SeilerBird
Well-known member
A few years ago I went on a vacation to Disney World in Florida. My RV died there and I decided that it was a sign from God that I should put down some roots and live there. I have been very happy but I also have itchy feet. I decided I needed a vacation since I was missing the desert and the mountains. My plan is to drive across country in a short time and spend a few weeks at my favorite National Parks, then drive back across country in a short time. I left home on July 1st and after eight days I have decided to post a blog of my travels. My photos will be posted in the July album on Picasa. The link is in my signature. The photos will be in the order they were taken so you can open up two tabs, one for this blog and one for Picasa if you wish to follow along. I have a map posted of the trip. If you are anywhere along my upcoming route and wish to have a mini rally just send me a message. I will be sure to take a photo of us eating to keep Ardra happy.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zw7m0QrjtXsk.kfylQ2ZOKfNM&usp=sharing
July 1st - Today is a travel day. I drove almost 500 miles. Florida is a big state. I left central Florida and drove almost 500 miles and I am still in Florida. Pensacola to be exact. I only took one photo and that was of a sign in the first rest stop I stopped in. The sign tells me to beware of snakes. It should have said "Beware of tourists". Yes, that includes me.
July 2nd - First tourist stop is at the USS Alabama. I spent a lot of time touring it 11 years ago and I am in a hurry so I only stopped in long enough for a few photos and to buy a hat. Next stop was the city limit sign for Lottie Louisiana. I took a photo of the sign to send to my siblings since our mother was named Lottie. They got a big kick out of the photo. Back on the road to Alexandria Louisiana. I am a big fan of Pawn Stars. I used to live very close to their shop. I am also a big fan of the spin off show Cajun Pawn Stars. The shop is located in Alexandria and I had read that the stars are very friendly and love having their photo taken with fans. I stopped in and the three main stars were there and busy getting their photo taken. First I took a photo with Tammy (whom I am in love with) and then asked Johnny who was standing right next to us. He said yes. I made a mistake when I took the shot with Tammy by holding the phone vertically. So when I moved over next to Johnny I rotated the phone 90 degrees. He burst out laughing and asked me if I thought he was fat. I told him he was fatter than Tammy. Then I asked Jimmy, the owner and he said yes but not a selfie, since he thinks they don't come out well, so I had to have one of the other fans to shoot the photo. They were as nice as can be. The pawn shop is amazing. Think about the biggest pawn shop you have ever seen. Multiply it by ten and you still won't come close to the volume of stuff on display. Looking at it all is hopeless. Their gun department is bigger than most pawn shops.
July 3rd - One of my best friends is the head interp ranger at the Grand Canyon named Marker Marshall. Her real name is Margaret but her sister could not pronouce it so she called her Marker and it stuck. So when I saw a Marshall city limits sign I took a shot and sent it to her with the caption Marshall marker. Then I headed off to the big D to see the JFK museum. I was a huge fan of JFK as a child and his death really crushed me. I was 15 at the time. I was no ready for how much it affected me to visit Dealey Plaza. When I saw the Dallas city limits sign my blood ran cold. The closer I got the worse I felt. I took the tour and looked out the window. That was really chilling. I have read a few books, watched a few documentaries and talked to a lot of people about the assassination theories. The visit to the crime scene convinced me of one thing, Oswald acted alone. I just don't see how another gunman could have been there. As chilling as it was I was glad I went. Something like closure.
July 4th - I traveled to Clovis New Mexico and attended a fireworks show. It was a very nice show.
July 5th - I left at 4 am because I was still on Florida time. Traveling on the road to Roswell I saw a beautiful sunrise in my rear view mirror so I pulled over and shot it. Then a bit later I saw an amazing piece of grafitti on a rock along side the road that screamed "Photograph me". It is rare that I pull over to take a photo but I have been doing it a lot on this trip. I stopped in Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve but it was a huge disappointment. In the winter it is incredible. But in the summer there is almost no water there hence no birds. Onward to Holbrook and a mini rally with Bob Maxwell and his new bride Betty. We had lunch at Jalapeno Poppers. I haven't found a decent Mexican restaurant in Florida so it was a real treat to have a nice Mexican lunch of tacos and rice. Bob and I spent the rest of the afternoon solving all the world's problems, gossiping about forum members and telling lies. I spent the night on his hide a bed and as soon as I crawled under the covers his cute little dog Pepper cuddled up to my butt.
July 6th - Next stop was in Winslow Arizona where I took a selfie standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona but unfortunately no girl in a flatbed Ford bothered to check me out. I took the photo standing in front of the Eagles hall (BPOE) on route 66. For those of you who don't follow rock and roll Take It Easy was the first hit record released by the Eagles in 1972 which includes the line "Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me." It is a great song and it really put Winslow on the map. In fact there is a "Standin' on a Corner" park located there.
July 7th - After 2400 miles in 7 days I finally arrived at my first National Park the Grand Canyon. My first project was to check in and pitch my tent. This will be my first night in a tent in 12 years. I love tenting but it sure does make me miss my RV. I forgot how depressing it is to pee in a bottle all night long. Then I headed to "The Cove", the sight of almost every Condor photo I have ever taken. They used to hang out there but about 5 years ago they patched a leaky water pipe that the Condors used for bathing and drinking. Since the patch they no longer hang out there in massive numbers. So it took me almost 15 minutes to find and photograph my first Condor. It was number 30, a 6 year old male. I did not have a shot of him since he was released after the my last visit. I have been building a family album of Condors and adding number 30 brings the total to 74 different Condors I have photographed. Then a Zone-tailed Hawk flew by carrying a squirrel. Zone-tails are crafty little buggers. They look almost identical to Turkey Vultures, just a bit smaller with a black head and white beak. But the biggest difference is the fact that TVs eat dead things and ZTs eat live things. So a squirrel looks up and sees a ZT and thinks he is safe because he knows TVs only eat carrion. What a surprize when the ZT picks him up. I called Marker and we met up so we could go out and attempt to photograph the ZT nest out at Pipe Creek Vista. I failed miserably. The nest is in a new location much deeper in the canyon. I can't measure the distance but it is several hundred yards beneath the rim. There are two babies in the nest but they look like little dots with my 2400 mm lens. Then Marker and I went to the Bright Angel Lodge restaurant for a fabulous stroganoff dinner. It is a new menu selection and I will be revisiting it a few more times before I leave. I plan on being on the south rim for four days total.
July 8th - I made a date to spend the day with my good friend Celia. We really like each others photography so we spent the morning looking at each others photos. I had not been to the canyon for four years so we both had a lot of photos to show off. Then in the afternoon we headed back to Pipe Creek Vista to try a different location for photographing the ZT nest, but we could not find a better location. We then went back to the Village and had a ice cream cone while waiting for Condors that never showed up. We did run into a pair of very cooperative Lesser Goldfinches feeding on a thistle. Several bees were at the same thisle. After dinner I headed to Markers house for a music night. She has been hosting music nights at her house for years. I have been to several. Every time there is a totally different group of people there. She has song books that have 1200 songs and anyone can bring any instrument. I brought my electric guitar and a tiny amp. My acoustic would have been more appropriate, however I haven't been playing guitar much lately prefering to play my bass guitar. I started practicing in anticipation about a month ago and after a few days I quit using the acoustic and switched to the electric since it was killing my finger tips. I am glad I switched because we played music for three hours and when we quit my fingertips were smarting. I took a video of one song with my iPhone and I will posted it when I get to a faster Internet connection. We are total amateurs but having a blast.
July 9th - I got up early and I spent the morning editing and posting photos and typing this blog. I ran into a herd of elk on the way to the Internet connection. I will be updating it next week. I will be spending the next two days hunting for Condors here at the canyon. Then I move over to the North Rim for two days, then to Zion for a day, then Bryce Canyon for two days and then to my brothers house in Sandy Utah where I will have a nice Internet connection for posting more songs pictures and stories.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zw7m0QrjtXsk.kfylQ2ZOKfNM&usp=sharing
July 1st - Today is a travel day. I drove almost 500 miles. Florida is a big state. I left central Florida and drove almost 500 miles and I am still in Florida. Pensacola to be exact. I only took one photo and that was of a sign in the first rest stop I stopped in. The sign tells me to beware of snakes. It should have said "Beware of tourists". Yes, that includes me.
July 2nd - First tourist stop is at the USS Alabama. I spent a lot of time touring it 11 years ago and I am in a hurry so I only stopped in long enough for a few photos and to buy a hat. Next stop was the city limit sign for Lottie Louisiana. I took a photo of the sign to send to my siblings since our mother was named Lottie. They got a big kick out of the photo. Back on the road to Alexandria Louisiana. I am a big fan of Pawn Stars. I used to live very close to their shop. I am also a big fan of the spin off show Cajun Pawn Stars. The shop is located in Alexandria and I had read that the stars are very friendly and love having their photo taken with fans. I stopped in and the three main stars were there and busy getting their photo taken. First I took a photo with Tammy (whom I am in love with) and then asked Johnny who was standing right next to us. He said yes. I made a mistake when I took the shot with Tammy by holding the phone vertically. So when I moved over next to Johnny I rotated the phone 90 degrees. He burst out laughing and asked me if I thought he was fat. I told him he was fatter than Tammy. Then I asked Jimmy, the owner and he said yes but not a selfie, since he thinks they don't come out well, so I had to have one of the other fans to shoot the photo. They were as nice as can be. The pawn shop is amazing. Think about the biggest pawn shop you have ever seen. Multiply it by ten and you still won't come close to the volume of stuff on display. Looking at it all is hopeless. Their gun department is bigger than most pawn shops.
July 3rd - One of my best friends is the head interp ranger at the Grand Canyon named Marker Marshall. Her real name is Margaret but her sister could not pronouce it so she called her Marker and it stuck. So when I saw a Marshall city limits sign I took a shot and sent it to her with the caption Marshall marker. Then I headed off to the big D to see the JFK museum. I was a huge fan of JFK as a child and his death really crushed me. I was 15 at the time. I was no ready for how much it affected me to visit Dealey Plaza. When I saw the Dallas city limits sign my blood ran cold. The closer I got the worse I felt. I took the tour and looked out the window. That was really chilling. I have read a few books, watched a few documentaries and talked to a lot of people about the assassination theories. The visit to the crime scene convinced me of one thing, Oswald acted alone. I just don't see how another gunman could have been there. As chilling as it was I was glad I went. Something like closure.
July 4th - I traveled to Clovis New Mexico and attended a fireworks show. It was a very nice show.
July 5th - I left at 4 am because I was still on Florida time. Traveling on the road to Roswell I saw a beautiful sunrise in my rear view mirror so I pulled over and shot it. Then a bit later I saw an amazing piece of grafitti on a rock along side the road that screamed "Photograph me". It is rare that I pull over to take a photo but I have been doing it a lot on this trip. I stopped in Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve but it was a huge disappointment. In the winter it is incredible. But in the summer there is almost no water there hence no birds. Onward to Holbrook and a mini rally with Bob Maxwell and his new bride Betty. We had lunch at Jalapeno Poppers. I haven't found a decent Mexican restaurant in Florida so it was a real treat to have a nice Mexican lunch of tacos and rice. Bob and I spent the rest of the afternoon solving all the world's problems, gossiping about forum members and telling lies. I spent the night on his hide a bed and as soon as I crawled under the covers his cute little dog Pepper cuddled up to my butt.
July 6th - Next stop was in Winslow Arizona where I took a selfie standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona but unfortunately no girl in a flatbed Ford bothered to check me out. I took the photo standing in front of the Eagles hall (BPOE) on route 66. For those of you who don't follow rock and roll Take It Easy was the first hit record released by the Eagles in 1972 which includes the line "Well, I'm a standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me." It is a great song and it really put Winslow on the map. In fact there is a "Standin' on a Corner" park located there.
July 7th - After 2400 miles in 7 days I finally arrived at my first National Park the Grand Canyon. My first project was to check in and pitch my tent. This will be my first night in a tent in 12 years. I love tenting but it sure does make me miss my RV. I forgot how depressing it is to pee in a bottle all night long. Then I headed to "The Cove", the sight of almost every Condor photo I have ever taken. They used to hang out there but about 5 years ago they patched a leaky water pipe that the Condors used for bathing and drinking. Since the patch they no longer hang out there in massive numbers. So it took me almost 15 minutes to find and photograph my first Condor. It was number 30, a 6 year old male. I did not have a shot of him since he was released after the my last visit. I have been building a family album of Condors and adding number 30 brings the total to 74 different Condors I have photographed. Then a Zone-tailed Hawk flew by carrying a squirrel. Zone-tails are crafty little buggers. They look almost identical to Turkey Vultures, just a bit smaller with a black head and white beak. But the biggest difference is the fact that TVs eat dead things and ZTs eat live things. So a squirrel looks up and sees a ZT and thinks he is safe because he knows TVs only eat carrion. What a surprize when the ZT picks him up. I called Marker and we met up so we could go out and attempt to photograph the ZT nest out at Pipe Creek Vista. I failed miserably. The nest is in a new location much deeper in the canyon. I can't measure the distance but it is several hundred yards beneath the rim. There are two babies in the nest but they look like little dots with my 2400 mm lens. Then Marker and I went to the Bright Angel Lodge restaurant for a fabulous stroganoff dinner. It is a new menu selection and I will be revisiting it a few more times before I leave. I plan on being on the south rim for four days total.
July 8th - I made a date to spend the day with my good friend Celia. We really like each others photography so we spent the morning looking at each others photos. I had not been to the canyon for four years so we both had a lot of photos to show off. Then in the afternoon we headed back to Pipe Creek Vista to try a different location for photographing the ZT nest, but we could not find a better location. We then went back to the Village and had a ice cream cone while waiting for Condors that never showed up. We did run into a pair of very cooperative Lesser Goldfinches feeding on a thistle. Several bees were at the same thisle. After dinner I headed to Markers house for a music night. She has been hosting music nights at her house for years. I have been to several. Every time there is a totally different group of people there. She has song books that have 1200 songs and anyone can bring any instrument. I brought my electric guitar and a tiny amp. My acoustic would have been more appropriate, however I haven't been playing guitar much lately prefering to play my bass guitar. I started practicing in anticipation about a month ago and after a few days I quit using the acoustic and switched to the electric since it was killing my finger tips. I am glad I switched because we played music for three hours and when we quit my fingertips were smarting. I took a video of one song with my iPhone and I will posted it when I get to a faster Internet connection. We are total amateurs but having a blast.
July 9th - I got up early and I spent the morning editing and posting photos and typing this blog. I ran into a herd of elk on the way to the Internet connection. I will be updating it next week. I will be spending the next two days hunting for Condors here at the canyon. Then I move over to the North Rim for two days, then to Zion for a day, then Bryce Canyon for two days and then to my brothers house in Sandy Utah where I will have a nice Internet connection for posting more songs pictures and stories.
