The Grand Canyon at Sunset from Mather Point. June 15, 2011.
This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world. To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.
Betsy and I were fortunate enough to see two sunsets at the Grand Canyon. This sunset was captured from Mather Point near the Grand Canyon Visitor Center. Pictures just can’t do the scene justice.
Could that white on the mountain be snow? Taken on I-40 near Flagstaff, Arizona. June 14, 2011.
As we drove toward Flagstaff, Arizona, on the morning of June 14, I noticed some white on a mountain top ahead of us. Could that possibly be snow? Two days earlier we had been driving across Oklahoma and Texas and the temperature outside had been 102°. That white must be some kind of fence or building.
I kept my eye on the mountain as we drove, and quite frankly I kept changing my mind. “That is definitely snow!” “That can’t be snow.” My Beautiful Bride, the snow expert in the family, was busy on her laptop, so I didn’t say anything.
After another twenty miles or so, I finally told Betsy that I thought there was snow on top of the mountain ahead of us. Of course, she thought I was out of my mind, but when she looked up, she, too, thought it was snow. So, as any blogger would do, I pulled to the side of the road to get the picture above. So what do you think, snow or no snow?
On Highway 89 east of Flagstaff. June 14, 2011.
When we got off the interstate and headed north, we got a little closer to the mountain. That is definitely snow!
Looking back toward Flagstaff. June 14, 2011.
Betsy was definitely excited now. When we were north of Flagstaff, we could look back at several peaks which still had a snow cover. It was hard to believe we were looking at snow while driving across what the map said was desert.
Mill Creek Falls, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee. May 23, 2011.
This is my post for Watery Wednesday. To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.
I’ve posted before that Betsy and I took a back-country road, Parson Branch Road, through the Smokies a couple of months ago. We enjoy the scenery off the beaten path, and we enjoy the fact that we often come across some unexpected waterfalls.
We found the pretty little waterfall above shortly after leaving Cade Cove Loop Road. I almost drove right past it, but I saw it out of the corner of my eye and backed up to a pull-over so we could get out and enjoy our discovery.
Our first look at the Painted Desert from the Tiponi Point overlook. June 13, 2011.
This is my post for the My World meme. It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, and Fishing Guy. To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
The Painted Desert was our first major stop on our recent trip west. The Painted Desert encompasses over 93,500 acres and stretches over 160 miles. The Painted Desert gets its name from the multitude of colors raining from lavenders to shades of gray with vibrant colors of red, orange and pink. It is an expanse of badlands hills and buttes in a beautiful landscape of a rainbow of colors.
The view from Tawa Point. June 13, 2011.
The Petrified Forest National Park, which we visited, contains part of the Painted Deserted. We entered the park through the northern entrance and saw the Painted Desert first before going on to the Petrified Forest.
We hiked a short trail at Kachina Point to capture these views of the Painted Desert. June 13, 2011.
The colors of the sandstone and mudstone layers of the landscape are the result of varying mineral content in the sediments and the rate at which the sediments were laid down. When sediments are deposited slowly, oxides of iron and aluminum become concentrated in the soil and create the red, orange, and pink colors seen in the northern part of the park. During a rapid sediment buildup — such as a flooding event — oxygen is removed from the soil forming, blue, gray and lavender layers. These colors are prevalent in the southern portion of the park.
Our final stop in the Painted Desert was at Nizhoni Point. June 13, 2011.
The park is covered by the “Chinle formation”, a very soft layer of earth consisting many of mud, sandstone, and volcanic ash. The softness allows for fantastic erosion, which contributes to the remarkable beauty of the Painted Desert.
San Felipe de Neri church, Old Town Plaza, Albuquerque, New Mexico. June 12, 2011.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.
We got to Albuquerque late on the afternoon of Sunday, June 12. After finding our motel and checking in, we headed toward the Plaza in Old Town to vista San Felipe de Neri church.
The original church of San Felipe de Neri was started in 1706, and completed by 1718-19. During the very rainy summer of 1792, the original church collapsed. The current church building was constructed the following year. This church, in the shape of a cross, was constructed of adobe; the walls are 5 feet thick.
The former Sisters of Charity convent attached to the church.
The two towers were added in 1861, and a two-story convent was added in 1881. The church was renovated in 1916, and again in 2000. But except for the tin ceiling, brick floor, and south entrance, the church is the same structure it was in 1793.
The rectory garden of San Felipe de Neri church.
Unfortunately, we arrived too late in the day to see the interior of the church. I guess we’ll just have to go back to see that.
The evening eastern sky near El Reno, Oklahoma. June 11, 2011.
This is my post for Skywatch Friday, a meme for sharing views of the sky from all over the world. To see more, or to join and share your own photos of the sky, click HERE.
As the sun was setting ahead of us as we drove through the Oklahoma countryside, I noticed clouds forming in the eastern sky. Although the base of the clouds were in darkness, the sky above was still blue, and the tops of the clouds were lit up by the light of the setting sun.
The Texas landscape west of Amarillo. June 12, 2011.
One of the first decisions Betsy and I had to make when planning our trip west was to fly or to drive. There were advantages and disadvantages to each means of travel, but since our Prius, Mrs. P, is comfortable and gets 50+ MPG, we decided to drive so we could see more of our great country.
I must admit that I found the different landscapes we saw on our recent trip to be fascinating. I’ve spent most of my life in the Midwest, in the Carolinas and here in Tennessee. The wide open spaces of Texas were amazing. At times it seems you could see forever. We thought Texas looked as dry as it is in fact.
We passed a corral around an old-fashioned windmill. We didn’t see any cattle around what I assume is a water station, but it did help break up the horizon.
Trees with green leaves were so rare that we were excited to see the trees around those buildings in the distance. If you look closely you can see wind turbines on the horizon to the left of the trees.
As we got closer to New Mexiico, we began to see some mesas on the horizon. We also noticed a little more green in the landscape.
There were even more windmills now and then.
The Grand Canyon and Colorado River from the Desert View overlook. June 14, 2011.
This is my post for Watery Wednesday. To see more of our beautiful watery world, or to join and post your own pictures to share, click HERE.
Betsy and I got our first look at the Grand Canyon at the Desert View overlook on the eastern end of the park. That overlook also provided a good view of the Colorado River. I always thought that ‘colorado’ meant ‘color red’, but the river looked more green than red. I’m not complaining, though, the sight was spectacular.
Lollypop Lilies, Fairfield Glade, Tennessee. May 29, 2011.
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Note: This was written before my mother passed away, but did not get posted. I decided to post it today.
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This is my post for the My World meme. It is hosted by Klaus, Ivar, Sandy, Wren, and Fishing Guy. To learn more about our world or to join and share your part of the world, click HERE.
We usually don’t have much trouble with deer, although there are plenty of them around the Glade. We often see them on the golf course behind our house or in the vacant lot below our house. But they usually stay away from our house because we use Liquid Fence to discourage them from lunching on our flowers.
Usually, but not always. We’ve had a very hot and dry May, and for some reason the deer appear to be more active because of the unusual weather. We have seen them about in the middle of the afternoon, while we normally see them in the early evening.
The picture above shows our Lollypop lilies (and a Veteran’s Honor rose) in the flower bed nearest the road. The picture was taken last Sunday — the deer came to lunch on Tuesday while we were running errands. I didn’t have the heart to take an ‘after’ picture.
New rose bed in front of our house. May 29, 2011.
Here’s another view of the buffet the deer enjoyed. They left the purple iris you see on the left, but munched on the roses, lilies and day lilies. The roses will come back, and the day lilies should bloom in the fall (if we can keep the deer away). We’ll just have to wait until next year to enjoy the lilies.
I never thought Bambi would do such a thing!
Laguna, New Mexico, and the surrounding countryside. June 13, 2011.
This is my post for the Scenic Sunday meme, which shares beautiful scenes from around the world. To see more Scenic Sunday posts, or to join and show your own pictures, click HERE.
Our trip last month was the first time I had been in New Mexico, and I found the scenery to be fascinating. Some people might say that the landscape is desolate, but the wide open spaces under a clear blue sky were very appealing to me. The green we see in this part of Tennessee was missing, but the different shades of brown were interesting in their own way.
When we spotted a little village on a ridge away from the interstate I had to stop and get a picture. The village, Laguna, New Mexico, is a former Indian Pueblo village west of Albuquerque. In 2000 it had a population of 423.
The picture above makes the village seem almost insignificant compared to the open spaces around it and the mountains in the background.
The church in Laguna, New Mexico. June 13, 2011.
My telephoto lens revealed some of the homes in the village and the church overlooking them.
Senior Moments 