Joyce & Ron on the Road

October 15 to October 19: Clarksville, Indiana

2007-10-17T07:35:00.002-07:00

October 10 to 14: Auburn, Indiana

2007-10-17T07:35:00.001-07:00

October 8 & 9: Grand Rapids Services

2007-10-17T07:34:00.001-07:00

October 2 - 7: Home at Traverse Bay

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September 29 to October 1: Thompson, Michigan

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September 15 to 29: Treehaven Elderhostel

2007-09-28T07:00:00.001-07:00

We attended an Elderhostel at Treehaven near Tomahawk, Wisconsin. This was another twelve day event similar to the program we enjoyed earlier at Leelanau in Michigan. Doug Moore was our instructor here, too.

Here are the twenty images that Ron submitted for the grand finale night. For the grand finale, the painters showed their paintings, the earth crafters showed their wares, and the photographers each submitted twenty images which Doug combined into a slide show for all to enjoy. There was wine and cheese in the room where the painters and crafters had their exhibits and we photographers encouraged them to drink deeply before coming to view our show.

And here are Joyce's twenty:

September 14: Iron Mountain, Michigan

2007-09-28T06:59:00.000-07:00

September 10 to 13: Munising, Michigan

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September 6 to September 9: Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan

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Lighthouse boat trip.

Scenic drive.

September 5: Onaway for Repairs

2007-09-07T19:09:00.001-07:00

We had an appointment for repairs at Brewbaker's Housing and RV.

August 30 to September 4: St. Ignace, Michigan

2007-09-07T19:02:00.000-07:00

Running a little behind our original plan, we finally made it to the Upper Peninsula! We were heading this way when the Elderhostel ended back in June . . . better late than never.

We visited the Bridge View Park several times to enjoy the view and take pictures.

We enjoyed a great day on Mackinac Island. By the way, sometimes it is spelled Mackinac with a c and sometimes Mackinaw with a w, but either way it's pronounced with the w. Just thought you'd like to know.

We took the Star Line so we could high-tail it to Mackinac Island. There are three competing services and I think the water spray is purely decorative with no necessary cause or function.

We strolled a little, had lunch, and then boarded a horse-drawn carriage (those horses are fabulous artists) for a tour of the island.

We passed the land-side of the Grand Hotel. It was fun to see this as there are TV shows featuring it on the History Channel. The land-side road is on the right end of this picture.

There is a lovely butterfly house. Both Ron and Joyce enjoy butterfly houses and this turned out to be much more than anticipated. The butterflies loved Ron's shirt (and who can blame them). Some landed on Joyce, too, but these are Joyce's photos so you get to see Ron.

There were several species we had not seen elsewhere including this white and orange guy.

We didn't have time to visit the fort . . . next time.

As we were strolling through town again we enjoyed the gardens that were in full bloom.

Now, the Mystery Spot is one of those tourist traps one sees advertised far and wide. We hadn't been to a good Tourist Trap since Hole-N-The-Wall near Moab, Utah, so we were due. This turned out to be a great one that included miniature golf and a maze on the combined ticket (in for a penny, in for a pound Joyce always says about tourist traps so we got the combined tickets).

Our tour guide was great and encouraged participation in all of the demonstrations. Here Ron puts his toes on the board and stands straight and tall.

The night before the big Labor Day walk across the Mackinac Bridge we were down at Bridge View Park, which was to be parking for walkers and included instructions for them to follow to get onto the bridge.

Labor Day the bridge is half for walkers and half for motorized traffic, delightfully slow traffic. We crossed the bridge in the car at 8 to 10 mph so we got to observe and take lots of photos. Here we have the lines for the port-a-potties at the start area.

Normally the walkers must start their crossing between the hours of 7 am and 11 am but they allowed people to continue crossing until 3 pm because there were 57,000 walkers to mark the 50th anniversary of the bridge. The bridge is about five miles long so this is not an insignificant walk.

As we approached the second upright, Ron thought he spotted people on the top . . .

. . . and he did! The photographers had be to very dedicated to the one shot as they couldn't easily scramble to another location for a different view.

Everyone crosses from the Upper Peninsula to the Lower Peninsula and here at the finish line the walkers pooled by the hundreds (and probably thousands) as they recovered a little and then headed off for the buses to go back across to their cars or walked, some for miles more, to their cars on the finish line end.

Here is Joyce with her certificate for completing the 2007 Labor Day State Street Bridge Walk. It's in Cheboygon. It's about two blocks long. We came upon it by accident and joined the walkers. We were eligible for a free hot dog, too, but we chose to continue on to a restaurant for lunch.

Meanwhile back at the RV, we hadn't had DC power since Friday night. This translates to: no lights, no air conditioning, no hot water, and no bringing in of the slide-out rooms, dumping of tanks (we have a powered macerater), bringing in of steps and many other little annoyances. We eventually learned, with the help of CoachNet (AAA for RVers), that the generator would at least help us perform those tasks vital to travel (pull in rooms and steps).

August 23 to August 29: Traverse City, Michigan

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We went back to Traverse Bay RV Resort for a week.

August 20 to August 22: Zeeland, Michigan

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We spent three nights at Dutch Treat Campground again to shake down the motorhome and get ready to move on. It turns out at the heavy rains the days before we return ended up inside the bedroom slide. The rug in the bedroom was wet by the slide but the leak hasn't recurred in heavy rains so we think there was some debris in the seal that allowed a little leak.

August 6 to August 19: Trip to Parker, Colorado

2007-09-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

We parked the motorhome in the storage area of the Dutch Treat Campground and took off in the car for Parker. Our first stop was, not surprisingly, a casino for lunch. It was brand new having opened less than a week previously. We loved this huge sign over a door:

We spent two nights on the road. The first night we enjoyed a delicious pizza dinner at Bob's Your Uncle. Ron learned this saying from Joyce, as she often uses it with her sister.

While in Parker, Ron cleaned out his storage unit -- completely! Loads of stuff were taken to the Goodwill and lots of trash were taken to the dump. When the stuff went into storage about two years ago Ron had expected to move everything back out and into an apartment within a couple of months. What a massive amount of work he did.

It's easy to tell Ron's a grandpa, there's his sweet granddaughter (in her new princess dress) practicing putting a shoe on her bear, but he's going to poke her anyway!

Candi and Gordon

2007-09-07T18:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great time with Joyce's friend from college, Candi Haugen and her husband Gordon Halstead. We met at the mall and had a long lunch catching up. In fact our lunch was so long that we ended up moving out to the food court for a while, too. It was fun to catch up and interesting to find out how many times we came close to seeing each other (both in Yellowstone, Joyce driving toward Michigan) but something happened (or didn't happen!).

This is the same mall where we saw a couple of movies, including the Simpson Movie (Ron really got into that one).

July 23 to August 5: Holland, Michigan

2007-07-31T21:55:00.001-07:00

We came down to Holland to attended the SWMCCC conference -- that's something like Southwest Michigan Camera Club Conference. About 285 people attended a number of classes and photo opportunities. We both really enjoyed the conference even though we found the classes to be uneven in quality (volunteers provide the programs). Ron had fun at a birds of prey photo shoot and Joyce learned a lot about ProShow Gold software. We enjoyed all the people we met, too. Here's a little bit from the Outdoor Discovery Center from Ron:

Joyce enjoyed a workshop about setting up things to take pictures of:

This is behind glass.

This set-up includes an artfully broken window.

Ron worked on this shiloutte.

After the conference was over, we (wait for it) decided to stay for another week to visit some of the wonderful things we heard about but couldn't see because we were in classes. We visited the Outdoor Discovery Center and Holland State Park with great views of Big Red, the lighthouse in Holland. Now we are experiencing record high temperatures which is limited our interest in making some of the other visits we had planned. But we always have fun (as long as the air conditioning holds out at any rate).

This is Big Red just after sunset.

These people are walking back from a small light at the end of the pier.

July 24: Happy Birthday Ron!

2007-07-31T20:26:00.000-07:00

Ron's birthday didn't work out as smoothly as Joyce's. We went out in search of Ron's present at Costco but we didn't really get it until the next day. We wanted to have a late lunch at Outback Steakhouse. It sounded like so much fun. We drove around and finally found the restaurant and then we noticed that the lot was empty because the place didn't open until 4 pm. We did get to go to Red Robin instead and enjoyed it greatly. Joyce mentioned it was Ron's birthday but he begged for no singing. He even turned down the free balloon. He did accept the ice cream sundae, however! Then we went to see Bruce Willis in "Live Free or Die Hard" which Joyce thought was going to be about New Hampshire (state motto: Live Free or Die).

July 15 to July 22 -- More Hanging Around

2007-07-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

We couldn't decide where to go this week so we didn't go anywhere. One more week of watching swans, visiting the casino, and taking drives. The special event of the week was visiting the big horse show. It was so much more than we expected. There were four competition rings, each with a practice ring. We visited during the first of three weeks of competition which featured the younger and more beginner riders in general. We enjoyed watching the jumpers and hunters and just soaking up the general atmosphere.

July 7 to July 14 -- National Cherry Festival

2007-07-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

Love is in the air

The big festival in Traverse City is the National Cherry Festival. We attended a number of the events including the air show over the bottom of Grand Traverse Bay (in fact we went both days). Ron had never seen an air show but Joyce is an old hand at them. Of course, the attractive sun bathers on the sand added an extra touch.

We also saw some of the volleyball, crafts show, and various booths. We really enjoyed the Pow-Wow on Tuesday with all the dancing and music. We watched the big fireworks show at the end of the festival.

Dana was an official photographer at several events.

This is a rear view of the band warming up for their performance.

Both local television stations were broadcasting live from the "Open Area" of the festival. And we found the dog jumping surprisingly fun.

July 6 -- Happy Birthday Joyce!

2007-07-31T20:09:00.000-07:00

Joyce aged as gracefully as she can. We had a fun day of playing miniature golf -- both 18-hole courses at the Pirate Adventure center. Joyce took more strokes than Ron but he carefully explained that birthday girls always get a handicap equal to the difference in our scores plus one. So . . . Joyce won! Of course, she wasn't that aware. Between the two courses we went to Outback Steakhouse for a lovely dinner and we had margaritas! Wow! Joyce had a regular strawberry one and Ron had a double regular. We were loopy. I mean flat-out loopy! Oh, yeah, Joyce colored her hair in the campground bathroom and then couldn't get the broken doorknob to open the door in the morning. What a day!

June 24 to July 5 -- Traverse City

2007-07-31T19:52:00.000-07:00

After visiting with Dana and Kathy, we chose not to move from Traverse Bay RV Resort. This, of course, fits our normal pattern. We find a place we like (and we have a very wide range of "like") and then we just stay there! We engaged in a number of fun activities and just normal living. We revisited some of the areas we had toured with Dana, such as Grass River and Seven Bridges. The most fun place that became a regular stop for us is a park where there were two families of swans! What a joy see them so many times and watching the cygnets get so big.

One of the special events was the Celtic Festival in Fife Lake. We spent most of our time with the athletes tossing the caber, tossing the hammer, and other classic events.

We also attended local summer festivals: Alden has an event called the Stroll on Thursday nights. We listened to live music, once we ate ice cream and watched the sun set another time. Elk Rapids celebrates Wednesday nights with live music, street entertainers, and food booths. We stopped there twice as well.

The Turtle Creek Casino, located just two miles from our RV resort, saw a lot of visits from us. We were breaking even on betting (with several impressive wins) and it was the closest place to get a quick meal. Another casino in Petosky, a ways north of Traverse City, drew us to it three times, two of those times on Wednesdays which was Senior Appreciation Days. Who are we to prevent the casino from appreciating us?

We took pleasure rides around the area including out Old Mission Peninsula.

This is the interior of the cabin.

We took a trip back over to Point Betsie Lighthouse and Glen Haven that we had visited during the Elderhostel.

Boy -- Do I Feel Bad!

2007-07-31T19:49:00.000-07:00

I'm such a goose!

I just read the comments on the blog (I haven't looked earlier because I didn't want to be reminded of how far behind I was!). I finally looked at the blog because of the emails and phone calls we have been receiving from our fans, checking to see if we are still among the living. I assure you all we are alive and well (and I'm also lazy). I will try to catch us up and then we will add the photos.

June 22 and 23: Visiting Dana

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We visited with our friends Dana and Kathy at their home for two days. We had a great time and enjoyed their hospitality. The first evening we were treated to a boat ride on Elk Lake, where their home is located. While on the lake we spotted this merganzer with two of her babies riding on her back.

Ron enjoyed the ride.

The next day we were guided on a visit to a number of interesting photo sites by our hostess, a woman of great grace, as is clearly seen below:

June 10 to 22: Elderhostel

2007-06-25T16:34:00.000-07:00

We both really enjoyed the 12-day Elderhostel at Leelanau, near Glen Arbor, Michigan, focusing on landscape and macro photography in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Our leaders Doug Moore and Dan Hayes really kept us marching along with early morning field trips some days (we got up at 4:30 a.m. and had breakfast in the field). Other days we enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in to 6:30 with the field trip starting after breakfast. In any event we were back in time for lunch. In the afternoons we processed our images and recovered from our early risings. In the evenings we showed seven of our images in our group critiques which were very interesting for us all. For the finale on the last Thursday we showed our twenty best and also enjoyed viewing the painting of the watercolor group that met at the same time.

Here are Joyce's twenty:

And here are Ron's twenty:

June 4 through 9: Going to Glen Arbor

2007-06-25T10:53:00.000-07:00

The next few days we were mostly traveling to get to our Elderhostel on time. That didn't mean, however, that we didn't have time for some fun! Monday night we were in Chattanooga, Tuesday and Wednesday at Cumberland Falls, Thursday and Friday we were in Wapakoneta, Ohio, and Saturday we spent the night in Roscommon, Michigan.

We visited Cumberland Falls twice during our stay there. It is called the Niagara of the South.

On the way to and from the falls we observed an interesting farm building.

And this picturesque scene with hay in the field:

In Roscommon we visited the Neil Armstrong Space Museum. Here we have Ron in a mock-up of a space capsule:

Joyce was going a little crazy trapped in her space suit:

June 1 to 3: Callaway Gardens

2007-06-04T21:22:00.001-07:00

We spent three nights in Pine Mountain, Georgia, so that we could visit Callaway Gardens. We visited both days that we were in town. Our favorite areas were the Day Butterfly Center and the Horticultural Center. Here are some butterflies images:

May 30 - 31: Seffner FA and Valdosta GA

2007-06-04T16:34:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally on the road again. It took a while to be sure we remembered how to get everything ready for travel (and thank goodness we did remember).

At Seffner we stayed at Rally Park by Lazy Days RV. We didn't go far because we knew we would be slow to get going as we had to check everything we were doing three times.

In Valdosta, Georgia, we visited Wild Adventure Park which is owned by the same folks that own Cypress Gardens. Our annual pass works at both parks. It turned out to be heavily aimed at thrill rides and not much in the way of attractive photo ops.

May 25 - 27: Road Trip Again

2007-06-04T16:23:00.000-07:00

We took off again on a three-day trip to visit Alligator Farm again for two days. We linked up with Karen and Liz and Suzie again and enjoyed their company at the Farm and for meals.

This egret appeared to be daring the alligators to eat him by landing on a piece of wood in the alligator-laden water. Another would fly low and dip his toes in the water.

The trees are full of birds but the reflections make exciting photographs.

There are a few, maybe two dozen, roseate spoonbills that visited the rookery morning and evening. They are having a tough time this year all over Florida due to the drought conditions.

The Farm also has some tortoises and these two males were a little cranky with each other!

After two days in St. Augustine, we moved on to Winter Haven for the night. Our goal was to see the concert at Cypress Gardens on Sunday night -- Weird Al Yankovich!

May 2 - 4: Alligator Farm

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The Alligator Farm in St. Augustine has LOTS of alligators but photographers go there for the nesting birds. The birds are attracted to the site because the alligators like to eat their natural enemies who would rob their nests of eggs and babies, such as raccoons and snakes. Of course, if a baby falls into the water (and the alligators try to make this happen) it instantly becomes an alligator snack but safety always has a price. Here are some photos from our three-day visit:

This is a snowy egret in display mode -- gotta catch the gals' eyes.

The babies naturally try to get another bird (usually their parents) to put their beaks in their mouths -- to get dinner spit into their mouths!

Sometimes we get distracted by sights that aren't birds such as this bug . . .

Or the Loch Ness alligator . . .

The two below are cattle egrets -- so called because they like to hang out with things that stir up insects such as cows (or tractors or horses).

The red legs on this one shows that he is showing off for the ladies.

And this is Joyce's favorite image from Ron, it has a real Japanese feeling.

April 28: Cypress Gardens

2007-06-04T15:32:00.000-07:00

We visited Cypress Gardens up in Winter Haven for the day. There is a big water park and lots of rides but we old folks enjoyed the more calm pursuits, like the water-skiing show. It features the hang glider below:

As well as the fellow skiing backwards as seem through his own rooster tail!

We strolled through the gardens and took in this classic Cypress Gardens view:

We encountered this statue of St. Augustine in the botanical gardens.

He was very near the water lilies:

April 20 and 21: Butterfly World

2007-06-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

On Friday we drove over to the East Coast of Florida to visit Butterfly World for a day trip. What a fun trip! We went with our friend Bob.

In addition to the butterflies, they also have a number of small birds that were fun to photograph. In fact that was Ron's favorite.

This hummingbird flashed a red throat in his courting display -- Ron caught this image after much, much work!

And this guy posed for so long, everyone who was at Butterfly World that day must have at least one photo of it (but probably not this nice).

Well after we got home and looked at our images, we decided we could do much better so we drove back again the next day! We drove by ourselves but we met Karen, Liz, Suzie, and Helen Jo there. It's so much fun to have friends to hang out with while we are all doing what we enjoy.

There were some nice plant specimens there, too.

April 8 to May 29: More Time at Cypress Woods

2007-06-04T14:57:00.000-07:00

Good grief! It's been a long time since I updated. I knew I was behind but this is ridiculous.

If you remember, we were going to drive out of Cypress Woods RV Park on May 1 but we didn't actually do it until May 30. Ron's doctor appointment on April 27 did not result in the doctor telling us his meds were finally in balance and we should take off -- indeed, he told us things were not as good as we thought and several more appointments and tests and med changes were in our future until he finally got the all clear (as long as we come back and finish things up next fall).

We did the usual things the last two months we were in Fort Myers: dining, shopping, movies, visiting, nothing much.

One sad event was the death of Don Chisholm, a camera club member and a friend of Ron's for many years. We attended his memorial service on April 19.

We took some pictures at various parks around the area. The one above is from Ding Darling. Separate entries are shown for some of the other little adventures we had.

April 7: John and Grace

2007-04-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

Today we had the great fun of seeing Ron's baby brother John and his delightful wife Grace.

When Joyce sent out the notice last night that updates were available on the blog, an automatic message came back that John and Grace were in Florida! Within minutes Ron was talking to John on the phone and a lunch date was set up for today. It turns out that they were only about 30 miles away and were here for one week only.

We talked non-stop for four hours (with short breaks to swallow our lunch). What great people they are -- it is a joy to know them. We are looking forward to our next visit.

March 27 to April 6: Season's End

2007-04-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

We have been attending lots of "end of season" events for the camera clubs and the annual Southwest Florida Camera Club Conference. As you might expect we won more honors.

At the Fort Myers Image of the Year competition Joyce didn't win anything but Ron won an Honorable Mention for his photo of a coyote. This was particularly satisfying because these outside judges that were brought in for Image of the Year liked the photo but it had done poorly in club competition.

This beautiful bird also won an honorable mention for Ron in one of the competitions. At the Naples Image of the Year competition neither one of us won anything. Pooh on them. No one bought our prints at the print sale either although the woman running it at the doctor's clinic said they would have sold many more prints if they could have accepted credit cards. We choose to believe that our prints were desired by credit card holders.

At the regional competition Joyce won three things! In Nature Digital (as opposed to film) she won Second Place for her photo of Half Dome.

In General Digital she won Second Place for Balloon Glow and an Honorable Mention for Mickey and Friends. Joyce received certificates for the wins at the regional competition but she made these "winner cards" for herself anyway. She got the idea at another camera club and likes the way it shows the photo (and makes it easier to remember what won when and where to avoid duplication!).

Ron didn't win anything at the regional competition (pooh on them on his behalf).

Other more mundane events have been occurring, too. The car has been serviced and the doctors have been visited. We've also done fun things like meeting friends. April 5 we tried to take some photos in Ding Darling but the birds all seemed to be on a break. Ron helped a friend with his computer settings and they gave us lunch. It was fun to get to know them more.

March 26: Going Back Home

2007-04-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

We stopped at Jungle Garden again in the morning before driving home. It was much cooler in the morning! We also met Karen and Suzie there.

There are a lot of exotic birds at Jungle Gardens, including this little cutie.

Some of the animals on view are there intentionally and are maintained and cared for by the staff. Others just live there on their own, such as the spiders in the trees and some of the birds that just visit.

There is a fountain which generated lovely rainbows. This one was hovering just above the water.

March 24 and 25: George Lepp & Venice Rookery

2007-04-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

In addition to the lectures by George Lepp and the many items available to try and buy, there were also "set-ups" to photograph. There were several models we didn't photograph and four injured birds that Joyce snapped pictures of with her little camera.
Here is the scene with the photographers around the birds.

And here is one of the owls.

This crowd of bird-crazed photographers includes our friends Liz in the denin slacks and Suzie in the brown. The weekend was very interesting and we bought a few things from the camera store that sponsors the weekend. It was also fun because there were so many people we know there. Fort Myers Camera Club was well represented with about 18 attendees. Ron, of course, know other people there, too.

After the program closed on Sunday we met a couple of friends at the famous Venice Rookery. Now Joyce was expecting a massive wall of rock with niches full of bird nests. The truth is that it looks more like monkey island at the zoo, taken over by birds. It was just behind some buildings and there is a conveniently located parking lot. There were lots of birds but apparently not as many as prior years.

One bird causing some excitement was the woodpecker nest in an old, dead tree. Here he is pecking away.

This resident is considerably smaller than most.

We watched a lot of birds fly in for the evening, including this egret.

It a good night for silhouette shots, such as these two egrets.

A number of species all bunk in together. Above are two snowy egrets with a ibis in the center.

March 23: Jungle Garden in Sarasota

2007-04-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

The main reason we went to Sarasota was to attend a two-day weekend lecture series by George Lepp. For those of you who don't know who he is (and Joyce was one of them), he's a very famous photographer. If you have seen those fabulous photos Cannon uses in their ads for their cameras and printers, you have seen his work.

We drove up on Friday and stopped at Jungle Gardens, Sarasota's version of a zoo. The place smacks of a tourist trap that's gone straight, probably many years ago.

The ducks are considered more exotic here than they are in the Northwest.

The parrots and similar foreign birds are displayed for close examination. You can even pose with one sitting on you if you want to (we didn't want to).

The gardens are very old so the plants are huge. There are a few animals in cages, but the big attraction for us is the birds. Among these the flamingos are very popular.

The snowy egret shares his log with a few turtles in the largest of the ponds.

The white peacock was parading about near the snack bar with his tail spread.

The tail was interesting all by itself.

The pelicans were whacking the water with their wings.

We don't have a photo of the flamingo that goosed Joyce but here's one of a flamingo checking out Ron's armpit. This is apparently flamingo sign language for "hey, buddy, can you spare some of that bird food?"

March 15-16: Construction and Bunche Beach

2007-04-06T07:37:00.000-07:00

Before we moved to Cypress Woods, we had been thinking about what to do to improve Ron's computer situation. He was using a desktop with two monitors and a laptop on part of the table and a tv tray. We decided to remove one of the bookshelves and put in a small computer desk.

The computer desk fit between the remaining bookshelf and the fold-up table that came mounted on the wall. Joyce assembled the piece, leaving off the wheels that would have been concealed at the bottom. With very little construction space inside the motorhome, she built herself into the unit when it was on its face and before the back went on. Ron lifted it up so she could wiggle out!

Filled with his equipment and with the laptop on the fold-up table, Ron finds his new workstation very suitable for hours of processing photos.

The next day we met Karen Lund on Bunche Beach before dawn.

Here's Ron and Karen prepping their cameras. Joyce's camera is always prepped!

Karen walked the beach barefoot so that she can wade in the water. Ron and Joyce accomplished the same goal by wearing rubber boots.

One of the cool things we found right away was a couple of young bald eagles who flew out of the trees near the edge of the beach and landed in the water for a little fishing. It was still very early so the light was poor but the sight was wonderful!

This pretty snowy egret was fishing in the tides pools.

This ray was laying (dead) in a tide pool.

There were several types of birds fishing. And they were doing well!

This reddish egret just looked goofy.

But he was a good fisherman. They "dance" for a while and then grab the fish.

The reddish would fly from one tide pool to another.

We would approach the newly chosen tide pool but then the egret would, of course, fly back to the previously chosen tide pool.

March 1 to 15: Lake San Marino

2007-04-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

We spent the first half of March not being very photographic. We visited with friends, attended camera club events, and going to doctor appointments. On the 15th we left Lake San Marino, stopped at Family RV for a last appointment, and moved into Cypress Woods RV Resort -- quite plush! This is where our friends Donna Mae and Paul were staying and we are now on their very site which we are renting from their friend.

March 1: Burrowing Owls

2007-03-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Owls that dig holes in the ground and live in them! Who knew?

They are so cute Joyce wants to pick one up and squeeze it. Ron advises that such an action would likely result in injuries -- to Joyce.

Today we visited Ron's doctor on Cape Coral again and went early so that we could search out some of the burrowing owls there. They are a protected species so if they chose to nest somewhere the lot stays empty which is real handy when searching for owls! Of course the white pipes stuck in the ground like fence posts with yellow tape on them help, too. People have put T-shapes perches near the holes for the birds.

The top picture shows two of the little cuties in this hole. Other nests may have had two inside also but this is the only one we saw. Later one of the two birds came out and gave Joyce "the eye."

At another stop we found this owl perched on the edge of a roof. His hole was in someone's yard and he didn't like our orange car parked near the hole. After we moved the car a little he flew back down to the hole. Please note that he is not an escaped felon, that is an identification band on his leg!

February 25: Corkscrew Swamp

2007-02-25T17:42:00.000-08:00

Today was another Corkscrew Swamp day. We bought annual passes on our first visit and as of today's visit we have more than broken even. We chose to go in the morning this time and noticed that there are a lot more bird noises in the morning!

The big excitement of the day was this Purple Gallinue. Ron says they are more common on the east coast of Florida but it was causing a lot of attention today. It is beautiful.

How slow do you have to be walking for leaves to fall on you?

Joyce's first swimming alligator! Smooth, silent, and not that slow! It was fun to watch the birds in the area decide it was time to move into a tree as the alligator approaches.

You, the dedicated fans of this blog, have seen Anhingas before but this one is so cool with its reflection.

Here's another alligator, a youngster this time. He looked about two feet long which means he about two years old. He was just laying on a log in the sun, how trite!

That concludes the fauna portion of our blog and we can move on to the flora (Joyce thinks). Above is a golden lichen growth -- is that flora or something else?

This is one of the few colorful bits in the swamp.

And lastly, Joyce doesn't think this is flora or fauna, she thinks fungus might be it's own thing. If she's wrong, let her know, gently.

February 23: RV Repair Day

2007-02-25T15:35:00.001-08:00

On Thursday afternoon we got a call that the parts were in and they were ready to complete the repairs on our RV on Friday! That means putting everything away, closing up everything, and heading out by 6:30 a.m. to get to Our Family RV by 8:00! We got there 20 minutes early.

While the work was being done, we went out to breakfast at Perkins and then to a park to sit in the car in the shade, listen to a short (three hour) recorded book, and snooze! When the sun moved, so did we, to another park where we could park in the shade under a bridge and listen to the end of the story.

During our first visit to Our Family RV, Joyce took a bunch of photos of shells and coral at the Shell Factory. This time she rocked her seat back and shot the bottom of the bridge through the open read window of the car. She suffers for her art.

February 19: Fort Myers Camera Club

2007-02-25T15:33:00.000-08:00

On Monday we went to the Fort Myers Camera Club for Joyce's first competition there. This was a projection competition which means that the images were shown as slides. There are two divisions: Advanced and Novice. Joyce is in novice as she is new to competition. The images of the two divisions are shown commingled but the points are tallied separately.

There are three categories: Assignment, General, and Nature. The Assignment was Doors and Windows. Joyce entered the two images shown here. The upper one is from Far View House in Mesa Verde National Park. It won First Place (tied)!

This one is from Taos Pueblo in New Mexico. It also won First Place (tied) -- I tied with myself!

In the General Category Joyce entered the above photo called "Inside the Strawberry" from the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. It won Second Place.

This one is also from the Balloon Fiesta. It won Third Place!

In the Nature Category Joyce entered the photo above of a tree at Dead Horse Point in Utah. It won First Place!

This is her other entry in Nature and is from Mesa Falls in Idaho. It only won Honorable Mention. In case you haven't been counting, three images at Naples with three winners and six images at Fort Myers with six winners. Joyce could say she's not bragging, just reporting the facts, but let's face it: She's bragging!

February 17: Corkscrew Swamp

2007-02-25T15:32:00.000-08:00

We made our second visit to Corkscrew Swamp. It was about the same time of day, late afternoon. They close at 5:30 and one doesn't dawdle -- they tend to lock things up tight!

This Anhinga was swimming through the water and caught a tasty morsel. Note the tail of the bird with the white tips on the feathers.

This is an unusual one of these. This variety is from Cuba. Or so said the lady on the boardwalk who pointed it out to me.

And this little cutey is called the Little Green Heron -- for obvious reasons!? It is small and nearly disappears when it is not right in the sunlight.

February 16: Fort Myers Beach Art Association

2007-02-25T15:31:00.000-08:00

On Friday we were back at the Art Association in Fort Myers Beach. We needed to put stickers on the backs of our photos.

In our haste to get the photos up for the judging we forgot to put our name stickers on the back and they were needed so that anyone working with the entries would know whose was whose (and we were the only ones without stickers!).

The top photo shows Joyce's White Pelican on the wall. The middle photo has both Ron's mostly green Sun in the Redwoods and Joyce's Half Dome.

This bottom photo has Ron's photo from Bryce. None of the photos shown won anything -- it was a tough competition.

February 14: Valentine's Day

2007-02-15T16:09:00.000-08:00

We are such hopeless romantics (well, at least we are hopeless!). On Valentine's Day we got up at 6 a.m. to break camp and drive to an RV place in North Fort Myers to get some warranty issues reviewed. We were there by 8 and done with the paperwork by 8:30. That left us with all day to fill. We went to a Perkins restaurant for a leisurely breakfast and then visited the Shell Factory, a major tourist attraction.

As we got out of the car, Ron suggested to Joyce that she bring her camera into the store. What a great idea that turned out to be! She merrily took pictures of coral, such as the brown stem shown above.

And pictures of shells such as the ones above and below. She had such a good time, she wants to do it again and has been thinking of techniques to try.

Then we drove around for a while. Ron remembered where some osprey had been nesting so we drove there. The exact place he remembered doesn't have birds right now (probably thanks to hurricanes) but there were others within a block or so.

This pair (mom's head can just be seen on the left) have a nest on a common nesting platform. Ospreys are not genius nest builders and these platforms give them a solid base for their nests.

Just a few hundred yards from the first pair was this second pair, building their nest the old fashioned way -- in a tree.

Then we drove a little more in the area and found a pond with lots of birds around it: Great egrets, lots of ibis, a blue heron or two, and these wood storks.

Wood storks are endangered and a look at this (fuzzy) close-up shows that the animals are not the most handsome around. The warranty issues are proceeding and we will undoubtedly be back for more work on the motorhome and more pictures of shells and osprey.

February 12: Naples Camera Club

2007-02-15T15:51:00.000-08:00

Tuesday was the Naples Camera Club meeting (we belong to both the Naples and the Fort Myers clubs). This was the first time that Joyce had participated in a projected image competition. The Naples club has one print competition and one projected competition per month. Projected means both slides from film and image files from digital. There are three categories: Nature (no "hand of man" can show -- so no bird on a fence post, for example), general (hand of man shows), and assignment, which changes each competition.

This month the special assignment was "Flora, new and old shown together" -- a subject for which Ron had no images and Joyce tried a couple while down at Corkscrew Swamp. The image above is what she submitted: A new fiddlehead fern unfurling in front of mature fronds. Ron asked "Where's the old one?" to which Joyce pointed out the old ones are blurred. She arrived at the conclusion they were too blurred when the man in front of her at the club meeting asked the same question to his companion when the image was projected. It won Honorable Mention anyway but there wasn't much competition, only about eight images total.

The nature category had more like 18 or 20 competitors and Ron's Lower Yellowstone Falls with Rainbow and Joyce's Half Dome tied for second place!

The general category competition also had plenty of entries and Joyce's Balloon Glow won Fourth Place and Ron's Mesa Verde image was tied with two others for Fifth Place.

Shall we summarize? Joyce: Honorable Mention, Second Place (tie), and Fourth Place. Ron: Second Place (tie) and Fifth Place (tie). Every image we submitted won something! Not a bad showing for the family.

February 13: Look! Eagles!

2007-02-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

So, Ron was doing laundry (he brought the car with him) and Joyce was puttering around the house. While glancing out the window she noticed more than the usual number of people looking up in the trees (usually it's not more three or four people at a time casually glancing to the trees). Finally Joyce couldn't stand it anymore and went out to investigate.

Well, it turns out that two bald eagles, one mature with a white head and one immature still in brown feathers, had been overhead fighting over a fish. During the fight the fish fell out of their grip and landed about 35 feet from my front door! The crowd was watching the two eagles who were now perched in the trees, presumably waiting for people to go away so they could swoop down and get the fish (shown below).

Joyce would have run for her camera with the telephoto zoom lens, but it was in the car. Ron's big Nikon D200 was in the motorhome so she ran and got that and proceeded through a number of very frustrating minutes because she couldn't get the thing to work. Remembering the battery charger was on the counter, Joyce sprinted to the motorhome again and grabbed the battery that was indeed charging. But still no luck making the camera work. While she gave up on the Nikon and ran for the little camera she carries in her purse, the mature eagle finally took off, circled a few times, and went to look for one of the many other fishes in the ocean.

This immature eagle was still waiting for the crowd to clear.

Occasionally the neck would stick out and the head would turn sideways, probably for a better look at the fish on the ground.

Eventually the second eagle gave up, too, and flew off. When Ron got home Joyce (a) confessed to pressing a lot of buttons on his camera in what became a rather random pattern after a while and (2) asked for a lesson in how to make the dang thing work so as to be prepared for the next photographic emergency!

February 8: Collier County Fair

2007-02-08T18:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a sampling of what we've been doing:

We visited the Collier County Fair tonight. They don't have exhibits of fruits and vegetables but they did have a giant sand castle with many different things carved into it, including fruits and vegetables.

The midway had lots of rides including spinning dragons with children inside.

And swings twirling the children into a frenzy. We didn't go on any rides but we did have a great time with a couple of pinball machines (we were the oldest in the arcade by far). We also watched the pig races. We are pig racing fans, having watched the races in two states now.

We visit Wal-Mart fairly often, we are RVers after all. We especially enjoy the huge savings that are on offer. This one was perhaps a little overly truthful: Was $1.50 but now it's $1.50!

One of our favorite restaurants is Sonny's Real Pit Barbeque. The pictures above and below were taken there. They are fuzzy because neither of us sees that clearly! And besides, we look better with a little "glamour blur." (Joyce apparently went blind and has her nose in a splint!)

February 2: Corkscrew Swamp

2007-02-02T19:50:00.000-08:00

Today's adventure was our first visit to Corkscrew Swamp, an Audubon conservation area. Here are some of the things we saw as we walked the boardwalk.

This little cutie is an immature ibis. Doesn't he even look like a teenager?

This is a mature yellow crowned night heron. We saw an immature one at Ding Darling. There were at least half a dozen of these birds sitting in various trees.

This was so cool! This is an anhinga and we got to watch it swimming as it searched for food. And it was catching things quite often. The water is shallow so we could see it "flying" under water and every so often just its head and neck popped up for air. Fascinating!

The little pie-billed grebes don't get as much attention with all the flashier birds about.

The vegetation is just as interesting as the wildlife.

Nearly every bloom I leaned over to study came complete with spiderwebs.

The turtles were sunning on a log in a pond-like area of the swamp.

This is a beautiful shot of a flying ibis so you know it is Ron's.

This little woodpecker was pecking away. He is small, maybe five inches top of head to tip of tail. He moved around a lot so he was difficult photograph.

February 1: Ding Darling Ditto

2007-02-02T06:59:00.000-08:00

We ran some errands and dined at Sonny's Real Pit BBQ for lunch. Our errands included picking a spot to live in April. It's expensive here in Florida ($1,050 per month!) but we have a big discount offer for April and/or May of $169 plus electric. That should drop our average cost per night some. We could have stayed right where we are but we are planning to move to a sister resort called The Groves in Fort Myer. It will be back to The Groves for Ron, he lived there for a couple of years previously!

A loyal reader who shall remain nameless but whose initials are "Heide" asked about Ding's nickname. Here's a quote from his biography by David L. Lendt: Darling signed his creations D'ing, a contraction of his last name. "The apostrophe stood for the 'arl' which were left out in order to make a funnier looking signature and in addition to conceal my identity," Darling explained. The name had been used by his father and by his brother Frank before him.

We visited Ding Darling again. This time we found a Snowy Egret having a bad hair day.

The Blue Heron looks as if it were photographed with a flash, but it wasn't. The sun was getting low and caused this lighting.

Joyce is not good at in-flight pictures. She blames her camera. Ron is good at it but when Joyce gets one, she wants to post it. Hence this Brown Pelican flies into the blog.

Ever wonder what it looks like when a White Pelican yawns? It's a pretty scary sight! This pelican tipped his head back and opened his mouth. The membrane in his lower jaw is so thin, you can almost see through it.

The White Pelicans are the largest birds in the Refuge (and the second largest wingspan among U.S. birds following the Condor) and the Snowy Egret is not the smallest, but it sort of looks that way. Later we attended the Audubon lecture series featuring nature photography. [Just for the record, one woman recognized Ron at the RV park and another at Ding Darling, plus the couples he (and I) know from the camera club -- I can't take him anywhere!]

January 29: Ding Darling

2007-01-29T20:13:00.000-08:00

Today we made our first visit to J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel Island. Ron has been to Ding Darling many, many times but it was Joyce's first visit. We saw an awful lot, especially considering it was cool (by Florida standards) so a lot of birds were hiding in the bushes for warmth. Here are some of the creatures we saw (many with comments thanks to the brochure from the visitor center!):

The Roseate Spoonbill is a large pink wading bird. They feed by swinging their flat bills from side to side, using them to filter out food. When this bird hatches it is nearly white and gets pinker with age.

The two in the back are brown pelicans. Their white cousins get more attention, but they are nice, too. Joyce doesn't know the name of the guys in the front.

This guy is a Mangrove Tree Crab -- yes, I know it's a very bad picture but it turns out exceedingly difficult to take a picture of a tree crab, especially when you can only see two and you know the hundreds of others are probably heading for the warmth of your ankles! And that is a mangrove tree that the tiny beast is clinging to.

This Great Egret's larger size, yellow bill, and black legs and feet distinguish it from the snowy egret. Like herons and egrets, this bird holds its neck in an S-shaped posture in flight.

The White Ibis will never be confused with another when seen at close range because its orangish red face and curved bill are unique. Immature birds are all brown or brown turning white. The immature plumage is kept for one year. That's a crab the ibis has caught and is about to eat!

The Anhinga is often called the "Snake Bird" (although Joyce did not hear that once all day). It swims underwater and then uses it's sharp beak to stab fish. Afterward they dry out their wings showing the feathers that resemble white piano keys on its sings. The female has a light brown head and neck.

This is a Gulf Fritillary butterfly. We spotted four along a path.

After Joyce recovered from her tragic trip over a root (at which time she fell so completely down that she hit her nose and forehead on the ground!), she was rewarded with the sight of a mama raccoon and her four babies. This is one.

We took a lunch break to a restaurant called the Bubble Room. It was really cute with literally thousands of things, mainly old toys and movie star photos. The food was good (but they charge full price for a Diet Coke refill). After lunch we visited a couple of beaches on the way back to Ding Darling. One that used to be solid shells isn't anymore. Another did have a lot, repeat lot, of shells.

The tide was coming in so there were a few dramatic waves but the tides are less extreme here in the south than they are up north.

Back at Ding Darling, this Snowy Egret paraded back and forth. It is similar in appearance to the Great Egret but is often called the "bird with the golden slippers" because of its yellow feet. Again, Joyce did not hear this reference all day. These birds can be identified by the black bill and legs and yellow feet.

This was an exciting find, according to the birders standing there and also according to Ron. This is an immature Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron. It is a medium-sized, stocky gray herson with a black head and buffy-white crown. It feeds mostly at night. The juvenile bird is grayish brown overall with fine white streaks on its breast and dots on back and wings. This immature plumage is kept for two years.

These white pelicans are seasonal visitors to Ding Darling. This large white bird with up to a ten-foot wingspan, the largest birds to visit Ding Darling. They winter here and summer in central Canada. Using teamwork these birds swim and encircle their prey together while scooping up their meals. The four airborne birds above are landing in unison, demonstrating the vaunted teamwork.

This is a Tri-Color Heron. This bird is bluish gray with the distinguishing mark of white underparts and a rust stripe down its white neck.

The last wildlife was this three- to four-year-old alligator. Supposedly there are many more there but the cool weather kept them away from their usual haunts.

On the way home we paused at the beach in Fort Myers Beach. It was a lovely end to a delightful day!

January 27: Six Mile Cypress

2007-01-27T17:58:00.000-08:00

Today we walked around the boardwalk at Six Mile Cypress Preserve. There was not as much wildlife visible as Ron expected but anything is more than Joyce expected, never having been there before! We didn't bring our "real" cameras, just Joyce's little one that lives in her purse. We'll be going back for more serious photography a little later in the season.

The boardwalk goes over mostly swampy ground. There are a couple of ponds and a little drier ground. There are lots of cypress trees, some palms, plenty of ferns, and lots of little plants. The palm above was very attractive to Joyce's eye.

As we walked along, Ron kept peeking into the woods. It turns out that he was looking for his tree with the pink lichen. When he found it, they had trimmed around it a little so it was easier to spot.

These are not partially decayed stumps in the swamp water, they are called cypress knees and the cypress grows them on purpose. No one really knows what that purpose is but perhaps it's just none of our business! Some of them provide homes for ferns and perches for birds.

This stuff was growing in one of the ponds. Joyce isn't sure if it is trying to take over or if it stays contained to the edge of the pond.

We weren't really that close to this egret, zoom and cropping at work here!

This is a resurrection fern. Ron says in dry weather they fade away to nothing -- all brown and thoroughly dead looking. Then it rains, as it recently did, and it puffs right back up again!

January 12 to 26: Tampa and Naples

2007-01-27T07:45:00.000-08:00

After leaving Disney World, we spent two nights at the Rally Park at Lazy Days in Tampa. We had dinner each night with a different friend and visited the Camping World and RV dealership there. What a huge operation! Initially we pulled into the wrong spot and instead of being where one checks into the campground, we were where one turns in one's trade-in to get a new RV. A salesman came by, admiring our rig, and wondered what we were trading it for. Joyce, honest but not clever, said we were just in the wrong spot. Shortly thereafter she realized she should have told him we were trading it in on fifty pop-up trailers!

Then we moved down to Lake San Marino RV Resort and settled in for a couple of months. After realigning our expectations with reality, we like it here (we were expecting a cement parking pad rather than grass and to fit between the patio and the hook-ups). There are lots of activities to not go to: So far we have not gone to karaoke, water exercise, or the luau dinner dance. Joyce has watched the fun shuffle and the competition shuffle with another park (shuffle = shuffleboard), helped assemble a jigsaw puzzle, chatted with the wood carvers, and helped set the lights for karaoke night.

We have been visiting many of Ron's friends from when he lived here. Joyce can see why he was eager to return for the winter -- he gets way more hugs per event here! We have been to a number of lunches, two camera club meetings (two different clubs), and visited several people in their homes. We have committed to entering images in both camera club competitions and putting two prints up for sale for charity!

There are two Costco's near here but we have only been to one so far. That's where we encountered the Costco liquor store! A separate entrance, sort of like the tire center. The single malt scotch above is Costco's brand from Macallan distillery, aged 19 years, and priced at $70! For comparison the Glenlivet and Glenfiddich cost about $35 a bottle.

We visited the local (sort of) casino but won't be going back. We don't have high standards but it was too smoky for Joyce and too high-priced for both of us (nickle minimum games which means mostly $1 a go). If it's not a "fun" place, we don't spend our money there.

Ron has been going to doctors for check-ups and is almost through with that cycle. Joyce did her first Volkswalk in a couple years and has the blisters to prove it. She took a little break at a park and saw these bizarre ducks (upon further review, Ron says they are TURKEY VULTURES!) begging for handouts from the picnickers. We went to the RV show on Thursday (free parking and half-price on the first day) to look at vendors and park models. The park models are different here than they are in the northwest, no loft models on display and more trailer-based ones. But, several had little dishwashers! We didn't buy a thing.

January 8 to 11: Disney World!

2007-01-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

What did we do next? We went to Disney World!

We checked into Fort Wilderness for four nights and enjoyed ourselves at all four parks. One could say that Disney is wasted on children because adults enjoy it so much. We are very glad, however, that there were plenty of children there. They we so cute and fun to talk to. We enjoyed spotting the various princesses (they have complete make-overs including hair, make-up, fingernails, and outfits with shoes and everything for $175 and up!). We watched one little girl get her face painted and the surprise and pleasure in her face when she first saw herself was priceless. We talked to kids standing in line with us for rides.

The day we arrived we went to Disney-MGM Studios. Because we were staying at a Disney property we qualified for "Magic Hours" where one park a day is open extra hours. To tell the resort guests from the common riff-raff, we were issued bracelets. This entitled us to stay three extra hours after the normal closing at MGM on Monday.

We took advantage of our extra hours to attend the second showing of the evening fireworks and water and lights and live action extravaganza. Mickey is at the top of the island mountain.

Tuesday we spent in Epcot visiting Future World and World Showcase. We enjoyed it all. Ron didn't buy the pirate hat even though he looked quite dashing.

The country exhibits each featured various aspects of their cultures. We have always wanted to see the terracotta warriors of China. At least we saw the small version at Epcot.

Wednesday we went to the Animal Kingdom. This park was new to both Joyce and Ron. It was odd being lost and seeing everything for the first time because we were both at least somewhat familiar with the other parks. Above is Joyce's lunch of a BBQ sandwich and coleslaw (the Diet Coke is there but not pictured). We found all the food to be good, better than we had remembered.

You know you're not in Kansas anymore when the birds walking around the outdoor tables looking for crumbs look like this! And these were not robots but real, live ibis.

One of the hippos was active a little earlier than usual but was yawning.

Thursday we went to the Magic Kingdom, which is like Disneyland in California. This was the menu of the week -- at least at the Jungle Cruise.

The Spectromagic parade was beautiful. This peacock is just one example of the stunning floats.

These flowers are from another float. After the parade was over we took the boat to the parking area (some days we rode the park buses and some days we drove if we were going several places during the day). We watched the fireworks across the water and went home. Friday morning we packed up and moved on.

January 6 & 7: Madison, Florida

2007-01-12T19:44:00.000-08:00

We were in Madison mostly because everyone has to be somewhere and that's where we were. We did go visit the Suwanee River at Suwanee River State Park. There's not a lot there but it is a lovely river (and one finds oneself singing whilst there).

January 3 to 5: Milton, Florida

2007-01-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

Yes indeedy, we are in Florida! You can see the "Sunshine" state greeted us with gray skies but I'm sure they didn't mean it! That's our car and motorhome in the lower right.

Milton is near Pensacola in the tip of the panhandle. One day we visited the National Museum of Naval Aviation. It's on Pensacola Naval Air Station (which appears to be huge!) and is free (our tax dollars at work). It's a nice museum with nicely organized exhibits.

There is a life at home during WWII exhibit that included something that Joyce's Mom talked about but Joyce never saw: Three Musketeers Bars from the days when there were three bars in the package. We also had dinner with some friends in Milton.

January 2: New Orleans Day Trip

2007-01-02T19:27:00.000-08:00

We made a day trip to New Orleans from our campground near Baton Rouge. Ron had suggested a Gray Line Tour and Joyce selected the Katrina Tour. A bonus from researching the tours was that the driving instructions included where to park. On the way we crossed Lake Ponchartrain on the 24-mile long toll bridge. For $3 we got to drive and drive and drive over water that often appeared to have no shore.

After parking and buying tickets for the 1:00 tour, the first thing that caught Joyce's lens (she brought her little camera with her) was this potted plant with a champagne bottle in it. It was in front of the Jackson Brewery Building. We must be in New Orleans -- their litter is much higher class! The note in the bottle turned out to be an odd little flier that we later learned was being passed out by the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum down the street (Joyce was hoping it was part of a treasure hunt or some other game).

We walked around coming soon to Landry's, a seafood restaurant that Ron enjoyed in the past. Here's Ron not going to Landry's today!

As we approached the House of Blues (this is a window display), Joyce congratulated a woman on her excellent trash tossing technique. The woman asked Joyce where she was from and when she heard "originally Seattle area" she hesitated only a moment before inviting Joyce and Ron up to her roof! She lives in an apartment over the House of Blues (we are still a little unclear about her relationship with the House of Blues, if any).

She introduced herself as Jackie and we introduced ourselves. We rode her elevator to the roof garden so she could share the view and tell us about the city. She said she was feeling good about life in the city today and wanted to do something nice for someone.

This is the view south showing the spires of the cathedral and the (light-colored on the right) Jackson Brewery building.

Looking west we could see the Mississippi River. There were dozens of potted plants on the roof. Jackie got three or four calls in the short time we were with her -- her grandchildren were in town and she was arranging events. She pointed out lots of points of interest -- more than we could visit. One of her recommendations was to go window-shopping. Then she said it in French (which Joyce can't even begin to remember!) and then, laughing, translating into English, said it means "window licking" -- don't you love it?

This metal sculpture was called "Reaching for Joy" but Katrina blew it completely flat (some workmen pulled it back up this far for her). When we told her we were planning on taking the Katrina Gray Line Tour to see the situation for ourselves, Jackie got misty-eyed and gave Joyce a big hug and thanked both of us for coming to New Orleans.

We walked around some more and grabbed a quick lunch before walking back to the Tour Office.

If you want to feel like a patriotic American, go to New Orleans and take a tour. We were thanked so many times for supporting New Orleans' attempt to get the tourist industry going again. At first glance around the French Quarter, one might think the tourist industry is doing okay, but tomorrow is the Sugar Bowl so there are LOTS of Notre Dame and LSU fans in town walking, shopping, and drinking. Next week they will be very lonely there.

We spent three hours touring some of the flooded areas of the city -- more than two of those hours we were on roads that had been under water anywhere from half a foot to fifteen or twenty feet deep. Some areas the water lines are clearly visible on the buildings but elsewhere there are no visible lines -- because the water levels were higher than the buildings are tall. The extent of the damage is astounding. The slow pace of help to those trying to clean up and rebuild is frustrating. The plight the people were left in for days after the flooding is embarrassing. But the tour leader said that as she makes the tour through the neighborhoods, each time she sees a little more progress on this house or that house and it encourages her. She has so much encouragement to come.

December 28 to January 2: Baton Rouge

2007-01-01T18:09:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from Baton Rouge, Louisiana!

We left Livingston the morning after a heavy storm but we did not suffer from it (there were tornadoes and flooding not that far away). We followed the storm to Louisiana where is was mostly just heavy rain.

On both New Year's Eve and New Year's Day we went out for a nice lunch followed by a visit to the Belle Casino. The casinos here are supposed to be gambling boats complete with paddlewheels, but they are permanently moored (I think they had foundations!). To enter we went down a big gang plank past the security checkpoint that included the Homeland Security's warning alert level. There were lifeboats and everything. The stacks of the boat were decorated with attractive crowns.

One of the games has a sheep theme. Unfortunately for the sheep lovers in the audience, the idea is to blow up the sheep with bombs, TNT, canons, and everything else!

Above is a tug pushing a series of barges upriver. And that river is the Mississippi! Barges were going each way.

This is the bridge that carries I-10 over the Mississippi. It made for dramatic silhouettes as the sun goes down in the west.

December 16 to 27: Merry Christmas!

2006-12-29T16:09:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas one and all!

We left for Seattle for Christmas a day earlier than we originally planned. Rather than get up at the crack of dawn and drive like crazy, we decided to stay at a hotel near the airport the night before -- the Quality Suites has a Park, Sleep, and Fly program so we got to leave our car at the hotel while we were gone.

The direct flight on Continental from Houston to Seattle went well (we were even fed a little!). We were met at the airport by one sister and brother-in-law (the ones that have been living in their motorhome for over ten years now). We stayed at the same hotel as that sister and celebrate at the other sister's house.

We performed many of the family rituals such as cookie-baking and pizza-eating night. Four kinds of cookies (chocolate chip, spritz, snickerdoodles, and a new one called boiled cookies). We usually make more varieties but chose to concentrate on our favorites and the one new one.

We met the newest member of the family: Snorky who is now the new ruler of the roost. But she is adorable and sits up and boxes (but she didn't get new boxing gloves for Christmas).

We performed many strange and wonderful rituals, even if we aren't so sure what we were doing or why we were doing it. In this particular ritual we appear to notice that the room has a ceiling!

We enjoyed the family's traditional Christmas dinner of spareribs, meatballs, mashed potatoes, vegetables, and all the trimmings. Let us not overlook the Jell-O salads which are an absolute requirement (two, one red, one green). Dessert was the cookies mentioned earlier, a delicious chocolate mint mousse cake, and pumpkin pie from Ron's tradition.

We opened our Christmas crackers, read the jokes, admired the prizes, and proudly wore the paper crowns. Here Ron contemplates whether meeting Joyce and joining her family for Christmas was really such a good idea!

Joyce tried self-portraiture while looking through the prism looking glass that was in one of the crackers.

And of course there were presents, lots and lots of presents! We are a Christmas Eve family so we got to open our gifts after our wonderful dinner. Christmas Day is a casual "Day after Christmas" event for us when we get together to enjoy each other's company and eat left overs.

December 7 to December 16: Livingston (our new hometown)

2006-12-14T16:15:00.000-08:00

The drive to the Escapees RV Park in Livingston was a reasonable 220 miles. When we arrived we got the last spot (#5) in the park with electrical hook-ups! We moved the next day to #95, which we quite enjoy.

We have been enjoying the Christmas activities around town including the street fair and the evening parade. The parade was astounding for a small town -- it ran for over an hour!

Escapees is the RV club we belong to which provides our mail forwarding service and advice and many items through their website. Part of the advice is about how to become a Texan. We did that on December 12 (a date that will live in infamy). We left our site about 10 am and returned by about 3:30 with all our work done. The vehicles had been inspected; we had gotten the license plates; we had received our driver's licenses (including Joyce taking the exam and driving test for a special license because our motorhome is so heavy!). That even included time to drive to Lufkin to the Social Security office to get a document verifying Joyce's social security number as she didn't have her card with her.

Saturday we will put the RV in storage and head to Houston to fly to Seattle for Christmas.

December 3 to December 6: Arlington

2006-12-14T16:09:00.000-08:00

Our next stop was in Arlington which is between Forth Worth and Dallas. It was a long driving day down from Amarillo (about 350 miles) but preferable to setting up and breaking down camp twice in quick succession.

It is a real shopping mecca (in other words we loved it!). We visited with friends including a woman from Colorado who was in desperate need of a kind of Tropicana Twister and a variety of canned peas that she used to buy in Colorado. As a form of charity work, we brought some to her.

We also visited the Sixth Floor Museum about the death of President Kennedy. And that same night we attended the Dallas Camera Club and saw an interesting use of a photo judge in Kansas who recorded his comments.

November 28 to December 2: Amarillo, Texas

2006-11-30T20:16:00.000-08:00

We covered the 300 miles to Amarillo, Texas, in fine shape, arriving about 5 p.m. on Tuesday (the time zone change made it later than we would have thought).

Wednesday we drove out to Cadillac Ranch about 14 miles from here where there are ten Cadillacs from 1949 through 1963 buried nose first into the ground at the same angle as the Cheopps Pyramid in Egypt (we don't know why). The wind chill was so bad we would have been in serious trouble if we couldn't get back into the car quickly. (The picture above is from our second visit, in the snow!)

Our original plan was to stay three nights and then journey on to Oklahoma City. Our current plan is to survive our stay here and head south! It's cold (in the teens for highs but the wind chill makes it seem as if it is zero or a little lower!). Then there is the snow. It's a fine, drifting powder snow that, when the wind settles down is about zero to a foot deep.

The RV is staying nice and warm thanks to a large supply of propane and a good furnace. We are not connected to the local water supply but have plenty in our own tank. There is frost on the inside of the windows, though, so we don't get too close to the windows.

Thursday afternoon the wind was calmer and we ventured out. Ron pulled enormous (up to five feet or so across) tumble weeds away from the RV and car so we could drive out on the ice and snow to the main roads, which are sanded and plowed. We visited Cadillac Ranch again in the snow and there were cows running around just to add to the general excitement.

Friday and later should be a little warmer (up to 30 degrees!) and sunny so we will be heading south when the storm clears from there, too. We want to follow this Canadian arctic blast storm at a respectful distance.

We ended up staying Saturday night which enabled us to go see the Amarillo Gorillas hockey game. They are in the Central League. It was Ron's first in person game and one in a long continuing series for Joyce.

October 15 - November 27: Albuquerque

2006-11-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

After the Balloon Fiesta we moved to a campground that Ron had stayed in previously. It is inexpensive if you stay a long time, located right next door to American RV where we had warranty work done, and near Route 66 Casino -- probably our favorite casino to date.

Another casino we visited (especially on Wednesdays for their $5 senior buffet and for Thanksgiving dinner) had a strict dress code for their lounge and it was enforced by armed guards!

During various times the RV was being worked on, we took off in the car for fun trips. One time we went to Colorado Springs for a photography weekend followed by a three-night visit with Ron's daughter and her delightful family. We were there for Halloween -- what a blast with little kids!

Another trip was overnight to Santa Fe where we ate lunch at Tia Sophia's, visited the miraculous staircase, and generally wandered around before heading north to Cities of Gold Casino where we spent the night. We came home on the scenic route the next day.

On that trip we also stopped by Chimayo to photograph the church.

We also visited Bosque del Apache bird reserve for two nights where there were over 50,000 snow geese, 23,000 ducks, 8,500 sandhill cranes, and three bald eagles. Massive birds and we only had to wash the car once (if you get my drift).

We will be taking one more car time before we leave up to Taos but the RV will be staying in the park here as the work is all completed on it.

We have also met friends for dinner several times, attended the local camera club twice, eaten a vast number of $5 senior buffet lunches at two different casinos, and paid full price (horrors!) for the buffet at the fancier casino for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.

Another quick trip was to see the petroglyphs that were just a few miles from our RV resort. This one includes the two birds which is a favorite of Joyce's and is used in some of the advertising for the National Monument.

A highlight of our stay was a four-day visit from sister Sharon and brother-in-law Dave. It's fun when our paths cross.

October 11 - 14: Balloon Fiesta!

2006-11-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

Originally we had planned to be here for the Fiesta from the beginning but our plans were changed when Creative World canceled the first half rally. What a blessing that turned out to be! It rained and was too windy most of the time for the first part of the Fiesta and we arrived for the really good days.

It was great to see Joyce's caravan friends who were running the rally. And it was a little odd not to know any of the attendees, but then Joyce's RV friends had been attending the Fiesta in prior years, asking her to come down too but she hadn't made it.

We saw the special shape balloons inflate the first morning we were there and watched them launch. Special shapes are balloons that aren't shaped like balloons but rather are shaped like cows or trees or witches or just about anything else. We cruised the Fiesta grounds which were reminiscent of a fair with lots of (expensive) food and many opportunities to buy things.

We saw the special shape Glowdeo twice: This is when the special shape balloons are inflated at dusk and the burners glow inside lighting them up.

There was also a very nice fireworks display every evening. We saw it once on the field, once while walking toward home, and once from up in the RV parking area.

The coolest day was the morning that we didn't go down to the field but just stayed in the RV for a while in the early hours. When the TV said the special shapes were definitely going to launch (with the iffy weather it was possible they wouldn't go up). When we saw them take off on the TV we looked out the window and here they came! The balloons came right for us! All the special shapes followed a little later by all the regular shapes. About 800 balloons came right over the RVs and some even landed between RVs. The target field for the day started about 50 feet from our RV so we didn't have far to walk to see all the action. It's easy to see why Kodak used to sponsor this event -- they must have sold 10% of their year's film sales right there. But now with digital they have withdrawn. Ron and Joyce took literally hundreds of photos each day!

We had two dinners with the group and also visited the Pueblo Cultural Center with them also. We skipped one of the field trips because we were busy down on the field. We really want to come back for more!

October 8 - 10: Gallup, New Mexico

2006-11-24T08:35:00.000-08:00

This was our rest and preparation stop before going into the Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque. It was also in the schedule as "just in case" days to allow some cushion in the schedule just in case we were delayed on our way in. We weren't delayed though.

October 3 - 7: Mancos, Colorado

2006-11-24T08:31:00.000-08:00

Where is Mancos?, you ask? Why, it's right outside of Mesa Verde National Park. We toured ruins on the rim of the canyon including Square House where we met some other photographers we chatted with until sunset. The sunset wasn't as wonderful as we all hoped but the conversation was nice.

We also toured Cliff House, the largest ruin, on the required Ranger-led tour. The cool thing is that we were on a special late tour that only goes occasionally, is limited to 20 people (instead of the 60 people during the main part of the day), and lasts longer than the day-time tours so that we got to just sit and absorb the place.

September 30 - October 2: Green River, Utah

2006-11-24T08:25:00.000-08:00

What a cool place! We had no idea that there was so much to see and photograph around Green River. We only stayed three nights but we will definitely be back -- probably for more like three weeks.

We had learned of Goblin State Park so that was on our list but there was also so many other places, including some that Ron thought might not really be places. He eventually persuaded Joyce to turn around and leave the dirt paths she was driving on. One dirt road wasn't bad except for this one spot where there was only one tire track. We don't mean one set of two tracks, we mean one track: One goes through that section sort of tilted up on one side. But then later on the road got worse and we gave up.

September 28 & 29: Salt Lake City

2006-11-24T08:21:00.000-08:00

We spent two nights at the KOA right there on North Temple. We took advantage of our proximity to Temple Square to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rehearsal. The Tabernacle is under renovation so the performance was in the incredibly huge Conference Center. Joyce had never been in this building and was very interested to see what it looked like inside. We left on Saturday morning, which was not a moment too soon: Conference started that weekend! The place was going to be crawling with extra Mormons (and all the RV parks were booked).

September 27; Jackpot, Nevada

2006-11-24T08:18:00.000-08:00

We dipped down into Nevada to stay at Cactus Pete's campground for the night (there isn't much in Jackpot so one night is pretty much all one needs to spend). We ate dinner in the buffet restaurant and gambled some, of course. We were there on Wild Wednesday and Ron was a new card-holder there but he didn't get a T-shirt or anything. How disappointing.

September 25 & 26: Huntington, Oregon

2006-11-24T08:16:00.000-08:00

We spent two quiet nights here on the river. Mostly it was just us and a bunch of bugs. A big bunch of bugs. Ron did not like the bugs.

Update! Finally!

2006-11-24T08:09:00.000-08:00

Here's the plan: Acknowledging that I am seriously behind on the blog, I am going to start with the words and then go back and add the photos (probably). Let's get this party going!

Wildhorse Casino

2006-10-05T21:24:00.000-07:00

When we left Prosser we stopped at Wild Horse Casino for a lunch break. After watching their balloon for three days it seemed the right thing to do. Joyce also won a bunch of money there (nearly $45!).

Prosser Balloon Festival

2006-10-05T21:16:00.000-07:00

We then moved on to the Balloon Fiesta in Prosser, Washington. This was fun in it's own right and good practice for the big gathering in Albuquerque coming up in October.

Friday we watched the balloons inflate and take off from the field. It was a working day so the ascent was when each balloon was ready. This was Mickey Mouse's first appearance since they put his black ears back on (last year he was wearing a gold hat and ears in honor of Disney's 50th anniversary).

The next day we found where the balloons dip into the river.

That night we attended the balloon glow that featured six balloons at the high school stadium.

Sunday morning we saw the dawn patrol balloon dip in the river and then . . .

. . . there was a mass ascension.

More NW Trek

2006-10-05T21:05:00.000-07:00

When we left Everett, we travelled only 66 miles to Graham, Washington, where we spent four nights. The main reason we chose this spot is because it is right next to NW Trek and we wanted to visit some more.

The coyotes were fun to watch, alternating between shy and inquisitive.

The beaver scared Joyce (but then what doesn't make her jump a little?).

Joyce had never seen a fisher before. He moved really quickly which made it a challenge to photograph him.

The river otters were long and sleek and hard to focus on. They slid through the water and in and out of their den.

The wolverines were fascinating. Their was a "baby" who was born in captivity on February 14 and hand raised by a keeper. She was rambunctious and nearly big and strong enough to move back in with her parents. And her parents! My goodness, watching them "play" explained why they have such a reputation for fiercness.

And of course there were opportunites for artsy-fartsy photos, too.

Mukilteo Festival

2006-10-05T21:02:00.000-07:00

We attended the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival (where Joyce was living just prior to starting this adventure). There were craft and food booths, rides for the kiddies, music, and a juried art show (where Joyce's niece won a $15 prize for her soft sculpture!).

We attended a fun party on the Saturday night and that included watching the fireworks show up-close.

Evergreen State Fair

2006-10-05T20:58:00.000-07:00

Joyce attended the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, Washington, twice -- first with a girlfriend and again with a sister, niece and niece's friend.

The Grange Exhibits of fruits and vegetables are always attractive.

The pig races are a standard at the Evergreen State Fair. Those running the races invite little kids to "help" by holding up rails or being cheerleaders for different pigs.

More Time in Everett

2006-10-05T20:48:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed more time in the Everett area -- you may not be surprised to learn that we stayed "for just one more week." Highlights included more visits with family and friends and photography opportunities, too.

We made the big trip down to NW Trek which is part of the Tacoma Zoo system. It has animals in a natural setting which fulfills their interest in education of the public and our interest in good photo opportunities. We were prompted to visit because of a friend that Ron made at the camera store at Alderwood Mall. We attended a meeting of the camera club he belongs to and enjoyed that, too.

The eagle was a very patient photography model. The fact that it's permanently disabled and can't fly (that's why it's now at NW Trek) helped with the posing and eliminated the need for cage bars.

The snowy owl, also here due to permanent injury, was adorable. He would pose and move a little and pose again.

The grizzly bear, a large male, was playing in the water with an animal skin. The keepers give him the skins of animals that die out in the open range portion of the park (and they also get skins from a butcher when the other herds are overly healthy).

Despite what you may think , , ,

2006-10-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

We aren't dead or in jail. Joyce has just been too busy and/or lazy to update. She even has a bunch of photos ready to go. Maybe posting this will shame her into updating for real.

[Maybe not!]

Halfway Through Already!

2006-08-29T18:06:00.000-07:00

As the card says, Greetings from Seattle! Actually we are in Everett which is the next larger city north. We'd been here for about two weeks now and in another two, we'll be gone. Time flies.

We have visited family and friends, completed doctor appointments, attended the Evergreen State Fair, spent a few hours each Tuesday at the Tulalip Casino (seniors get 30% off the buffet!), bought new computer equipment, washed and waxed our lovely (fusion orange) car, and attended a camera club meeting. The next two weeks will be just as busy.

We are well and happy and today is not only the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans but also the first anniversary of when Joyce and Ron met.

Onward toward Everett

2006-08-11T10:18:00.000-07:00

Joyce was going to change the photo in the profile of our blog to this one. She thought we would make millions in product placements from Coke, Nikon, and Manfrotto (that's the tripod) but she can't figure out how to do it yet! The picture was taken along Firehole Drive in Yellowstone.

We spent two nights in Butte, Montana, and now we're in Post Falls, Idaho, for two nights. Two nights per place is pretty much a forced march rate of travel for us. It will be really bad on Saturday: We're only staying one night in Ellensburg, Washington, before heading into Everett on Saunday. We'll be in Everett for weeks though, so we'll recover.

It turns out there is a pretty big casino about 38 miles from here in Post Falls so you know where we were last night! Ron only lost a few dollars and Joyce made 9 cents! They have lots of Rich Little Piggies games (our favorite) and other good ol' games we know and enjoy.

August 5 to 8: Billings, Montana

2006-08-06T19:17:00.000-07:00

We are here for three nights. Joyce reserved two nights but Ron finagled one more. We’re shopping mostly for the fun of walking through air-conditioned stores, resting, and doing some paperwork and planning chores. One of us, and we won’t mention his name, hasn’t finished his income taxes yet!

August 2 to 4: Devil's Tower

2006-08-06T19:13:00.000-07:00

We spent two nights here enjoying easy visits to the First National Monument, which is celebrating its centennial this year. The entrance booth was literally right outside the KOA Campground’s exit. We went into the park three times a day. We also visited Sundance, Wyoming, but I don’t think it’s THE Sundance. We had lunch at ARO Restaurant where the men wear their cowboy hats, boots, snug jeans, and snap front shirts.

Sunset at Devil's Tower.

July 26 - August 2: Visiting Sharon & Dave

2006-08-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

We met up with Joyce's sister Sharon and brother-in-law Dave for eight days. This is last of Joyce’s relatives to meet Ron. We toured around, talked, organized cupboards, talked, watched DVDs, and talked (the talking part may be mostly Joyce and Sharon). We went out for dinner that first evening together.

Our first day together we drove through Custer State Park, marveling at all the bison and the begging burros. We had lunch at a lodge in the park.

The smaller creatures were on the wild flowers next to a lake.

The next day we drove up to Spearfish and toured a delightful tourist trap that involved all the presidents’ heads. We skipped Deadwood as it turned out to be some festival and there were two parades that we thought would make the road impassable.

Joyce took lots of “partial head” photographs and this is her favorite.

Now it had been hot up to now (over a 100 degrees) but the weekend was 111 and 113. Sharon helped Joyce reorganize some cupboards and shop for needed doodads (such as bookends and a stool).

Monday we toured the Badlands and Wall Drug.

The Badlands are pretty bad, one can’t help but think of the despair the pioneers experienced after walking across so much prairie and then finding such apparently impassable terrain.

As is typical, Ron was out at Wall Drug trying to pick up some floozy while Joyce stayed home with the baby, Little Joy Rhonda.

Tuesday it was a visit to Wind Cave and more scenic drives. The Wind Cave, which inhales and exhales depending on the barometric pressure, is riddled with openings and interesting formations. It’s also pleasantly cool on a hot day.

Wednesday we drove the Iron Mountain Road which features views of Mt. Rushmore through tunnels. Everywhere there are motorcycles. And more and more coming. The big Sturgis Rally was to start soon and the early arrivers were everywhere. The rates on campgrounds skyrockets during the Rally so we departed after the last cheap night.

This is just a few bikers as they make the turn in front of Mt. Rushmore.

This is a profile view of Mt. Rushmore visible from a rest stop. It's a shock if you don't know the profile is there!

Ron was particularly interested in photographing this particular young blonde biker who was in the rest stop for a bit -- maybe 25 photos?

Ron's Birthday

2006-08-06T18:48:00.000-07:00

Then it was off to Billings, Montana, for two nights. Ron's birthday was celebrated in Billings but no dinner theater. He did get to go to Golden Corral Restaurant and the Barnes & Noble store three times in about 26 hours so that was good!

We stayed in Gillette, Wyoming, for one night at Crazy Woman Campground. Ron won’t repeat it but Joyce thinks he said something about how she should get a camping discount what with her being a crazy woman and all. Our goal is Hermosa, South Dakota (about 15 miles south of Rapid City).

Our Trip Back East

2006-08-06T18:40:00.000-07:00

July 11 we moved the RV to the vacant property owned by Grizzly RV Park. They are developing more of the park area but haven't gotten to that part yet so we were able to leave our rig there. We then drove down to Salt Lake City where we stayed at the Microtel near the airport. It was a good deal. We got a queen suite and parking for up to 14 days for about $75. While we were there, we drove through Joyce’s old neighborhood and marveled (at least Joyce did) at how big the trees are now. You can't even see Mt.Olympus anymore! We dropped in on Joyce’s old neighbors John and Gladys and had a nice visit.

The next morning we boarded a flight to Hartford, Connecticut. We stopped at Chicago Midway and Baltimore but didn't get off the plane in either place. After arriving we picked up the rental car. We had gone for the intermediate size vehicle because eight days’ rental was so little more for an intermediate than that for an economy car. Imagine our surprise and delight when our rental car was a Saturn SUV! It was just like driving our own car (except not as lovely because it wasn't orange and didn’t have the extra luxurious after-market thick leather on the seats). We drove to South Deerfield, Mass., where we stayed for seven nights at the Red Roof Inn (the last five of those nights in a King room that was a little suite).

While we were there we attended the New England Camera Club Convention at the University of Mass, Amherst -- two and a half days of sessions and exhibits. Very interesting and enjoyable. Cynthia, a friend of Ron's, met us each day and we went to many of the sessions together. We also visited with other friends of Ron's (Joyce has been thoroughly vetted now).

The highlight of the visit was meeting (for Joyce) Ron's son Aaron and his wife Becky and meeting (for both) Ron's granddaughter Abigail. What a cutie!

Ron thinks Abigail is good enough to eat!

We also visited the Bridge of Flowers. This foot bridge is heavily planted on both sides with beautiful flowers. It more-or-less parallels the auto bridge across the river. It was a very attractive stop while we traveled through a number of states for lunch with one group and dinner with another.

This sunrise brought to you by McDonalds (check the logo in the sky!).

Then it was back to Hartford where we spent the night at a Days Inn before our flight back to Salt Lake via Nashville (stayed on the plane) and Phoenix (got off for several hours and changed to another plane). That night we were again at the Microtel in Salt Lake.

The next morning we drove back to West Yellowstone and checked back into a site at Grizzly. We only stayed for two nights -- just long enough for laundry and making sure the RV was okay (it was fine).

In Between Times

2006-08-06T18:38:00.000-07:00

We continued to hang around West Yellowstone (we were at Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park for 22 days) and hung around town eating at our favorite places: Pete's Pizza and Pasta and Buckaroo Bob's BBQ and several other places. As we walked around town we spotted this sign that we expect will appeal to the sheep lovers in our audience, even though ewelery sounds vaguely like a eulogy for a dear, departed, female sheep.

Back for More Rainbows

2006-08-06T18:35:00.000-07:00

We returned to the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, but this time to Artists Point, for more rainbow pictures. We’ll tell you right now, one can take a lot (and we mean a lot) of rainbow pictures when one knows the opportunity is coming and is prepared for it!

Grand Prismatic Spring

2006-08-06T18:28:00.000-07:00

Grand Prismatic Spring is amazing. The mist rising from the water glows in vibrant colors.

The pool is large and best be photographed in pieces, unless you have a helicopter at your disposal.

Other visitors are reflected in the water of the spring.

We encountered some bison enjoying the undoubtedly health-giving beautifying steam from this bison spa. They looked pretty rugged with patches of their winter coats still hanging on so they really needed a day at the spa.

Joyce's Birthday

2006-08-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

To celebrate Joyce's birthday, we went to Idaho. We’re sure you would go to Idaho for your birthday, too, if you thought of it! First we went for a ride to Mesa Falls along a scenic byway.

Then to the dinner theater in Mack Inn, Idaho. What a deal -- $21 for prime rib dinner and a performance of the Pirates of Penzance. Ron wants to point out that Joyce really enjoyed watching the Pirate King, although he doesn’t get the attraction.

The Fourth West Yellowstone Style

2006-08-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

We celebrated the Fourth in West Yellowstone. There was the Garage Sale at the city park where we bought stuff we don’t really need but it was only $5 for whatever you could put in a bag and the proceeds supported Big Brothers and Big Sisters. We got videos, books, and a couple of knick-knacks. That afternoon was the big parade. We walked to the parade site but were a tad late (paraders are punctual and speedy in West Yellowstone) so we saw the parade from the middle to the end and then walked over a block and saw it again from the beginning as it came back around. Joyce especially enjoyed the Smoke Jumpers’ RV they had changed into an airplane. That evening there was a great fireworks show -- and we didn’t have to leave the RV park. We just moved our chairs (and our electric bug swatters) to the edge of the park and enjoyed a great display.

Rainbow Falls and Elk

2006-08-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

This grab shot of the eagle was taken with a little camera while driving down the road (not bad, huh?). We saw these eagles every time we entered or left the park. There was a no stopping zone along this stretch of the road to give them a little peace.

Our main target for the day was the Lower Falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Ron knew that if we were there at just the right time we would see a rainbow in the spray.

This elk kindly posed for us while grazing on wildflowers (we weren’t grazing on wildflowers, the elk was).

Tower Falls

2006-07-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog entry should be Norris Geyser Basin because that's where we were headed when we left home. However we suffered from an advanced case of "But First" syndrome: No matter what we were aiming for we decided "but first we'll do this."

Our first diversion was right along the road to Norris: Gibbon Falls. This stunning close up of the falls shows you that our deviations from plan are worth it!

This "but first" is a compound one: We were still headed to Norris but first we stopped to photograph Gibbon Cascades but first we took pictures of the wildflowers along the edge of the water.

The wildlife jam a little further up along the road to Norris turned out to be because of this beautiful elk. He proudly held his antlers up in the sunlight. While we were there a woman told us that Tower Falls was more beautiful than usual with lots of water pouring over the falls. So we decided to change our goal for the day to Tower Falls.

But first we were destracted by a major jam, but we didn't see the wildlife. It turned out that the people were watching grizzly bears on the other side of the valley. They were watching through spotting scopes, Joyce was trying her 420 equivalent camera lens. Trust us, those little ditty-dots are a dark colored bear and a light one. We talked to folks there for a long time and eventually continued toward Tower Falls.

But first, we were distracted by this young elk as we were heading up the short trail to the falls overlook. We ended up following him along the edge of the parking area as he walked through the valley. A fellow photographer then told us of mountain animals (well, he said sheep or goats but Joyce has trouble telling the difference) so we were planning to head back up the trail . . .

But first, we drove further up the road where we could see the major wildlife jam. With the help of those already there, we spotted the animals that look pretty much like rocks as they moved across the pretty sheer canyon wall across from our viewpoint. There were adults and babies. Eventually we headed back to the Tower Falls parking lot . . .

(This is the river at the bottom of the canyon.)

But first, we stopped at another wildlife jam and learned of the osprey nest. You'll just have to trust us that there are four babies in the nest -- we had to trust the lady who told us because we couldn't see them either! So then it was on to the Falls.

And this time we made it! The trail to the bottom of the falls has been washed out and that was just fine with us, we were getting tired from our journey to the falls. We also saw more mountain animals from this viewing platform.

Then it was time to head on home. We were impressed with this dramatic sky as we drove along. We also enjoyed listening to an audio book (D is for Deadbeat) as we drove. Norris is still on the to-do-list.