Exit78 Photo of the Day #125

Farmers markets, especially the big ones, offer all kinds of photographic opportunities.  This 2012 photo is from Wisconsin’s Dane County Farmers’ Market “Saturday on the Square.”  The Dane County market is America’s largest producers-only farmers’ market. It is held from April to November on Saturday mornings on the Capitol Square in Madison, Wisconsin

Cherry Tomatoes, Dane County Farmer’s market on the Square, Madison Wisconsin, September 15, 2012

(Note: I am also posting photos in a series called Photography Now & Then at Haw-Creek.com)

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #124

We’ve hiked the Cascade Canyon Trail several times over the years. The first time was back in the 80s, I believe, and we hiked about 7.2 miles total from a trailhead south of Jenny Lake and back. The rest of the times we’ve hiked the trail, we taken the shuttle boat across the lake and the most we’ve done is about 4.6 miles from the boat dock on the west side of Jenny Lake and back.

In the photo, the trail is just about finished with the climb up into the canyon. Just over the rocks on the center left, the trail levels out.  We’ve seen moose at least twice in that portion of the canyon.

Cascade Canyon Trail, Grand Teton National Park,  Wyoming, July 18, 2010 (composite image from 2 Pentax K10D photos using AutoStitch)

(Note: I am also sharing photos in a series called Photography Now & Then at Haw-Creek.com)

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #123

Karen’s new floating shelves are up on the wall.  They are 5 foot long 2 x 10s.  I drilled the holes for the support rods, chiseled the recesses for the support plates, and sanded the boards before  Karen finished them using spar urethane to match the finish of the room.

Floating shelves, May 11, 2018 (Apple iPhone 6s)

(Note: I am also posting photos in a series called Photography Now & Then at Haw-Creek.com)

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #122

Prickly pear cactus, City of Rocks State Park, New Mexico, October 12, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

Prickly Pear (Wikipedia)

Prickly pears typically grow with flat, rounded cladodes (also called platyclades) armed with two kinds of spines; large, smooth, fixed spines and small, hairlike prickles called glochids, that easily penetrate skin and detach from the plant. The flowers are typically large, axillary, solitary, bisexual, and epiperigynous, with a perianth consisting of distinct, spirally arranged tepals and a hypanthium. The stamens are numerous and in spiral or whorled clusters, and the gynoecium has numerous inferior ovaries per carpel. Placentation is parietal, and the fruit is a berry with arillate seeds. Prickly pear species can vary greatly in habit; most are shrubs, but some, such as Opuntia echios of the Galápagos, are trees.

Like most true cactus species, prickly pears are native only to the Americas, but they have been introduced to other parts of the globe. Prickly pears originated during the Pliocene in the Chaco and Monte regions of Chile, then spread to 1) eastern South America (Caatinga), 2) the central Andean valleys of western South America, 3) the Caribbean region of northern South America, 4) Central America, Mexico, and Caribbean islands, 5) the North American deserts of the southwest, and 6) the North American southeast. Prickly pear species are found in abundance in Mexico, especially in the central and western regions, and in the Caribbean islands (West Indies). In the United States, prickly pears are native to many areas of the arid Western United States, including the lower elevations of the Rocky Mountains, where species such as Opuntia phaeacantha and Opuntia polyacantha become dominant, and to the desert Southwest, where several types are endemic. Prickly pear cactus is also native to sandy coastal beach scrub environments of the East Coast from Florida to southern Connecticut (Opuntia humifusa).

Opuntia species are the most cold-tolerant of the lowland cacti, extending into western and southern Canada; one subspecies, O. fragilis var. fragilis, has been found growing along the Beatton River in central British Columbia, southwest of Cecil Lake at 56° 17’ N latitude and 120° 39’ W longitude.

(Note: I am also posting photos in a series called Photography Now & Then at Haw-Creek.com)

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Post-processing¹ #26 |

Coachman Cross Country Class A motorhome, Wahweap Campground, Lake Powell, Arizona, October 10, 2010 (Pentax K-3 II from 37°11’10″N 111°59’44″W)

Slowly making our way back home, our first stop was Lake Powell in Arizona.  It was the second time we’ve stopped at Wahweap RV Park and Campground². It’s a bit pricier than what we normally like to pay.  The full hookup sites that we’ve used have level concrete pads with picnic table and charcoal grill. It’s a clean campground with decent space between the camp sites.  Even though it is in and part of Glenn Canyon National Recreation Area, it has the look and feel of a good quality commercial RV park – we prefer good quality public campgrounds.

We stayed two nights at Wahweap, using the 10th to catch up on laundry, pick up some groceries and do the tour of Glenn Canyon Dam – for the second time.

1. Post-processing – Image editing to enhance the photo closer to what the eye “saw.” Images in this series are selected within a day or so of being edited and are either posted at the time or scheduled for posting at a later date.
2. Wahweap RV & Campground – Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas

Exit78 Photo of the Day #121

This interesting buttress supported brick wall is on Middleton Place plantation near Charleston, South Carolina, on the Ashley River. Middleton Place was established in the 1730s by early South Carolina planter John Williams. After Williams’ death, the plantation became part of the dowry of his daughter, Mary Williams. In 1741, Mary Williams married Henry Middleton, whose name was subsequently applied to the plantation. Middleton began work on the plantation’s gardens in 1741.

Buttress supported brick fence wall, Middleton Place plantation, Dorchester County, South Carolina, 15 miles from Charleston, June 11, 2012 (Pentax K-r)

Buttress –  A projecting mass of masonry set at an angle to or bonded
into a wall that it strengthens or supports. A buttress decreases
in its cross-sectional area from top to base. (Acme Brick – Pocket Guide to Brick Construction, p. 10)

(Note: I am also posting photos in a series called Photography Now & Then at Haw-Creek.com)

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #120

This was such a beautiful day to visit Mammoth Hot Springs.  The next time we were there, 4 years later, we dodged rainstorms when we were down in the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District.

Then: Mammoth Hot Springs, boardwalk to the top of the terraces, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, August 10, 2010 (Pentax K10D)

Mammoth Hot Springs (Wikipedia)

Mammoth Hot Springs is a large complex of hot springs on a hill of travertine in Yellowstone National Park adjacent to Fort Yellowstone and the Mammoth Hot Springs Historic District. It was created over thousands of years as hot water from the spring cooled and deposited calcium carbonate (over two tons flow into Mammoth each day in a solution). Because of the huge amount of geothermal vents, travertine flourishes. Although these springs lie outside the caldera boundary, their energy has been attributed to the same magmatic system that fuels other Yellowstone geothermal areas.

The hot water that feeds Mammoth comes from Norris Geyser Basin after traveling underground via a fault line[5] that runs through limestone and roughly parallel to the Norris-to-Mammoth road. The limestone from rock formations along the fault is the source of the calcium carbonate. Shallow circulation along this corridor allows Norris’ superheated water to slightly cool before surfacing at Mammoth, generally at about 170 °F (80 °C). Algae living in the warm pools have tinted the travertine shades of brown, orange, red, and green.

Thermal activity here is extensive both over time and distance. The thermal flows show much variability with some variations taking place over periods ranging from decades to days.[6] Terrace Mountain at Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest known carbonate-depositing spring in the world. The most famous feature at the springs is the Minerva Terrace, a series of travertine terraces. The terraces have been deposited by the spring over many years but, due to recent minor earthquake activity, the spring vent has shifted, rendering the terraces dry.

The Mammoth Terraces extend all the way from the hillside, across the Parade Ground, and down to Boiling River. The Mammoth Hotel, as well as all of Fort Yellowstone, is built upon an old terrace formation known as Hotel Terrace. There was some concern when construction began in 1891 on the fort site that the hollow ground would not support the weight of the buildings. Several large sink holes (fenced off) can be seen out on the Parade Ground. This area has been thermally active for several thousand years.

(Note: I am also posting photos in a series called Photography Now & Then at Haw-Creek.com)

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #119

Picnic shelter, Donley County Eastbound safety rest area and park, about an hour east of Amarillo, Texas, on Interstate 40, September 17, 2009 (Pentax K10D)

Our trips heading west usually include Interstate 40 in the early part of the trip, but depart from it for other routes before crossing into the Texas panhandle from Oklahoma. Several times on the return home, though, we have used I40 through Texas and stopped at the art-deco styled Donley County Eastbound safety rest area, which opened in 2003.

Route 66 themed, the rest area is a tribute to the road that pioneered cross-country automobile highway travel. Getting our stretching walks in after a couple of hours on the road is a pleasure on the highway themed sidewalks through beautifully landscaped grounds. The numerous picnic shelters, each with a Texas-shaped barbeque grill, are well suited for hot summer days. Tiled restrooms are ample and unique. A playground is provided for those traveling with kids. In tornado country, the Texas safety rest areas include storm shelters.

I’m sure we’ll be stopping here again.

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.

Exit78 Photo of the Day #118

Sod house, Ash Hollow State Historical Park, Nebraska, July 8, 2010 (Pentax K10D)

On our 2010 trip west, we visited this sod house in Nebraska.  My great-great-grandparents, James Wesley Goad and Olive Orabelle Wineland Goad, built a similar structure in western Kansas in 1890 and lived in it for at least nine years.

Sod house (Wikipedia)

The sod house or “soddy” was a successor to the log cabin during frontier settlement of Canada and the United States. The prairie lacked standard building materials such as wood or stone; however, sod from thickly-rooted prairie grass was abundant.[2] Prairie grass had a much thicker, tougher root structure than modern landscaping grass.

Construction of a sod house involved cutting patches of sod in rectangles, often 2’×1’×6″ (60×30×15 cm) and piling them into walls. Builders employed a variety of roofing methods. Sod houses accommodate normal doors and windows. The resulting structure was a well-insulated but damp dwelling that was very inexpensive. Sod houses required frequent maintenance and were vulnerable to rain damage. Stucco or wood panels often protected the outer walls. Canvas or plaster often lined the interior walls.

Series notes:

• The photos in this series are (usually) randomly selected from a batch of photos specifically “curated” for Exit78 Photo of the Day.
• Each photo in this series is an “original work” – a copyright term – of Michael Goad.