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One way to overcome boredom
17th November 2010
Flying can be boring, especially if I’m on a long flight. I mean, after reading the in-flight magazine isn’t there another 3 hours left to kill until I reach my destination? Sure I can take a nap, but it’s just a short cat nap – I’m frequently awakened by the pockets of turbulence along the way.
Here’s one way that I’ve managed to stay occupied during a long flight. Since my early school days, I’ve been interested in geography. I’ve combined this interest with another one – photography. When the clouds aren’t obscuring the earth, I often take pictures of the amazing scenes below.
When flying over cities, it’s usually easy to pick out familiar landmarks – skyscrapers, bridges, stadiums, rivers. But as the plane leaves these familiar environs, it becomes increasingly difficult to know what’s down there.
(more…)
X-Country Photo Trip – Part 2
16th November 2010
On my latest cross country drive to deliver my Mom’s car to Phoenix, I broke the 2000 mile journey into two parts. Here’s why.
For years I’ve been reading and hearing about Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. It’s known as one of the best places in the USA to watch birds, especially those who have migrated there from the northern latitudes for the winter. Since the route from Grand Rapids to Phoenix passes close by, I decided to detour slightly.
Part one of the journey was 2-1/2 days traveling from Grand Rapids to Socorro, NM and visiting Bosque. Although I was in the NWR for only 16 hours or so, I totally enjoyed the wildlife and outdoor. You can see some of the photos from short stay at Bosque here.
Part two of the journey was the remaining 380 mile ride between Socorro and Phoenix. As I was planning for the drive a few days before the trip, I noticed a place on the map with a funny name “VLA”. When I googled it, I found it to be an acronym for Very Large Array. It’s a set of huge radio telescopes 50 miles west of Socorro on US Route 60, the preferred highway to Phoenix. It sounded interesting, so I decided that this would be another stop after Bosque del Apache.
On Friday morning I was on the road by seven and heading west on US 60. An hour later, I saw an amazing group of what appeared to be white dishes sitting on the high desert.
The VLA is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory |
The array consists of 27 antennas mounted on tracks to enable repositioning. |
You may recognize these antennas if you’ve seen the 1997 movie “Contact” starring Jodie Foster about the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. I don’t know if the NRAO found any, but they were definitely pointing the dishes away from Washington, DC. I’m not sure what that means. 🙂
After spending two hours at the VLA, it’s time to go. The road takes me over some easy mountain grades. Shortly after reaching the New Mexico-Arizona state line I spot several large black birds making circles overhead. I stop the car, retrieve my camera and begin shooting when I notice a dozen much larger birds flying much higher.
Seeing their white heads, there’s no mistaking that these are bald eagles! Although they are above a field a few hundred yards away, I have such a wonderful feeling watching these majestic creatures soar the skies.
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Heading west again it’s more high plains and scrub. At Show Low, US 60 turns south and descends into the Salt River Canyon, another gorgeous part of Arizona.
small drop off along the Salt River |
scenic view at the top of the canyon |
one of many mesas typical of the area |
colorful surroundings in the canyon |
To make the travel more interesting, I’ve been able to break up this long cross-country drive into a series of short “photo trips”. I hope that you enjoyed some of these sights as much as I enjoyed visiting them.
I’ll be writing about a few of my next photo trips soon. I’m off the the southwest again in two days.
X-Country Photo Trip – Part 1
15th November 2010
Last Friday Mom flew from Grand Rapids to Phoenix as many other snowbirds do for the winter. I volunteered to deliver her car to Phoenix so that she’d have wheels for her six month stay. To make my drive more productive, I turned the 2000 mile journey from Grand Rapids into a mini photo trip.
Just as many retirees make the trek to warmer climates in the late fall, so do many northern birds. One of their gathering spots is the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. I leave Grand Rapids on Tuesday at noon (ahead of Mom) and set the destination in my GPS for Socorro, New Mexico – about 90 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Eight hour later as I’m passing through St Louis, I’m attracted to the night time lights of the Gateway Arch. I exit the interstate and head towards the Mississippi River where I find a place to park my car adjacent to the river front. Here’s what I see:
Four Seasons casino and resort |
the Gateway Arch |
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After 30 minutes I’m in the car and back on the interstate. My next stop is a rest area in Oklahoma near the Texas state line at 3am. I grab a few hours sleep in the car until I awake from the cold. Drive on. Approaching Amarillo, I spot an unfamiliar aircraft circling the airport. Then I recognize it as a V-22 Osprey doing touch and go maneuvers. I pull off at the next exit and grab my camera with a long lens.
V-22 Osprey doing touch and go’s |
what a beautiful looking aircraft |
On the road again, it’s a pleasant drive on a warm, sunny day across the high plains and farm lands of New Mexico. For the next few hours I pass by towns with great names: Tucamcari, Cuervo, Santa Rosa, Moriarity, Albuquerque.
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The final leg is south on Interstate 25 to Socorro about 1500 miles and 28 hours from Grand Rapids. I check into the Howard Johnson motel, drop off my suitcase and hop back into the car for the short 30 miles trip to Bosque del Apache. My goal is to be able to see the sunset at Bosque.
Nat’l Wildlife Refuge Visitor’s Center |
sandhill cranes feeding in the marsh |
coming in for a night landing |
alone again |
The next morning I’m up at 5am to arrive at Bosque again to experience the solitude of dawn.
dawn arriving at the north pond |
early morning flight |
From here on, I’ll skip the text and show you some of the snapshots
small flock of snow geese |
northern pintail enjoying the pond |
juvenile northern harrier scanning for food |
sandhill crane touching down |
high flying adult northern harrier |
gorgeous warm and sunny day at the NWR |
spectacular flyout by thousands of snow geese |
this harrier scared an awful lot of snow geese |
duckling enjoying a swim |
sandhill crane moving in late afternoon |
While my stay at Bosque ended on Thursday evening, I awoke on Friday to complete the drive to Phoenix. I had a much shorter 350 mile drive ahead of me and again I turned it into another mini-photo trip. More about the Socorro to Phoenix leg in my next episode.
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