Superstition Mountain

What I call "rock star" parking at the campground next to Superstition Mountain, AZ. I was parked within walking distance to get this photo at sunset. Also loved the old gold town near by.

Lion in a fence

I like this photo of the lion even with the branch interfering with the image. This was taken at Out of Africa in AZ.  This was taken on their feeding day and the lion was waiting his big piece of meat to be tossed over the fence.

Beautiful granddaughters for annual photo event

Through the years my challenge is to coordinate and outing to photograph my granddaughters out for  a photo event which started as "instead of" school pictures. Day was overcast and surprise to find autumn leaves still usable. They are so photogenic but can soon start clowning around. Baily is in the maron shirt and Brooke the green.

Of course we always have to do something with the bridge and they came up with this pose.

Joyfully tossing leaves. 

Lone Rock Beach

This is one of those fun places I have camped with the WINs and the Kayaks belong to the group. This is Lake Powell and we were a few miles from Page, AZ. This photo does not show the one large rock rising up in the middle of the lake which the beach is named for.

Highest mountain in Colorado

Can't see it? It is between the clouds and the trees. Okay Mount Elbert may be 14,429 feet high, but this was taken at the fish hatchery outside of Leadville at just over 10 thousand feet. So not a lot of elevation difference. Saw a lot of mountains in Colorado that wowed me more than this one.

A forest of aspens

Again lots of apens which is one of my favorite trees. Love the black on the white trunks.

Aspen Alley

This is the aspen lined road that is over by Encampment, and lot of photographers put this location on their bucket list to photograph. I have heard that the trees are dying out and the leaves do not seem as full as they used to. This was taken a couple of years ago.

Lone tree in Utah

Photos from the past. I am pulling in old photos that I have shot in previous years. It's a time and season thing. I am about to the point of not finishing the year of photos for the blog, but this will be an easy fix.

Exploding cattails

 Found a field of exploding cattails in a wetland over by the Central High school.  The cattails in Lions Park were cut down long ago so it was fun to find these. This was on a 6 mile bike ride yesterday. Our temps are great - 74 yesterday- but windy which is no fun to ride against.

Low energy after riding 4 miles (hills and wind) had me stopping at Micky D's for an ice cream cone. Whoops, so much for exercising!

Just a fern

This was growing in the wall in the box canyon falls in Ouray.

Twin Lakes

Twin Lakes is close to Leadville, CO.  They rented kayaks, and paddle boards. Fishing was also enjoyed as well as those sunbathing on the beach.

Below is the view looking the other way. On the island is an old resort that you can access  a tour with a boat.

Flowers still!

Was surprised to see a few flowers still blooming in my small flowerbed two days ago. The above lily's foliage was mostly laying on the ground and there were several Pansies still blooming.  I didn't like all the dead around the Pansie, so photoshoped it. Not sure I like the change and  I put the original photo with the dead around the flower below. Your choice as to which you like best.

Great Concert at Central High with Bailey

This is my granddaughter that played in the concert last night with the orchestra playing classical and a Wizard of Oz medley.  

My ongoing challenge is getting a decent, focused photo with the lighting and distance. On the top photo, I was using a monopod and kept upping up the ISO and last shot was 2000 and the top photo was ISO 1000.  Non of the photos were tack sharp.

Train trestle on Cache la Pouder River

I usually refer to this river as the Pouder, but official name is Cache la Pouder and is also the same river as yesterdays water reflection post. As a photographer I have enjoyed shooting this train trestle and Kara and I noticed that the middle wood supports had been replaced with metal posts.

I also like taking photos of the wooden windmills, but those too are deteriorating and the new ones are make of metal.

Reflections and leaves

Fall tree reflections in the moving river and leaves.

Fall leaves in the park

These were taken yesterday afternoon in the park. Those little dots in the lake are geese.

Blowing Sand and...

I like the way the wind reshapes blowing sand. This is not as dramatic as the Great Sand Dunes or Coral Sand Dunes, but just a mini sculpture at Gurnsey Reservoir.

Oh, and the one below...just dried up mud in the middle of the lake.

Not an easy job getting into my blog this morning. Consumer Reports has a section in the Nov. issue on Internet safety. One thing they recommend-- no google/chrome, but Opera which I have on the new laptop. The Opera doesn't have all the passwords saved so I am checking a lot. This password I ended up changing before getting in. This blog uses my g-mail account which I do not use unless an app needs it.

Ruins along the way

This historical crumbling building was along scenic drive Highway 141 in Colorado. They were allowed to shore up the arch to keep it from falling. Telephoto shot since it was on private land.

No eagles in the park

Geese have hung out at Lions Park for years and the city tried to discourage them with a special $$$$ dog to chase them away. There were lots yesterday and maybe these were just passing through. We do have geese that winter here though. These geese did not have any fear of me. I walked towards the path to see if they would move towards the lake, and they moved a little, but looked really bored with what I was doing.

I don't get excited when I see these big birds since they are around all the time and nothing special to me. Now eagles, that's different.

They have a slow graceful walk as they passed through the sunlight.

Seeds ready to fly

Here is another view from the weed shown earlier.

Yellow-jacket at work

This was taken in the park a couple of weeks ago and there were lots of these little pollinators flying around. They don't bother me when I am taking photos.  Our flower season is almost gone to be replaced with wind, cold temps, and some snow. Oh dear- that's a bit negative.

Golden hour at Lake Molas

Sometimes you can be at a beautiful location and the weather doesn't cooperate.  That's what happened at Lake Molas which is close to Silverton, CO. This was my sunrise view from my rig which I only had for one night and then had to move on.

Yee Haw

One of my goals was to ride to Mylar Park from my house which I did yesterday. Beautiful day and total mileage 6.8 miles. Okay, that doesn't sound like a lot, and worst was the return hill on Education Drive.

 This is Mylar Pond and the lower image shows all the geese hanging out. Now where is that dog?

Just a leaf

Season is changing. One lone aspen leaf.

And this is post 269.- Less than 3 more months to go with my year of posting photos.- Missed some days when I did not have internet in those beautiful places I was camped.

Weeds

I found these exploding pods along the edge of empty Guernsey Reservoir. Fun use of my macro lens. And I can not tell you what weed this is, but it is at least 2 to 3 feet tall.

And an update of why the reservoir has no water - they are repairing the out take tunnels.

Campground wildlife

These 3 deer were in the next campground at Sandy Beach. Mom and her two youngsters. I was late for dinner because I had to stop and take photos.

She stopped to look at me. I was leaning against the motorhome two fences away.

This deer wandered through the area at Crested Butte. This one I opened the window and screen and took it from inside the motorhome.