But wait, where’s the lion?
Well, sorry Dorothy, but the Indianapolis Zoo just doesn’t have lions. The tiger and the brown bear are pretty cool though! We took these pictures a few years ago.
photography
A whale of a sight
This life size statue of an Orca killer whale is in the entrance way to the Tulalip Casino off of I-5 north of Seattle. We have been patrons of the casino several times when we traveled to the Seattle area to visit family. When we were last there you could park your motorhome for 3 days in the designated RV lot. No services, but a patrolled and safe place to stay.
It seems that there is a brand new, additional casino on the same property. There was a Grand Opening February 3rd. It is listed as being twice as large as the first casino. We will definitely check it out the next time we travel to the Pacific Northwest.
What’s in that rock?
As we normally do, Sher and I were outside on the stone pad sitting and enjoying the end of the day in an RV park in central Ohio. My undergraduate major was in geology, and I always look at rocks, be it outcrops along side a highway, distant mountain ranges, or in this case, the rocks on which our RV was parked.
I love finding fossils, and low and behold there on the ground at my feet I spotted some nice fossil crinoid stems in the 2 to 4 inch sized rocks. OK, you say, what in the heck are crinoids? Reader’s digest version: Crinoids first showed up about 500 million years ago and some 600 species are still around today. The drawing show how one looked living in shallow seas. The fossils in the rock are pieces of the stalk.
White Dove of the Desert
Following are excerpts from an article we posted in January 2016. Hope you enjoy it!
About 10 miles south of Tucson, Arizona you will find the “White Dove of the Desert” also known as the Mission San Xavier del Bac. This magnificent Spanish mission was completed in 1797. The first Spanish missionary, Father Eusebio Kino, arrived at the site in 1692. Throughout the years the location has been part of New Spain, Mexico, and finally a part of the U.S. after the Gadsen Purchase of 1854.
When you enter the church you cannot help but be amazed by the incredible amount of 18th century statuary and murals. The impact varies for everyone who walks the interior of this powerfully spiritual place. Candles are always lit and displayed. A shrine to St Francis is a prominent feature and one of solemn devotion. The edifice is still a functioning Catholic Church that primarily serves the Tohono O’odham tribe, formerly known as the Papago.
The San Xavier website is packed with information for your visit planning assistance.
An up close and personal meeting
At an RV Park in central Florida we met the local resident Sandhill crane.
This crane obviously owned the park, as we saw him walking down the center of roads and blatantly ignoring the accepted RV park protocol of not walking through another camper’s site. I was only about 3 feet from him for the close up head shot.
Woke up, looked out, said wow
When we went to bed last night there was very little snow left on the ground, Some light flurries were swirling around, but no measurable accumulation was forecast.
Every branch covered
Well, imagine our surprise when this morning we looked out and saw what was at least a six inch cover of fresh snow on the ground, tree branches flower pots and yard ornaments. In other words, winter in February in Indiana!
A pair of lawn birds
Perhaps the title should have been “Re-purposed tool parts”
Two years ago we were on a weekend search for treasures at yard sales and there they were: birds cleverly designed with pieces of shovels, rakes, rebar and sickle bar mower rock protectors. We just had to have them, and now they stand as sentries in front of our house.
A beautiful finish to the day
Sometimes you just want to share a picture
We were camping at the Kaiser Lake State Park in Ohio with family a couple of summers ago. The sunset was stunning over the calm waters of the lake. These two kayakers could not have ordered a better evening for a trip on the lake.
Jester King Brewery in the Hill Country of Texas
This time last year we were staying at an RV Resort near Lake Travis west of Austin. The first rumblings were beginning to be heard about some kind of new virus that was killing people in China, and it had already shown up in the Seattle area in the US. We were still enjoying our winter in Texas, appreciating the tag “Winter Texans” instead of “snow birds”.
Brew tasting at Jester King Brewery
One activity that we enjoyed while in Texas last winter was visiting wineries, breweries and distilleries. One brewery we liked was the Jester King Brewery. This is a brewery, restaurant, farm and event center. Even though it has an Austin address, the establishment is closer to Dripping Springs, in the Hill Country. We sampled some brews and bought a couple of take out growlers. This is a nice facility, worth a stop if you’re in the area. This is the Jester King website.
Dominating the desert
The awesome and iconic Saguaro cactus is truly the dominant feature of the Sonoran Desert in the Southwest. The Saguaro has become the symbol of all things desert. The towering cacti live to be 250 years old and older. They don’t start to grow their “arms” until they are at least 75 years old!
The Saguaro National Park has two sections on either side of Tucson, Arizona. Both sections offer unbelievable opportunities to enjoy the magnificent and thriving desert environments. Walking trails and scenic roads give ample opportunities to get up close and personal with the Saguaro and countless other species of desert plants. A trip to the Saguaro National Park should be on everyone’s travel itinerary. We’ll be back to Tucson and the desert once our travel is possible.
