Sharing some of my photos, vintage images I've discovered, and -- occasionally -- commentary and thoughts from retired life.
From the category archives:
We had parked near the Alluvial Fan parking lot and I had walked across Fall River Road to get a different angle on the scenery for photos. This image is one of a number of thistle plants in bloom.
Along lower Fall River Road, Rocky Mountains National Park, September 2, 2009
Gallery: Fall River and Trail Ridge – September 2, 2009
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Farmers’ Market in Madison at Wisconsin State Capitol, September 20, 2008
Gallery: Dane County Farmers’ Market on the Square – Madison, Wisconsin, September 13 and 20, 2008, on the streets around the state capitol building
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In the UK, elderly customers at charity shops are buying up hardback books – as cheap fuel.
Cheaper than coal?
One assistant said: ‘Book burning seems terribly wrong but we have to get rid of unsold stock for pennies and some of the pensioners say the books make ideal slow-burning fuel for fires and stoves.
A lot of them buy up large hardback volumes so they can stick them in the fire to last all night.’
read the full article in metro.co.uk, Pensioners burn books for warmth.
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Cliff Palace is probably the best known of North American ruins. This was our third or fourth visit.
Click on any of the images for a larger version.
The image below is from a photograph looking back up at the tour waiting area overlook.
Cliff Palace is the largest cliff dwelling in North America. The Ancient Pueblo structure is located in Mesa Verde National Park, in the southwest corner of…Colorado, home to the Ancestral Puebloans people. (1)
(1) from Wikipedia
image and information from September 13, 2009
This post is being simultaneously published on Exit78 and Haw Creek Out ‘n About
September 13, 2009 Mesa Verde National Park
Visits to the ruin are only by ranger guided tours. The view below is from the tour waiting area overlook.
The next photo was taken from about the same location as the people on the right in the image above:
Tree ring dating indicates that construction and refurbishing of Cliff Palace was continuous from c. AD 1190 through c. 1260, although the major portion of the building was done within a twenty-year time span. Cliff Palace was abandoned by 1300, and while debate remains as to the causes of this, some believe a series of mega-droughts interrupting food production systems is the main cause. (1)
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Note: I’m including links to the most recent posts of the commenters on the days that they left the comments. This is from the CommentLuv plug-in and it didn’t seem to capture all of the most recent posts. though.
Answers to Questions:
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Cath Lawson asked, about National Parks – specifically Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Yosemite:
Which one do you reckon is best for seeing the most wildlife? The kids are keen to see bears and other critters – from a distance I hope. 
Also – 12,000 ft is v high. Do you get altitude sickness? Is there anything you can take for it – or anything you can do to make it easier?
We’ve not visited Yosemite, but I understand there is quite a bit of wildlife there. Overall, we’ve seen more wildlife in Yellowstone than any other park, but some people visit and don’t see many animals. Bears are actually a very rare sight in any park, though we saw 4 this year back east.
12,000 feet is high and, yes, we did feel it. However, it wasn’t as bad as one other time as this time for a couple of days we didn’t go above 8 to 9,000 feet.
It looks like Yellowstone and RMNP are doable in one trip – if you have enough time. Have you been to all the US national parks? Which is your favourite, or is it hard to choose?
We have not been to even a quarter of the national parks. Our favorites, I think are Yellowstone and Grand Teton, They are very close to each other yet offer very different experiences. We may make a project out of seeing ALL of the national parks and monuments.
I haven’t seen a coyote before aside from on TV. Do they sound a lot like wolves?
They have more of a yip to their howl, I guess, and do it groups.
…this is just a parking area for people who are visiting for the day right? It has to be the prettiest car park I ever saw.
Actually, it is parking, and picnicking, playground, fishing, and more.
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From Dot:
Do you sell your photos? I’m thinking you could make this series into a book, with commentary. Also, I know it’s your blog, but will you ever post photos of Karen’s quilts?
No, I don’t sell my photos, though I am thinking of really concentrating on my photography more and perhaps do some photobooks down the road — more for the memoraries and legacy than money. Karen does post pictures of her quilts on her blog.
While the number of people who visit my blog is small compared to some, I do have some regular visitors, and some regular commenters. Responding to comments is something that I don’t do as well as I should — and I will work on that! —, so periodically, if I get behind on comment response, I will recognize those who have been nice enough to comment when they visit my blog.
Since we left for our September trip, I received comments from:
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Estes Park — September 5, 2009
Estes Park has long been a tourist destination. The Stanley Hotel opened in 1909 and was built at at a cost of half a million dollars. The publicity from the hotel’s construction resulted in a boom for the fledgling resort industry.
My first visit to Estes Park was in 1957, on an camping trip with my grandparents and uncle. I was 5 years old and don’t really remember much of the trip. The next time I visited was in the early 90s with my wife and two daughters.
While the town doesn’t seem to have changed much since that visit, it underwent a major reconstruction after it was heavily damaged from flood waters caused by the 1982 collapse of a man-made dam in Rocky Mountain National Park.
We spent most of Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend exploring the arts and craft fair and the shops in town. Besides ice cream, we each bought a hat and Karen got a new purse as an early birthday present.
(click on any of the following photos to view a larger image.)
Holiday weekend crowds
We were surprised at the number of people who had dogs with them.
Another interesting sculpture
Stanley Hotel lobby.
Labor Day weekend arts and crafts fair
In line for our Estes Park tradition - ice cream! (though they sell a lot of other goodies here.)
One of several bronze sculptures we saw in town
The Stanley Hotel
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image and information from September 5, 2009
This post is being simultaneously published on Exit78 and Haw Creek Out ‘n About.
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Delat County, Colorado
October 1940
Russell Lee, photographer
Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Collection
(Library of Congress)
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsac.1a34205
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What was she thinking?
November 6, 2009
Commentary and images from the road
image and information from September 13, 2009
This post is being simultaneously published
on Exit78 and Haw Creek Out ‘n About
Mesa Verde National Park, September 13, 2009
I figure she was just thinking about seeing the cliff dwellings up close and personal.
It was obvious, though, to us, that she’s not a regular on trails.
The shoulder bag is a dead giveaway.
Generally, the only places we ever see women with purses on trails are relatively short trails that go to gotta-see sights.
Cliff Palace is certainly a gotta-see, but really….
And the footwear.
Granted, we did see a lot of people wearing sandals and flip-flops, but, again, I doubt that many of them are out on trails of any kind on a regular basis — I think her flip-flops were to show off her pretty red toe-nails.
But the real question was the skirt.
I doubt that she was thinking about the climb up out of the canyon — or maybe didn’t know, until it was too late.
The way out was very steep — and included near-vertical ladders.
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The image on the right was taken from across the canyon. I processed it on my computer to lighten it so that the dark crack in the rocks where the exit climb was could be seen.
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