Kim's Thoughts
Just a few thoughts I feel worthy of jotting down!
2016 Daily Photo – Oct 11-14
Here we go…..another set of Daily Photos! These were taken on Oct 11-14.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11:
“Gobble, Gobble, Gobble”
Love the “guard chicken” walking the perimeter! hehehe
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 12:
“Scarecrow Among The Flowers”
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13:
“Apple Season”
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14:
“Autumn Leaves”
2016 MEA # 3: The Needles
We definitely saw some amazingly stunning sights throughout our Most Excellent Adventure – I’d be hard pressed to name a “most stunning” because they were each so very unique and awe-inspiring in their own way. But, I think the most memorable of them all was The Needles. The Needles is a 637 acre area within Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They consist of eroded granite pillars, towers, and spires also known as the Cathedral Spires. The Needles Highway weaves in and out, around, and through the rock formations. It is incredible enough to just see them in the distance as you drive up the narrow, winding road……but, once you get there and start to drive through them…..well, let’s just say it took my breath away and brought me to tears…..absolutely overwhelming and reminded me just how insignificant we are in this big, beautiful world that our God has made for us to live in and enjoy!!! We then, drove through a rock archway to a small clearing where we could get out and look around. At that clearing is a pillar known as the Eye of the Needle – a unique rock formation that looks exactly like the eye of a needle!
Keep in mind that photos can never come close to doing this amazing example of nature’s perfection any justice at all. Here is my feeble attempt to capture the beauty of The Needles……come take the drive along The Needles Highway all the way to the awesome Eye of the Needle with me:
Now THAT is the way to enjoy the drive through the Needles! 🙂
This is the Eye of the Needle!
We arrived at the Eye of the Needle at the perfect time of day – when I stood in just the right spot, I was able to get this shot of the sun through the eye! It was pretty incredible in person!
So, what do you think? Did you enjoy the drive? It was a gorgeous day for it, huh?
2016 MEA # 2: The Mighty Mississippi – Start to Finish
Everyone keeps asking me what my favorite part of our Most Excellent Adventure is. Well, to be honest, I really can not pick an overall favorite thing! Everything we did was so unique and wonderful – a true adventure all its own! At each stop, I would proclaim, “This is the best thing, yet!” 🙂 But, I think I can say that some mini-adventures stick out in my mind a tad more than others. This is one…..I call this the “coolest” of mini-adventures! We were able to fully experience (not just see) the Mississippi right from where it starts AND where it ends, as well as see or cross it multiple times along the way – all in one trip!
The Mississippi River begins at Lake Itasca, Minnesota and meanders south for 2,552Â miles to the Mississippi Delta at the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana. It is a massive river – it runs through or along ten states and was used to define the borders for eight of those states (although, the river has since shifted and no longer serves as the border in some places). At several points, the width of the Mississippi is greater than one mile and the deepest point is 200 feet. There are more than 170 bridges and over 40 dams along the Mississippi as it drops 1,475 feet from its source in Northern Minnesota to its base in Louisiana.
But, enough facts…….we had a BLAST on our stop at Lake Itasca, Minnesota. It is the only place anywhere along the Mississippi River where you can actually walk across it…..it is the narrowest, shallowest, and slowest flow, allowing easy wading and playing in the waters. This is the spot of the Mississippi Head Waters (the word Itasca means True Head). Â Here are some photos of our experience:
LAKE ITASCA, MINNESOTA
Me and my brother, Kevin
My sister-in-law, Lylace, and her sister, Donna, checking out the topographical map of the river
Me with the Caretaker Woman sculpture
The Caretaker Woman represents the spirit guide of the Headwaters – GREAT sculpture!
The first spot on the trail to the headwaters is this stream of the Mississippi – they built steps that you can walk down, across the Mississippi, and back up! It was pretty slippery! Here is Lylace and me – we rolled our pant legs up, but they still got pretty wet! 🙂
My brother, Kevin, and his wife, Lylace
The trail continues to the actual headwaters – here I am at the marker with Lake Itasca behind me
Me – standing in the Mississippi River where it begins!
Lylace in the river looking out to Lake Itasca
Me – walking across a log over the Mississippi River
GATEWAY ARCH, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI
Just one of several points where we crossed or could see the Mississippi River along our way was in St. Louis, Missouri. The Mississippi River runs directly below the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis. We were in horrid traffic – there was an accident ahead of us – so we couldn’t get any decent photos, but here is what I got – at least it is something! 🙂
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA
When we got to Louisiana, we took a steam boat cruise on the Mississippi in New Orleans. The whole family went – the four of us Adventurers (me, Kevin, Lylace, and Donna) plus Lylace’s son, Sean, his wife, Anna, and their children, Lily and Luke, who live in Houma, LA – and it was a WONDERFUL day! We wandered around the French Quarter (more on that in another post) and boarded the Natchez – one of only two true steam boats still active on the Mississippi River, today. The Natchez cruised from the heart of the French Quarter along the crescent of the Mississippi River – the deepest point on the river is there at 200 feet deep! It was so beautiful and gave us a view of New Orleans that can’t be seen from the streets. I thoroughly enjoyed checking this major bucket list item off – Take a River Boat Cruise on the Mississippi!!! 🙂
On this cruise, we saw everything from sandy beaches with people out for a stroll or fishing, to industry like a Domino Sugar Refinery and oil refineries, to shipping operations, to the beautiful New Orleans skyline…..what a diverse section of the river – just amazing!
The Natchez from the street before we walked across to the dock
That person in the yellow rain coat on top of the Natchez was playing beautiful music on a steam powered calliope!!! Cool!!!
The gang before we boarded – (l-r): me, Kevin, Donna, Luke, Lylace, Sean, Anna, and Lily
The steam engine room
Looking down on the paddles at the rear of the boat
 Me, Kevin and Lylace on the boat – you can also see Sean, Luke, and Lily in the background
Kevin and Lylace sure look like they are having a great time!
Lylace with New Orleans in the background
We could see a lot of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina along the shoreline
Domino Sugar Refinery — saw lots of sugar cane fields in Louisiana!
I remember when I was managing the Supplier Qualification process at work – Domino Sugar was one of our suppliers and this refinery was our qualified source for it – Hurricane Katrina caused a lot of damage and flooding in their facility and we had to scramble to qualify an alternate source until they were back up and running!
Oil Refinery
The Twin Bridges with a Carnival Cruise ship docked on the right hand side
This building was heavily damaged by Hurricane Katrina and when it was restored, they put the “You Are Beautiful” moniker on it!
That’s all for now……where will I take you on the next MEA post?????
2016 Daily Photos – October 6-10
Here is the next set of photos taken for my Daily Photo Challenge – October 6-10:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6:
“Fall Display”
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7:
“Salad, Shrimp, and a Cosmo”
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8:
“The Big Sign Reveal”
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9:
“Everybody Loves a Kick Line”
BONUS SHOT:
“Reflections”
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10:
“Old and Weathered”
2016 MEA # 1: Bison and Elk and Bear, Oh My!
For my first Most Excellent Adventure (MEA) post, I chose to highlight some of the critters we saw in various places throughout our trip. I may may include other critter photos when I do some of the location specific posts, but really wanted to put as many together in one post as possible…..cause we saw TONS of them and I’d like the location specific posts to be more focused on the beauty and fun aspects of each location……and, cause I really, really got excited about seeing all the different animals – some in the wild right there with no barriers – some in more controlled areas.
So, here we go:
Bear Country USA – Rapid City, South Dakota
We were on our way to the Badlands and Custer State Park and this attraction caught our eye. We thought it might be a nice little side trip – a quickie addition to our day! So, we made an impromptu stop…….and, man, were we glad we did!!! This place was FANTASTIC!!! It was about an hour and a half drive through their park with animals everywhere – some were able to get in the roadway and come up to the cars and some were behind fences so they couldn’t get close to the visitors, but ALL were out in their natural habitats and roaming around free – not caged! Then, there was a walking tour that took us by smaller habitat areas with smaller animals. Our little “quickie” side trip kept us entertained and happy for over two hours!!!
This cute bear with his fish greeted us at the entrance
I got a kick out of this tour bus, too……”Get In, Sit Down, and Hang On!” hehehe
ELK:
Reindeer:
Arctic Wolf:
Rocky Mtn. Big Horn Sheep:
Mountain Goat:
Wolf:
There were wolves wandering all around this area. This one was on the road ahead of us and stopped, looked at us for a while, and headed our way…..
…..and right up to the driver’s side window to check us out! 🙂
Bear:
Black Bear
Brown Bear playing with a tree
Sleepy Bear
Brown Bear
Grizzly Bear
Grizzly Bear
Antelope:
Bison:
Badger:
I stood and watched several of these cuties for the longest time – they were so funny to watch!
Raccoon:
Bobcat:
Bear Cubs:
They were so playful and fun to watch!
Coyote:
Fox:
Wolf Pups:
Custer State Park – Custer, South Dakota
Custer State Park is another fantastic place — I will devote a separate post just to this amazing park. It is so beautiful, over all, but it also has a “Wild Life Loop” where you can find bison, wild turkeys, wild donkeys, and other animals roaming free as you drive through – just incredible! Each year at the end of September (we were too early to witness this), they have a Bison Round Up where cowboys on horses herd all the bison into corals where they tag them, check them out, and separate any old or ill ones out to sell – this helps keep the herds within controllable numbers and ensures the old, weak, or ill ones are not left to just die. I would have loved to see that, but we were just a tad too early for it! Here is a sampling of the critters we saw in Custer State Park:
Turkeys:
Bison:
Antelope:
Donkeys:
Deer:
Prairie Dogs:
Bald Eagle:
Badlands – Interior, South Dakota
The Badlands is another location that deserves its own specific post and will definitely get one. But, we did see a few bison, LOTS of prairie dogs, and some other critters worth sharing here:
Pronghorn:
Big Horn Sheep:
We parked and waited quite a while to get him to turn around for a better picture, but he did finally lift his head enough to be able to see how huge his horns were!
Bison:
Prairie Dogs:
This is an area with a high concentration of prairie dog mounds – there were zillions of them as far as the eye could see! And, they were a riot to watch!
That’s all for now……more MEA photos and stories later! 🙂
2016 Daily Photos – Oct 1-5
Can you believe it is October, already? I sure can’t! What a year it has been! So, now that I’m back and settled in, I need to remind myself to get a photo every day! Here is what I came up with for Oct 1-5:
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1:
“Look Out, Bed, Here I Come!”
The best thing about returning home after a long trip? Getting to crawl into your own bed and get all comfy!!!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2:
“Black Widow”
One of two AWESOME masks I purchased at a Mardi Gras mask shop in New Orleans!
You can’t tell much of the detail, here, but there is a huge spider in the center above the eyes!
MONDAY, OCTOBER 3:
“Pinky Winky Hydrangea”
LOVE this bush – I have three of them!
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4:
“New Bird and Butterfly Friendly Flower Garden”
Earlier this year, I moved most of my bird feeders to the back yard on a bird feeding station. The birds didn’t seem to like it – too out in the open, I guess! So, I decided to put in a “Bird and Butterfly Friendly Flower Garden” around my Brafford Pear tree and move the feeding station there – lots of tree cover and colorful flowers to attract them and let them hide from the hawks. It was finished today……here is what is in it: (from the left side) Red Satin Coreopsis, two Dwarf Butterfly Bushes, the Brafford Pear tree I planted the first summer I was here, the feeding station, two Variegated Japanese Iris, two Raspberry Swirl Dianthus, a Hydrangea Tree, and three Creeping Phlox. And, it has lots of room to add more in the spring and as time goes on!
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5:
“What A Life!”
My beautiful Megan….looks so peaceful……too bad you can’t hear that she was snoring like a freight train!!! hehehe
2016 Daily Photos – Catch Up
Yes, I took a TON of photos during my Most Excellent Adventure (scan down one post to read a summary – more posts to come), but I didn’t designate a favorite or quirky photo of the day EVERY day. We had a few down days where I actually didn’t even take any photos. Anyway – here are the ones I did put on Instagram and Facebook as my Daily Photos while I was away! They will give you a small glimpse into what I did and where I went…..but, I’m not going to go into a lot of detail – don’t want to spoil the posts that will start popping up, soon! hehehe
MONDAY, AUGUST 29:
“On The Cover of the Rolling Stone”
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30:
“Mackinac Bridge”
Michigan – you can see Lake Huron to the right and Lake Michigan to the left
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31:
“Look Who Is Driving The 30-Foot House”
Yep, I drove now and then to help share the load! It was fun…..and nerve-wracking!
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1:
“Cranberry Bogs in Warrens, WI”
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2:
“Fish House”
A camper parked beside us in Minnesota – it serves a dual purpose: 1) a camper and 2) a fish house for ice fishing on the lake – they pull it out onto the ice and open little doors in the floor to expose holes that they can, then, cut holes in the ice and sit there in their fish house to fish! Cool!
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 3:
“Conquering the Mighty Mississippi”
The only place on the entire Mississippi River where it is narrow, shallow, and slow enough to walk across – the head waters in Lake Itasca, Minnesota
SUNDAY, SEPTAMBER 4:
“Keeping a Bull’s Eye on the Interstate”
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5:
“Jackalope”
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6:
“Selfie in the Badlands – Interior, South Dakota”
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8:
“Me and Wild Bill Hickok in Deadwood, South Dakota”
Just before his demise!
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9:
“Marshmallows Roasting on an Open Fire”
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 10:
“Here, Let Me Help Your With That Booger, George!”Â
SEPTEMBER 10 BONUS:
“Chawin’ Tobacky and Chewin’ The Fat”
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 11:
“Bison”
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 12:
“Nebraska: Rolling Hills….and Cows…..and Corn…..and….um, nope, that’s about it!”
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 13:
“Deja Vu”
Years ago, I used to drive this same route between Witchita and McPherson, KS on work trips!
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 15:
“Rainbow Over The Sugar Cane”
Louisiana
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17:
“That’s Some Awesome Pedicure, There, Horsey!”
New Orleans – French Quarter
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 18:
“Beautiful Live Statue in the French Quarter”
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19:
“Ready For Mardi Gras 2017”
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20:
“Faker on the Bank of the Bayou”
I saw a few REAL alligators, but this carving in a tree root earned the honor of being a Daily Photo!
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 22:
“Surf’s Up, Dude”
Pensacola Beach, Pensacola FL
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23:
“Take Me To Your Leader, Earthlings”
An actual house on the beach in Pensacola Beach
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24:
“Go Away, I Was Here First!”
This pelican fought off the seagull for the right to stay on his perch!
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28:
“St. Louis Arch”
My Most Excellent Adventure (MEA)
Since my last post on August 28th, I have been experiencing an amazing once-in-a-lifetime adventure……more specifically, a MOST EXCELLENT ADVENTURE! It will take way more than one post to blog about it…..if I tried, it would surely qualify for the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest blog post in the world! 🙂 So, what I plan to do is give an overview of the adventure and, over time, do smaller posts with more details and photos of specific parts of the wonderful memories I have to cherish and to share.
So, let’s start at the beginning……my brother and sister-in-law invested in a new motor home back in March. They mentioned a few times about me thinking about the possibility of going on some little trips with them from time to time. Well, I am not the “camper” type, so I politely said I would keep it in mind and if something comes up that piques my interest, I’ll consider it……and, meant it! One day, we were talking on the phone and they were telling me about some planned trips…..a few over nighters, a couple 3-4 day options…..and, then he said they were planning a 15-20 day trip out west with my sister-in-law’s sister! Hhhmmm……I said, “now that one I might be interested in….” – half joking…..I really couldn’t see myself being away for that long – I have obligations and a dog and besides, they already had my sister-in-law’s sister going and I’d be horning in and lots of other really good excuses! I tried to just forget about it, but I couldn’t! Everyone I talked to about it urged me to do it, saying it was a wonderful opportunity and what did I have going on that couldn’t be worked around!!!??? So, I talked more with my brother about it…..the more we talked, the more interested I became…..the more I talked to others about “this crazy idea I was considering”, the more excited I got…….the more I tried to convince myself NOT to do it, the more I ended up convincing myself TO do it – WHY NOT!!!???
So, we started planning and ironing out the details……by the time we added ideas for things to see and do, the 15-20 days turned into a full month and maybe a little more! But……it was a big “GO”! And, it was WONDERFUL!!! I can not imagine how deep my regrets would have been if I had given into my “I really shouldn’t” voices!
Here is the overview:
- 34 days (August 29 – October 1)
- 19 unique states (I broke off from the group and made a side trip that gave me two additional states to make my personal total 21) {* denotes the 16 new states I have never been to before):
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Ohio * (actually, I sorta was in OH several years ago, but I’m not counting that)
- Michigan
- Wisconsin *
- Minnesota *
- North Dakota *
- South Dakota *
- Nebraska *
- Kansas
- Oklahoma *
- Texas *
- Arkansas *
- Louisiana *
- Mississippi *
- Tennessee *
- Missouri *
- Illinois *
- Indiana *
- Alabama (my side trip) *
- Florida (my side trip)
- 6,161.4 miles (Add just shy of 550 miles for my side trip to up my personal total miles)
- Over 2000 photos
- A really (really) rough outline of our route:
- Several MAJOR Bucket List items checked off – I have now:
- Been to all five Great Lakes
- Been to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame
- Seen the Black Hills and the Badlands
- Been to Mount Rushmore
- Been to New Orleans, LA
- Visited the French Quarter and Bourbon St in New Orleans
- Taken a riverboat ride on the Mississippi River
- Saw the Archway to the West in St. Louis, Missouri
- Several cool experiences that weren’t on any Major Bucket List or Adventure Bucket List, but should have been:
- Got to walk across the Mississippi River at the head waters (start) and then ride a riverboat at the delta (end) all in the same trip
- Went to Wall Drug and the Corn Palace in SD
- Saw the reenactment of the shooting of Wild Bill Hickok and had my picture taken with him just before his “demise” in Deadwood, SD
- Saw where Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane are buried
- Took a Duck Boat ride through downtown Mobile Alabama and then cruised on the Mobile River in the SAME Duck Boat
- Saw the Missouri River
- Drove through Custer State Park in SD (no idea how I didn’t know about this marvelous place and why it wasn’t included in my Bucket List item with the Black Hills and the Badlands)
- Saw buffalo and LOTS of other really cool critters I’ve never seen that close up before — all out in the wild and up close and personal!
- Saw cranberry bogs
- Visited an old historic cemetery in New Orleans with all raised graves – where Voodoo Priestess, Marie Laveau is buried
- Went to the Florida Panhandle – Pensacola – and put my toes in the sugar white sand
- Saw the Gulf of Mexico from multiple states and views
- Visited the home base of the Blue Angels – the Naval Air Force Base in Pensacola
- Saw the still in process Crazy Horse Monument
- Visited a Louisiana Bayou and Cajun Country
- And, so much more!!!
- Visited some old friends and met some new and wonderful people along the way!!!
I can’t wait till you get to see some of the over 2000 photos I took and hear some of my many, many stories! It will take a while to get through my photos and to write mini-posts about some of the most interesting adventures we experienced. Keep watching……the posts will be identified as part of this wonderful experience with the abbreviation “MEA” (Most Excellent Adventure) in the title!
And, to close out this post……Here are two scans of United States maps – the first is colored in with states, adjacent countries, and major bodies of water I had previously been to BEFORE my Most Excellent Adventure and the second is the same map colored in with the states, adjacent countries, and major bodies of water I visited DURING my Most Excellent Adventure! I now have a NEW Major Bucket List item: to finish coloring in the entire US map…..I have 13 states to visit to make complete that goal……that sounds perfectly do-able….after all, they are all on the continental US (I’ve already done Alaska and Hawaii) and three of them are right here in the New England states!!! 🙂
You all will surely hear all about any adventures that help me create an entirely pink US map!!! 🙂
2016 Daily Photos – Aug 24-28
Here are the Daily Photos for August 24, 25, 27, and 28…….missed getting a good photo for August 26th! 😦
Wednesday, August 24:
“Lyndonville Falls”
BONUS: Zoomed in shot of the geese near the falls
THURSDAY, AUGUST 25:
“Come Sit a Spell and Smell the Posies”
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27:
“View During Lunch”
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28:
“Stealing Nectar”
That’s all for a while…..I have a lot going on over the next few weeks, so I’m taking a little hiatus from blogging. I’ll be back when things settle down! 🙂
2016 Daily Photo – Aug 20-23
Next up, we have Daily Photos taken on August 20, 21, and 23……yep, I skipped the 22nd…..didn’t get a photo I liked that day!
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20:
“Rainbow Over the Courthouse”
Orleans County Courthouse, Albion, NY
SUNDAY, AUGUST 21:
“Just a Little Salmon”
Julie Schaeffer of Slingo, PA entered the Orleans County Fishing Derby run by the Albion Rotary Club and she WON!!! This 30 pound 14 ounce Chinook salmon brought her the $4000 top prize of the derby! (click here for more info in the Orleans Hub about this and the other winning fish from the Derby)
TUESDAY, AUGUST 23:
“Halloween…..In August……Seriously????”
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