Sharing photos, videos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life and travels.

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Friday Faire–Six Miscellaneous Travel Photos.

March 30, 2012

The six photographs below are from two different trips – one in 2007 and the other in 2011 – from five different states.

Fence at Cliff Edge, Devils Tower National Monument, South Dakota

Fence at Cliff Edge

Devils Tower National Monument, Wyoming, 2007

Related Video: Devils Tower, Wyoming

Logs of Wolfe Ranch Cabin, Arches National Park

Logs of Wolfe Ranch Cabin

Arches National Park, Utah, 2007

Related Videos:
Trail to Delicate Arch 2011
Trail to Delicate Arch 2007

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2011

Related Video: Garden of the Gods

Sunrise over Madison River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Sunrise over Madison River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 2007

Related Video: Along the Madison River

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Horse auction, Great Falls, Montana, 2007

Related Video: A Visit to Great Falls

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Sandy Cove, Canton Lake, Oklahoma, 2011

Related Video: Sandy Cove

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Northwest Passage–On to Colorado.

November 5, 2011

oklahomaLeaving Canton Lake, our next destination was La Junta, Colorado.

Most of our trips to and from Colorado have required crossing two or more states to go between Arkansas and Colorado.  Our last two trips traveling to Colorado, though,  have crossed only Oklahoma by going though Oklahoma’s panhandle, a relatively narrow section of land that separates the Texan panhandle from Colorado and Kansas.

From Canton Lake to the Colorado border, we traveled State Highway 3, the longest highway in the Oklahoma road system.  The portion we traveled is officially designated “Governor George Nigh’s Northwest Passage.”

The route lies across a portion of the North American Great Plains, a broad expanse of flat land with few trees, comprised mostly of  prairie, steppe and grassland.

2011_trip_map_2nd_leg

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1st stop–Canton Lake

October 27, 2011

The first night of our 2011 trip was Labor Day – camped at Canton Lake, west of Oklahoma City.  We had a reservation for 1 night at the Sandy Cove campground near the dam on the northeast end.  We had stayed there in August 2009 and liked it well enough to stay again.

It was a good location for photographing the sun setting across the lake and I hoped to be able to do a sunset time lapse.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get the sunset in one continuous time sequence, but was able to get two good segments, which are included in the video.

It was obvious that the lake was lower this year than it had been in 2009.

The swimming area buoys were certainly  high and dry.

The video includes photographs from both Karen and me, two time lapse sunset segments and a short “home video” segment of our campsite. I’ve produced the video in three formats 1920 x 1080, 1280 x 720, and  640 x 360.

Canton Lake links and resources:

Our first day of travel:

2011_trip_map_1st_leg

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Early evening at an Oklahoma lake.

October 25, 2011

2011 09 05 006

Low water level at Sandy Cove, Canton Lake, Oklahoma – Labor Day, 2011.

(more in a couple of days)  Camera Winking smile

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26 of my photos at once!!!

July 24, 2011

If I were to post a photo a day – or even 5 a day –  it would take quite a while just to share those that I have selected for posting.

By putting together a video, I can share a large number at once – and create a video library that we can view on a TV screen.  The original of the video below is higher definition than what I uploaded to YouTube.

 

 

The photos, in the sequence that they appear:

  1. Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Park, September 2009
  2. Menor’s cabin and store, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, September 20, 2007
  3. Canton Lake, Oklahoma, August 29, 2009
  4. Canyonlands national Park, September 23, 2007
  5. Pronghorn, Custer State Park, South Dakota, August 22, 2007
  6. Wild burro, Custer State Park, South Dakota, August 22, 2007
  7. Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, March, 2011
  8. Devil’s Tower National Monument, August 27, 2007
  9. Devil’s Tower National Monument, August 28, 2007
  10. Texas Interstate HighwayI40, eastbound rest west of Alenreed
  11. Devil’s Tower National Monument, August, 2007
  12. Cottonwood Tree, Lake Ogallala, Nebraska, July 8, 2010
  13. Clouds, Lake Ogallala, Nebraska, July 8, 2010
  14. Lewistown, Montana, August 30, 2007
  15. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, September 14, 2009
  16. Nuthatch
  17. Ouray, Colorado, September 2010
  18. Rest are at Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge and Kansas Highway 52
  19. Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, 2009
  20. Rocky Mountain National park, somewhere trail to Nymph Lake, Dream Lake, & Emerald Lake, 2009
  21. Pea Ridge National military Park, Northwest Arkansas, July 15, 2011
  22. Abyss Pool, West Thumb, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, September 12, 2007
  23. Delicate Arch, Arches National Park, Utah, September 24, 2007
  24. Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Visitor Center, Colorado, 2009
  25. Garvan Woodland Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas, April 13, 2010
  26. Entrance to Yellowstone National Park, Gardiner, Montana, September 13, 2007

Creative Commons LicenseThe music,  Improvisation On Friday… by Alex, is licensed under a Attribution (3.0).

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On edge.

May 25, 2011

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A lot of people in the middle of the U.S. have been a bit on edge this storm season – for good reason.  This has been a bad, bad season, with over 500 severe weather related fatalities and over 540 confirmed tornados in the last 8 weeks.

What has made it particularly bad is that we have had several periods where a front – with a mass of warm, moist air to the south and cooler, drier air to the north – has stalled for several days.  During these times there have been multiple outbreaks – until the front finally gets pushed out to the east.

We are actually about as prepared as you can get.  We live in the country, but can hear the sirens in a nearby town.  A television station in Little Rock has an automated system that will call our cell phones and send an email message if there is a tornado warning for our area.  There is a a storm shelter in our house.

But still, after Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, Alabama last month, and Joplin, Missouri on Sunday, we pay attention when there is a threat of severe weather.

imageYesterday started out with a low risk of severe weather here.  Oklahoma was under the gun with a very high risk.

As the day progressed, we were upgraded to a moderate risk.  As I had time, I kept track of the weather conditions at work, watching a line of storms break out in Oklahoma and start moving east.  There were a lot of tornado warning boxes.

I had thought to work a little late prepping for upcoming classes, but decided to come on home when the last class finished at 8 pm. Storms were still headed this way.

We usually go to bed at 10, but decided to stay up a while to see what it looked like the storms were going to do.  They were at the state line and there were a couple of warnings for counties in northwest Arkansas.

imageAt 11 or so, it looked like the bulk of the storms were going to either dissipate or go around us, though there was one cell that was heading in our direction  that might reach us if it held together.  It didn’t look like it would, so we went to bed, though I had my cell phone next to me, just in case we got a storm alert call.

Apparently the cell broke apart in the cooler night air – after it destroyed Denning, Arkansas.

 

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