Blogs of everyday activates and adventures.
Hidden in the Forest of trees is where you will find the secret life of the spiders. Not to be seen in the bright of the day, but in the early morning light with a touch of dew all around. Their cobwebs are shinning like a beautiful tapestry of art work that catches anything that tries to pass by.
Hidden in the Forest
The Horse of Course, the Paint Horse. A horse of a breed that combines the conformational characteristics of a western stock horse with a pinto spotting pattern of white and dark coat colors.
My family raised pinto horses when I was young. We had a lot of them. I was given my very own horse at the age of 12. Let me tell you, those days with my very own horse were the best days of my young life.
I did not have time for shopping, boys or anything else really. It was just me and my horse riding the trails for hours on end. I guess that is where I get my love for the outdoors and animals as well.
Back in the day when the weekends would roll around, our mother gave me two choices. I either help clean the house or go shovel manure in the barn. I spent all day out in that barn. 🙂
The Horse of Course
The Day We Left Nature Behind, I came across an interesting discussion the other day that speaks of the indoor generation. How times have changed.
The indoor generation; a generations that spends 90% of its life indoors. It started the day nature was left behind.
We filled our homes with all the stuff we wanted, they become places we don’t want to leave.
Artificial light replaced daylight. Homes are built so tight nothing can escape.
We closed ourselves in to the point nothing can get out.
The air turned bad and we use chemicals to try and stop the bad stuff.
We do all this to make the darkness bearable.
Let there be Light
The Day We Left Nature Behind
Pet Portraits, I have been busy making pet portraits for the folks that are camping near us and thought I would share a couple of them.
These are photos that folks have taken with their phones and text them to me. I then edit the photos and use several techniques to turn them into paintings. Now there was a few photos people sent to me that I just could not fix. Those photos that are way out of focus don’t work to well. But for the most part I can work with a lot of them.
This cat below is our cat. What a difference it makes in a photo depending on if the cats eyes are dilated or not.
Check out the link below if you would like me to make a portrait of your pet. It is simple as sending me a photo from your phone and I will do my best to make a painting for you. 🙂
Pet Portraits
Kootenai Falls Swinging Bridge, now this is the one place I took a few photos as we visited this beautiful river. I have walked across a few swinging bridges, but nothing like this one.
I have to admit , I could not do it. I could not walk across this one. With the rushing water below and the movement of the bridge under my feet. My heart started racing right away. My head was spinning.
I have had vertigo in the past and I had a tumor taken out of my head that was pressing on the nerves that control ones balance. So nope, I could not walk more than a couple of feet and I went back.
It is quite the bridge, but I will have to stay on this side of the river on this one.
The bridge was originally created to help the forest service get across to fight fires. But now it is a tourist attraction and a good challenge for anyone like my self.
Well, this is all from our trip out west. When we left here we pretty much traveled straight home without a lot of sight seeing. It did take us 5 days to get home, but it sure was a trip to remember.
We drove over 8000 miles in 8 months, give or take. We were home for 4 months and are now on the road again. I just don’t want to shovel snow again. 🙂
Kootenai Falls Swinging Bridge
Vehicle Chain Up Area, never a shortage of these signs out in the NW. Snow and ice on the mountain roads.
Which reminds me of a story when I was driving semi back in the day. I was actually driving in southern Montana and of course I ran into some bad weather as I was starting to go down a steep grade. I was already in a low gear and started to descend at a slow pace.
But a semi farther ahead of me was going slower and slower, his break lights finally came on. Luckily I was going slow enough as I was getting closer to him and the road was all ice.
He got on the CB, ( do they even have CB’s anymore?:), he called out he lost his gear and was having to down shift and start over. That is never a good thing on a steep grade with ice.
I was able to go around him and never did see in my mirror if he started moving again. I can only imagine he did.
I truly appreciate all the truck drivers out there. It is a hard job but it was fun as well. I am glad I did it for a couple of years. The strange thing about this entire experience for me is that my father was a truck driver. I had only met my dad once when I was about 5 years old and never saw him again. He had pulled up in front of our house in a semi. Funny that I always wanted to drive one and I got the chance to do it for awhile. 🙂
Here is the video for a previous post I did on that Historic Brookport bridge that goes across the Ohio River, It is over 5000 feet long and only 19 feet wide. I made a video of us crossing it. Link to Brookport Bridge Here;
Vehicle Chain Up Area
Kootenai Campground Montana, we were in Montana last June. This is basically the end of our trip from last winter. My brother and his wife live here and we stayed at this campground while we were visiting.
I actually did not take a lot of photos while visiting because we spent a lot of time just hanging out together and catching up on old times. We did go sight seeing, but sometimes spending time with family is more important then taking photos for me.
Yesterday a reader commented on the eagle photo. Mentioning that the bird in this photo below looks like an osprey instead of an eagle. So I thought I would share today a photo of each bird to show the differences between these magnificent birds.
I cropped the photo so we could have a closer look. From a distance the two birds can look similar and hard to identify for sure. But, the 3 things I look for are the color of the feet, the size of the beak and then the body size.
The osprey beak is much smaller and thinner, plus the osprey has a definite color difference with the one stipe that leads away from the eyes.
With body size, even a young eagle is quite a bit larger than an adult osprey.
Both birds are beautiful and majestic in their own ways. A sight to see in nature for sure.
I did find a few small flowers blooming here and there. I tell you, I am ready to see more flowers now. Spring time is always so uplifting as the grass starts to grow and the colorful flowers replace all the brown of the long winter months.
Kootenai Campground Montana
Amongst the Silence, there is light. The waves are silent as the clouds slowly drift by. In the early morning light is when I can see clearly, what my heart already knows.
Amongst the Silence
Have a Wonderful Day, 5 am yesterday morning I went for my walk and turned back to see the sun rising over the horizon. A reminder of how small we really are with the vastness before me.
Have a Wonderful Day
Police Horse, another beautiful Belgian horse who’s name is Murphy I found out. There are a lot of pretty horses in this parade, but I take the photos as they are passing by and I choose the best ones to make a painting out of. I don’t usually post photos that have people in them.
But I like this one with the gentlemen on the ground with his hand over his heart as the flag goes by.
I sent this photo to the police department where they are stationed out of. They loved it and said thank you and that is where they told me the horses name is Murphy. Very fitting I think.
Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts
Police Horse
Draft Horse in Harness, we were at a small town parade the other day. My favorite part is always the horses. I took a photo of this beautiful team of Belgian horses pulling a wagon and made a couple of paintings. Horses, dogs and cats make for great digital paintings.
I had posted the paintings on one of the social media sites and had a couple of inquiries asking if I do commission work. Well, I looked at my husband and said, ” What a great idea”. So I started a new web page where I can paint other folks photos. I do enjoy it and find it quite fun to make them.
If you are interested, you can visit my web site; Sandra J’s Photography & Fine Arts , I am still working on adding photos to that site. It is always a work in progress creating a web page.
This photo below has a special meaning for me. We were camped next to a home and in their yard they had this beautiful older dog, shown below in this print, who enjoyed laying out in the sunshine. So I took the pups photo one day and made a painting of it. I was able to send the photo to the owners to their phone. Just to share it with them.
The other day, their neighbor contacted me and told me this dog had just passed away. I am happy that I made this print and was able to share it with them when I did.
Draft Horse in Harness
Navy Flying High, even the Navy is out training in these super fast planes. These guys go so fast, you can defiantly hear them before you see them.
This pretty plane just coming in for a landing.
I have never been in a plane this small, it looks kind of cramped in there.
I had an interesting job as a child that involved this air plane called an Air Tractor. My uncle flew a plane similar to this and I was the flag person for him. He would give me the coordinates of the field he was going to spray fertilizer on and I would have to hurry up and drive there before he got there.
Then I would have to just stand there as a marker for him, after he flew by I would have to step off the length of his air craft so he could use me as a marker on the next pass. He was quite the pilot.
Now they invented a flag that falls out of the end of the wing, so my job was eliminated. I sure enjoyed it back then.
Navy Flying High
Modern Marvels in Aircrafts, I have always been fascinated with aircraft, mostly helicopters. But all aircraft are modern marvels to me. The fact that something that large as an airplane or helicopter, that can fly and fly really fast is truly some engineering genius.
So when ever I see or hear aircraft, I grab my camera and hope I can get to where ever they are flying and take a few shots.
Just happened to be in the right place at the right time for these shots. Black Hawk helicopter doing a few flybys and training runs at a small air field we were near.
I took videos as well and I will share those when I get to them.
Have a great weekend.
Modern Marvels in Aircraft
The Twin Barns at Nisqually, They were built in 1932 and used as dairy barns. Later, the tidelands that the farm had been built upon were returned to an estuarial state and became the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge in 1974.
The barns were used as an environmental education center, but were damaged in the 6.8 magnitude 2001 Nisqually Earthquake and have been closed since then. In December 2015, the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge was resdesignated the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge to honor the Nisqually Tribe Leader Billy Frank Jr.
These are probably two of the largest barns I have ever seen. I can just imagine how many bales of hay fit in the lofts of both of these.
The Twin Barns at Nisqually
Photos Taken with Bridge Camera through the RV window. This photo surprised me as it turned out pretty well for taking it inside of a moving vehicle. I looked out my window and this beautiful lake was right there. Sometimes this little camera surprises me on how well it can work.
Here is the link for last weeks post about camping at Plymouth Montana, the bike trail and tunnel. Plymouth Washington Bike Trail and Tunnel
I have two cameras that I use for my photography. One of them is this Lumix FZ 1000 bridge camera. The phrase “bridge camera” has been in use at least since the 1980s, and continues to be used with digital cameras. The term was originally used to refer to film cameras which “bridged the gap” between point-and-shoot cameras and SLRs.
It is basically a camera that has a zoom lens built right in. This is the camera I use the most when out for a hike or when traveling. The bad thing about these cameras, they have a small sensor inside. Which means that each pixel is smaller and can capture less light, resulting in poor high-ISO/low-light performance.
But for something quick and easy it works just fine and for the most part the photos are pretty clear when there is enough sun light. This camera is already outdated and there are new bridge cameras on the market that I may be trading in for some day.
For example, this photo was taken on a cloudy day with this camera. Settings are 1/2500 sec shutter speed, ISO 500, f8, 146mm lens. It is not a sharp photo at all, but not bad for a cloudy day with this Panasonic camera.
This photo below is better, there is a little more sunshine. Camera settings are; f4.5, 1/4000 ss, ISO 125. More of the details are visible in this photo of the birds feathers. Post processing will help to sharpen the photo just a bit. This bridge camera has 20 megapixels, with 1 ” sensor.
The difference is clear when changing to a full frame camera that has a bigger sensor on it. My Nikon is a FX-format full-frame CMOS image sensor with 45.7 megapixels. Technology is quite something when it comes to cameras these days.
Sony actually has a camera that has 61 megapixels, but it does coast a mere $4000 dollars. 🙂
Photos Taken with Bridge Camera
Beautiful Scenic Drive in WA, continuing across White Pass the views are amazing. Traces of snow here and there along the way.
A wall made out of rocks to help stop rocks from rolling across the highway as they slide down the mountain sides. We did drive by a huge pile of glass on the side of the road. One can only imagine a rock might have hit a car window. I was watching for that after I saw the glass.
You can see Mount Rainier from this drive as well.
Beautiful Scenic Drive in WA
White Pass Scenic Byway travels along US-12 from I-5 (between Chehalis and Castle Rock) to Naches exploring the majestic Cascade Mountains and central Washington. The road travels to an elevation of 4,500 feet, revealing expansive mountain views, some tree-covered, some jagged rock and some snow-capped. Add in lush forest, sparkling lakes and streams and you have a picture perfect drive.
But, we were going to cross at the end of May last year and during this time of year White Pass can have rain/snow and or ice storms everyday anytime of day. So I was checking the weather every day as we got closer not wanting to drive the pass if the temperatures were going to be at freezing with rain.
We had 2 choices to get over to Olympia from Yakima, Hwy 12 white pass or the other hwy going out of Yakima which is hwy 410. Well I always zoom in on the map when making our routes and the photo on the right is Hwy 410, See how the road zig zag’s at Naches Peak, we really did not want to do that in an RV. 🙂
I can’t imagine planning this trip with a paper map, even though I drove a Semi for a couple of years, many years ago and had to use a paper map back then. That says how old I am. Don’t tell anyone. 🙂
Needless to say, the weather was perfect for crossing over this mountain. It is a scenic road worth taking and it has plenty of places to pull off and take photos. Along with plenty of campgrounds along the route. We did not stop on this trip, so all the photos here are taken through the RV window.
Trucks tend to hug the center line going through this tunnel.
The lake views are amazing.
White Pass Scenic Byway
Plymouth Washington, another fun place we found to camp at right along the Columbia river bordering Washington and Oregon. We stopped for gas just before the park back in May as you can see the sign says $4.65 for regular. Our cat and smaller dog always jump up into the window when we stop so they can look around and sit in the sun when it is cold outside.
We looked on the map and saw that there is a lock and dam on this river called the McNary Lock and Dam. This dam is built on the Columbia river which is full of Pacific Salmon.
So we noticed there is a bike path going all the way to the dam, so we headed that way. We came across this giant tunnel that you have to ride through to get to the dam. It looked pretty spooky at first because it is quite long and pitch black in their when you first enter it.
I will have a video of it next week, I am always ahead on photos and the videos come out later. Come to find out this tunnel used to have train tracks in it as the trains would have to pass through here.
But they changed that and rerouted the train to go over the hill instead of through it.
The interesting thing about this dam is that they built a salmon run so the salmon can still go up stream during spawning. It runs up hill and around the dam back into the lake on the other side.
They also built a viewing area inside of a building so you can go in there and watch the salmon swim by. It is like a little tunnel in there for them with lights on you can see them.
If you look close you can see the outline of a huge salmon swimming by the window.
I found this so interesting, because I have never seen a salmon before until now.
Have a great weekend.
Plymouth Washington
The Land of Irrigation, Idaho and Oregon by far has the most beautiful pasture land I have ever seen. We cam across a lot of pastures that were being watered by high pressure irrigation systems, not only for their crops but also on the pastures even with animals like horses and cows in the pastures with the sprinklers going.
Here is the link to my video for yesterdays post on my You Tube Channel, I do like making videos of where we have been along with taking photos. Link; Idaho’s Grand Canyon Here
I grew up raising horses and my pastures never looked liked these. They are so lush and green and not one manure brown spot anywhere to be seen and no weeds anywhere as well. I was quite impressed.
The Land of Irrigation
What Crop is This in Idaho, About 95% of this product grown in the United States comes from Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
The 2020 USDA report shows 9,268 acres in Idaho, more than 17.1 million pounds of it harvested, and a crop value of nearly $100 million.
Do you know what this is? I had no idea when we first saw all these sticks in the field, so I had to look it up my self.
Hoppin’ Hops: Idaho at the Center of Beer Culture. These are hop fields.
Hops are the green cone-shaped flowers, or “inflorescence,” of the Humulus lupulus plant. They’re a climbing perennial with a distinct jackpot for craft brewers. Hidden inside each cone are tiny yellow pods or glands called lupulin—the source of bitterness, aroma, and flavor in beer.
In addition to beer, hops are used in herbal teas and in soft drinks. These soft drinks include Julmust (a carbonated beverage similar to soda that is popular in Sweden during December), Malta (a Latin American soft drink) and kvass. Hops can be eaten; the young shoots of the bine are edible and can be cooked like asparagus.
What Crop is This in Idaho
Exploring Idaho ,back to the end of last winters trip. I get carried away with putting photos on that I am taking now, but I still have 3 states to go from the previous trip. So Idaho is next, a state that we have never been to.
As we first entered into the state at the SW corner, you can see that the view goes on for ever. This first photo shows some water in the background which is the snake river. We camped there for about a week. This was back in May of 2022, so the temperatures were not all that warm yet.
We were making a slow trek towards Washington and Montana, knowing we were going to go over White Pass. White Pass (elev. 4,500 feet (1,372 m)) is a mountain pass in the northwest United States, in the Cascade Range of Washington, southeast of Mount Rainier and north of Goat Rocks. We did not want to get there to soon because they can have snow and ice storms everyday at any time of day. We were waiting for it to warm up a little at the pass.
As we were camping here for a week, we found on the map a place called Bruneau Canyon, a short drive from where we were staying. Well this road makes it look like a very long drive. 🙂
This area below in the photo had a sign at the start of the road that said, WARNING; This road crosses US Air Force bombing range for the next 12 miles, Objects may fall from air craft.
Well, nothing fell on us. But we did see a runway off in the distance surrounded by fence.
Anyway, back to the story. We made it to the canyon. This canyon is referred to as Idaho’s Mini Grand Canyon. It is quite something to see. Almost as if the earth split open for miles and a river flowing down at the bottom.
Exploring Idaho
A Parallel Realm, A parallel realm where everything operates according to His will.
Night photography is a challenge but fun as well, going out in the dark of the night and looking up into the heavens. My camera picks up more than what my eye can see most of the time.
I went out yesterday morning, as I new there is a full moon out right now, to see what possible photo I might find to take that would be a little different. I was walking back to my jeep and this puddle of water caught my eye as the moon is reflecting in it.
So I set up my camera with an aperture setting of f/22 and a long exposure of 10 sec shutter speed. f22 point sources of light become these bright, multi-pointed stars. The result is below, it was an empty parking lot with some buildings in the background as well. Something a little different.
This photo below I was using my bridge camera and it only has an Aperture of f8, so I was not able to get the star effect of the moon over this parking lot, which is actually a truck stop we spent the night at when we were out west.
A parallel realm where everything operates according to His will.
A Parallel Realm
Lightning Photography, the other morning I woke up to the sound of thunder and rain. I got up and looked outside and off to the east I saw a lot of lightning. So I quick checked the weather station as to where the storm was from my location.
It was way off to the east so I quickly grabbed my camera gear and headed out to find a spot to set up my camera. I was almost to late, I was able to get a short video and about 8 photos as the storm raced across the morning sky.
Short Video below or this Link; Lightning Strikes over Water
I actually only used my Go Pro camera for this series of photos. I attached the go pro to the front bumper on my jeep. There is actually a hitch on the front of the jeep that sticks up high and I attached the go pro to the end of it and went back inside the jeep and watched the lightning show.
My settings for these shots are; 20 second intervals with a 15 sec shutter speed and ISO of 100.
I then took all the good photos I had and stacked them on top each other to get the final results of the photo below. It combined all the lightning strikes together.
Lightning Photography
Natural Southern Charm on the rot iron fence. Warm humid weather and iron fences can create some artistic floral designs. In the sense of moss and ivy growing all over it. I think it looks artistic my self.
Fun fact, I used the term rot iron and had to look up what it means. Because there is rot iron and cast iron. I am not sure exactly what this gate is made of but it looks cool.
Wrought Iron is iron that has been heated and then worked with tools. Cast Iron is iron that has been melted, poured into a mold, and allowed to solidify. The fundamental distinction between cast iron and wrought iron is in how they are produced
Natural Southern Charm
Merrehope is a stately, 20-room Neoclassical Revival mansion, restored and furnished by the town of Meridian Restorations Foundation, Inc. It features unusual woodwork and a handsome stairway, columns. and mantels.
I love exploring places like this during our travels. The architecture alone is quite beautiful I think. We did not go into this home at the time of our visit. But we did get a chance to visit with one of the tour guides as he was just pulling up to the house when we were looking around.
He mentioned Christmas time is their most popular time as it is decorated from head to toe inside. But the sad news is, the state of Mississippi won’t give any money to keep this estate up, as far as grants and such.
He was telling us that it does cost a lot to keep it maintained, like painting it and finding folks to just mow the lawn in the summer months. It is all volunteers that keep it going now. It is the last home of its kind standing in the area.
He also mentioned that they rarely see young folk come by anymore to learn the history of the home. He said they are just not interested in stuff like this. I do thank the kind gentleman for taking time to talk to us here. A beautiful place for sure.
Merrehope Mansion Mississippi
Close the Door on 2022 and let the new year begin. Happy New Year
Video below of my rendition of celebrating a new year. Immersed in nature at sunset. Or click here; New Year Celebration with Nature
May your new year be filled with love, family, friends and new adventures. Where ever they may take you, get out and explore. Live as if tomorrow may never come and as if today will last forever. Live in the moment and take in every bit of the great outdoors when you can.
Close the Door on 2022
Wormsloe Mile Long Entrance avenue lined with live oaks is a classic image from the moonlight and magnolias Old South. Found here in Savannah GA.
In the 1890s, Wymberley Jones De Renne laid out the live oak avenue, to celebrate the birth of his son.
A breathtaking avenue sheltered by live oaks and Spanish moss leads to the tabby ruins of Wormsloe, the colonial estate of Noble Jones (1702–1775). Jones was a humble carpenter who arrived in Georgia in 1733 with James Oglethorpe and the first group of settlers from England.
If you enjoy seeing Live Oak trees, make sure to visit this beautiful place. Wormsloe occupies the southern portion of the Isle of Hope, a peninsula four miles long and as much as a mile wide near Savannah Ga.
Have a Wonderful Weekend and Happy New Year
Wormsloe Mile Long Entrance
The name live oak came from the fact that they remain green and “alive” throughout the winter when other oak trees are dormant and leafless.
While many species of oak trees are found throughout the world’s temperate zones, live oaks are native only from Virginia south to Florida and west to central Texas, especially thriving in the heat and humidity.
The Name Live Oaks
