WHATA BUMMER!

May be 1st photo of trip as we are approaching Mississippi River Bridge ~

 This 2-lane bridge leaves the Mississippi Delta on the eastern side and arrives in Helena, Arkansas.

  

 

This was a trip to see some fall foliage and a different landscape than our Lower Alabama home

where it is mostly flat and has very little of the colors of autumn.

 

The trip was hampered by gloomy weather and even rain at times making the visibility poor.

 

We had our Canon and Sony cameras with us but only took a few photos.

.

We arrived in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Sunday, October 25, 2015,

and visited the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Afterwards we enjoyed lunch in Rogers, Arkansas, where we had a wonderful meal of Red Beans and Rice at Copeland's of New Orleans since 1983 while enjoying the live music of a jazz combo.

 

This day included the HIGHS and the LOWS of the trip.

 

As we were traveling down the interstate, traffic in front of us came to a complete stop.

We slammed on our brakes and avoided hitting the vehicle in front of us.

A second or two later, we were rear-ended by the vehicle behind us.

After going through all the necessities required after such an accident,

two Springdale policemen took us to the local airport,

which was the only place to rent a car.

 

From that point own, we just headed back toward home as speedily as possible.

 

Silver Lining:  Neither of us were injured nor the people who hit us.

 

Photos from the trip (such as they are):

Fall Trip 2015

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Whirlwind Trip To Texas

Just to grab your attention, we're putting a pleasant photo in this blog now.

Putting this post on our travel blog is really a duplication of our Flickr photo album -- almost. Let us just tell you that we (with Jerry and Ella Jane) crammed in just about as much as oldsters can in three days in the Arlington, Texas, area. It usually takes us the better part of two days to make a trip from Foley, Alabama, to Arlington, Texas. So, that's what we did.

The Hatfield's kept apologizing for the fact that some time was spent showing their house and other real estate sales activities so that they could finalize a contract for the sale of their current home. That's really why we made the trip because it had been quite some time since we had visited with them. It was pretty much now or never unless we visited them later in the year in California.

We really did have a good visit -- so much so that the weight scales will likely reveal a sizable increase from all the delicious food we consumed while in Texas and on the way to and from there. After all, isn't that a good part of what enjoyment is? Trying to get you (any readers we may have) to agree with us.

We'll just close with the photos we took because they speak for themselves.

2015 Texas Trip

P.S.: Hope you can comprehend how interesting the tour of the Money Factory was without any photos. A picture from the parking lot showed what a beautiful Texas sky with puffy Texas clouds occurred on that day. Mae Dean added to her T-shirt collection that day with "the buck starts here"

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

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!

On the road to the mountains and back

We've been back from our fall trip to Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee for several days, but it's been a little more difficult to recover because of a few unpleasantries on our return. We've almost quit blogging but felt this was a special trip that was like old vacations in which we packed just about all we could into a week of travel.

The 43rd Annual Octoberfest in Helen, Georgia, spurred us on the get it planned and get on the road in an Enterprise rental car. Wendell drove all the 1672 miles on the Chrysler before we turned it back in at Foley, Alabama.

Blogging really takes too long to go into details. What we do feel, is photos and even a couple of videos tell the story better than writing about it.

We stayed in motels in Cedartown, GA; Clayton, GA; Dillard, GA; and Villa Rica, GA, leaving on October 10 and returning on October 17.

While we were gone, some tiny rodents (mice) had a exciting time inhabiting our place and some of them even met their maker -- what a STINK!

Also, while doing a week's worth of laundry, the old clothes washer bit the dust.

Are you beginning to see the negative side to the trip now?

Moving right along, we'll just launch you into the photos.
2013 Fall Trip

The best way to view the videos is on YouTube.

Octoberfest in Helen, GA, 2013

Smoky Mountain National Park on Columbus Day Holiday 2013

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.

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.

My Favorite Handel Music

This piece keeps going soft and rebounds several times.



Handel 'Largo' - The London Symphony Orchestra

Been on the Road

... and in the air at times.

Have you missed us?

Hope not.

It's been so much trouble to fool with the photos, we're just going to show them to you and let that do it because we really don't feel like doing a blog post. Seems like maybe it's too much trouble to go into detail.

Does that make sense? Well, it does to us right now because we have things to do and places to go in Lower Alabama.

Here's the photos from a week of travel in Mississippi, Tennessee, and the upper part of Alabama.

Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

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

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!

Going on a road trip

WHEN? Anytime

WHERE? Near Colorado Springs, Colorado

We have traveled in Colorado, but that was back in 2005 before we began this blog, and we're not sure why we haven't traveled to this well-known destination in person because it's right here in America. In fact, Wendell took his basic training in the Army near this location that can be seen from Denver, Colorado on a clear day. They call it America’s Mountain. You had probably already guessed it was Pikes Peak, hadn't you?

Now, all you need to do is click on O Beautiful and start the video for your armchair ride to the top of the mountain.

After you've done that, you might want to refresh your memory of the words written by Katharine Lee Bates.

America the Beautiful

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thorough fare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.

America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

This version of the song does not include all the verses, but I sure do like it:

Ray Charles does America the Beautiful

The summer's grand finale

WHEN? Sunday · September 2

WHERE? Yellowstone National Park · find us on the map

Wendell takes in the beauty of Yellowstone's scenery

The grandeur of Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park

Breathtaking scenery

• Mountains, mountains and more mountains
• Over 500 geysers, including the West Thumb Geyser Basin
• Spectacular views along Chief Joseph Scenic Highway

Abundant wildlife

• Bison, bison and more bison
• Bighorn sheep
• Various other critters on the area's food chain

Rich history

• The flight of the Nez Perce natives
• Bridging Yellowstone's Golden Gate
• Before sitting down to dinner, Mae Dean and Wendell enjoyed a gunslingin' shootout drama performed outside the restaurant by some colorful Wild West characters

See more Yellowstone photos on flickr

Steamy slideshow

WHEN? Saturday · September 1 · (today's second post)

WHERE? Yellowstone National Park

Wendell spaced out a half dozen photos to capture one of Old Faithful's eruptions:

View Wendell's Old Faithful slideshow on Webshots

Stormy weather over Wyoming

WHEN? Wednesday · June 27

WHERE? Devils Tower National Monument • find us on the map