China as seen from a Drone

This is a Drone Video, one step further than Drone Photo. And it is in 4K  UHD.  Note the 3D effect.

Very clear and interesting views...never would have seen these on a ground tour.

https://player.vimeo.com/video/107995891

 

 

 

 

Have traveled 2 of the 20 scenic roads

After reading about and seeing photos of the 20 scenic roads, we find the information interesting, but we are pretty satisfied not to travel quite a few because of the dangers they present to the traveler. However, we really thought the article and photos were so interesting that we are sharing with you.

Our blog itself has one of those roads, which is Scenic Byway 163 in the United States,and the other we have traveled is the Blue Ridge Parkway -- also in the U.S.

To enjoy the article about these scenic roads, go to:
Twenty Roads You Should
Drive In Your Lifetime

Out of Africa

If you like animals,
If you like music,
If you like photos,
If you like travel,

it's possible you will enjoy this.

It would probably help if you have seen the movie, "Out of Africa."

Anyway, I consider this sorta in the category of "Let's pretend" and "armchair travel" and offer the link to you for a YouTube video that is about 8 minutes long.

Out of Africa Tribute

Interview With God

We consider this our travel blog. I'm choosing to place this here because a number of the photos in this video are places we have visited in our travels.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy the beauty and the wisdom.

Interview With God

Yosemite ~ Never Been There

Several of my Flickr contacts have been there. The above photo is by Hazboy. Also there's an almost endless supply of Yosemite photos by Liquid Moonlight.

Today, National Geographic sent this time-lapse photography which lasts a little over 5 minutes. This is an experience you can only have this way.

Yosemite HD II

Haven't Been There and Haven't Done That

Above is a beautiful view we snapped after we left the Cumberland Gap Visitor Center and drove the winding, four-mile-long Skyland Road up the mountain to Pinnacle Overlook, which treated us to this spectacular view of the point where the Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia state borders meet.

We have seen some other beautiful mountains, all in the USA, but now through "Let's Pretend" we are going to give you a chance of a life time.

Mont Blanc or Monte Bianco, both meaning "White Mountain", is the highest mountain in the Alps and the European Union. It rises 4,810 m above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence.

Didler Lafond has placed this on Vimeo. For an experience you will never have in person, just sit back and enjoy a thrill, the likes of which Disney may not have invented YET...

Speed Riding Mount-Blanc

Southwestern Trip

Walt Grayson took a trip out west in 2012 that I found very interesting.

Our own Southwestern trip covered some of the same area in 2005, and we were very aware there was much more to see that we just could not cram into a month. For instance, we bypassed Monument Valley because we were in such a hurry to get to the Grand Canyon.

Since our trip included parts of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas Hill Country, and Utah, there is really no way to share those photos because they are so numerous.

The main result of that month-long trip RVing in our Dutchman Travel Trailer is it caused us to decide we could live that way fulltime if we just had a bigger RV. So, we traded in our TT for a vintage Airstream motor home and hit the road in 2007.

We'd still like to be on the road from time to time RVing, but we're very happy living in Sweet Home Alabama.

Here's Walt's trip of Arches, Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon as well as some other points of interest in 10 days:
Arches,Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyon

Be sure to watch the video to the end to see the head-in-the-hole photo op!

Alberta, Canada

Here's an "armchair travel" post I'm sharing because I think you'll enjoy it as I did. Actually, travel posts have gone up on both our blogs today.

This video was produced by Travel Alberta and brought to you on YouTube by Travelindex and the Travel & Tourism Foundation. For more information on Alberta please visit http://www.travelalberta.com

With its vast blue skies, magnificent Canadian Rockies, rolling fields of wheat, boreal forests and the Canadian Badlands, there is something for every visitor. Outdoor enthusiasts can enjoy everything from, kayaking, hiking, rafting, skiing and rock climbing to picnics in an alpine meadow or camping. Nature buffs will marvel at the wonderful wildlife. Anglers can find a lake, river or stream nearby that offers great fishing. For those of you who harbor an inner cowboy, take in the "Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" - the Calgary Stampede.

Remember to Breath – Alberta, Canada

Northern Maine Armchair Travel

Thanks to Alvey Pelletier in Maine and his Facebook friend, Doris Perreault Pelletier, we have this 5.36 minute-video to enjoy. The beautiful scenes are accompanied by Amazing Grace background music created by Brian Mosher specifically for their use in this YouTube video.
Northern Maine Scenes-Amazing Grace

These pictures and many DVDs can be viewed at Paul Cyr Photography

Missed it in 2005

As time has gone by, we've realized we should have seen Monument Valley. The photo we use for this blog is one of our favorites, but it was taken on a trip before we got into blogging. The trip we took out west was so good, we decided we'd love to RV fulltime if we just had something bigger than our Dutchmen travel trailer.

We'd planned to go into fulltiming in 2006, but it had to be postponed for health reasons. Ever since we left in our Airstream Land Yacht in the spring of 2007, we've felt like we were on a perpetual vacation. Now, we're settled in Lower Alabama, but we still love getting out and seeing the sights.

This video tells you what we missed on the day we bypassed Monument Valley on October 5, 2005, because we were in such a hurry to get to the Grand Canyon.

Monument Valley Sunrise to Moonrise 4.5 min.

Home of Claude Monet

Ever since I visited the Waverly Mansion near Columbus, Mississippi, I have known I loved to visit old homes. Today was the first time I knew this much about the home of the painter, Claude Monet, when I received a powerpoint attached to an email. At that point I thought of numerous people who would probably enjoy viewing it.

As luck would have it, I found the same show on YouTube and made an immediate decision that if I ever did travel to France, this would be a place I would want to visit.

Australia

You must know that we've never been to Australia, but we know people who have visited there. Seems like our bro-in-law has visited there twice and had rave reviews about those visits.

Well, I found enough today to decide to include this post as armchair travel.

Here's the diary of a family who appears to have traveled lots and their description opened my eyes to things I had never considered. Can you imagine a kankaroo on a beach? See their comments at:
Diamond Head, Crowdy Bay National Park: Beach Kangaroos.

Light Show @ Texas Church

WHEN? Tuesday · December 8

WHERE? White's Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas

WHAT? Holiday Light Show

My sister referred me to this show taking place through Christmas Eve. I have friends and relatives in Texas who may have the chance to see it in person because Southlake is a suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth and considered part of the Metroplex. For us, it looked like something to share via "armchair travel" on this blog. Not only may you find the YouTube video a very entertaining experience, you may even want to look at information on the church's website about this event.
Celebrate the Light 3-D Christmas Spectacular

The Dubai Fountain

WHEN? Anytime via armchair travel

WHERE? Dubai, United Arab Emirates



My thanks go to Tom for sending this link to me because I'm sure not ever going to see it in person. For more information on this amazing fountain, look at what Wikepedia has to say.

The Dubai Fountain

YouTube has many videos of this fountain. You might want to watch this one also.
Dubai fountain (UAE) - "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston

Mississippi's Appalachian Mountains

WHERE? Webster County, Mississippi – near Eupora

Thanks to Terry Harpole in Maben, Mississippi, I'm able to share a brief trip with you. I love the video and audio sketches Walt Grayson of WLBT provides to people in his TV show Look Around Mississippi.

Two minutes well spent:

Old Cove with Walt Grayson
courtesy of Jackson's WLBT-TV

525,600 Minutes

This post is related to a post on July 18, 2010, entitled Choir Concert at Marlow Church. This was a concert by the Sonshine Choir from Brentwood UMC, Brentwood, Tennessee.

I now have an audio music CD of their 2008-2009 tour, and the song in the videos below is one of the tracks on it.



The video below is one taken from one of the closest rows of seats to the stage, so maybe you can pretend, like I did that the camera was in my hands and I was sitting right there.




I would have loved to be there on the final Broadway performance. Or, for that matter, any other Broadway performance of RENT.

Macy's thought it was a good way to advertise on TV:

Do you know about this art form?

click on the image to see it better

WHEN? Anytime

WHERE? Republic of Panama

I'll give you a second or two to check your brain cells to see if you've ever seen one of these somewhere.

I am wondering how much these sell for nowadays. Also, do you know where you can buy some of these if you travel there on vacation?

It seems like I heard of someone who collected enough of these that they made a bedspread out of them. I'm sure I would love that because I love the bright colors.

Enough questions. Here's a Wikipedia article for you to read about the history of the art form.

Mola (art form).

We have not visited Panama, but we could have and in hindsight should have.

Waterfalls

WHEN? Anytime

WHERE? Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Over the years we have enjoyed searching for waterfalls while on vacation. This photo is one located in Australia, and we found on Webshots:


by surfthenet on Webshots

Photographer's comments:

"These beautiful falls are not named, or signed. Was an accident that I even found them, getting lost is a wonderful way to find somewhere you haven't been. At the base of Mount Wellington, Hobart, I'm sure someone knows where these are. I think the stream came from the mountain, snow melt or rain. Beautiful and fresh, and quite cool. — Hobart, Tasmania, Australia"

We particularly had a good time searching for waterfalls in Georgia a number of years ago (possibly 15 or more) along with two other couples who were great company. We miss 'em terribly, but still stay in touch.

Although I haven't been to Australia, I know several people who have, and even have a souvenir from there:

Koala Book Marker on flickr

Ah ~ Hawaii

WHEN? Anytime

WHERE? Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

We have not visited Hawaii, but we'd like to help you enjoy armchair travel to Hawaii via this blog post. Probably some of my preconceived ideas about what the islands are like came from a book I read a long time ago — Hawaii, a novel by James Michener.

This humorous video was provided by YouTube user jacksonescapee and appears to be taken at the same location as his photo above:

The longer jacksonescapee stays in Hawaii, the more eye-opening videos he's posted. He has a couple of videos by a Blue Grass group. I recommend visiting both of his YouTube Channels:

• jacksonescapee
• arwoody100

---

The following video possibly shows you a view of Hawaii many of its visitors don't see:

Here's another number by the same group:

The Shadow of Your Smile at Casablanca

What a neat way to armchair travel!

Filipino Inmates Learn Dance

WHEN? Tuesday · January 26

WHERE? The Philippines in Southeast Asia

Here's the first thing we saw this morning on Yahoo:

Michael Jackson's Choreographer Teaches
Dancing Filipino Prisoners 'This Is It' Routine

This reminded us that we did not share with you some of the good activities we enjoyed on the Carnival Fantasy Fun Ship on our recent cruise. One of the things we never miss on these cruises are their evening shows in the main theater. They have a group of performers that are very entertaining. Our favorite shows were nonstop dancing and singing. The last one was a tribute to The Beatles. These were young people. They had to be to perform the way they did. About the time we thought they would surely slow the pace because of exhaustion, they'd crank it up again.

Let me put up a disclaimer for the other vacationer associated with this travel blog. This probably would not interest him in the least. He may not have a box in his brain to even cover this subject. However, he does enjoy shows like the ones we saw on the Fantasy. We are moving into our Netflix mood again now that some of the TV sports we watch are about to wind down for awhile. We need some recommendations for music and documentary videos to watch. If you've seen any really good movies, those would interest us as well. Forget the action movies, we're interested in stuff like Forrest Gump and Driving Miss Daisy.

Here's those videos that came with the Yahoo article: