I’m attracted to the national parks of the west. For each of my visits, I’m armed with a detailed list of attractions that I want to enjoy and photograph.
However, this past August’s visit was a little different.
I invited a granddaughter and grandnephew to accompany me on an end of summer excursion. We would go to a few of the parks and stay in a small popup camper.
So this series of photos are not my usual scenic variety. Instead they are a scrapbook of places that the kids and I visited.
Adeline and Elliott are surprised to find snow in August.
Standing beneath the elk arches in the Jackson, WY town square.
Looking at a grizzly behind glass at Jackson Lake Lodge
Riding the tram to the top at Jackson Hole Mountain
At the Willow Flats Overlook in the Tetons
Checking out the shoreline at Colter Bay
Nice view of the Tetons at Jackson Lake Lodge
Layers of travertine at Mammoth Hot Springs
Watching the flow at Tower Falls
Painted bison at a W. Yellowstone restaurant
Lots of steam and noise at Beryl Springs
A reprieve from the parks in Rapid City, SD
Fun at the water park
Presidential faces at Mt Rushmore
Last stop at Badlands Nat’l Park
It was fun visiting the parks again, but this time with the kids in mind instead of my usual photography expedition variety.
Iāve thoroughly enjoyed photography since I was a youngster. So my picture taking has spanned more than five decades.
The photos that I take belong to one of two ācampsā ā snapshots and memorable.
This article is the another in a series Iāve named āAbout this photoā to draw attention to a few of those memorable photos that may be hiding in a shoebox or on your hard drive.
Some individuals have photographic memories. I instead have memories about certain photographs.
Most of these special photographs were taken long, long ago. They are indelible and remain riveted in my mind. And so, in this āAbout this photoā series, Iād like to key in on one of these unforgettable photographs to bring me back to the time and circumstances under which it was taken.
Taken late summer 1970, this is a photo of my girlfriend along Lake Michigan. We spent many weekends at this beach that summer.Usually the beach was very crowded, but on this cloudy and windy day, we had the run of the sand and shore to ourselves.
The red lighthouse was a familiar site to anyone who knows this area and remains a key attraction to the beach today. Itās a lucky coincidence that my girlfriendās jacket was about the same shade of red as the lighthouse.
The reason that this photo is etched in my mind is that Iāve been married to this lovely lady for 50 years now.
Now letās skip forward some 40+ years.This photo was taken a few summers ago. Here we have two young girls having fun at the same location on Lake Michigan.
You can see the same red lighthouse along the water albeit at a slightly different angle.
These are two of our young grandchildren. As we were walking along the beach I was reminded of the 1970 photograph when we approached the red lighthouse.
I asked the two girls to pose on the bench in the foreground. This photo captures the familiar feelings of warmth and affection that has somehow remained with me for more than 50 years..
Along the way, Iāve taken a huge number of snapshots. However, the number of memorable photos that Iāve taken is far smaller. Yet itās the memorable ones that have a magical ability to steer emotions, feelings and pleasure into our minds, even years later. Simply amazing.
For almost twenty years I’ve been flying to the Phoenix area in April or May to drive Mom’s car back to Michigan while she takes the quick way home by plane. I like driving and this is convenient way to retrieve her car and to spend few days sightseeing.
My wife Kris and I have quite a few grandkids. We thought it would be a treat for one of them to ride along and visit some of the “wonders of the West” on a road trip back to Michigan. This was also a great opportunity for Grandpa (me) to spend a few days together one-on-one. One of the grandkids and I would fly to Phoenix for a day or two to visit and then we’d be ready to hop in Mom’s car for the return trip.
For six different years you can see that I stopped to show them one of the most scenic places in America. Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park is part of the Navajo Nation in the northeast corner of Arizona near the town of Kayenta. In the valley is a 17-mile drive along which you’ll gaze at dozens of jaw dropping sandstone cliffs and buttes. I tried to stop in the same general area to record each grandkid with Merrick Butte or West Mitten in the background.
Ezra 2011
Eden 2014
Ezra and Eden 2014
Logan 2015
Ezra 2015
Lyon 2018
Izora 2019
Adeline 2022
I treasure these pictures so that I have made 20″ x 30″ poster size enlargements of each of them.
They represent great memories for me and hopefully for each of these grandkids as well.
