Scenery is the Ultimate Souvenir ... Would You Like to Share Your Favorite Place?

Here are some of my favorite places:

Mount Nebo Waterfall near Dardanelle, Arkansas



Lookout Mountain - Just minutes from downtown Chattanooga, Tn



Saint Clair, Michigan: one of the prettiest cities






Do you have any you would like to share?

I think one of the most beautiful places I've been is either Japan or St John in the USVI, I can't find any pictures.

 I will take a different tack and talk about the most memorable thing I did this year that I have pictures of...LOL.   I drove from the East coast to a Wedding in Nebraska, had a blast, and then started the drive home.

On the way back I swung down to MO and hit Rare Seeds, Spring planting festival.  Before I got home I stopped at Monticello in Virginia (Jefferson's House) because I wanted to see the garden.


I was on the first empty bus heading up there and I bee-lined down to the garden.   What a great experience.  The master Gardener drove by on her scooter and I said "hi," asked a question, and we talked for over two hours.  I'm not even kidding, such a great experience.  

Before I left she pulled a bundle of Walking onions out of the ground and handed them to me.  They are growing in my garden.   Probably the coolest thing that has happened this year.  She was so friendly and even gave me her business card...you just never know.  Gotta love gardeners.

Monticello Walkers



Shot of the house


This picture doesn' t do the view justice

Scott, thank you for sharing. I would love to see Jefferson's gardens, especially the roses.

Thanks for sharing the walking onion, I planted those this year for the first time.

Abkhazia is a country with many challenges. But it is also very beautiful.

Nine generations...the view having begun when my family first cleared this field in the year 1800.

Every year it is our privledge though to share this view with so many friends, family and neighbors for our annual Rock the Flock benefit concert. Opiote addiction has touched the lives of so many, and as my wife says, "we do not have much, but we have room!"

Sebastian and Travis, thanks for sharing.  The view in both pictures is beautiful.

Anne, you are welcome.  It's definitely worth a visit.  Virginia is a beautiful state and there is a lot to do....you could make a vacation out of a trip.  

Sebastian,

Beautiful Country.  I had to look it up.  

Beautiful Travis, what part of the country is this.  Almost looks like Virginia.

Scott Foster wrote:Beautiful Travis, what part of the country is this.  Almost looks like Virginia.

Maine

A few days ago I watched a movie called "The Education of Little Tree"  It was a great movie and reminded me of the Smokey Mountains.





Mingus Falls





Mingus Mill

A friend and I went for a week of backpacking in the Wind River Range in western Wyoming. Amazing trip and amazing views. Here is a photo of where we sat to eat lunch during one of our a day hikes. One of many favorite places.

This is Kakamega Forest, a high land area of Kenya at about 6300 ft. It rained about 5 times when I was there which is a normal amount for a day almost all year. Temperatures between 68 and 75 Fahrenheit at noon.

Kita makkai rock formations in Western Kenya about 20 miles from the Obama Homestead. And maybe 15 miles from Lake Victoria.

There are many of these but this is the one most well-known. The granite core of volcanoes that have worn away.

The older man is the grandfather of the two boys. This a trio where the best guides that we encountered and they were tipped the best. The older boy is the best photographer I encountered. He gets people to move to the just the right spot for the lighting and then he shades the camera so there is no sun on the lens. All of them scaled these rocks like mountain goats.

The last photo shows very dirty water that is full of bat guano. There were some ladies scaling these rocks with a 5-gallon Jerry can in each hand, to use for starting new vegetables in their Gardens. One lady thought it was magical powers bestowed by the rock formation and a younger lady thought that it was the high nitrogen content of bat guano. :-) both Gardens will grow equally well.

The Crying Stone is a similar formation about 50 miles away. When moist air blows over the Cold Stone, the stone runs water when there is no rain.

I have been enjoying everyone's pictures.  Thank you for sharing.

All the rain we have been receiving reminds me of Niagara Falls. Niagara Falls was my dream vacation ... a place I had been wanting to go for a long time.  It was worth the wait as it is one of the most spectacular places I have ever been.  This was probably about the time we were living in Indiana.  We went to St Clair, Michigan to cross the border into Canada.  I feel St Clair is one of the prettiest cities I have been to.  The picture I posted for St Clair show how unique it is.

We crossed the river into Ontario, Canada then proceed to travel to Niagara Falls.  We spent several days there visiting all the sights.  One of the parks we visited was directly across the river from Buffalo, NY.  While I have not been there I have seen Buffalo, NY.  We also crossed into New York State so I can say I have been to New York.

Of course, the Falls are the most spectacular place.  I have seen a lot of beautiful water walls but none as as spectacular.

Haunama Bay as seen from my Cessna adventures around Oahu. Hawaii is a beautiful place to fly. Excellent place to windsurf too.



The view is SPECTACULAR from below the surface. It's like being in the largest most colorful aquarium you can imagine. Truly awesome in every way. Will dig up those pix & other excellent places soon. Part of my scan old pix winter project. Just happened to have this one handy. Enjoy.

Okay, I'll get in on this. These are in the North Coast, Dominican Republic, Greater Antilles.

The first is the view from what will become my front veranda. It was definitely a factor in my choosing the location. Local inhabitants call it "Monte del Cubano."
The second was taken on December 12, which is the Virgin of Guadalupe's Day, and also my late mother's birthday. I named this spot "Peña de la Virgen." I walked several kilometers to get here.
The third is one of the coastal mangrove forests, this one at Laguna Gri Gri, Rio San Juan. A black-crowned night heron (locally known as "rey congo") can be seen among the roots.

I am enjoying everyone's' pictures!

These pictures are of Galveston, Tx.  I went to school there.  Our house was a block off the sea wall.  Some of my fondest memories was walking on the beach during the winter when it was not crowded and find some neat stuff that washes onto the beach.


Hotel Galvez




Bishop's Palace







Bought by W.L. Moody six days after the 1900 storm (reportedly for "ten cents on the dollar"), this imposing 28,000-square-foot limestone and-brick mansion has 32 rooms filled with opulent furnishings and heirlooms from one of Texas's most powerful families.

Photos from two memorable trips I’ve done:

Firstly, on a 3 week trip into the South Australian/Queensland deserts in what is termed ‘Channel Country’ with a bunch of mates and a friend who owns camels, we visited a number of remote locations including Haddon Corner (geographic marker of the South Australian/Queensland borders). Absolutely beautiful country – during a 10 year drought:

Sand Dune photo taken on the outskirts of the 2,934 Sq mile Arrabury Cattle Station located in the Strzelecki Desert.

Heading to Needle Hill, and, photo from the summit looking back from where we came. Site is located on the 3,012 Sq mile Cordillo Downs Cattle Station.

On the border of the Strzelecki and Sturt Stoney Deserts, leading the camels away from watering at Providence Tank (an elevated dam fed by artesian water) – that’s me leading the big male pack camel ‘Warsack’.

And, closer to Sydney, on day 3 of a 12 day bushwalk in the wilds of the Blue Mountains National Park, a view of the Back Bimlow (plateau) Walls, with Warragamba Dam catchment beyond. Eucalypt forest and pockets of rainforest.

I used to do some really dangerous shit around Niagara Falls when I was a kid. There's a stone pillar right where the water drops. I used to stand on that pillar so that I could take pictures for people of just the water with no man-made obstructions.

About a quarter mile from the falls two helicopters collided and that was probably the most exciting thing that happened when I was near the falls.

When I was 13 years old I put a 100 foot tall antenna tower on top of the tallest hotel that sits on the hill above the falls. My uncle was the ground man, and I was quite agile, so I was the one who put the tower up one section at a time. It was nuts. They would lock him up today.

I didn't realize we were allowed to include buildings. I've recently been to London, Paris and Lisbon. But I won't burden you with all of them.

He is Notre Dame, the Eiffel Tower and Napoleon's Arch. I thought London was much better, although they always Rave about Paris. London was friendlier and had a much wider array of architecture. And they spoke my language. As I once heard a Southern preacher say, if English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me. :-)

We English speakers are spoiled the world over. People spoke English to me in England, Portugal and Kenya with great regularity. It was a little tougher in Paris, just because many only operate in French. I was in little villages in Kenya where I was the only white man. Children as young as five-years-old introduce themselves in English. They watch Disney movies and other media that's in English and some of their TV shows are in English. In some places you can watch the news in your tribal language, Swahili or English. One little guy approached me and asked if I was the man from television. His mother told me there is an English man on a children show who bears a vague resemblance to me. He wanted to touch my hair so I let him. Children always shake hands when they introduce themselves. I don't see that here. Hello I'm Charlie Odinga and I'm from kakamega. I would tell them that I'm Dale Hodgins from Vancouver Island in Canada and then I would always explain a little bit about ice and snow or some other thing beyond the child's experience.

A hike two weeks ago.  New York, Hudson Valley area.  There were signs posted to watch for Timber Rattlers.  It is so late in the season I didn't even think about it.  I was on mile eight, worn out and pumping up a hill.  I almost stepped on one sunning in the middle of the trail.  We scared each other.  I think I might have screamed like a little girl.







https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bxIWVpwKjNYWxyXXK8eKggLhBhqNE5TjIWguK6xG_yCCgzlZdrmsgLt9s8sDQ87cTVtZmleqbo3rck_8CF_Lr_jMTzhbC25o74nFMLHV49DAx8cD1-gw_KVNpMlcFYoguh3xqlZ7Cg=w2400

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1kKxUrisoJRQ5qot7

The alpine meadows of the mountains of northern BC is my favourite terrain.

The view from the upper window of my cabin near Nanaimo British Columbia.

All of the other features are within 200 ft of the cabin.

This is the mountain above the village in the Rhondda valley where I'm staying at the moment.



I'd arranged an interview and photo-shoot with the owner of the cattle for next Monday so I could learn about his work using the cattle and ponies to regenerate the landscape around the old coal mine and how he was trying to protect the mountain for the locals and for future generations.  Unfortunately he died on the mountain last night, we think from a heart attack, so it's never going to happen.  I'm going to try to talk to some of his friends to piece together what I can though - his work is too valuable to lose.

Burra Maluca wrote:This is the mountain above the village in the Rhondda valley where I'm staying at the moment.

So sorry to hear about your friends passing.    I hope things work out.   Portugal is a diamond in the rough.  

Scott Foster wrote:Portugal is a diamond in the rough.

Ah, I should have explained - I'm in Wales at the moment!  The Rhondda Valley is an old coal mining area in South wales with glacial landscape, and long, narrow villages lined with near-identical houses.  A few decades ago it would have been very much like this...



Here's a few more photos of the scenery.

Iceland. I'm going next year. These are screenshots from the interwebs.

I think screenshots are cheating, but I don't make the rules here. I'm sure you'll get many fine photos of your own. I have taken pictures of the northern lights and been quite disappointed at the quality compared to what my eyes saw. It wasn't a great camera.

I was working in Parksville British Columbia three years ago and we had a wonderful sunset. There were forest fires not far away and sometimes polluted air produces unique results.

Even the tree bark had a unique look that day. These are all cell phone shots.

I showed the sunset photos to a lady at the park who was selling Sunset photos and paintings done from them. I sent my photos to her husband's cell phone and she called me a few months later , to tell me I could pick up of one of her prints, made from a painting of the sunset.

I like the theme of this thread because I think it means that we don't need to pick up a bunch of souvenirs. When I travelled to Africa and Europe, many people wanted to sell me junk. I would generally hold up the small pack and say this contains everything I'm taking home. After hearing this, one Masai woman, offered me a crudely fashioned block of wood roughly the size of her forearm. 100 shillings. :-)

I am loving everyone's picture.  I feel like I am getting to visit those places!

For a while we lived in Monterey, Mexico.  It was really pretty and an exciting experience.  One weekend we spent at a resort that I think was at Horsetail Falls.  I still remember that for dinner we had Ranchero de Carne which was Mexican steak and for breakfast we had  Huevos Ranchero; They were similar dishes since a spicy tomato and onions sauce was  pour over the steak and again over the scrambled eggs.


Cola de caballo - Horsetail Falls




Cerro de la Silla - Saddle Mountain




Palacio del Obispado




Parque Ecologico Chipinque

Wandering around today in Амткел (Amtkel) …

Zoomed in …

… and further …


And a panorama:

(full size, 12.5MB)

The mountain with the bare top, on the left in the picture with the highest zoom level is Mt. Чумкуэба (Chumkujeba) and 2070m high. It is 21km away from the camera.

My parents and I took a trip on Route 66 from Oklahoma to California when I was six.  My uncle who was a commercial pilot had died in a plane crash.  The places I remember most from that trip was the Petrified Forest and the Painted Desert.

This is a small glacial pond in Acadia National Park in Maine, Bubble Pond.  From the first time I walked up to it I was in love with this spot.  Not large and dramatic, but more intimate and lovely to me.  If they wouldn't make you leave perhaps I'd still be there :)  If you visit Acadia this one is easy to miss, but if you have a chance stop there, spend a bit of time and let me know if you felt anything special as well!

This is Jordan Pond in Acadia...this one is hard to miss!  There's a path that surrounds the pond that you should definitely walk.  By the way, those mountains at the far end are "the Bubbles"...walk up those too!

This year's trip to the high country.

I rather like it when my scenery has attitude.

An island of the coast of Belize, with the best deep fried lobster and lobster ceviche, ever...

In hubby's embrace - my truest Happy Place!

In my hammock swing, on a beautiful summer day, after working on our farm...