Exit78 Photo of the Day #65

Airboat on the Platte River between Woods Landing Campground (since closed) and Two Rivers State Recreational Area, west of Omaha, Nebraska, June 23, 2007 (Pentax K10D)

In June 2007, on our way home from a visit in Wisconsin, we meandered our way into eastern Nebraska and camped at an RV park on the Platte River near Omaha.  The Platte is a shallow stream over almost all of it’s length. We were actually wading it it when we saw the first of several airboats come roaring up the river and then, a bit later, roaring back down the river.

We had never seen airboats in use, so they were somewhat fascinating to watch.  Flat-bottom vessels used in marshy or very shallow areas where standard boat motors are impractical, they are very loud, propelled by an aircraft-type propeller and powered by either an aircraft or automotive engine.

The Platte River

The Platte is a major river for Nebraska and a significant tributary for the Missouri, draining a large portion of the central Great Plains in Nebraska and the eastern Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming. The river valley played an important role in the westward expansion of the United States, providing the route for several major emigrant trails, including the Oregon, California, Mormon and Bozeman trails. The first Europeans to see the Platte were French explorers and fur trappers about 1714; they first called it the Nebraskier (Nebraska), a transliteration of the name given by the Otoe people, meaning “flat water”. This expression is very close to the French words “rivière plate” (“flat river”), the suspected origin of the name Platte River.

The Platte over most of its length is a muddy, broad, shallow, meandering stream with a swampy bottom and many islands—a braided stream. These characteristics made it too difficult for canoe travel, and it was never used as a major navigation route by European-American trappers or explorers.

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 #64

Spring Street, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, July 15, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

Eureka Springs is a city in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. It’s known for the preserved Victorian buildings of its Historic District, such as the Palace Bath House, Basin Park Hotel and Crescent Hotel, all built around the city’s natural springs.

It is a popular tourist destination for its unique character as a Victorian resort village. The city has steep winding streets filled with Victorian-style cottages and manors. The historic commercial downtown of the city has an extensive streetscape of well-preserved Victorian buildings. The buildings are primarily constructed of local stone, built along streets that curve around the hills and rise and fall with the topography in a five-mile long loop. Some buildings have street-level entrances on more than one floor. The streets wind around the town, and no two intersect at a 90 degree angle; there are no traffic lights. (Wikipedia)

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 #63

Autocross competition at Montana ExpoPark, Great Falls, Montana, September 2, 2007, (Pentax K10D)

This was the one and only time we had ever been to any kind of auto competition.  We were there with my brother and his family and I took the opportunity to get some action photos.

Autocross (Wikipedia) (also called “Solo”, “Auto-x” or “Autoslalom”) is a timed competition in which drivers navigate one at a time through a defined course on either a sealed or an unsealed surface. It is a form of motorsports that emphasizes safe competition and active participation. Autocross differs from road racing and oval racing in that generally there is only one car on the track, driving against the clock rather than other cars. As an entry-level motorsport it provides a stepping stone for drivers looking to move into other more competitive and possibly expensive forms of racing (such as rallying, rallycross and circuit racing).

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 #62

Black-eyed Susan blossoms (rudbeckia hirta) around our yard, west-central Arkansas on the edge of the Ozarks, July 27, 2008 (Pentax K10D)

(Exit78 Photo of the Day #39 also featured black-eyed Susan blossoms and was shot the same day.)

Rudbeckia hirta (Wikipedia), commonly called black-eyed Susan, is a North American flowering plant in the sunflower family, native to Eastern and Central North America and naturalized in the Western part of the continent as well as in China. It has now been found in all 10 Canadian Provinces and all 48 of the states in the contiguous United States.

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 #61

Open for public digging in the dirt for diamonds, Crater of Diamonds State Park, Arkansas, January 29, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

We didn’t look for any diamonds when we visited Crater of Diamonds.  Getting there and back takes a good part of a day no matter which way you go, so if we were ever to do some diamond digging, we’d have to camp overnight in the park’s campground or stay somewhere else that’s near.

It’s not free.  There is a fee to dig.

Crater of Diamonds State Park (Wikipedia) is a 911-acre (369 ha) Arkansas state park in Pike County, Arkansas, in the United States. The park features a 37.5-acre (15.2 ha) plowed field, the world’s only diamond-bearing site accessible to the public. Diamonds have continuously been discovered in the field since 1906, including the Strawn-Wagner Diamond. The site became a state park in 1972 after the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism purchased the site from the Arkansas Diamond Company and Ozark Diamond Mines Corporation, who had operated the site as a tourist attraction previously.

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 #17 |

Dead wood above Water Canyon falls,  Mossy Cave Trail, Bryce Canyon National Park, October 8, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II) 37°39’55″N 112°06’52″W

“At first, this canyon known as Water Canyon, might look like any ordinary Bryce Canyon kind of canyon. It’s not. From 1890-1892 mormon pioneers labored with picks and shovels to carve an irrigation ditch from the East Fork of the Sevier River, through the Paunsaugunt Plateau, into this canyon. Every year since its completion in 1892 (except during the drought of 2002), this canal known as the Tropic Ditch has supplied the communities of Tropic and Cannonville with irrigation water.”²

1. 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. Mossy Cave – Bryce Canyon National Park, National Park Service

Exit78 Photo of the Day #60

Rose Meadowsweet, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, July 15, 2010 (Pentax K10D)

Spiraea splendens (Wikipedia) –  Spiraea splendens is a shrub of the Rose Family native to the western mountains of North America, from California to British Columbia, commonly known as dense-flowered spiraea, rose meadowsweet, rosy spiraea, subalpine spiraea, and mountain spiraea.

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 #59

Moon from Moraine Park, Rocky Mountain National Park, September 11, 2011 (Pentax K-r)

Taking a photo of the moon is harder than it might seem.  I’ve tried a number of times of the years.  This is one of the better attempts.

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.

Art on Sunday #28

“Freewheelin” by James Haire; “Art on the Corner” street display, Grand Junction, Colorado (Pentax K-3 II)

Artist James Haire constructed his piece, ‘Freewheelin’, a life-size sculpture of a woman riding a bike, out of bronze and stainless steel. He says, “while the sculpture has no moving parts, there is still a feeling of movement in the piece by the absence of spokes in the wheels.”

The Cire Perdue cast bronze work was was cast in a foundry in Loveland in 1991. It depicts a “young woman on a bicycle wearing multicolored shorts, white tank-top and sandals.” (Smithsonian)