05:00

Just because...

Selecting my favorite 10 photos out of all of the photos that I took last year was definitely an interesting exercise. It was a time of looking back, of allowing myself to be drawn into the images, of seeing what I liked and thinking about what I might change if I could shoot the image again.

In date sequence, here are my favorites from last year.

Magic in reflecting clouds, Wells Reserve, Maine

Snow & sand, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, Newburyport, Massachusetts

Moody sky & reflections, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Pools of water at the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, Acadia National Park, Maine

Lupine or false blue indigo? At Stephens-Coolidge Place, N Andover, Massachusetts

A simple summer flower, at Stephens-Coolidge Place, N Andover, Massachusetts

Patterns in clouds and reflections, Eastport Peninsula, Newfoundland

Late day light paints rock formations, Bonavista, Newfoundland

Near the tip of the Schoodic Peninsula, Acadia National Park, Maine

Just after the sun slipped behind the mountains, Death Valley National Park, California

These photos are collected into the gallery Top 10 images, 2011. If you'd like to view them as a full screen slideshow, click here to jump to the gallery, then click on the slideshow button.

Moon shadows

2012-01-03T20:08:00.003-05:00

It's a cold, clear, and windy night. The air temperature was 17 degrees F (-8 C) with the wind constantly blowing, playing music in the trees. As I walked I noticed that I was followed by two shadows. One was thrown by lights from the houses, the other from the moon shining high in the sky.

Canada Goose standing

2012-01-02T18:49:00.000-05:00

I was following a trail around a small pond when I saw some Canada Goose standing on the ice. I moved off of the trail, trying to be quiet as my feet crunched through a carpet of dry leaves. Somehow I managed to get close enough to peer through brush and bare branches; the geese stayed standing.

More photos from my close to home wanders today and Saturday can be found in the gallery Winter 2012 starting with this photo and ending here.

Taste treat

2012-01-02T01:30:00.000-05:00

Ah, strawberries... my preference is for local berries, but that season is quite short (and long past). I will buy berries year round if they look good and smell good This week's strawberries from Florida are oh so good!

This morning's taste treat was strawberries and Cara Cara oranges tossed with yogurt and topped with a bit of All Bran Bran Buds cereal to add some crunch and a bit of fiber. Yummy!

January warmth

2012-01-01T20:46:00.001-05:00

The calendar says the season is winter, but today's weather felt more like late fall or early spring with temperatures warming to the low 50s. The morning sky wore pure blue, adding cloud decorations as the day wore on.

It was a good day to visit the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. Yes, I know, it's always a good day at Parker River!

I started on the ocean side of the refuge, walking, listening to the ocean, wondering why there were no birds playing on the beach. Ah, I see - the birds are all on the salt marsh side. There were large flocks of Canada Goose seeming to stand on water since there was a skim of water covering ice. There were some trees loaded with birds, some robins, lots of black feathered birds.

Here's a quick view of the ocean and inland sides of the refuge.

More photos from today can be found in the gallery Parker River - 2012. This will be a running gallery for the year, with newer photos at the beginning.

Fog

2011-12-31T17:38:00.000-05:00

The last day of 2011 brought cool air with light rain turning into fog. It was a good afternoon for a long walk, a ramble in the woods.

Painting on ice

2011-12-29T06:00:00.000-05:00

A painting... courtesy of Mother Nature, created by the angle of the sun, trees, and reflections on ice.

Water & ice

2011-12-26T19:22:00.000-05:00

Part of the water's surface is fully frozen, some is still clear of ice. This reservoir was split into three - a section close to shore that was frozen solid, a narrow band of glittering jagged ice, and a large body of open water.

The light hitting the jagged section pulled my eyes, requiring a quick stop.

Walking in the woods

2011-12-26T19:00:00.000-05:00

People, walking in the woods... so small in comparison to the trees.

Bird hopping backwards

2011-12-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

It was a crisp bright afternoon, a good time to watch birds enjoying the bounty of black oil sunflower seeds filling a tray hanging in a tree. I watched a red-bellied woodpecker hop into the tray, select a seed, and hop backwards down a slanted branch to get to a place to enjoy his treat. Seed devoured, the woodpecker hopped back to the tray of seeds, took another, hopped backwards once again.

What a beautiful bird! He has a red head, and an intricate black and white pattern on his back.

Photos! Southwest wander

2011-12-22T19:41:00.004-05:00

Photos from my wander in California & Nevada are loaded into galleries and ready for viewing. Start with the top level gallery, California Nevada, 2011 or click on the photos below to enter a specific gallery.

A smattering of desert images:
Death Valley in sunshine:

Red Rock Canyon and ...:

Valley of Fire:

Designed by humans:

Interested in words? You can find my ramblings in my blog entries tagged California Nevada 2011.

Winter? nicely warm

2011-12-22T19:30:00.000-05:00

The calendar says that the winter solstice has arrived, but the weather wizard has granted us a one-day delay. Today was graced by 50 degree temperatures, clear skies, and a taste of warmth before winter settles in.

Unexpected green

2011-12-22T06:00:00.000-05:00

December isn't the time when I expect to see green leaves in a desert setting. When I think about it though, I know nothing of the snow and rain patterns in Las Vegas; it might just make sense!

This photo was taken on the edge of the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area in Las Vegas, NV.

Same spot, different sky

2011-12-21T22:30:00.000-05:00

Pure blue or patterned gray...

I continue to be amazed at differences in images due to the sky. Of these two photos, I prefer the older, grayer image, taken on my first visit to Valley of Fire State Park in February of 2009. Yes, I know, the vantage point is slightly different, and my preference is for the composition of the first image. The sky color and its effect on the overall image makes a big difference, doesn't it?

Finding beauty...

2011-12-18T19:09:00.001-05:00

...close to home.

Today was brr! chilly, a sign of the soon to arrive winter solstice. A brisk walk was in my plans - I just needed to decide whether it was a close to home day or a day for wandering along the coast. It was well after noon when I donned warm layers, opened the door, and headed out - close to home.

I walked through neighborhoods, then turned to the trails in the Moncrieff Cochran Sanctuary (on the grounds of Phillips Academy). The sun was dropping lower, angling through the trees. Ponds showed sections of water, sections of ice, and rippled reflections.

This reflection? It reminds me of an impressionist painting.

Colors and angles

2011-12-18T13:21:00.001-05:00

From my first afternoon's wander at Red Rock Canyon... I'm fascinated by the colors in the desert southwest, the red rocks, the deep yellows of fall groundcover, the angles of the terrain.

These photos are from the one day (of seven!) when I had interesting cloudy skies. Only a photographer would complain about pure uninterrupted blue above!

Photo galleries? Soon...

2011-12-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

I probably don't need to tell you that Denise is still sorting out the photos from our southwest wander, do I? She told me that she planned to publish her galleries today, but I think it really might be tomorrow or the next day (or maybe even the day after that).

In the meantime, here's a shot of me bouncing along the very red rocks in Valley of Fire State Park. You can look through the sampling of photos in the gallery A smattering of desert images if you haven't already been there. Denise added a few more photos since she published that gallery; I think most of them are in her blog too.
--- Rover

Magic sky

2011-12-17T10:13:00.000-05:00

Looking to the south at the exit from the loop road at Red Rock Canyon, magic in the sky...

In the valley of fire

2011-12-14T06:41:00.000-05:00

Looking down a curving road in Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada...

Quiet water

2011-12-12T18:47:00.000-05:00

...near Badwater, Death Valley National Park. These photos jumped into my camera in the late afternoon, just after the sun sank behind the mountains.

Morning colors

2011-12-12T07:00:00.000-05:00

...at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park, just west of the outer loop road around Las Vegas.

Breakfast delight

2011-12-12T06:30:00.000-05:00

I was introduced to ground flaxseed as a topping for hot cereal at Peg's B&B during my Newfoundland trip last summer. Somehow I lost the thought when I returned home, but it rushed back when I saw some bags of coarsely ground flaxseed at Whole Foods recently.

Breakfast this morning was oat bran with a bit (OK, a tablespoon) of flaxseed stirred in, topped with walnuts and bananas. Yum!

Slowly emerging

2011-12-11T21:51:00.002-05:00

We've been home for 3 days now, and Denise is still wandering through the photos from our desert wander. I just reminded her of the starter gallery we used after our Newfoundland trip; she decided that was a good idea for this set of photos too. She's going to stash some favorite photos in the gallery A smattering of desert images. Take a look now, but check back again because more images will be jumping in to that gallery as Denise continues to go through the photos.

It was really windy when we were in Death Valley - look! my ears were flying in the wind as I bounced down the salt flats!

Oh! You probably want to see some photos of our wanders too, don't you? The first photo (below) was taken from the Keystone Thrust Hike in Red Rock Canyon. Yes, that really is snow on the trail. Luckily there was dry ground too so my feet stayed warm. The second photo is in Death Valley, heading south from the Golden Canyon trailhead. The two parks are very different looking, aren't they?
--- Rover

Heading home

2011-12-08T21:09:00.001-05:00

Just before boarding time the gate attendant said he had good news and bad news. He asked which we wanted to hear first, and everyone said "bad news". The bad news was bad for the airline but good for the passengers - there were only 48 passengers on a 737, meaning that everyone who wanted a row of seats to themselves could have one. Ah, stretching out on a flight - that's almost unheard of these days.

The good news? Southwest's bad news was good for me, but they had better news too - the flight is due to land early, at 12:30 instead of 1 AM. We'll see.

Oh, this flight has wifi! It's slow, but I'm connected. Nice.

The wifi service includes a banner at the top of the page that shows the remaining flight time and the weather at flight's destination. I like the information but the silly banner almost stopped me from posting to my blog since it sat on top of some of the controls in blogger and the close button needed some convincing to work properly. Luckily it finally decided to behave. posted from Southwest flight 1265, enroute from Las Vegas, NV to Manchester, NH

Blue

2011-12-08T21:05:00.001-05:00

...blue skies, that is! The sky was clear (again), colored a deep blue, no cloud decorations. The photos I viewed on my camera showed a blue sky that looks like the color has been boosted or altered. Nope; that's color direct from the sky!

A flight at 5 PM supported a last day of wandering in Red Rock Canyon. I started by a walk along the Calico trail, still fascinated by the colors of the rocks. At the beginning the sandstone wore stripes of white and red, changing to all red as I walked. The ground wore a bit of green, a bit of brown.

I had a conversation with a man and two (little) dogs early on the trail. The dogs were wearing fleece coats when we first met; when I saw them as they were returning from their loop they had shed the fleece, still happily prancing down the trail.

It was a day to try a part of a new-for-me trail. I had parked at the Sandstone Quarry lot, and I noticed a faint trail leading off to the left. I started to follow it, discovering that it was the Grand Circuit trail. It's an 11-mile loop that I'd never considered walking before. Now that I've walked a small piece of it I will definitely consider walking the full trail on another visit. The trail was in the open, winding towards interesting vistas, allowing closer access than I had from the road. It was quiet enough that I could hear the crunch of my footsteps. There were birds flying and singing, and there were small ground squirrels darting around.

It was a good week, over too soon - but somehow my vacations always seem too short. Hmm... maybe I should plan a longer vacation for next year.

I need to remember (before my next trip) to put an order in with the weather wizard for some variations in the sky. I really would have preferred some days with interesting clouds; I really can't believe that every day had clear blue skies. That's a wish more than a complaint though. The nights were chilly but for the most part the days were comfortable with temperatures rising into the low 50s (OK, the low 60s in Death Valley). For December days that's more than acceptable.
posted from Southwest flight 1265, enroute from Las Vegas, NV to Manchester. NH

Scenery in outline

2011-12-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

Las Vegas was visible in the distance as I drove west on I-15 at the end of the day.

The sun was dropping in the sky. I could see the outline of the mountains and the outlines of the buildings on the strip, standing in a mist.

Fire in rocks

2011-12-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

I was going to let Denise write today but she said that her brain is thinking in circles. Taking over for her is fine with me; I really like playing with words!

Valley of Fire was today's wandering spot. At first Denise was thinking about leaving very early, by 7 AM, but then she realized how cold it was going to be and she decided an extra hour of sleep might give us a little more warmth when we arrived in the park. We were in the park by 9:30, leaving us plenty of time for exploring.

There were a lot of other people in the park. We still had our alone with the environment time though; as soon as we started walking we were alone, sharing space with the birds and other local creatures. We only saw birds although Denise took a quick look at a close-to-the-ground twisted looking cactus and thought it was a snake. Yikes! Even if it had been a snake we weren't close enough for it to be a problem.
From the park's web site: "Valley of Fire is Nevada's oldest and largest state park, dedicated 1935. The valley derives its name from the red sandstone formations and the stark beauty of the Mojave Desert."
Valley of Fire is really amazing. There are very red rocks, and there are other colors too, yellows, greens, whites, and...

We stopped a lot as we drove through the park, jumping out of the car so Denise could play with her camera. We walked in a few spots too. The trail at the White Domes is a favorite of Denise's, so of course we walked there. The start of the loop heads down, deep sand covering the trail, sand on top of sandstone in a canyon. It was a good place for bouncing; I bounced down and back up a bit to check on Denise. She walks slower than I do sometimes, especially when she thinks she might slip. At the bottom, we turned to the right and went through a narrow slot canyon. Wow! It was really chilly in there. I was happy to come back out into the sunshine to warm up again.

When we drove to the end of the road Denise noticed a small sign labeled "wave" with an arrow pointing to a faint trail. We passed it again on the way out, then we turned around and went back to the small parking area just before the sign. It started as a dirt trail, then continued on hard rock. There was an occasional trail marker, a pile of rocks. Denise looked back to make sure the little trail was findable, and then we continued on walking on rock (no footprints to follow back!). The colors were just amazing. Hopefully some of Denise's photos will give you an idea of the colors. We stopped walking when we came to a smooth rock striped in orange and white. Cool!
--- Rover

Choosing the scenic route

2011-12-06T22:57:00.000-05:00

I chose the shortest route when I drove into the park on Sunday morning. My plans were to reverse that route today, but then I saw a sheet in the visitor center that listed 4 different routes back to Las Vegas - shortest, easiest, ghost town, and most scenic. It didn't take me too long to decide to take the route labeled "most scenic".

I headed south, taking Badwater Road to its endpoint where it met CA-127. The route continued on CA-127 and then onto the Old Spanish Trail. The piece of the route on Old Spanish Trail was 41 miles long - I didn't see another vehicle until the last 5 miles. It was desolate but beautiful.

The scenery changed as I crossed two mountain passes in the Amargosa Range, Jubilee Pass and Salsberry Pass.

It was a drive when I wished for a camera mounted on the car. I could easily have spent more time stopping than driving if I had attempted to document my drive with photos; for the most part the images are only in my mind.

My rental car has a GPS in it so I entered my end point before I started driving, selecting the option to stay off of highways. The GPS's route and the route I intended to follow were slightly different. It had me taking route CA-178 (and then NV-372) to meet up with NV-160 in Pahrump. It was quite unhappy when I continued on CA-127, heading for the Old Spanish Trail. Silly GPS kept telling me to turn around a block, finally suggesting that I find a safe spot to make a U-turn. It wasn't until a few more miles down the road when it decided that taking the Old Spanish Trail would work. Silly computer!

Tomorrow I plan to head to the east, destination Valley of Fire State Park.

Canyons and badlands

2011-12-06T22:08:00.001-05:00

One last Death Valley wandering day (for this year)...

Denise thought that today was going to be a three-canyon day; it turned into a two-canyon plus badlands day instead.

We started with a walk through Mustard Canyon. It's just a small loop, a good one to start our day. We wandered out on the salty spots near the Harmony Borax Works then continued around the loop.

Next stop, Twenty-Mule Team Canyon... That's a favorite, a loop that we drove, stopping often. Usually we pulled to the side of a wide spot in the road to play for a bit, but a couple of times Denise just stopped in the road. That wasn't a problem since we didn't see any other people on that loop. Either the other people were moving as slowly as we were or we had the loop to ourselves - and I think it was our private loop today. I wonder if I can convince Denise to walk that one the next time we visit. It's a bit long for a road walk - 3 miles on a winding 1-lane dirt road, then the walk back down the highway to rejoin the car. Hmm... Maybe I'll just plant that idea in Denise's head.

The colors in Twenty-Mule Team Canyon were wonderful even though we were there in the strong morning light. I think the colors would have been more intense in the afternoon; somehow it seems like we've always visited this canyon in the morning. I know there will be a future visit to Death Valley; guess I'll need to remind Denise to try an afternoon loop there the next time.

We stopped at Zabriskie Point for a quick view that turned out to be a long visit. As we stood on the overlook looking down we could see faint trails left by wandering feet on top of the ridges of the badlands below. I convinced Denise that we should skip the next canyon hike and spend our remaining time in the badlands below Zabriskie Point. I think we just found a new favorite spot!
--- Rover

From Salt Creek to Badwater

2011-12-05T22:21:00.001-05:00

It was another day of wandering under clear blue skies. The temperature warmed up to (and hovered in) the low 60s, and the wind was howling.

Salt Creek was my first stop of the day. I walked the boardwalk trail to the halfway point, then stepped off and followed a faint trail on the ground, crossing salty ground between several different kinds of plants. Every so often there were larger bodies of water, ponds or a widened creek. The ducks playing in the water quickly flew off when they heard my footsteps.

I followed the road across Daylight Pass, crossing back into Nevada for a quick trip to Rhyolite, a ghost town and home of the Goldwell Open Air Museum. The sculptures were accessible and touchable. The structures in the ghost town were another story, blocked off with barbed wire. That's too bad because one of the buildings was a bottle house. I would have liked to see it from the inside. I was able to walk into a bottle house on Prince Edward Island many years ago; seeing another one would be fun.

Back in Death Valley, sliding down and climbing sand dunes called to me. I was hoping that the seemingly constant wind would have scoured the dunes of footsteps. Nope!

About an hour before sunset I headed back to Badwater, thinking I'd try to catch some late day light. The sun dropped behind the mountains quickly leaving a subtle edge of pink hugging the peaks.

It was another (non-stop) good day.

Seeking water

2011-12-04T21:48:00.001-05:00

I'm so glad we left early this morning; we had lots of hours for wandering once we arrived in Death Valley. We started with a walk up Desolation Canyon. I don't remember bouncing there before. It's funny, the dirt road leading to the trail didn't have a sign on it. I guess we were lucky that one of the rangers told Denise about it. That was a good way to start our day!

I thought we were heading to Badwater next, but Denise kept driving south. She was hunting for water; there isn't as much surface water as last year, but there is some. It was well worth the hunt - we found some strands of water in the middle of some crunchy salty ground. After that quick walk on uneven terrain we headed for Badwater. Denise played with her camera for a while and then we started walking. The salty surface closest to the water and the boardwalk is worn flat; we walked out until we started to see patterns in the salt.

Late in the day we followed the road to the north, looking for more sparkles of water in the salt. Denise is really good at spotting sparkles - we had a late afternoon bounce between narrow strands of water cutting through very white crunchy salt. Nice.

It was a beautiful day with a clear blue sky. It's funny though; Denise really wanted some clouds. Do you think that's a photographer's odd wish? Or do other people like clouds too?
--- Rover

How far?

2011-12-04T21:32:00.001-05:00

Today it was time to switch states, moving to California and Death Valley. When I checked the directions on Google maps I doubted my memory of the driving time; as it turns out my memory was correct. The distance shown was 128 miles, with a projected time of 3 hours 22 minutes. Hmm...

Much of the drive was on two lane roads, roads with speeds ranging from 45 to 70 miles per hour. The roads were empty, verging on desolate. No traffic, no delays, just over 2 hours elapsed time. I arrived in Death Valley at 9:30 AM, leaving me a full day for wandering.

Windy wanders

2011-12-03T20:43:00.001-05:00

Today dawned clear and very windy. The air was cool, warming just a bit as the day progressed. I couldn't resist bouncing down the trails in the afternoon, but I have to admit that I spent part of the day riding in the camera bag. I don't weigh that much and I really didn't want to get blown away!

We started our wanders today at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. We had the trails to ourselves other than the ducks paddling in Lake Harriet. It's funny, at home big bodies of water are called ponds, and here this relatively small body of water is called a lake. Isn't it a little odd that two words are used for the same thing? I remember Lake Harriett from last year. It looked different today, partly because it didn't contain as much water, and partly because the surface of the water was covered with ripples from the wind. Last year it was a big reflecting pond.

Denise was planning to walk along the red rocks of the Calico Hills today but I convinced her to try a new trail today and to save a stroll along the very red rocks for later. Our exploration of the Keystone Thrust trail took a little longer than expected since we missed the trail at one point. The trail cut across a wash and Denise didn't notice the trail moving away from the wash again. Oops! We walked up the wash for a bit before we chatted with two hikers coming the other way. They were trying to find a loop to connect to the Keystone Thrust; we all turned around. This time we found the trail. Up a gentle grade, the trail was a combination of visible ground and a bit of snow. Then there was a big stone arrow on the ground, pointing down and to the right. We followed the arrow and were treated with a view of the Calico Hills and Turtlehead Peak. Oh! That was a really nice trail.

It was a good day.

Tomorrow? It will be a driving and a hiking day, time for Death Valley.
--- Rover

Three extra hours

2011-12-02T20:49:00.001-05:00

It was a travel day, a day with three extra hours. An early flight made it a wandering day too, in spite of the 6 hours flying (across the country).

I started by following a somewhat odd set of directions, looking for a squished building. It took a few loops around the block. Some of the sculpted part of the building is a facade, but other pieces are a shaped building, very interesting.

It was a Red Rock Canyon afternoon, a time for some walking, some driving, absorbing the beauty. There was snow on some of the high peaks, and there were patches of snow on the ground in some of the higher spots along the loop road.

Tired, ready for an early sleep...

Flying

2011-12-02T06:16:00.000-05:00

Oh! We're at the airport in Manchester, New Hampshire right now, waiting to board our plane. I met a little white dog as we were waiting to go through security. She is really quiet, and she seems to be content to stay in her red bag. Her owner had to carry her through the security checkpoint, and she (the dog) didn't say a word. She seems to be a calm traveler; or, I suppose she could just be sleepy!

Let's see, we are supposed to leave here at 7:05 and arrive in Las Vegas a little after 10. That sounds like we'll be on the plane for just over six hours. I think I'm glad we don't need to drive too far today; we're planning to wander at Red Rock Canyon.

Flying soon now...
--- Rover

Oregon by time lapse

2011-11-30T18:46:00.001-05:00

All I can say is wow! I saw this video on Google+ and I just had to share it.

From the authors at Uncage the Soul Video Production:

"Finding Oregon is the compilation of six months of timelapse photography across the state of Oregon, punctuated by a 1600 mile road trip in September. We've filmed the Columbia River Gorge, Mt Hood, Mt Jefferson, the Southwestern Coast, the Alvord Desert, Leslie Gulch, Blue Mountains, Crater Lake, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Deschutes River, and more. We're proud to have touched all four corners of the state; however Oregon is the kind of place that the more you see, the more places there are to still discover."

Finding Oregon from Uncage the Soul Productions on Vimeo.

Watch in full screen mode by clicking the arrows symbol to the right of HD after the video starts playing.

Soon...

2011-11-29T19:58:00.001-05:00

I feel like the days have been flying by. Soon I'll be on my way to the desert southwest, heading for not one but three favorite parks.

This magic sky above mountains is from last year's visit to Death Valley.

A visiting weekend

2011-11-27T18:46:00.000-05:00

The Thanksgiving holiday was a long weekend for visiting, for walking, for sharing.

It wasn't intended to be a photography weekend, but you know me - I did have a small camera with me. A few more photos can be found in the gallery Autumn 2011 starting with this photo and ending here.

Bailey posing

2011-11-27T18:08:00.000-05:00

Have you ever lived with an animal who made you laugh?

This is Bailey. He is a character, a source of smiles, laughter, and love.

Water

2011-11-26T12:41:00.001-05:00

I wonder if we'll find water in Death Valley this year. Denise said we were very lucky last year to see water in more than the usual wet spots, and a friend of hers saw almost no water on a visit to Death Valley just two weeks ago.

I know that Denise will be happy to wander there in any conditions, to see the wonders of the desert, salt flats, and sand. I'd love to see water again. I wonder...
--- Rover

One more week

2011-11-24T10:13:00.001-05:00

I'm still looking through photos of our previous desert southwest wanders to make sure that Denise has all of my favorite spots on our list of places to bounce through. Last year was the first time we visited Spring Mountain Ranch. It's kind of funny - it's a Nevada State Park, but it's on land that belongs to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. The loop road and trails in Red Rock Canyon are definite wander spots for us, but I think I'd like to stop by Spring Mountain Ranch too. I really liked the way the light reflected in this pond.

It's a good thing that Denise is letting me help plan our wanders, isn't it?
--- Rover

Wild winds

2011-11-23T11:05:00.000-05:00

The flight from Manchester (NH) to Philadelphia is usually much calmer (than today's flight). We were delayed for a half an hour this morning waiting for ice pellets to clear the area. Then a short wait for de-icing, and we were off. The plane lifted off, and then...

The winds were wild! It felt like we were being tossed all over the sky. It was a time of non-level flight, wings dipping, plane bouncing. As we climbed higher we found quiet(er) air for most of the flight. The bouncing returned a couple of times, smoothing out after a bit.

It's been quite a while since I've been on a flight this wild; in fact, I think this one was the wildest.

Dreaming forward

2011-11-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

It seems like the days are flying by; our wander out west is coming soon!

I decided it would be fun to go through some of the photos from our previous trips to the same parks. This is a favorite from our very first visit to Valley of Fire State Park. I know Denise wants to go back to this spot; I do too! It's near the end (or I guess the beginning if we hiked the trail in the opposite direction) of a loop trail. We could do an out-and-back walk to find this spot, but I think I'll convince Denise that we need to walk the full loop.
--- Rover

Parker River afternoon

2011-11-20T19:39:00.001-05:00

What a beautiful day! The temperatures warmed into the low 60s by late morning, a treat for a November day. It felt like a good day for a walk by the ocean.

Today's destination was the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. I stopped at a few inland spots first, then headed to the beach. Low tide was at 12:33 PM, and that's when I started heading south along a rather slanted beach. I spent a good two hours walking, listening to the quiet sound of the waves, watching the birds, soaking up the warmth.

More photos from today can be viewed in the gallery Parker River wonders - 2011 starting with this photo and ending here.

River sunset

2011-11-19T22:43:00.001-05:00

A quick Maudslay visit

2011-11-19T20:14:00.001-05:00

Hmm... I clearly need to start remembering that the sun sets earlier now!

It was a day for a mid-afternoon was Maudslay State Park. Knowing that daylight was limited, I did an out-and-back walk, not wanting to get caught in the woods by darkness.

A few more photos from today can be viewed in the gallery Wandering Maudslay State Park - 2011 starting with this photo and ending here.

A walk in the rain

2011-11-16T20:13:00.001-05:00

The hardest thing about going for a walk in the rain is opening the door and stepping outside.

I'm glad I convinced myself open the door tonight. My walk was decorated by the quiet sound of falling rain.

Afternoon waves, setting sun

2011-11-14T17:30:00.000-05:00

Dressed in pink

2011-11-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Warmth in November

2011-11-13T18:50:00.001-05:00

Crisp temperatures in the morning warmed into the low 60s by early afternoon. It was a good day for wandering outside in very light layers, a good day for walking, a good day for riding.

Warmth... nice!

Following the sun

2011-11-12T21:00:00.000-05:00

Today was a gift from the weather wizard, a November day with temperatures in the 50s. Tomorrow promises to be a repeat too!

Afternoon came, and I headed for Odiorne Point State Park along the New Hampshire coast. It has a mix of inland trails and coastal walks along rocky beaches, a good place to wander. I started on the inland side, following a paved trail, then heading back through the woods with occasional "beach" stops to check the light on the water.

Finished, I was heading south towards home when I caught a glimpse of the light at Jenness State Beach. It was low tide, and the sun setting in the west was casting pink light over both the sand and the sea as I looked to the east. Yes, of course I stopped for a beach walk!

More photos from today can be found in the gallery Along the New Hampshire coast - 2011 starting with this photo and ending here.

Opening, exploding

2011-11-12T20:30:00.001-05:00

Waiting for December travel

2011-11-11T06:00:00.000-05:00

Did you see that today is a funny date? It's the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year. Hmm... maybe I should be writing this at 11:11 AM instead of now. I don't want to wait, so...

Wow! We're a third of the way through November, and Denise and I are going wandering out west in early December. That's not too far away now. There are three parks on our list - Death Valley National Park, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and Valley of Fire State Park. Denise was thinking she should find someplace new to visit, but early December is a funny between seasons time at some of the other places she was considering. I told her it's a good thing to go back to these three beautiful places. I really like bouncing in these parks, and I know they all have lots of interesting scenery to exercise Denise's camera. And oh! the desert scenery will be so different from Acadia!

I found a different kind of place for us to visit too, a building. Denise really likes wandering outside, but I was wandering a bit on her computer and I found a really funny looking building that I want to see. When I stuck a photo in front of Denise she said she wants to see it too. The building looks kind of squooshed, doesn't it? That's not a drawing, it's a real photograph!

I'm so glad we're going to be traveling again soon!
--- Rover

Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas.
Photo courtesy of Kirk Gittings, as published on wikipedia

Half power

2011-11-10T23:09:00.001-05:00

Now that was odd!

At about 8 tonight the power went out. All I could think was not again. I was upstairs in the dark. I looked out of my front windows, and I could see that the lights on the outside of the buildings that are always on at night were out. But it was odd - there were lights coming from some of my neighbor's houses. Hmm...

I turned to head downstairs and realized that the lights were on on the first floor but not on the second. OK, that's flat out weird. I headed outside, standing in the rain comparing notes with my neighbors. A couple of people had full power, but most of us had half power. I've never seen that before. I called the power company, making sure to talk with a person instead of leaving an outage report on the automated system. I wanted to make sure it was an outside power issue as opposed to an inside issue. I was assured that there were power outages in my area, and that it wasn't abnormal to have some power. I settled in to wait.

At 10:30 the house went completely black. Oops! Just as I picked up the phone to call National Grid again, the power popped back on - all of it. Phew!

Rain

2011-11-10T17:30:00.000-05:00

Today's forecast called for heavy rain. The morning was dry with a soft light rain starting around noon, a good day for a mid-day walking break. Walking in light rain was much better than walking in the later in the day heavy downpour.

Groundcover in orange

2011-11-09T06:35:00.000-05:00

...from the top of Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park

So dark

2011-11-08T21:33:00.003-05:00

Last night darkness had already descended by the time I left the office. Tonight I left a little earlier, while there was still an edge of glowing light in the west. By the time I arrived home and headed out for my evening walk, it was very dark out.

I walk wearing blinking lights, lights that allow me to be seen. I let my eyes adjust to the dark; for the most part walking in the dark works quite well. The not so well part? I walk in neighborhoods that don't wear street lights. In many places there is enough light coming from the houses to light the road, but in others it is very dark. I only walked into one pile of downed branches from our late October storm tonight, stopping before I did more than brush the wood. Oops!

Turning the clocks back an hour is very noticeable in the first days after the time change. I know I'll become accustomed to starting my late day walks in the dark, hopefully within the next couple of days. Dark...

Cattails & ocean waves

2011-11-06T20:22:00.001-05:00

Walking by the ocean jumped to the top of my things to do today. I headed to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge early in the afternoon, targeting my arrival to coincide with low tide.

I started on the inland marsh side of the refuge. Cattails gone to seed were spreading fluff through the air, browns and reds of autumn were everywhere. Moving to the ocean side, the wind was ruffling sea gull's feathers, ocean waves were crashing on the beach. Listen...

More photos from today can be viewed in the gallery Parker River wonders - 2011 starting with this photo and ending here.

Photos, Acadia

2011-11-06T07:46:00.002-05:00

Photos from my too-quick weekend visit to Acadia National Park are available for viewing in the gallery October, Acadia. Enjoy!

Interested in words? You can find my ramblings in my blog entries tagged Acadia 2011-10.

Rocky Schoodic

2011-11-05T23:24:00.003-04:00

Acadia's Schoodic Peninsula has become my favorite part of the park. It's on the mainland, the next peninsula to the east.

A walk in the woods

2011-11-05T17:39:00.003-04:00

It was a lazing around home kind of day. I thought about driving to the coast, but somehow walking close to home appealed more than driving.

The air was crisp, the sky bright blue, the ground dry. It was a good day for a walk in the woods.

A few more photos from today's wander can be seen in the gallery Autumn 2011 starting with this photo and ending here.

Subtle colors

2011-11-05T08:46:00.001-04:00

The colors were somewhat muted but still representative of autumn. This photo was partway up Cadillac Mountain, looking to the west on the late side of afternoon.

Peeling

2011-11-04T18:47:00.002-04:00

White birch, curling, peeling bark...

October snow

2011-11-01T21:41:00.000-04:00

The snow that fell Saturday night was heavy and wet, coating everything with a blanket of white (about 4 inches deep). As I looked out of my back door early in the morning I could see trees wearing white. As the sun rose higher, the coating of snow on the ground began to melt.

Later in the day I headed out to see trees with broken branches, still wearing green leaves, twined with power lines.

It's hard to believe these two photos are from the same day, isn't it?

Lights!

2011-10-31T20:12:00.001-04:00

I just got home to find lights and warmth... I'm happy!

A quick glimpse

2011-10-31T17:57:00.001-04:00

Home a day early to avoid driving in the snow, I hoped to use my unplanned Sunday at home to wander through the photos I took on my too quick visit to Acadia. The power outage changed the outcome through. I made good progress with my computer running on battery, but the battery life didn't give me time to get through all of the photos. I stopped when the computer's power was down to 20%, thinking that if I needed it for something (who knows what, since I couldn't reach outside of my house without power) it would be good to still be able to turn it on.

It seemed like the light was odd all weekend; I came home expecting to toss more photos than usual. Luckily that wasn't the case.

As I passed this pond and saw the reflecting colors I just had to stop. The colors were definitely past peak, giving me a chance to capture a bit of magic.

(lack of) power

2011-10-31T17:36:00.003-04:00

I've come to expect power to be available at the touch of a switch. Power, and internet access...

The power at home disappeared at 11:30 Saturday night. As far as I know it's still out; I'm borrowing a little after hours time at the office to post this.

It's not supposed to snow in October when leaves are still on the trees. Wet snow on leaves caused branches to break and fall across power lines; what a mess! There are some places where estimates from the power companies show expected power restoration on November 3rd, including areas surrounding my home. That's another 3 days without power, yikes! I was seriously thinking about staying with a friend tonight, but when I checked the status on my account it shows the possibility of power restoration tonight. Hmm... I know it would be smarter to stay away, but I think I'll chance it.

Fingers crossed...

One more loop

2011-10-29T21:24:00.000-04:00

Denise really wasn't ready to head home, but I think she made the right decision. It really sounds like it's going to snow even though it's not close to winter yet. I wonder why the weather wizard decided it was a good time for a snow storm. Do you know?

It was quite chilly this morning with temperatures in the mid 30s. Luckily the wind was quiet so it turned out to be reasonable for wandering. We went around Park Loop Road, stopping often. Denise played with her camera, and I bounced around a bit and helped her find interesting images to capture. No wind meant that I was able to bounce around the trail at the top of Cadillac Mountain. I really like the photo Denise took of me on one of the nicely colored rocks at the top of the mountain!

After spending the morning in the park, we headed home. Most of the drive was dry, under a gray sky. As we passed through York, Maine (about an hour from home), the rain started. It seemed like there were unconnected bands of rain. There were sprinkles, then heavy rain, sprinkles again, heavy rain. The bands disappeared leaving only rain. Just before the end of the drive, the steady rain changed to snow.
--- Rover

Morning decision

2011-10-29T08:22:00.000-04:00

The weather forecast was the first thing I turned to this morning.

If all of the snow was forecast to occur overnight I probably would have kept to my original plans, but that wasn't the case. The forecast for Bangor called for snow through mid-day tomorrow, and that meant there is a good chance that it would be a slow drive home, possibly through snow.

Even though my preference was to stay another night, somehow it felt like the right thing to do to change my plans. I'm going to spend the morning in Acadia, then I'll head to the west, hoping that I'll beat the snow home.

Silly bear!

2011-10-29T08:13:00.000-04:00

Did you know that we had a bear as a room host? He lives in the room we stayed in at the Holland Inn, and of course he welcomes all of the guests. The first two nights he was sitting up and waving to us as we entered the room, but last night he was hanging out upside down. He made Denise laugh when we walked into the room, and Evin smiled when Denise told her that the bear made her laugh. She likes seeing how her guests react to the silliness of the bears.
--- Rover

Sunny wanders

2011-10-28T21:12:00.001-04:00

Sunshine greeted me this morning along with crisp cool air. Temperatures warmed from the high 30s into the mid 40s by late morning; I was able to quickly shed the extra layers that I needed for comfortable wandering early in the morning.

Two trails, a bit of driving, and some walking along the loop road filled my day. I started on the Jessup Path, a flat walk with a good portion on boardwalks lined with trees. That was a new trail for me, one I'm sure I'll repeat another day. My next stop was the Flying Mountain trail in Southwest Harbor. Until I set foot on the trail I thought this was a first for me too. The road in didn't jog my memory, but as soon as I started walking up the trail my memory returned. It's relatively short, up, up, over rocks, through the woods, to a view of Somes Sound, then down again.

I headed back to the main part of the park for a quick drive around Park Loop Road, driving interrupted by walking, a stroll on Sand Beach, some walks along tghe rocky coast.

I even braved the wind at the top of Cadillac Mountain. The temperature dropped as the elevation increased, and the wind cooled the temperature even more. I walked the short path at the summit, questioning my sanity as I found it hard to stand upright in the very strong wind. Crevices in the rocks showed a bit of white (snow). I assume the little bit of white stuff fell last night and simply didn't melt.

Tomorrow? My plans are to play in the park again, to stay here one more night. I have to admit that the forecast has me a bit concerned though; I'll check it again in the morning.

Yikes!

2011-10-28T17:06:00.000-04:00

Yikes! I just saw the weather forecast for home. Uh oh. A possibility of 4 to 8 inches of snow tomorrow night seems unreal to me, and the white stuff forecast seems to cover both home and the space between home and my home away from home in Maine. It's only October - much too early for accumulating snow.

I don't look forward to driving home on snowy roads, although I suppose if it does snow Saturday night there is a chance that the roads will be clear by Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately if it snows here too that will probably change my Sunday morning plans to wander in Acadia since Park Loop Road is not a road that is kept open through the winter. Hmm...

Weather wizard, please tell me this is an April Fool's joke in October.