Posts Tagged ‘Travels’

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Down Memory Lane: The Ming Tombs (1987)

April 28, 2011

One of the places I visited on my first trip to China in 1987 was the Ming Tombs, which are about 30 miles northwest of Beijing.  The Ming Tombs refer to the mausoleums of 13 emperors of the Ming Dynasty, which ruled China from 1368 to 1644.

The first two Ming emperors ruled from Nanjing in the south of China, but the third emperor, Zhu Di, moved the capital to Beijing.  It was Zhu Di who began building the Forbidden City and who built the first of the Ming Tombs.

One of the most unusual of the thirteen tombs is Dingling, the tomb of Zhu Yijun.  This tomb in an underground palace complete with a throne room for the spirit of the emperor.  I was fortunate enough to be able to tour Dingling.

The tombs are approached along a Spirit Way, also known as the Avenue of the Animals because of the large stone animals and officials who stand guard along the road.

The Ming Tombs are truly fascinating both for the architecture of the structures and for the glimpse they provide of Chinese culture and history.  If you are ever in Beijing, the tombs are well worth a visit.

To see larger versions of these pictures and others, click HERE.

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Posted in History | 11 Comments »

SkyWatch Friday: Caribbean Sunset

April 22, 2011

Sunset in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, American Virgin Islands. September 10, 2001.

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.

I went to my archives to get this picture of the evening sky in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.  It was cloudy as the sun went down, but the sun still cast a nice reflection on the water among the boats anchored in the harbor.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 17 Comments »

Fun With Our Geotracker

April 21, 2011

As many of you know, Betsy and I have a geotracker which allows us to determine the location of pictures that we take.  We’ve had it for a year, and use it whenever we take a trip.

Last week’s trip to Biltmore Estate was no exception.  We turned the geotracker on before we left home and were able to track our journey on Google Earth.
The map above, which can be enlarged by clicking on it, shows our journey from Fairfield Glade, Tennessee,  to Asheville, North Carolina.  As you can see we traveled almost the entire way on Interstate 40.  We timed our trip to miss rush hour in Knoxville, Tennessee, when traveling both ways.

This image shows the Biltmore Estate and the things we did once we got there.  This image, too, can be enlarged by clicking on it.

When we got to Biltmore we drove past the house and parked near the Conservatory.  It had been our intention to see the tulips first, but the azaleas were so pretty as we drove in that we decided to visit the Azalea Garden first.  So we walked over to the path to the Azalea Garden and walked through that garden down to the Bass Pond.  We then hiked around the west (left) side of the Bass Pond to the waterfall at the southern end.  We then walked back through the Azalea Garden to the Walled Garden where we enjoyed the tulips in bloom.

I’ve now given you a bird’s eye view of our trip to Biltmore, thanks to our geotracker.

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Posted in Travels | 13 Comments »

On Top of the World

April 7, 2011

The view from Sunrise Point on Mount Nebo, Arkansas. April 1, 2011.

Betsy and I got up a couple of mornings to go to Sunrise Point on Mount Nebo to see the sunrise.  The first time it was so cloudy and foggy that we couldn’t even see the sun.

On our last morning it was nice and clear on top of the mountain, but when we got to Sunrise Point we were looking down on clouds and fog in the valley below.  It really wasn’t the view we were expecting, but I thought the predawn scene was pretty neat.  We felt on top of the world looking down at those clouds.

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Posted in Travels | 16 Comments »

Watery Wednesday # 134: Garvan Gardens

April 6, 2011

Garvan Gardens Falls, Hot Springs, Arkansas. March 28, 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.

Garvan Gardens is a beautiful woodlands garden near Hot Springs, Arkansas.  The main attractions are the beautiful flowers and shrubs, but Garvan Gardens also has some wonderful water features, including Garvan Gardens Falls in the picture above.

Pool surrounded by shrubs in Garvan Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas. March 28, 2011.

Unfortunately that part of Arkansas is going through a drought this year, so the streams and pools have less water than they did the first time we visited.  But they still make a beautiful picture among all the shrubbery.

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Posted in Watery Wednesday | 13 Comments »

My World: Journey to Arkansas

April 5, 2011

Tulips and Azalea in bloom, Garvan Gardens, Hot Springs, Arkansas. March 28, 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.

Last week Betsy and I went to Mount Nebo State Park in Arkansas.  We’ve been going there at least once a year since I retired in 2006.  We have a favorite cabin that we rent, where we can enjoy beautiful views, fires in the fireplace, and the birds and deer that pass by.

As is usual with us, we can rarely go directly to a destination.  This year we stopped by Garvan Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on our way to Mount Nebo.  We had been there in 2009 and enjoyed the daffodils, so since we were a few weeks later this year, we stopped by to see the tulips.  As you can see from the picture above, the tulips and azaleas put on a beautiful display.

'Our' cabin on Mount Nebo, Arkansas. March 28, 2011.

Our cabin at Mount Nebo sits near the rim of the mountain top and provides a perfect spot to sit and relax and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

We made a day trip to nearby Mount Magazine State Park to have lunch in their wonderful restaurant.  It was a gray, cloudy, dismal day, which was just fine for eating, but very bad for picture-taking.

Since we now have a geo-tracker that we take with us just about every place, I can show you are journey thanks to Goggle Earth.  You can click to enlarge the map for easier reading.

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Posted in My World | 16 Comments »

Scenic Sunday #141: The View from Mount Nebo

April 3, 2011

The rim of Mount Nebo and the valley below as seen from behind our cabin. March 28, 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.

Last week Betsy and I spent several days at our favorite cabin on Mount Nebo State Park in Arkansas.  Mount Nebo is a flat-topped mountain, and ‘our’ cabn sits near the rim on the southwest side of the mountain.  We have a marvelous view of the valley below, as can be seen from the picture above.

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Posted in Scenic Sunday | 20 Comments »

Skywatch Friday: A Cloudy Mountain Morning

March 18, 2011

A morning view from the lodge at Amicalola Falls State Park, Georgia. March 10, 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.

When Betsy surprised me with a birthday trip to Amicalola State Park in Georgia last week, we had a room at the mountain top lodge with a view of the mountains.  This picture was taken through the window last Thursday (March 10).  The clouds were threatening, but had lifted enough the at we could see across the valley to the mountains on the other side.

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Posted in SkyWatch Friday | 18 Comments »

Betsy at Amicalola Falls

March 17, 2011

Betsy at Amicalola Falls, Georgia. March 9, 2011.

Betsy usually doesn’t like me to take pictures of her.  She doesn’t realize how beautiful her smile truly is.  But I think even Betsy can appreciate the ‘drawing’ of her shown above.  It shows Betsy along the lower part of Amicalola Falls back on March 9.

I’m not an artist, but I did create this ‘work of art’.  Scott, in his wonderful photo blog Finding Another View, had a post about changing a photo into a line drawing using Photoshop.  He said it was easy, and it must be because I got it to work for me.


This is the picture I took of Betsy and which is the basis for the line drawing (don’t tell her I posted the picture as well).  I can’t say I like it any less than the ‘drawing’.  I’m just glad they both show that million-dollar smile.

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Posted in Betsy | 17 Comments »

My World: Mill Creek

March 15, 2011

The Shoals of Mill Creek, Cohutta Wilderness, Georgia. March 8, 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.

Last Tuesday (March 8) Betsy and I returned to Mill Creek in the Cohutta Wilderness Area of north Georgia.  We had been to Mill Creek a couple of times before, but we like the area, and since we were nearby, we decided to visit again.

One of the nice things about Mill Creek is the cascade, or shoals, which are reached after a fairly short hike from the parking/camping area.  The shoals, as you can see from the picture above, are quite beautiful.  The rocks about midway down the shoals, from where this picture was taken, provide a nice spot to sit and enjoy the movement of the water.

Mill Creek is reached from Crandall, Georgia, by traveling along Mill Creek Road (Forest Service Road 630).  The road is not paved, but is graveled and in pretty good shape.  Mrs. P, our Prius, got us into the forest and back out without any problems.  (You can click on the map to make it easier to read.)

There are four waterfalls below the shoals, but since we had seen them before and it was getting ready to rain, we decided not to revisit them.

Besides, I had something much more pleasant in mind as we sat on those rocks by the shoals.

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Posted in My World | 14 Comments »

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