A Photographer's Dream Come True!

Every photographer has that one type of picture in mind that they want to capture...that one location they want to go to.  For years I've seen dozens of beautiful pictures taken in the slot canyons in Utah.  The swirling cliffs, the magnificent colors, the sunbeams shining through...all so magical.  I wanted to experience it for myself.  Someday.

Each time we visited Utah I told myself "this time"...but it never happened.  One thing about slot canyons is you have to be careful of the weather.  If there is the slightest chance of rain...you want to stay far away from them!  Because, let's face it, it's flooding that makes them what they are!  Just a few weeks ago, 9 people thought they were "safe" in going, it was only a few drizzles after all, and whoosh, a flash flood, and they were drowned.  Not the way I want to go, thank you.

This year, however, was the year!  The weather was beautiful, we had the time, all was good!  So, I started checking it all out.  The most "famous" is through the Indian Reservation.  There are two tours that I read about, one that seems dozens at a time go on, herding you through rather quickly (ugh), the second, a "photographers tour" which is much smaller (6) and is 2 hours, but costs between $225-$300 pp.  A bit out of my budget.

I was talking with our camp host about it, and she told me about the Peek-A-Boo slot canyon and said it was amazing, that I should look into it.  So, I began researching it.  After a few phone calls, I was able to get a guide for the following Thursday morning!  An angel must have been watching over me, because we got Mike, the owner of Kanab Western Adventures and we ended up being the only two on the tour!  Mike was wonderful!  He asked us if we had any time constraints, and when we told him "no", he gave us his all!  I told him I was a photographer and this was my dream to photograph a slot canyon, so "have at it"...and he did!

He loaded us up in his spiffy 6 passenger ATV, another first for us, as we'd never been on one before!  What a great ride!  The trip to the canyon is a 3+ mile drive on very soft sand, so a 4 wheel drive is a must!  ...and that's what two crazy folks found out when they tried to drive their cars in it!  We came across them not a half mile into the sand, with both their cars (why did they take two cars?) stuck half way into the deep, soft sand!  Oh my!  We offered to call them a tow truck and give them water.  (They later walked in, crazy!)  

...And then my dream came true!  What an experience!  Wow!  The three of us spent four and a half hours together that day, walking through this area and then driving over to see some neat Indian ruins with a couple of petroglyphs and an old artisan well.  All in all, an experience I will never forget. 

Here's a small sample of the more than 200 photos a I took!  I just couldn't stop shooting!

This was such a wonderful way to end our stay!  We are now off to experience Colorado!

...on the road,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

The OTHER Side of the Grand Canyon!

For as far back as I can remember, I've wanted to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Like most people who have traveled much, Jack and I have been to the South Rim (for me, more than once), but at our ripe ages...never have gotten to the North Rim!  Due to it's limited "open time" because of the weather, it's always been a challenge.  Because "we don't do snow" we tend to use a lot of our summer time visiting areas that we can't get to in the winter, thus, it limits us.

This year, because we came back west for a wedding, we were in this area that we usually are not at this time of the year, soooo, yea, we finally had the opportunity to check a couple of places off our bucket list...this one being "the big one"!  ;-)

So, luckily we were able to find a campsite not to very far, in Kanab UT as our home base and booked it for 5 days.  Weather is clear and in the high 80's, low 90's, not bad!  Yea!

Well, off we went to spend the whole day at the North Rim!  Wow, it was wonderful!  I really didn't know what to expect, I knew it would be different, but hadn't really spent any time researching it, and I was glad, as I like to just take it all in.  It was an hour and half drive to get to, but the drive itself was beautiful as well.  I took a dozen pictures before we even got to the gate!  Changing scenery every few miles.

Not even feet from the gate, we were greeted with one of the largest herds of bison we've seen thus far in our travels.  At least one that was all together in one spot!  Hundreds all grazing, enjoying the fresh green grass with their young calves.  Sweet.  Of course there is always the crazy tourist that ignores the ranger's statement not to stop in the road and not to get out of your car and walk towards the bison...jeez...

By the time we made it into the park itself, it was lunch time, so what better place to take a break, than at the Grand Canyon Lodge?  We lucked out and got a beautiful table right at the window with a wonderful view of the canyon, our first real view of it!  What a great way to really start our adventure!

After lunch we walked the short trail to Bright Angel Point and got a really beautiful view.  A nice couple took our picture and we headed on our journey.

Each stop was more beautiful than the next.  As the ad's say, it's not crowed like the South Rim, every stop had plenty of parking spots, the people there were friendly and never got in the way to take pictures.  There never was any "traffic" to speak of, it always seemed like a leisurely drive with plenty of time to get from one place to the other.  The only gift shops, food, etc is at the beginning where the Lodge and Visitor's Center is.  All much smaller than at the South Rim.  There is a shuttle service from rim-to-rim as well.  But that's it.  As you can imagine, I took many, many pictures...I'll spare you here and just give you a small sample...the rest, if you want are in my flickr account!  ;-)

I'm so glad we finally made it, if you haven't been...do put it on your list, you won't regret it!  As you will see in the pictures, it's very different from the South Rim, and so lovely in it's own right.  I'm just so sorry it took us so long to get here...but sometimes good things just take a while to happen...

We have one more adventure to check off our bucket list, and that's happening tomorrow!  Look for more beautiful pictures from this fabulous place!

...kicking back in Kanab,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

A Few Days in Flagstaff...

Flagstaff Arizona is one of those picturesque mountain towns that I've always wanted to visit, but never got the chance to because of the timing.  It's just high enough at over 7,000 feet that the weather has kept us out of there whenever we've been near it...tempting us, but to cold and the possibility of snow to high for us to linger.  Not this time!

So, we grabbed the opportunity to stay a few days to enjoy it's fresh mountain air, especially after many, many days of 90++ degrees of heat "down below"!  It didn't disappoint.

We camped in among pine cones and fresh breezes.  It was quiet and lovely.  We soon found out that Flagstaff has 100 trains each day that run through it, and we were so lucky that the campground we chose was well off the beaten path that we didn't hear one of them!  Not true with many of the others!  Phew, that could have been many a sleepless night!

We really didn't have an agenda, so just used our time strolling through the town, taking in the scenery and relaxing.  The weather was on-again-off-again rain and thunder showers, but if you timed it right, you could have hours of sun!

Our first stop was at the old train depot built in 1926 that half still operates as the Santa Fe Depot and the other half is now the Visitor's Center.  They have a model train running along the top of the wall that's pretty cute.  A big train came in while we were there that was pretty cool also.

The old historic part of town was delightful.  Lots and lots of murals everywhere, down alleyways, along side streets, adjacent to route 66 which runs through the town, etc.  Unlike most places, they didn't seem to have any postings as to "why, by whom" or the history on them, just painted here and there, and really quite beautiful!  I tried googling them and found some information and even some script that people noted that said even they didn't know when and by whom many were painted!  They even showed more that I hadn't uncovered.  Must be quite a few "hidden artists" in Flagstaff!

They have a lot of wonderful old buildings there as well, and even give walking tours of them.  Most of course have been converted into shops and businesses now, but it's nice to see that they have been saved.  It was also fun to see some old motels and neon signs from the 1950's & 60's - the hay days of route 66, I'm sure.

We were there over the weekend, and they had a small craft fair going on as well.  Not very big, but very nice things.  I even bought a couple of things for Christmas gifts.  It's always fun to see people's talent in various states along our travels.  I'm always tucking some of their ideas in the back of my mind in hopes that someday when we settle down I might do some of them myself!  Who knows??  ;-)

It was a wonderful little stop, but we are off to our next adventure!  One to "check off our bucket list" that I've waited many years to do!

...on the road in Arizona,  Marie


If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Resting...

Sometimes "full-timing" can be exhausting.  Let me explain...

Most of the time, being retired, we drive when and where we want.  We get a map out, take a look at where we've been, where we haven't been, pull out some travel books, check the weather and discuss what we would like to see, then mark a route and go from there.  That's our general life.  Then, occasionally, plans change.  Grandchildren get born, sisters move into a new home, friends get married, etc. and we have to zig and zag in order to get to these various locations at the times that these occasions are happening.  Routes change in order to fit family visits in as well.

None of this is unusual for the full-timer, except when you find yourself in upper state New York 15 days before you need to be in southern California for a wedding!  Driving through 11 states in a 36' motorhome with a toad during the height of summer is not fun!

We gave ourselves a couple of days "leeway", and it was a good thing we did, because "if something could go wrong....it would"....and it did.  We decided to spend a couple of days visiting our friends in Surprise AZ resting, and while there we had two surprises.  The first was a spider bite that got infected on my knee that I ended up having to go to the Urgent Care.  Luckily we were somewhere where we knew and felt comfortable with.  They identified the problem and prescribed antibiotics that took care of it in time.

The second problem happened the following day when our friend knocked on our door and showed Jack that we had "orange liquid flowing out of the underside of our rig".  Not good.  Luckily, we were able to get into the shop right away and find out what it was and have it fixed in a couple of days.  Again, right place, right time.  Just a couple days delay.

Driving day after day, doing "one night stands" is not fun and is exhausting.  We made it to California with a day to spare.  A shower and dinner with friends, then the wedding!

The wedding was beautiful, and I'm glad we made it, but I was glad when it was over and really needed the rest.  All I wanted to do was....nothing.  Go nowhere, see nothing, talk to no one...just not move.  Rest.  After 2 days, we moved from Temecula to Ramona and parked ourselves for 4 more days and didn't do anything.  Slept and read.  That's about it.

On the last day, we finally drove into the town of Ramona for lunch and to see some of their beautiful murals.  Having lived in San Diego for many years, of course we had been to Ramona before, but it had been many years.  It's really grown!  It's quite a lovely town, and had I been more in the mood to be a "tourist" it would have been fun to spend some time going through some of their cute shops.  But not this day.  This day was about getting my fix for a Rubio's fish taco and taking a few pictures, and that was it.

Well, I'm feeling much better, and we've dug out the maps & the books and we are "back at it", so we are off again on another adventure!  This time, though, we are going to take it a whole lot  s l o w e r !   We're headed to Colorado, via the north rim of the Grand Canyon first (never been!).

Aw, the life of a full-timer...


...on the road,  Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Annapolis Adventures!

When my sister-in-law asked if we had ever visited Annapolis Maryland, I told her "no, we just never had the chance", she suggested an outing there.  I didn't realize it was that close, and jumped at the idea!  I had always wanted to see the Naval Academy and to be able to do that now was really an unexpected treat.  So when we saw a break in the weather, we planned the day.

Off we all went, only a little less than two hours away it turned out, and what a cute little town!  Kathy had warned me to "wear my walking shoes" and she wasn't kidding!  Lots of cute shops, then off to lunch at the Annapolis Harbor.  Wonderful spot, right on the water's edge too.  It was a hot and humid day, so the breeze was sure welcomed.

Afterward, we headed over to the US Naval Academy.  I'm a "Navy Brat", so it kind of runs in my veins, so to speak, so I was like a kid at Disneyland...walking around with my mouth open most of the time.  ;-)   To say that I found the whole place "cool" was an understatement...  The only thing that would have been better would have been if school would have been in session, then we would have seen 4000 students (all in white!) walking or marching around!  ;-)

The best, was the Chapel.  Just beautiful.  And down below was the remains of John Paul Jones.. in a pretty gaudy crypt actually, but a nice memorial.

Afterward, while Jack and his sister Kathy rested, Bob and I took off to explore the Maryland State House (Capitol).  It is the oldest state capitol in continuous legislative use and the only state capitol ever to serve as a US capitol.  Construction began in 1772.  The legislature first met here in 1779.  The most dominate feature is the beautiful, and largest wooden dome in the country.  We've seen so many majestic stained glass domes, but to see an all wooden dome, was really cool!

After seeing Pennsylvania's elaborate capitol, and so many other's, I really enjoyed the simplicity of this one.  It was still quite beautiful, but clean, not "over the top" fancy.  Because of it's day, it did have one thing that no other capitol has had (at least so far that we've seen), and that is a President's Niche & Dais!

They also had a nice replication of President George Washington resigning on Dec 23, 1783, with Mary Ridout watching in the gallery in the Old Senate House.

We didn't spend to much time there, quick in & out, since our spouses were patiently waiting for us, but I was so glad we went inside, what a thrill!

One last tour around town for a few last shots...

...and our visit was over.  It was time to leave Annapolis and then time to leave our family here as well.

A quick trip north to New York state to visit my son and grandchildren, then turn around and head west for a wedding of some dear friends!  Ah, the life of nomads!

...on the road, Marie

If you wish to view the rest of the photos from this trip, you can at my Flickr account at:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/74905158@N04/

Harrisburg, a Capitol City!

Our trips to Pennsylvania has mostly been about visiting family, and this time was no exception.  Jack's sister and husband had recently moved into a new home and we were excited to see it.  They said they were "downsizing", but when we actually got to see it...not by much!  A lovely brand new home in a 55+ community, still building homes all around them.

We mostly spent time just visiting with them, swimming in the lovely salt water community pool, driving around the area, seeing the other "models", etc. but we did manage to venture out a couple of days...

In all the times we've visited Harrisburg, we had never visited the Capitol!  So, off we went one afternoon to check it out.  Reading up on it, we discovered that when President Theodore Roosevelt attended the dedication of the building on October 4, 1906, he said, "This is the handsomest building I ever saw".  The Capitol was designed in the American Renaissance style, and was envisioned as a "Palace of Art".  Built and furnished at a cost of $13 million, the Capitol features paintings, stained glass and furnishing by some of the best artisans of the day.

The Capitol's centerpiece is a spectacular 272 foot, 52 million pound dome inspired by Michelangelo's design for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.  At it's completion, the building was the tallest structure between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh for 80 years.

One of the Capitol's most noteworthy features is the colorful Moravian tiles that cover the first floor of the Rotunda and its adjacent corridors.  Designed and manufactured by Henry Chapman Mercer of Doylestown, the floor is interspersed with close to 400 tile mosaics illustrating the state's history, animals, industries, occupations and modes of transportation.  The tiles are thought to be some of the finest examples of Pennsylvania folk art.

As you enter, you don't know whether to look up or down! The Capitol Rotunda is beautiful!  Many of the Rotunda's design features were borrowed from the Paris Opera House, including the Grand Staircase and three-tiered gallery.  Eight large murals by Philadelphia artist Edwin Austin Abbey highlight the Rotunda as a tribute to Pennsylvania and its history.

We made it just in time for a quick guided tour of the various rooms, each more "grander" than the next.  The Senate and House Chambers with their 24 stained glass windows...

...to the Supreme Court and House of Representatives' fancy ceilings, art and light fixtures...

This was one very, gold, marble, stained glass, art filled building!  They didn't stop on the inside either...

Two of these flanked the entrance...

And this was behind the Capitol...Pennsylvania War Veterans' Memorial Fountain dominating the approach to the East Wing of the Capitol.  All in all, a lovely building and grounds.

On a "lighter" note, they, like many cities, decorate an "animal" each year.  Last summer it was a dinosaur ("Dino-Mite Summer"). This year it is ducks...so cute, I couldn't resist taking a couple of pictures!

It was a great day and we were able to add one more Capitol to our list!

...kicking back in Pennsylvania,  Marie