Like so many American kids, my first trip without my family was to Washington DC, the Nation's Capital. Our bus ride was a long one from the Midwest... two full days. It included a stop in some college town where we spent the night in college dormitories and, in general, got into innocent trouble. (Of course there was the kid who also wandered away from the group, supposedly spent the night drinking, and was too late to catch his bus in the morning. His mom was a chaperone for one of the groups and she stayed behind as the officials planned to drag the river. I'm glad I wasn't him. Of course, I'm glad I wasn't the mother either.) So after a long, eventful trip out East, we were pulling into Washington DC. Who could forget it... the freeway with 8 lanes in each direction. Growing up where I did, most of my travel was on winding two-lane roads. I had never seen anything like this expressway. The leaders said that our first stop was at the Mall. I was in the back of the bus and generally we weren't paying attention. Some kid asked where we were going. My friends and I said we were going shopping. In our defense, we did come back to the bus loaded up with t-shirts, coffee cups and key chains. The perfect holiday gifts.
labels: national park, usa, washington dc location: washington, dc, usa
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This is a great picture taken in Alaska to show the difference between water generated from a glacier (on the left - filled with sand and dirt from the glacier) and the clear water generated from snow melt on the right. In both cases, the water was sooo cold. Like the cold when your woolen-mittens-get-wet-but-you-still-play-in-the-snow kind of cold. Here's a picture of the silt that remains after a glacier has receded. It's this fine sand that is carried so easily by the runoff, but you can see that much is left behind waiting for the first brave plants to seed the area. (I learned that Fireweed usually takes this honor.) And this picture shows how clear the water is in the lakes in Alaska. I remember there was a bear on the lower-left side of the lake grabbing a quick drink, although I can't find him in the picture now. It's these memories, filled with crystal clear lakes, that makes me remember how different Alaska is when compared to my experience of the lower 48 states.
labels: alaska, denali, national park location: denali national park, alaska 99743, usa I had previously mentioned a trip to Vienna, Austria here. But this "room" is the whole reason for the trip. I was desperate to get to Austria once I was this part of the Schoenbrunn Palace on a TV show. In the show, this room was filmed at night and the light had a beautiful amber glow. I remember thinking it was like I was on the inside of a wedding cake. Ha! Given the people walking around the edges of the space, you can start to get a feel of the scale. This area is actually open to the outdoors and was used as an entrance to the palace. You can see the gate where horse drawn carriages or cars drive through even today. And although they have netting up to discourage anything from resting on the ledges leading up to the ceiling, it doesn't obscure the opulence of royal construction from the past. I highly recommend visiting a site just because you saw an amazing photograph or TV show. It might just introduce you to a completely new place or culture. Vienna is an amazing city and I am so glad I went.
labels: austria, vienna location: schönbrunn palace, schloss schönbrunn, schönbrunner schloßstraße 47, 1130 vienna, austria Galway, Ireland is a great city on the western edge of Ireland. We traveled over to visit some family friends and see the sites in Ireland and England. Our trip was in the early spring, and we encountered three seasons in the first hour of our arrival. A warm breeze was quickly followed by hail and then rain. The cities in Ireland are everything you expect them to be. Warm. Comfortable. Gracious. My favorite story of Ireland actually took place in Dublin. I was traveling up to Bangor, Northern Ireland and took the train from Galway through Dublin. Of course I arrived in one train station and needed to transfer to another. There was a bus to aid in the shuttle of passengers, but I was confused and got off the bus one stop too soon. Obviously not in the right place, I asked someone on the street if he could explain where the train station was. The directions were simple. Walk to the next corner, turn right and you'll see it at the end of the road 2 blocks up. He then proceeded to walk me to the station to make sure I got there. I just remember thinking there are so many cities in the world where that wouldn't have happened. So gracious. This week is a big one. This week I could use a little luck of the Irish. This week I want to be warm, comfortable and gracious. labels: ireland location: galway, co. galway, ireland One time I took a road-trip around the 4 corners region with a friend from college. We must have covered well over one thousand miles and we saw a lot for our 7 day investment. One of the highlights was a trip to Monument Valley.
I'm pretty sure I wasn't expecting a site where we'd wander down a gravel path onto the valley floor as we drove past these vistas that were absolutely amazing. It was a warm day, with perfect sunshine in May. I'm not sure that words can capture the dusty, dry air and feeling of serenity and wonder that was experienced on this trip. One time I was sent down to Melbourne, Australia for work. Always the adventurer, I looked forward to my free time to see the sights. One day I wandered over to the Botanical Gardens. The garden was large (I passed it every day going into work) and there were many activities within the park, so I knew it was well visited by tourists and locals alike. There was a section called Grey Gardens, named because the plants all have a grey or silver tone to them. After the vivid green in other ares of the garden, this section was decidedly 'grey'. I had to check it out because I recently watched this movie, and I wanted to see if there were any similarities. But alas, there wasn't a raccoon or cat to be found. Not even a dancing Edie. labels: australia, garden, melbourne location: royal botanic gardens, melbourne vic 3004, australia On my last full day in China, a trip to the Great Wall was required. We went to a site called Mutianyu which was a bit further away from Beijing, but it was still pretty touristy with many vendors available for souvenir purchases, a couple places to get a bite to eat, and even a spot to slide down from the great wall to a nearby parking lot. I'm sure that part wasn't original. :) Being on the wall allowed for some great views. This was one of the openings from a lookout tower on the wall. Almost every opening had fantastic views of the wall or the surrounding landscape. At the top, the wall was 5 meters wide allowing for many people to easily walk between towers. Signal towers were used at high points to communicate oncoming advancements along large wall sections. Openings in the walls itself framed the nearby terrain. I love the layers of mountains that are visible in this shot. I'm sure the rope lights were a recent addition.
labels: china I really love the Grand Canyon and therefore I've gone far more often than the average person. Usually Arizona is filled with sunshine. And occasionally a cloudy day. But every once in awhile, you'll see the clouds descend and play with the mountains (or in this case, canyon walls) making for a totally unique view. There is something eerie about seeing nothing but a foggy mist beyond one of the canyon walls. I have taken this photo many times. Usually the frame is filled with layer after layer of rock and vegetation. And this shot is one of my favorites. While the distance is barely visible, the trail into the inner canyon is clear. Such an unusual day at one of the world wonders.
labels: arizona, national park location: grand canyon national park, village loop rd, grand canyon,, az 86023, usa These little flowers really struck me. They are so colorful and delicate. And yet they must be strong and forceful. Afterall, they are able to successfully grow in lava. These photos were taken on the Big Island of Hawaii in Volcano National Park. This area showed how the lava flow essentially overtook a nearby town, flowed over the cliffs that existed just beyond that horizon line in the photo, and grew the island by inches at a time. But I like thinking about how after destructive things happen, new beautiful things have a chance to grow.
labels: hawaii, national park location: kua desert trail, hawaii volcanoes national park, pahala, hi 96777, usa You may remember an earlier post that talked about a trip to Thailand. After the wedding was over we still had a couple of days to enjoy the area. So we drove to a nearby town, about an hour away, and found a little fishing village. This photo is of the fishermen bringing in the day's catch. It was in the early afternoon, and the temperature was in the 80s, but it was January so wool caps and gloves were in order. We wanted to get to a nearby park and the easiest way was by boat. So we asked these guys to give us a ride over. We were a large group so we split into two boats. We were dropped off on a sandy beach with a promise they would be back a few hours later. Part two, coming soon.
labels: national park, thailand location: khao sam roi yot national park, sam roi yot, prachuap khiri khan 77120, thailand |
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December 2012
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