I’m usually at the gym in the mornings for a couple of hours most Mondays through Saturdays. I generally skip going on Sunday afternoon, using it as a recovery day unless I miss another day near the weekend. I weigh too much for my height and need to improve my fitness and endurance. My weight is very slowly going down and my fitness is improving.
Now: Morning at the gym, (almost) daily exercise, Russellville, Arkansas, March 14, 2018 (Apple iPhone 6s)
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.
Replete with great views and natural wonders, Utah has a lot of popular destinations to visit. Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah’s first National Park Service property, is a bit out of the way, with far fewer visitors than the state’s better known attractions. With three large natural bridges and an ancestral Puebloan ruin, the monument is well worth a visit.
Sipapu Natural Bridge Trail, Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah, September 30, 2011 (Pentax K-r)
Our hike to and through Sipapu Natural Bridge was quite memorable. The largest and most spectacular of the monument’s three bridges, with a span of 268 feet, it ranks as the fourth largest natural arch in the world.
Sipapu is a Hopi word for a small hole or indentation in the floor of a kiva or pithouse. Kivas were used by the Ancestral Puebloans and continue to be used by modern-day Puebloans. The sipapu symbolizes the portal through which their ancient ancestors first emerged to enter the present world.
Moreover, The Hopi Sacred Stories explain that this is the hole in which the first peoples of this world entered. As “They” stepped outside of the “Sipapu”, they changed from lizard-like beings into homo sapiens, or human form. It is from this point that the “First Peoples” of the Earth began to divide and separate, creating differing tribes along the first journeys of the first humans. (Source: Wikipedia)
Series notes:
The photos in this series are 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.
Montana Ponderosa Truck Camper on a Ram 2500 truck, Ponderosa Point Overlook, Bryce Canyon National Park, October 7, 2015.
My earliest knowledge of the word ponderosa was in connection to the Ponderosa Ranch owned by the Cartwright family in the hit TV series, Bonanza, set in the 1860s near Virginia City, Nevada, bordering Lake Tahoe.
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.
Bryce Canyon National Park’s Navajo Loop Trail is a relatively short trail with quite a change in elevation. One half of the 1.4 mile trail trail is very open and the other half climbs – or descends, depending on which direction you travel the loop – through a canyon that can be quite narrow in places.
Navajo Loop Trail, looking back down the switchbacks and slot in the canyon, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, October 7, 2015 (Pentax K-3 II)
Often, when we are camping, picnicking, or stopped for a snack on a trail, we are visited by some kind of small creature such as a bird, a chipmunk, or, in this case, a golden-mantled ground squirrel. They learn where people eat and visit to snap up and crumbs that may be left behind. All too often, though, they get habituated to humans and human food because some people, despite the rules prohibiting it and signs that warn against it, are going to feed the wildlife.
Golden-mantled ground squirrel investigating ice, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, September 2, 2009 (Pentax K10D)
Series notes:
The photos in this series are 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.
Almost invariably, if we are anywhere near the ocean or a lake where there are beaches, we’ll take a walk on the beach, even in the middle of winter, so long as it’s not too cold.
Ring-billed gull, Chesapeake Bay, Norfolk, Virginia, December 13, 2007 (Pentax K10D)
This 2007 trip to Virginia was to visit my mom who was in the hospital with a heart problem.
Series notes:
The photos in this series are 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.
After visiting Silverton on a beautiful autumn day in 2015, we decided to do the round trip train excursion from between Durango and Silverton the next day. The aspens were pretty much at the peak of fall color and, with the train, make for quite a picturesque image.
A day trip on the Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, Colorado, September 28, 2015 (Pentax K-r)
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad
Durango, Colorado was founded by the Denver & Rio Grande Railway in 1879. The railroad arrived in Durango on August 5, 1881 and construction on the line to Silverton began in the fall of the same year. By July of 1882, the tracks to Silverton were completed, and the train began hauling both freight and passengers.
The line was constructed to haul silver & gold ore from Southwest Colorado’s San Juan Mountains, but passengers soon realized it was the view that was truly precious.
This historic train has been in continuous operation between Durango and Silverton since 1882, carrying passengers behind vintage steam locomotives and rolling stock indigenous to the line. It is a family-friendly ride sure to create memories that will last a lifetime while offering a view of Colorado’s mountain splendor inaccessible by highway. Relive the sights and sounds of yesteryear for a spectacular journey on board the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
Series notes:
The photos in this series are 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.
In traveling through Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona over the years, we’ve visited a number of Ancestral Puebloan ruins, including those at Mesa Verde, several times, most recently in 2015. One of the most notable at Mesa Verde is Cliff Palace, which contained 150 rooms and 23 kivas and had a population of approximately 100 people. It is an exceptionally large dwelling that may have had special significant to the local culture of the time, perhaps as a social and administrative with high ceremonial usage.
Cliff Palace cliff dwelling, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, September 13, 2009 (Pentax K10D)
Cliff Dwellings
The cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde are some of the most notable and best preserved in the North American Continent. Sometime during the late 1190s, after primarily living on the mesa top for 600 years, many Ancestral Pueblo people began living in pueblos they built beneath the overhanging cliffs. The structures ranged in size from one-room storage units to villages of more than 150 rooms. While still farming the mesa tops, they continued to reside in the alcoves, repairing, remodeling, and constructing new rooms for nearly a century. By the late 1270s, the population began migrating south into present-day New Mexico and Arizona. By 1300, the Ancestral Puebloan occupation of Mesa Verde ended.
Series notes:
The photos in this series are 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.
“The Hunter” hoodoo/tower, Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, October 7, 2015.
In the early years of Bryce Canyon National Park a great effort was made to name many of the more prominent hoodoos. Over the years many of these have fallen or partially fallen so that they look nothing like the things they were originally named for. As a result hoodoos are no longer being named and many of the more obscure names are being dropped from newer publications.2
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.
Agua Canyon – National Park Service, Bryce Canyon National Park
September 11, 2009 was a beautiful fall day, with temperature rising into the low 70s. Camped at the KOA north of Ouray, we decided to make a day trip to the north side of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. We ended up making a loop around the entire canyon – for a long day trip.
Sky as we were leaving North Rim of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado, September 11, 2009 (Pentax K10D)
Black Canyon of the Gunnison – Deep, Steep and Narrow
Big enough to be overwhelming, still intimate enough to feel the pulse of time, Black Canyon of the Gunnison exposes you to some of the steepest cliffs, oldest rock, and craggiest spires in North America. With two million years to work, the Gunnison River, along with the forces of weathering, has sculpted this vertical wilderness of rock, water, and sky. (National Park Service)
Series notes:
The photos in this series are 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.
