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The most famous photographic subject in the park is the mysterious sliding rocks in an area known as The Racetrack. It is located at the end of a rough 27 mile rock road that requires the rental of a Jeep with heavy duty tires as the rocks will cut the tires on normal passenger tires.
There is no hard evidence as to how or when the rocks moved. Some say hurricane force winds after heavy rains but both are almost non-existant here and tests have shown such winds would not move the rocks. Photographers come from all over the world to photograph them and we even met one from Australia while we were there.
On the way to The Racetrack, there is an intersection known as Teapot Junction. Teapots are hung with names and dates of those that went by. No, I didn't put one on but I kind of wish I did. Maybe next time.
We managed to go two times, once for sunrise and once for sunset. As we were heading back in the dark after sunset, we came across three photographers that had cut a tire on their SUV and were changing it in dark with flashlights. I had been tempted to try getting there in our rental but this confirmed I had made the right decision getting the Jeep.
Another area of note is the Devil's Golf Course. It is an amazing area of halite salt formations left over after a 30 foot deep lake dried up eons ago. There are millions of razor sharp points and kneeling or sitting on them to get down low for a good image can be a little painful. I did say "ouch" a few times!
The desert can be an incredibly quiet place where all you hear is the faint sound of the wind. The moonless night skies light up with every constellation and the starry cloud of the Milky Way. Sunrise and sunset displays above the colors of the rock formations never get old.
Ok, so we really enjoyed this expedition. Death Valley exceeded my photographic expectations. Carrying gear over miles of sand dunes and salt flats, hiking up and down rocky trails and getting up at 2am paid off with many great images.
I return home one pooped "desert rat".
4 Eylül 2012 Salı
Arrived In iceland!
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Kelly and I arrived in Iceland Wednesday Night, staying in Keflovik, near the capital city of Reykjavik, which is located in the southeast corner of the island. On Thursday, we made our way north to the Snaefellnus Peninsula, a rural area with a national park and amazing coastal cliffs. You are definitely in another country here. Most people do speak some english but almost everything else is in Icelandic and all the words are long and hard to pronounce and/or remember.
It is a beautiful country with a wide variety of landscape with waterfalls everywhere. Some of the most impressive falls are in the rear of private farms that you cannot get to. We've quite a bit of rain but that can bring rainbows and we've had a few of those. As I was photographing the old farm ruins as the sun was setting at 11:30pm, a rainbow appeared behind it. It was a complete rainbow and although I couldn't do anything with it from an overall landscape image, I did decide to take the photo with Kelly in it just for fun.
The Icelandic horses are know for their long hair. They're not wild horses but they can make for some great images. We had one that I really liked near the village of Gundarfjordour where we were staying. There are sheep everywere, like in Scotland, but these have horns. Still working on getting a good photo of them.
There is a geyser called Strokkur that is quite unusual. It goes off with a sudden explosive burst about every 8 minutes. The fun was trying to photograph the bubble the instant before it was exploding. We took a lot of frames but Kelly nailed us a good one.We departed Grunarfjorour on Sunday to head to Hofn, our second location. The big attraction near Hofn is the Jokularson glacier lagoon. The weather is not great but we'll find a way to make it work. Stay tuned.
It is a beautiful country with a wide variety of landscape with waterfalls everywhere. Some of the most impressive falls are in the rear of private farms that you cannot get to. We've quite a bit of rain but that can bring rainbows and we've had a few of those. As I was photographing the old farm ruins as the sun was setting at 11:30pm, a rainbow appeared behind it. It was a complete rainbow and although I couldn't do anything with it from an overall landscape image, I did decide to take the photo with Kelly in it just for fun.
The Icelandic horses are know for their long hair. They're not wild horses but they can make for some great images. We had one that I really liked near the village of Gundarfjordour where we were staying. There are sheep everywere, like in Scotland, but these have horns. Still working on getting a good photo of them.
There is a geyser called Strokkur that is quite unusual. It goes off with a sudden explosive burst about every 8 minutes. The fun was trying to photograph the bubble the instant before it was exploding. We took a lot of frames but Kelly nailed us a good one.We departed Grunarfjorour on Sunday to head to Hofn, our second location. The big attraction near Hofn is the Jokularson glacier lagoon. The weather is not great but we'll find a way to make it work. Stay tuned.
Iceland and the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon
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We’ve learned some interesting things here in Iceland:
The population is 319,000 humans, 600,000 sheep.
They don’t sell ice or iced tea but sell ice cream everywhere.
Light switches are up for off and down for on.
They don’t use top sheets on beds, just bottom sheet and comforter.
Breakfast is hard boiled eggs, sliced deli ham, sardines, sliced tomatoes andcucumbers.
Highway bridges are one lane only (one car at a time).
Cigarettes are sold only as a prescription drug.
No medicine is sold in stores, not even aspirin or cough drops.
Gas is only sold as 95 octane.
The Icelandic language has too many long words.
We spent three nights near the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. The ice breaks off the glacier into thelagoon and floats out to the ocean through a canal and then winds up on theblack beach. As you can see, thephotographic possibilities are endless and it is constantly changing. What you saw and photographed in the eveningis not what is there in the morning. Ihad to dig deep in the bag of photographic skills to get the images I waslooking for and I am extremely pleased with the results.
We would photograph from about 7pm to 11pm, drive an hour back to thehotel, sleep for 2 hours and drive back to photograph the morning light from4am to 7am. It was a little brutal but I am so glad we did it. See the photo ofthe beach which shows the overall look and the scale of the ice against thepeople.
Our next location is Vik, Iceland where we will photograph Puffins and theHighlands. The countryside is simplyamazing and I am working on trying to capture this. Stay tuned.
The population is 319,000 humans, 600,000 sheep.
They don’t sell ice or iced tea but sell ice cream everywhere.
Light switches are up for off and down for on.
They don’t use top sheets on beds, just bottom sheet and comforter.
Breakfast is hard boiled eggs, sliced deli ham, sardines, sliced tomatoes andcucumbers.
Highway bridges are one lane only (one car at a time).
Cigarettes are sold only as a prescription drug.
No medicine is sold in stores, not even aspirin or cough drops.
Gas is only sold as 95 octane.
The Icelandic language has too many long words.
We spent three nights near the Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon. The ice breaks off the glacier into thelagoon and floats out to the ocean through a canal and then winds up on theblack beach. As you can see, thephotographic possibilities are endless and it is constantly changing. What you saw and photographed in the eveningis not what is there in the morning. Ihad to dig deep in the bag of photographic skills to get the images I waslooking for and I am extremely pleased with the results.
We would photograph from about 7pm to 11pm, drive an hour back to thehotel, sleep for 2 hours and drive back to photograph the morning light from4am to 7am. It was a little brutal but I am so glad we did it. See the photo ofthe beach which shows the overall look and the scale of the ice against thepeople.
Our next location is Vik, Iceland where we will photograph Puffins and theHighlands. The countryside is simplyamazing and I am working on trying to capture this. Stay tuned.
Iceland Highlands and More
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It has been a very educational ten days in Iceland. When we picked up our rental 4x4 we were toldto be very careful with river crossings. I didn’t give it much thought as I had not planned on any. Well, our journey into the mountains andvalleys of the Highlands changed that. About 40 miles in on the rough dirt road we came to the first river tocross. I got out, put on my high rubberboots and waded across the river the check the depth and decided our small FordEscape 4x4 could make it. I would repeatthe exercise at about a dozen river crossings to find the shallowest section tocross. At about 60 miles in, we came tothe deepest one and I almost turned back but charted the best course, gunned itand with water flying and trailing a cloud of steam we made it across. I was glad when the crossings were over asthere wasn’t help available within 50 miles.
I also learned that the Icelandic word “lokad” means closed. This is good information to know when it isposted beside a rough dirt road miles from civilization. Knowing this can prevent the feeling you getwhen you have to turn around miles later down the road.
After leaving the spectacular glacier lagoon and beach, we headed west tothe town of Vik, where we trekked into the Highlands (crossing rivers),photographed Puffins and a variety of waterfalls and landscapes. The mountains and scenery surround youeverywhere and photographs just don’t seem to do it justice. Sheep were everywhere but only occasionallywould you see one of the big older males with the full curl of horns. I know they’re not “wildlife” but there wasone multicolored big boy I just had to photograph.
There is so much of Iceland that we have not seen and if it is anythinglike what we experienced for the past 10 days we just might have to makeanother trip.
I also learned that the Icelandic word “lokad” means closed. This is good information to know when it isposted beside a rough dirt road miles from civilization. Knowing this can prevent the feeling you getwhen you have to turn around miles later down the road.
After leaving the spectacular glacier lagoon and beach, we headed west tothe town of Vik, where we trekked into the Highlands (crossing rivers),photographed Puffins and a variety of waterfalls and landscapes. The mountains and scenery surround youeverywhere and photographs just don’t seem to do it justice. Sheep were everywhere but only occasionallywould you see one of the big older males with the full curl of horns. I know they’re not “wildlife” but there wasone multicolored big boy I just had to photograph.
There is so much of Iceland that we have not seen and if it is anythinglike what we experienced for the past 10 days we just might have to makeanother trip.
Bears of the Katmai Coast
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I arrived in Kodiak, Alaska on August 25th and met up with myfriend and professional photographer, Jess Lee, in preparation for our trip outto the Katmai coast to photograph the bears. The next morning we were able to photograph a beautiful sunrise inKodiak before boarding our float plane to head out to the boat we would bespending the next 6 days on. That was anice little bonus. The view from the float plane over the rocky coastlines of the islandssouth of Alaska is phenomenal. As we gotclose to the bay where we would land, I could feel the excitement levelincreasing. There is simply no betterplace on planet Earth to do what we were about to do. As my anticipation grew, I realized just howmuch I have missed these bears since I was last here two years ago. We were lucky to have both a set of twin cubs and a set of triplets in KuliakBay with its waterfall and clear aqua water. Their behavior around their moms and the other bears is justfascinating. We have left the Katmai coast and are heading up the road to Denali andparts north of there. It will bedifferent, for sure. Below is aslideshow of 16 photos from the Katmai coast.
14 Ağustos 2012 Salı
Colorado Springs - Home for a Month
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Roger here.... We survived our four days of boondocking at the forest service campground without incident. We now know that if we are conservative with our fresh water, our holding tanks, and our house batteries that we are good for four nights. It was nice to have a three-day vacation from all the political crap and the senseless tragedy in nearby Aurora. We did not know about the Aurora shooting until our cell phone service kicked back in when we reached civilization. We are likely to boondock again; it was a nice break.
The two-hour + drive from Nathrop, Colorado to Colorado Springs along the Arkansas River was scenic and uneventful --- always a good combination. When we arrived at our current camping spot, Mountaindale Cabins and RV Resort, we were greeted in the office by Ginger, a fellow RV Dreamer who we met a couple of years ago at the rally in South Carolina. It is always nice to have friends in the campground. Speaking of friends, Mike and Marian, neighbors from Retama Village and also RV Dreamers, have been here for several weeks. We also met up with Mike and Marian in Kerrville, Texas last May at the rally. After we got everything set up for our month-long stay, we were invited to their site for hamburgers. Ginger, and her husband, Jesse, were there as well as a half-dozen new friends. It was so nice of Mike and Marian to invite us for burgers and introduce us to their friends.
This campground is amazing, among the very best places we have been in the last three years. (Dianne here: The true test of a special place is that people come back year after year; it reminds me of Bentsen Palm Village in Mission, TX). The terraced sites are huge, private, and immaculately landscaped. We are parked on pink gravel (absolutely no weeds) which also covers our outdoor living area.
We have our own really cool fire-pit a couple of steps down from the main outdoor area, in its own terraced level. Now that the campfire ban has been lifted in the State of Colorado, we intend to make use of it.

We can always find some shade in our outdoor area, either from the motor home, or from the trees that line the site. A picture of the living area below gives you an idea as to how large it really is. You can see our blue hammock in the distance. Our grill and food-prep table is nestled behind one of the recliners. Wow, is this ever a great place to relax outside.

Every morning we have been taking the dogs on a mile-long hiking loop that starts just a few feet from our site. The walk is gravel for about half the circle, then turns back toward the campground on a couple of non-busy paved roads. (A nice country walk -- D.) This is a beautiful area. Here are a few pictures of the sights that we see every morning:


Here is a good view of our park nestled among the trees on a hillside near the end of the hike.
Yesterday, the dogs enjoyed a romp in the fenced-in dog park on the way back to the motor home. (If only it were grass it would be perfect for the "kids." Unfortunately, it requires a wipe-down after every play time to get the dirt brushed off of them. I have yet to find a RV dog park as good as our neighborhood park in Mission. -- D.)
We have already been here for three days. We are going to be here for a month. Well, Dianne, Bandido, Tequila, and Charlie are going to be here for a month. Tomorrow afternoon I am flying to Indy to do presentations for my former employer. I will be there for three weeks working, having an annual physical, getting new eyeglasses, and seeing friends. I'm so glad that Dianne will be in such a beautiful, safe place. (This will be the first summer we haven't driven the motor home to Indiana. We knew we wanted to be further west this year, so we opted for him to do a "fly-in" this time. -- D.)
Our frequent posts may be a little infrequent for the next few weeks, but ya never know. Dianne may have a lot of things to write about while I am away :-). (It should be interesting. In 40 years of marriage, we've never been apart for longer than a week. Roger quipped yesterday that "The first two days we'll probably be glad." Ha!! I know that in a couple of days the reality of being solely in charge of three animals and dumping the tanks, etc. will set in. Our 40th anniversary will be July 30 while he is gone. At least he will be with our friends Jay & Nancy, who were in our wedding (we were also in theirs a month earlier) and who actually set us up on our initial blind date way back when. They'll just have to go down memory lane without me! -- D.)
The Pet Picture of the Day shows Bandido along the creekside at our previous campsite. I think it is a pretty good picture of my buddy.
Site #78 Mountaindale RV Resort |
Roger here.... We survived our four days of boondocking at the forest service campground without incident. We now know that if we are conservative with our fresh water, our holding tanks, and our house batteries that we are good for four nights. It was nice to have a three-day vacation from all the political crap and the senseless tragedy in nearby Aurora. We did not know about the Aurora shooting until our cell phone service kicked back in when we reached civilization. We are likely to boondock again; it was a nice break.
The two-hour + drive from Nathrop, Colorado to Colorado Springs along the Arkansas River was scenic and uneventful --- always a good combination. When we arrived at our current camping spot, Mountaindale Cabins and RV Resort, we were greeted in the office by Ginger, a fellow RV Dreamer who we met a couple of years ago at the rally in South Carolina. It is always nice to have friends in the campground. Speaking of friends, Mike and Marian, neighbors from Retama Village and also RV Dreamers, have been here for several weeks. We also met up with Mike and Marian in Kerrville, Texas last May at the rally. After we got everything set up for our month-long stay, we were invited to their site for hamburgers. Ginger, and her husband, Jesse, were there as well as a half-dozen new friends. It was so nice of Mike and Marian to invite us for burgers and introduce us to their friends.
We have our own really cool fire-pit a couple of steps down from the main outdoor area, in its own terraced level. Now that the campfire ban has been lifted in the State of Colorado, we intend to make use of it.
We can always find some shade in our outdoor area, either from the motor home, or from the trees that line the site. A picture of the living area below gives you an idea as to how large it really is. You can see our blue hammock in the distance. Our grill and food-prep table is nestled behind one of the recliners. Wow, is this ever a great place to relax outside.
Yesterday, the dogs enjoyed a romp in the fenced-in dog park on the way back to the motor home. (If only it were grass it would be perfect for the "kids." Unfortunately, it requires a wipe-down after every play time to get the dirt brushed off of them. I have yet to find a RV dog park as good as our neighborhood park in Mission. -- D.)
We have already been here for three days. We are going to be here for a month. Well, Dianne, Bandido, Tequila, and Charlie are going to be here for a month. Tomorrow afternoon I am flying to Indy to do presentations for my former employer. I will be there for three weeks working, having an annual physical, getting new eyeglasses, and seeing friends. I'm so glad that Dianne will be in such a beautiful, safe place. (This will be the first summer we haven't driven the motor home to Indiana. We knew we wanted to be further west this year, so we opted for him to do a "fly-in" this time. -- D.)
Our frequent posts may be a little infrequent for the next few weeks, but ya never know. Dianne may have a lot of things to write about while I am away :-). (It should be interesting. In 40 years of marriage, we've never been apart for longer than a week. Roger quipped yesterday that "The first two days we'll probably be glad." Ha!! I know that in a couple of days the reality of being solely in charge of three animals and dumping the tanks, etc. will set in. Our 40th anniversary will be July 30 while he is gone. At least he will be with our friends Jay & Nancy, who were in our wedding (we were also in theirs a month earlier) and who actually set us up on our initial blind date way back when. They'll just have to go down memory lane without me! -- D.)
The Pet Picture of the Day shows Bandido along the creekside at our previous campsite. I think it is a pretty good picture of my buddy.
Dad will miss me most of all!! |
Update from Colorado Wildlife Country
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Hi all, Dianne here. This is just a quick update from beautiful Colorado. As you can see from the opening photo, there is no shortage of wildlife roaming through the RV park! This beautiful buck shows up almost every morning. What you can't see in the photo is that my neighbors behind were actually sitting right there in their lawn chairs while the buck wandered onto their site for a drink of water out of the tree irrigation well. Close enough that they could have reached out and touched him! They offered him a carrot, but he didn't partake.
Roger worked long and hard to find a safe place to park me for the three weeks he'd be in Indiana this summer. His hard work paid off, because this is certainly the perfect spot. It's a beautiful, well-managed RV park. I am surrounded by very nice neighbors, in case I need help with anything (not likely). It's far enough out of Colorado Springs that I feel very safe here. And the wildlife, for an animal lover like me -- let's just say it's perfect!
Just have to say Happy 40th Wedding Anniversary to Roger across the miles. 40 years ago today two 22-year-old kids set out on an adventure that feels like it's just getting started.
So, what in the heck have I been doing all by myself? Well, I have a to-do list that I try to mark off at least one thing per day. I'm still putting off cleaning the stove....
My wildlife cam has been kept busy every night. In fact, I need to adjust it, because last night I had over 600 photos on it!! Almost all of them were this fox and his friend who came over and over again to get a snack.
This young buck paused on his morning trek through the park to get a snack, too.
The girls pass by, too. Usually all this activity is around 6:00 - 6:30 a.m.
On our morning dog walks we sometimes see a whole flock of wild turkeys. I took a photo, but they were too far away for it to be "blog-worthy."
A couple of times horseback riders have passed through the park.
This cat shows up day and night. Not sure why he's interested in the bird seed....
I assume it's a feral cat -- possibly looks pregnant. He/she stopped by again in the middle of the night. I hope it was only sitting on the bird feeder! No "evidence" was left behind, and the fox and birds still eat the seed, so evidently it was just sitting there. Actually, now looking at the photos it appears to be two different cats.
Just to let you know, there are birds here, too. This one's a pine siskin:
Also have seen ring-necked doves and Steller's and western scrub jays, plus the usual mountain hummingbirds -- rufous, black-chinned and broad-tailed.
Every morning after our walk, the "kids" and I enjoy patio time until around 10:00, then I try to get something accomplished from my list.
Charlie the cat especially loves it here. He spends his outdoor time stalking birds from behind a rock...
...or strategically situated near the bird feeder! He can't quite reach it, but he tries.
Here's how I know that there's more than one fox:
One of the things I looked forward to this three weeks was working on jigsaw puzzles. My favorite souvenir from the national parks visitor's centers are puzzles of the beautiful park scenery. I figure they'll be fun even when I'm an old lady and no longer traveling -- I can "re-live" our adventures, even in a nursing home!
Any of you who live with cats know that there is no possible way to leave a puzzle out on a table without it becoming a play toy. It's also a problem when you only have one table to use for everything. When I worked at Amazon in 2009, I came across this "Roll and Go Puzzle Carrier (shown in photo behind puzzles)." It has a blow-up cylinder and a velveteen surface that you simply roll up after each puzzle session. I find that it works even better with a layer of shelf gripper on top of the puzzle pieces before I roll it up. Roger was very proud of me when I told him via phone that I used his air compressor to blow up the cylinder.
So far, I have puzzles from Yosemite, Mesa Verde, Capitol Reef, Zion and Bryce. The first visitor's center puzzle that I bought was from a state park, Hearst Castle in California. That's the one I decided to try first:
As you can see, I've had lots of time on my hands! Put my iPod on the speaker deck, pour myself a glass of wine, and the time melts away.
That's all from Colorado for now. Roger and I talk daily, and he's having a good time in Indiana with our friends. I may or may not post again before he returns; if not, just assume I'm hanging out with the foxes and deer!
The pet photo of the day is a shot of my speckled pups doing a little bird watching from the patio:

Roger worked long and hard to find a safe place to park me for the three weeks he'd be in Indiana this summer. His hard work paid off, because this is certainly the perfect spot. It's a beautiful, well-managed RV park. I am surrounded by very nice neighbors, in case I need help with anything (not likely). It's far enough out of Colorado Springs that I feel very safe here. And the wildlife, for an animal lover like me -- let's just say it's perfect!
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First of several Robison girls (two generations of them) to get hitched at First Presbyterian Church in Frankfort, Indiana |
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Our First RV! |
On our morning dog walks we sometimes see a whole flock of wild turkeys. I took a photo, but they were too far away for it to be "blog-worthy."
Also have seen ring-necked doves and Steller's and western scrub jays, plus the usual mountain hummingbirds -- rufous, black-chinned and broad-tailed.
The Doggies Miss Their Dad! |
My Puzzle Collection So Far |
Any of you who live with cats know that there is no possible way to leave a puzzle out on a table without it becoming a play toy. It's also a problem when you only have one table to use for everything. When I worked at Amazon in 2009, I came across this "Roll and Go Puzzle Carrier (shown in photo behind puzzles)." It has a blow-up cylinder and a velveteen surface that you simply roll up after each puzzle session. I find that it works even better with a layer of shelf gripper on top of the puzzle pieces before I roll it up. Roger was very proud of me when I told him via phone that I used his air compressor to blow up the cylinder.
So far, I have puzzles from Yosemite, Mesa Verde, Capitol Reef, Zion and Bryce. The first visitor's center puzzle that I bought was from a state park, Hearst Castle in California. That's the one I decided to try first:
That's all from Colorado for now. Roger and I talk daily, and he's having a good time in Indiana with our friends. I may or may not post again before he returns; if not, just assume I'm hanging out with the foxes and deer!
The pet photo of the day is a shot of my speckled pups doing a little bird watching from the patio:
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