BigJimSlade
Here are 2 places to go for flower ID: one and two.
It was a bit hazy, so I didn’t bother with the big views, but you can see the area by clicking around in google images.
The Mariposa Lillies are out :-)
by WaterGirl| 16 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
Here are 2 places to go for flower ID: one and two.
It was a bit hazy, so I didn’t bother with the big views, but you can see the area by clicking around in google images.
The Mariposa Lillies are out :-)
by WaterGirl| 22 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
Since a few people in comments asked for more Paris photos, I’m sending another batch. Like the first group, these are mostly details that caught my eye around the city.
Morning shot in Le Marais. Just feels so “Paris” to me.
On The Road – Am in NC – More from ParisPost + Comments (22)
by WaterGirl| 29 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
Colonial Williamsburg is a place every American should have the opportunity to visit at least once. It’s beautiful, it’s richly educational about history and government, there is something to interest everyone (unless the only things you love are cars and television) — and what’s more, the streets are public and a lot of it is free.
The beautiful gardens are almost my favorite part. Every gate is open, and all the gardens behind the houses and public buildings connect.
You might be the only person exploring.
On The Road – Betsy – Colonial WilliamsburgPost + Comments (29)
by WaterGirl| 31 Comments
This post is in: Albatrossity, On The Road, Photo Blogging, Serengeti
We are back in Serengeti National Park today with Albatrossity! We head to Colonial Williamsburg with Betsy, and take in some more sights in Paris with Am in NC. Then we take a hike with BigJimSlade, and we close out the week with a haiku post from Munira.
It had rained all night and was still pretty overcast when we left the lodge for a half-day in the crater and then a half-day traveling to Serengeti National Park. We had not noticed the rain, ensconced as we were in our comfortable crater rim accommodations. But there had been plenty of action below on that rainy night.
The first thing our guide pointed out was a Spotted Hyena (Crocuta crocuta), and then another, and another. This is a very social animal, so these sightings were not too surprising, but he also pointed out that they were all focused on one thing. A pride of lions (Panthera leo) with a fresh kill from the previous night’s hunting. This was the first (but definitely not the last) of our experiences watching the actions and interactions of all the critters who wanted to share in this largesse. Click here for larger image.
On The Road – Albatrossity – Day 2 in Ngorongoro Crater – 1Post + Comments (31)
by WaterGirl| 8 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
The last part of our tour took us to Saltillo, the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila. It has a number of colleges and universities. It also has the nickname of Detroit of Mexico because many automobile factories are located there. We didn’t see much of the industrial area of the city. After a pleasant day in the city, we headed back to Texas. We got to the border in the middle of the night and were all required to get out of our nice warm bus and go stand in the cold. Our tour director warned all of us not to move from the spot we were directed to stand, not to talk to anyone, not to take any pictures. Welcome to the USA!!
Although there are many institutions of higher education, I think these were high school kids who had just been let out for the day.
On The Road – Elma – Mexican Bus Trip Part ThreePost + Comments (8)
by WaterGirl| 5 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
The second leg of our bus tour took us to Real de Catorce. It had once been a silver mining site, but now was more of a tourist destination. However, it seemed to be off season, so not much was going on. Entrance to the village was though a long tunnel. Our tour bus was too big to fit so we transferred to a smaller shuttle bus. After that we were on foot, with one notable exception you will hear about later.
On The Road – Elma – Mexican Bus Trip Part TwoPost + Comments (5)
by WaterGirl| 9 Comments
This post is in: On The Road, Photo Blogging
Once upon a time, some friends had a winter home in South Texas, way south, like five miles from the Rio Grande. I went to visit them a few times when the Wisconsin winters became too much. Each year the area where their place was has a huge influx of Winter Texans (AKA snowbirds), not just from the northern states but also Canadians. This allowed for the emergence of a lot of small scale tour companies; essentially one or two guys who hired a bus and driver and took some of these Winter Texans into Mexico for short tours. In 2009, Kathy and Eugene had booked us on one such trip. By the next time I went back to Texas, the whole little cottage industry had collapsed. The Mexican bus company decided that it had become too dangerous to send their buses and drivers north to pick up the tourists. All the buses came from Mexico; I suppose American buses were too expensive. We never got to do another trip.
On the 2009 trip, we went to a tiny village called Capaderito, which I now can’t even find on Google Maps. This was the hometown of our bus driver. A local family provided cultural enrichment and fed us a wonderful meal on their patio. The next day we went to a place called Real de Catorce which had once been a sliver mining town but was now mostly a tourist venue for Mexicans. Our last day was in Saltillo, where we toured some historic buildings and got a slice of urban life. I did not realize how many pictures I took until I was trying to put an OTR post together. So, you’re going to get three posts.
After a quick stop for lunch in Monterey, we continued south to our base of operations at Matehuala. Across from our hotel was a Wal-Mart. In the evening, Kathy and I decided to check it out, which involved crossing a major highway. It was a fun exercise in culture shock, but no pics. The next day we headed to Capaderito.