On The Road

I am captivated by the photo of the staircase below, covered with the pink petals of spring, an invitation to climb the stairs and see the pale pink flowering tree at the top.  To capture that view, you must have sitting down on the ground, with your camera aimed up?   However you managed that, Robert, the perspective is so engaging.  ~WaterGirl

Robert Sneddon

Onomichi in Japan is one of those places few foreign visitors know about — the big tourist attractions of Tokyo and Hiroshima and Kyoto overshadow a small city sometimes referred to as “Japan’s Home Town”.

I first learned about Onomichi in a very strange manner, from a Japanese anime series called “Kamichu!” released back in 2005. The town the anime series was based in was Onomichi and when I went to Japan for the first time in 2007 I made a point of stopping by to see the location of one of my favourite animes for myself. And I fell in love. Since then I’ve returned to Onomichi a dozen times, often celebrating my birthday there (alas not this year, for reasons).

So, Onomichi? It’s a town on Honshu in the Kansai region of Japan, situated between Hiroshima in the west and Osaka in the east, lying on the Seto Inland Sea. Just offshore there’s a cluster of islands which connect via bridges and roads to the Home Island of Shikkoku to the south. This has been a big thing for Onomichi’s tourism and regeneration recently as it’s the natural starting point for cyclists planning to travel the scenic Shimanami Kaido route.

Back in the day when Kyoto to the east was still Japan’s capital, Onomichi became a place for rich folks to build holiday homes, easily accessible via boat. Religion followed the money and a number of Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines were built in Onomichi, not as big and flashy as the ones in Kyoto or Nara but quite a few of them are still around. Art followed the temples and Onomichi became a haven for poets and artists of all sorts. There’s a Path of Literature running up to the top of Senkouji hill which has poems and quotations from writers who visited Onomichi inscribed on stones on the way. In the 20th century Onomichi was the birthplace of film directors like Ōbayashi Nobuhiko and the town itself featured in a number of influential movies such as “Tokyo Story”.

Senkouji hill, OnomichiMay 7, 2015

This is a view of the lower town shoreline of Onomichi from part-way up Senkouji hill. The island across the strait is Mukaishima which hosts a couple of ship repair yards, including the infamous Hitachi-Zosen shipyard that used prisoner-of-war slave labour during WWII. The two bridges at the far end of the strait carry road traffic from Honshu towards Shikoku, however shuttle ferries still ply back and forth across the strait carrying pedestrians, schoolkids on bikes and scooterists as well as cars. If you ever wanted to cross the Pacific for a hundred yen an Onomichi ferry can fulfill your dream!

On The Road – Robert Sneddon – ‘Japan’s Home Town’, OnomichiPost + Comments (15)

Have you been thinking of sending in some photos for On the Road, but haven’t quite gotten around to it?  Then this announcement is for you.  To encourage you guys to take the plunge, we are having the first ever First Timers Week for On the Road.  Actually, let’s make that two weeks.

For the 10 weekdays beginning on June 22 and ending on July 3, let’s go for 10 days of submissions from new peeps who have never had their photos published in On the Road.  After that, we’ll return to our regular schedule on Monday, July 6.

So if you would like to see your photos published on Balloon Juice for the very first time, please go through your photos, or take some new ones, and send us a collection!  (You can have up to 8 images in a single post.) Looking forward to being amazed, inspired, and intrigued by views that you first timers have collected On the Road or In Your Backyard!

Albatrossity

The second week in May is the peak of migration here typically, and then things wind down pretty quickly so that only the resident birds are available to have their portraits taken. So this week’s images are a mix of migrant and resident, tinged with the bittersweet realization that it might be a year before I see some of these birds again.

Manhattan KSMay 12, 2020

Shorebird migration starts early in March, but is reaching the end right now. One of the last shorebird migrants, this White-rumped Sandpiper, has one of the longest journeys. These little guys spend our winter in southern South America, down to the tip of Patagonia. They are headed up to the high Arctic to breed. If they took a direct route, that’s about 12,000 km (7500 mi when translated to American). They do that in a few long hauls, up to 4,000 km and 60 hours in the air, stopping at just a few sites to refuel and then press on. One of those sites is Cheyenne Bottoms in central KS, where 90% of the world’s population is thought to stop in May. In the fall they do not show up here, but migrate east to maritime Canada, then directly over the Atlantic to South America, arriving in late August in the northeastern part of that continent. They work their way back to Patagonia along the coast, and arrive there in December. That’s one tough little bird you’re looking at there.

On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in Flyover Country #7Post + Comments (21)

What a great way to celebrate the end of another week of On the Road.  I just want to be here in this lovely park.  I want to walk down the road and into the forest. I want to see the great blue herons and the nesting sites, and be in or on that stunningly beautiful blue lake.  ~WaterGirl

Mike in Oly

I was asked to share more about one of our many marvelous local parks, so here is a brief tour of the Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation Area, just north of Olympia, WA. You can read details of its history at this link. This park is a bit of the beaten path, but is quite popular with locals. Mainly just a road out to the point and back, but there is also a mile long loop that takes off thru the woods. Lots of plants and wildlife to see here.

Olympia, WA

The road out to the bay has been blocked to vehicle traffic and is not maintained as a road any longer. The forest is slowly creeping in on the edges. It is lined with our native big leaf maples, covered in moss, that form a verdant cathedral overhead. Look closely at the photo and you’ll see small figures along the road that give you an idea of the scale of these trees. They are massive. And sadly we are losing them at an alarming rate from a mystery pathogen that as yet to be identified.

On The Road – Mike in Oly – Woodard Bay Natural Resources Conservation AreaPost + Comments (14)

If you’re not walking alone, it would be a great time to play “I Spy”.  I spy something red, something yellow, something purple, something white, something orange!  The white azalea is stunning, and the Spanish Bluebells are my favorites.  You’re in Virginia, so I have to ask – where are the Virginia Bluebells?  ~WaterGirl

Redshift

I’ve been taking walks around the neighborhood, watching the progression of spring, and occasionally taking pictures. Three weeks ago, it was tulips and cherry trees everywhere, bright and gorgeous.

Northern VirginiaApril 4, 2020

On The Road – Redshift – Walks around the Neighborhood (Northern Virginia)Post + Comments (20)

It’s Wednesday, so of course we have BillinGlendale.  From Bill’s comment that these photos are from only a small portion of Devil’s Punchbowl, I wonder if we are about to have a series on Devil’s Punchbowl, and may soon be calling him 🐾BillintheDevilsPunchbowl?  ~WaterGirl

🐾BillinGlendaleCA

Devil’s Punchbowl is located in the southern Antelope Valley about a hour’s drive from Glendale. It’s a geologic feature formed the the intersection of two faults, the San Andreas fault and the Punchbowl fault. The convergence of these two faults has caused the rock to buckle up though the surface much like Vasquez Rocks but on a much larger scale. These photos are from only a small portion of Devil’s Punchbowl by the visitor’s center on the western edge of the nature area. We hiked down from the visitor’s center to just above the creek that flows though the canyon just east of the visitor’s center.

Valyermo, CAFebruary 18, 2020

Heading down into the canyon, the snow on the hills is contrasted with the bare rock of the punchbowl.

On The Road – 🐾BillinGlendaleCA – The Devil’s PunchbowlPost + Comments (20)

I look a the photos when they come in, and I look at them again when I write the short introduction.  This time I am left speechless, with no coherent thought.  Llamas!  The amazing sunset after the storm.  Twin Lakes.  So beautiful.  ~WaterGirl

lashonharangue

My spouse and I enjoyed backpacking and camping in California. However, we reached a point where age and orthopedic issues made that impossible. We switched to car camping and long day hikes but it wasn’t the same. Then we discovered we could pack with llamas, save our backs, and be gone for up to two weeks without resupply. We have taken them throughout the state – in deserts in So. Cal, around Mammoth Lakes, in Sequoia-Kings Canyon, but most of our trips were in or near Yosemite. Our most common outings were in Emigrant Wilderness in the Stanislaus National Forest northwest of Yosemite.

Kennedy MeadowsJune 4, 2017

Llamas and people are generally out of shape and not adequately altitude acclimated after a winter’s layoff. So early season short hikes are to get us all ready for longer trips and heavier loads (for them). This is one of our favorite places in the Emigrant Wilderness. When we could get there depended on the previous winter’s snowpack as the llamas can’t walk through snow more than a few inches deep. This trip was in early June. Still snow on the peaks but the trails were almost clear.

On The Road – lashonharangue – Emigrant Wilderness, CAPost + Comments (42)

I was sure that Albatrossity was treating us to a green-themed On the Road this morning, but then I got to the last two photos, and I decided that Albatrossity was just messing with us, instead. Totally worth it, though, because the last two pictures?  Wow!  And I kind of have a crush on the Warbling Vireo.  I know birds aren’t for snuggling, but I don’t care.  For some reason, I just want to give that one a big hug.  ~WaterGirl

Albatrossity

Spring has been slow to come to much of the country, but surely it is here by now, and summer can’t be far behind. This images were shot during the first week or two of May, and although migration continues, our local birds are settling in to build nests, lay eggs, and raise babies.

Manhattan KSMay 6, 2020

The prairies are greening up nicely after the spring burning season. These two images were taken about a month apart; the upper one on April 7 and the lower one on May 6. Yellow flowers of the Plains Wild Indigo can be seen in the lower image, and other wildflowers are making their appearance every week now.

On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in Flyover Country #6Post + Comments (21)

Beauty takes many forms, and some of today’s stunning pictures feel like they might be from another world.  A very grand canyon, indeed!  Our photographer, a lurker until now, wonders whether we might want to see pictures from other trips.  I would love to see more, how about you?  ~WaterGirl

Hidalgo de Arizona

Hi, I’m a long-time lurker from Tempe, Arizona – I wanted to share some pictures I took on a backpacking trip to the Grand Canyon at the end of 2018.

A friend of mine has made it something of a tradition to spend New Years Eve in the bottom of the canyon, and I’ve accompanied him on the trip a couple times now, in addition to my own adventuring in the Canyon.  The trip in 2018 was particularly spectacular because it snowed on New Year’s Eve, meaning that when we hiked out (very, very hung over) on New Year’s Day, it was in a beautiful desert winter wonderland.

I’m sharing it now partially because memories of winter are nice when summer starts to grip the desert (which is happening right now), but mostly because I’m slowly going stir-crazy cooped up at home.  Looking at pictures of the Canyon helps me with the pent-up wanderlust, and I imagine some of y’all would feel the same way.

If there’s appetite for it, I have pictures from a bunch of other trips I’ve made over the years, both to the Canyon and around the rest of the state.

Phantom Ranch/Bright Angel CampgroundDecember 31, 2018

The snow storm from the bottom of the canyon – we got some flurries at Bright Angel, but nothing that stuck around.

On The Road – Hidalgo de Arizona – The Grand Canyon in WinterPost + Comments (44)

Today we have a celebration of color!  Bright, happy colors, and kitties.  Actually, just one kitty, but that’s enough.  ~WaterGirl

Jerzy Russian

We have had a lot of rain recently in San Diego (“a lot” is a relative term of course), but yesterday was clear and sunny.   Many varieties of ground cover plants are blooming, so I thought I would share.

San DiegoApril 22, 2020

I was out walking the neighborhood, and as I rounded the corner I was blinded by the brilliant color.  I am not sure of the exact species, but I believe it is a variety of “ice plant”.   By the way, the “grass” seen in the left part of the picture is artificial.

On The Road – Jerzy Russian – Ground Cover in San DiegoPost + Comments (23)

It’s not a mission from Bill, but it is mission-adjacent!  Love the sun in the final photos, and the courthouse against the backdrop of blue skies with white clouds and green grass is picture perfect.  ~WaterGirl

🐾BillinGlendaleCA

After some of the comments on my piece on the Mission Santa Barbara, I thought one of the other sites in Santa Barbara would make for a nice follow up post. The Santa Barbara County Courthouse is about a mile from the mission and incorporates mission architecture. It was built in 1925 and is shaped like a “L” with the open side as a park. There is a tall clock tower right by the main entrance which includes an observation deck that affords a magnificent view of the City of Santa Barbara and even the islands off shore.

Santa Barbara, CANovember 23, 2019

This is the main entrance to the courthouse with the clock tower to the right. The entrance goes straight though the building exiting into the park on the other side. Leading from the entrance are stairways and corridors that provide access to the court’s offices and courtrooms.

On The Road – 🐾BillinGlendaleCA – Santa Barbara County CourthousePost + Comments (12)

It seems to me that evap’s trip to Ireland, and her telling of it in words and pictures, is a metaphor for what we are all going through with with this pandemic.  We start with plans, then they have to change; then we have a testimonial of man’s inhumanity to man, followed by something breathtakingly beautiful, in this case an inlet with rocky seas.  ~WaterGirl

evap

I spent the second week of March in Ireland with my spousal unit (who is Irish) and a friend.   At the start of the week, things were fairly normal, but by the time we left schools, museums, etc had all shut down.  It was interesting to watch the shutdown happen in real time.   We had planned to spend a large chunk of the summer in Ireland, but at this point it’s not clear when we will be able to go back.  *sigh*

Kilkenny CastleMarch 9, 2020

After a few days in Dublin, we hit the road.   Our first overnight stop was Kinsale, one of my favorite places in Ireland.  On the way we stopped at Kilkenny castle, which was build in 1195 after the Norman conquest of Ireland, and was used first as a defensive castle and later as a family manor. It is now a national monument and is outfitted with furniture, etc. from the Victorian era mainly.  This picture was taken in the Great Hall, which is relatively modern, built in the mid-19th century. Very interesting ceiling and the crossbeams have heads of mythical creatures at the end.

On The Road – evap – Ireland, March 2020Post + Comments (12)

I was never much of a bird person until I first saw Albatrossity’s photos in On the Road a couple of years ago.  Of course, I didn’t get the flower/gardening bug until I turned 30, so it’s good that we never stop changing.  ~WaterGirl

Albatrossity

Part 5 of Spring in Flyover Country and we are really starting to get into the heart of migration. Not just shorebirds and ducks moving, but warblers and vireos and orioles and thrushes and flycatchers, oh my! Here are some shots from the last week of April/first weekend of May 2020.

Konza Prairie Biological Station, near Manhattan KSMay 2, 2020

Bison babies are born in March or April, and are starting to look more solid and less gangly right now. But they still have that orange-brown fur, and this one has an air of insouciance, don’t you think?

On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in Flyover Country #5Post + Comments (30)

Happy to see otmar returning to On the Road.  And on a Friday!  Today we don’t just appreciate the beauty and joy around us, but we also celebrate family with a trip that includes grandma and the kids.  ~WaterGirl

otmar

I was an eager adopter of Alain’s “On the Road” idea, loving the idea of giving you all a glimpse of life and travel in Europe. For quite some time, I managed to get featured almost every Friday.

As life got rather frantic here (if you know my job and followed the right news, you can connect the dots and guess what kept me busy), I had to skip submitting pictures. Then came a few cancelled trips and now the Covid lockdown (btw: Austria is a few weeks ahead of the US, we had our facepalm-worthy mistakes but we managed to kill the infection chain early enough to be already in the “how do we best reopen the country”-phase.)

Anyway: I went into my archive and pulled few pictures from a family trip with the kids and grandma to Castle Hochosterwitz from 2012.

The castle is smack in the middle of Carinthia, between St. Veit and Althofen. It can’t be seen when you take the highway, but the train tracks pass close by, that’s what brought you a first glimpse in 2017.

Right in the middle of a plain, a single rock was just perfect to build a castle on. That was the time when raiding parties from the Ottomans we a common occurrence in south/east Austria. There is a string of castle in that area built with that threat in mind.

See also the Wikipedia entry.

On The Road – otmar – A Castle for AlainPost + Comments (19)

Wag

Over the years I have submitted a number of posts to OTR, mostly about my climbing trips in the mountains of Colorado. Alain spent time in Colorado, as well, especially with his mushroom hunting. Alain was always deeply appreciative of my photos, and the introvert in me appreciated a willing “gallery owner” who would enthusiastically post them.

Broken Hand Pass, Colorado August 29, 2018

This is a photo that I included in an OTR post a couple of years ago. It evokes to me a feeling of release, of the sadness of letting go of summer, but the persistence of exploration despite the changes in seasons, despite the changes in our lives.

On The Road – Wag – Broken Hand PassPost + Comments (26)

Today we have our fourth, and final, entry in what I have come to think of as Bill’s Mission Series. At least for now.  Look at the colors on that altar!  I wonder what’s next?  ~WaterGirl

🐾BillinGlendaleCA

This mission was the first in my quest to see three missions in one day. I’d been to Solvang, a town founded by Danish immigrants back in the early 1900’s, several times but was unaware that there was a mission at the edge of town. So, I made plans for a trip to hit 3 missions(Santa Ines, La Purisima, and Santa Barbara) as well as a shot re-visit to Solvang.

Mission Santa Ines was founded in 1804 as a mission to occupy the midpoint between Mission Santa Barbara and the La Purisima Mission(near Lompoc), in the furtile Santa Ynez Valley. It also hosted a seminary making it the first institution of higher learning in the State of California(then Alta California).

Solvang, CAMarch 6, 2020

Front of the chapel and bell tower at Mission Santa Ines.

On The Road – 🐾BillinGlendaleCA – Mission Santa InesPost + Comments (11)