July 11th, 2010
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July 10th, 2010
Say hello to my new best friend. I found him on a hike down to Horseshoe Bend in Arizona. We had to walk on a long desert sand path to get to the spectacular view. On our way there, right on the side of the path was this little guy. I freaked out when I saw this and scrambled for my telephoto lens thinking he was about to bolt off and I couldn’t miss this shot.
He was just standing there and no one noticed him at all. Tons of people walked by me as I was taking pictures but no one else stopped to look or take notice. I don’t understand that. This creature is beautiful and amazing but so many people wouldn’t take the two seconds of their time to appreciate this little marvel of nature. It made me a little sad but at the same time, more shots of a cool lizard just for me.
He was just posing away for me. Watching me as he cocked his head back and forth. He didn’t move at all. I thought he would run away as soon as I pulled the camera out (that would be my usual luck) but he stayed for a good five minutes as I crept closer and closer. He didn’t really seem to mind. After a while he started doing little push ups and picking up his feet and shaking them because of the hot sand. I was so excited when I got these shots, it made me realize something else. I love doing action shots of animals. It makes me so much happier if I get a good shot of an animal rather than a good shot of landscape. Anyways, it was a lot of fun and I hope that next time you see a girl (or boy) frantically taking pictures of something, stop and take a look; you may never know what you are missing if you just stay locked into your own world. There is a big beautiful world out there, take notice before it is too late.
Tags: arizona, creatures, horseshoe bend, ignorance, lizard, red lines, sand, stripped tail | Posted in Photos, Stories, Travel Updates | Comment (0) |
July 9th, 2010
Guess what this is a picture of :D. This was taken in a rest stop parking lot in Minnesota (after my fall). I loved this a lot, the wet ground made them look really cool. Yeah for randomness!!
I will post the answer tomorrow as a comment for this post but I am sure you all will figure if out pretty quickly.
July 8th, 2010
Just going to throw this out there, Bootjack has the best sunsets. No competition. Every single night there is an amazing sunset just waiting outside of our window. It truly is spectacular. We have a front row seat every night of a sunset over a beautiful lake. Let me re-iterate. Every night, beautiful sunset, right outside. We are very lucky to have this spectacular natural wonder be our guest every night. We really enjoy it and I want all of you to enjoy it as well.
I mean look at the colors on the water alone. This is just a fraction of the real beauty of the sunset but the reflection of the sunset on the lake always adds a little grandeur and wonder to the entire spectacle.
July 7th, 2010
In the Navajo National Monument there were these really intriguing yellow yucca plants with this cool little wiry curls breaking off from the plants limbs. I thought this was an interesting hairy little plant. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
July 6th, 2010
You were adorable. It is amazing to see how such a simple thing as a spraying water fountain can amuse and bring happiness to someone. You were having so much fun trying to grab the water as it shot up. You seemed to have so much fun even when you saw that the water simply slipped away because you knew in a few seconds more chances to catch it would arise time and time again. It was refreshing to see you having fun even though you never really could succeed.
Tags: boulder colorado, fountain, girl, playing, water | Posted in Candid Photography, Photos | Comment (0) |
July 5th, 2010
Today was our last day on the road. We finally arrived safe and sound, just slightly busted up (me) ready for fun in Michigan. We started out our day with a nice ride along the Lake Superior coast in Ashland. We passed some really cool old dock pilings out in the water mostly covered by fog.
We are tired but very glad to be at our home away from home with out family. I am glad to have the library and the time to relax finally.
Tags: bootjack, fog, library, michigan, pilings, vacation | Posted in Photos, Travel Updates | Comment (3) |
July 4th, 2010
Butterflies are crafty creatures. They look so beautiful and graceful but when you look at them closely they are horrifying. Butterflies must be one of the scariest looking animals up close. Like this one here that I found in the Navajo National Monument in Arizona feeding on a Paintbrush flower. I was trying really hard to get a photo of him and was so jazzed when I got these but when I looked at them up close I realized they look like monsters. No wonder Mothra in Godzilla was so scary, it is the same sort of thing. Nature is a very deceiving thing some of the cutest or prettiest things are really scary. I don’t think I can ever look at butterflies the same again.
Tags: beauty, butterfly, decieving, flowers, horrifying | Posted in Photos, Thoughts | Comment (0) |
July 4th, 2010
Today was an entire day of nothing. We went through Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, and finally here in Ashland, Wisconsin. It rained almost the entire day and there was nothing to take pictures of at all. The only real event was me slipping in the rain.
Yes, a little know fact about me (unless you know me really well) is that I am a total klutz. So
Me + Rain + Sandals + Slippery Surfaces = bad fall
We stopped at a rest area to throw away some trash and take a much-needed bathroom break. It had been pouring all morning and was still pouring out. So I slipped on my sandals and ran to the rest stop bathrooms. Just as I stopped running and took a few sure-footed steps I stepped on a slippery patch in a puddle and my crappy sandals just flew off. Next thing I know I am rolling around in a puddle in front of a rest stop full of people, probably laughing. I was so surprised I just lay there in a puddle getting soaking wet, thoroughly coating myself in mud and water. I looked over at my mom while I was laying there hoping she hadn’t seen my wipe out.
Finally I got up and limped into the rest stop. I was entirely soaked and freezing. I had busted up my hand and my butt in a major way. Next thing I know my mom comes in asking me if I was okay between her laughs. So we both start laughing at the image of me rolling around on the floor. I was okay but my hand really really hurts and I probably broke my tail bone -.-. Another reason for my utter dislike for Nebraska and Iowa. Sorry for those of you that live there, it may be for you but definitely not for me.
So right now we are in Ashland, Wisconsin on Lake Superior and watching the sunset over the lake and fireworks. Tomorrow I will finally be arriving in Michigan and I can’t wait.
Oh and HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!
Tags: ashland, bruised, fall, fourth of July, pain, rain, soaking, wisconsin | Posted in Travel Updates | Comment (0) |
July 3rd, 2010
Today was the last day of anything really interesting at all sadly. The first interesting note of our day was some wildlife in an odd place. As we were packing the car my mom noticed a coyote walking on a running path right towards us. The coyote just strolled through the parking lot right by us, took a quick glance and nonchalantly moved onward.
We proceeded to start our day out in Colorado Springs and visited the Garden of the Gods.
It was a really beautiful landscape full of red rock mountains that you could walk around between.
After that we headed up to Boulder Colorado which my mom was very excited about. I really loved Boulder and took a look at the University of Colorado at Boulder for a while and then headed to Pearl Street to get a feel for the Boulder experience. This also included a car full of college kids, one of which is yelling out the window,
YEAH BOOTJACK! MY MOM IS FROM HANCOCK, BOOTJACK IS THE SHIT!
Very interesting indeed…
Down on Pearl Street we had lunch at the Boulder Cafe and I got an excellent veggie pita wrap. We went shopping a little and took a good look around. It was beautiful and I really loved the atmosphere and how friendly the people were. It reminded me of Santa Cruz a little because of the different street performers.
This guy dressed in a shaggy dog suit was pretty interesting. He acted just like a dog, wagging his tail, rolling over for belly rubs, and shaking hands. I thought it was strange because you are actually petting a person, plenty of people had no problem with this though and did it anyways.
From then on out we have nothing to do because we entered Nebraska. There really is nothing there.
We did have an interesting event happen at our hotel tonight. We walked into our room but it was freezing so I turned the air off. When I walk back the smoke alarm is beeping and there is smoke in the room. So my mom runs for the phone which is disconnected and does not work. So we book it out of the room thinking it is going to burn down at any second. No, we still don’t know what happened. We are safely in another room now. Tomorrow will be our last night on the road and I can’t wait to be in Michigan.
Tags: boulder, colorado, coyote, garden of the gods, nebraska, street performers, university of colorado | Posted in Photos, Travel Updates | Comment (1) |