Monthly Archives: June 2014

Chile, South America, Travel

Contrasts – Share the Road

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Sharing the road Easter Island style.

Sharing the road.
Sharing the road.
Peru, South America, Travel

Great Birds in Flight

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Today was a highlight in our Peruvian trip.  After visiting a couple of cities we are in Colca Canyon, deeper than the Grand Canyon, and we get to witness the spectacle of the magnificent Andean Condor.  Thankfully there are conservationists and environmentalists who believed these great birds should be saved regardless of the cost.  The result is being able to watch these great birds in their natural environment instead of a zoo.

I will be posting more of this trip whenever internet connections and time allows.  But for now here are three pictures of this magnificent bird.

The Andean Condor has one of the largest wingspans of all birds.
The Andean Condor looks to the only creature on this planet that can save them – us.
Andean Moonshot

 

 

North America, Travel, United States

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Things with Edges

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Last year a landslide blocked the main road between Utah and Arizona thus forcing a detour through Marble Canyon.  Many people may have cursed the long detour while others like Wooly and Raeski relished the side-trip into a lesser known canyon in Arizona.

There is no doubt that the canyons of the Southwest have edges.  Here we are treated to those edges plus two bridges (with their own edges) that span those edges.  The bridge on the left is the old bridge that Arizona left standing as a walking bridge.  Should you happen to drive through this canyon make the turn into the parking area and marvel at the solid rock the Colorado River cut through to form the canyon.

On the edge of Marble Canyon
Marble Canyon comes before the Grand Canyon.
The Bridges of Marble Canyon
Chile, South America

Dia de Patrimonia

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One of the nice things about spending a year in a foreign country is that you get to see things and attend events that tourists miss.  The Day of Patriotism is one of those events.  The presidential palace in Viña del Mar in Chile is only open to the public one day a year.  People, along with Wooly and Raeski line up for blocks to see the inside and outside of the summertime residence of the president of Chile.  Here are a few of the rooms in the palace.

The presidential study.
Another view of the presidential study.
Presidential dining.
The presidential sunroom looking north.
Presidential sunroom looking south.
Raeski looking presidential.
The current resident – Michelle Bachelet Jeria.
Europe, France, Travel

The Unexpected

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Imagine being on a river cruise and getting stuck for 3 days in one location because the river is flooding.  And it’s in the fall!  That’s exactly what happened to us on our Rhone River cruise a couple of years ago.  The Rhone River flow was far above the level to close the locks, thereby bringing all river traffic to a halt.  One morning when we got up there was this tree lodged against the bow of the ship.

All luck, or Mr. Murphy would have it, we were anchored by the smallest town on the cruise.  Of course this town had no services either.  So we were stuck making the best of it with lots of wine.  Sometimes there are unexpected benefits on a wine cruise.  Once the tree was removed a day later we continued our journey.

The Unexpected