Spatter

Off For Tampa

I'm leaving this morning...heading for Tampa.  I'm going up for some photo playtime with Leta.  It actually started with us rendezvousing at a photo outing in Lakeland on Sunday but it turned out to be an extended visit.  Leta doesn't live in Tampa, but her daughter and family does.  When it became known that they'd be out of town for the week, their house became available for us.  So now we'll do some photo hunting around town before heading over to Lakeland. 

Bye For Now

It's that time again...heading south for a spell.  We've decided to make the trip in two days vs one this time.  It's just gotten too long to do in one day with Shaynee stops.  Will check in when I can.

Time & Space

"Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you wish, but you can only spend it once."  This quote by Lillian Dickson made it to my mailbox once again.  It usually comes as part of one of those emails you get from friends...you know the ones that talk about friendship and life and instruct you to send it on to others, including the one who sent it to you.

Each time it comes it strikes home.  If there's been one constant in my life, it's the frustration that I have at having just one space, one time, one body to experience life with. The resulting boundaries mean that I'm either one place or the other...I'm either doing this or that. I can't live multiple lives.  I can't experience everything.   By being "here" I can't be "there".  My idea of a heaven? A state where I am released from these limitations. 

I'm so grateful that I have the means and the health to travel. It gives me the illusion of transcendence and feeds my spirit by filling my senses.  But even this requires  a choice: where to go and how to do it: movement or stillness...taking in everything there is to see or staying in one place and getting to really know it...going to new places or returning to places I love.  I know...these are nice dilemmas to have.

Another quote...this by Danny Kaye... is how I usually end up approaching it all: "Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it."  I'm not sure of the picture I'm drawing on my canvas, but I'm definitely trying to make it colorful!

 

Where I've Been - Update

A while back I posted a map of the states I've been to in my life.  It looked like this:

As you can see there was a pretty large blank space in the center of the country.  Today...thanks to my recent road trip...that's changed.  Now this is what my map looks like:

39 states (78%)

I haven't seen all each state has to offer, but if it's red, I've been there.  I didn't go through Colorado this trip...I had it wrong on my first map.  I traveled there back in the 90s. 

My next target to mark off is likely to be either Montana (Glacier National Park) or Alaska (Denali National Park)...but when, I don't know.  Next year's travel is shaping up to be either to Maine (Acadia National Park), Vancouver, or Ireland...the last two depending on the ability to coordinate calendars with a friend.  That's the plan anyway. Who knows! 

I have a friend who likes to categorize people as being ones who are either "wings" or "roots"...those who like to travel and those who are happy being in place.  I guess I'd have to call myself a "wing". 

Uncle Tom's Trail

Uncle Tom's Trail is a man-made trail in Yellowstone National Park that takes you down to the base of the lower falls of the Yellowstone River. Named after "Uncle" Tom Richardson who...in the early 1900's took visitors on this trail...it descends into the canyon for an excellent view of the the Lower Falls.  Originally it was 528 steps and then had rope ladders that took people down to the floor of the canyon.  Now, it's only 328 steps and goes three quarters of the way down.  At 8,000 feet though, it's still a bit of a big deal.  Here's a look down the stairs taken about halfway down.  Poorly exposed, but you can get a feel for how much further down it goes.

When I turned to the left, I was treated to this scene...

With a bit more of a twist and I saw this...

 

 Made it to the bottom...whew!

 

Of course, what comes down must go back up...so after a short respite I started the  arduous climb back up the stairs.  

Prairie Dogs

I saw my first prairie dogs on this trip as I was leaving The Devil's Tower National Monument in the northwest corner of Wyoming.  They're cute little critters and are fascinating to watch.

Prairie Dogs are the most social members of the Squirrel Family and are closely related to ground squirrels, chipmunks, and marmots.  In fact, they look very much like the marmots I saw at Grand Targhee shown in the photo below:

Anyway, there are five species of Prairie Dogs: black-tailed, white-tailed, Gunnison's, Mexican, and Utah...that being a threatened group.  From best I can tell, what I saw were black-tailed dogs:

Before settlers came, hundreds of millions of Prairie Dogs ranged across the American west.  They're highly social and live in colonies called "towns" which are interconnected underground burrows that can span up to 100 acres.  From there, the colony divides into smaller groups or "wards", which are then broken down into coteries...individual family units.  Kind of sounds like human living arrangements!  

Prairie Dogs communicate through whistles and chirps, greeting each other by touching teeth as though kissing. 

When a predator approaches, the first alert Prairie Dog gives a sharp warning call, bobs up and down in excitement, calls again and then plunges below. Interestingly, they issue different sounds to identify various predators: hawks, owls, eagles, coyotes, snakes, etc.  Other sentinels farther from the danger zone take up the watch to monitor the course of the predator.

Because they eat as much as seven percent of a ranch's forage, Prairie Dog eradication programs have been underway for decades out west, but a growing number of experts argue that Prairie Dogs may actually be beneficial...that they are natural fertilizers who increase the protein content and digestibility of range-land grasses.  Nonetheless, the eradication efforts that have gone on have caused the number of Prairie Dogs to rapidly decrease.  More have been exterminated than remain.  Some colonies are now protected though...including the one I saw.

While at The Badlands the following day I didn't see any Prairie Dogs, but I did see signs there warning about Prairie Dogs carrying the plague.  It seems they're very susceptible to the bubonic plague and they acquire it from fleas infected with the bacteria.  Whole Prairie Dog colonies have been wiped out by it.

Lennies

Lenticular clouds or "lennies" are stationary lens-shaped clouds that form at high altitudes...normally aligned perpendicular to the wind direction.  So says Wikipedia.  Pilots tend to avoid flying near them because of the air turbulence that accompany them. It's not surprising that they're often mistaken for UFOs or, at least, visual cover for the UFO.  I got to see a nice array of them while hiking in the Tetons. The photo's not so good thanks to the glaring sun, but it does show the clouds...and having the Tetons in the background makes it special to me.

The peaks from left to right are:  Mt. Owen,  Grand Teton, Middle Teton, and South Teton.  They're the only peaks that can be seen from the "front side" of the Tetons. 

Up For Air

I'm up for air...got unpacked, laundry done...well washed...ironing still looming; car washed; photos organized; lawn mowed; errands run; phone calls made.  Whew!  As I was going through things I came upon a flyer that I picked up while in Yellowstone on animal populations in the park.  It made me realize how lucky I was to see some of the animals I did either in Teton National or Yellowstone Parks:

Grizzly Bear / Population: 280-610

Elk / Population: 15,000-25,000

Moose / Population:  <500

Mountain Goat / Population: 175-225

Pronghorn Antelope  / Population: 200-250

Bison / Population:  >3500

 

Home Sweet Home

As much as I enjoyed my travels, it's good to be home.  I got road weary at the end.  We went for an early day time look at Mt. Rushmore. 

While there, who'd we run into but a mountain goat and her kid munching on some sweet wildflowers and grass...

 

 

We then headed out to Badlands National Park.  We decided to take a back road...Route 44...instead of the interstate.  It gave us a look at the south side of the park and it finally gave Ingrid her long sought after cowboy.  We spotted some cattle moving toward us and at first couldn't figure out why.  Then we saw them...four cowboys rounding them up.

 

 

One of the cowboys actually came over and talked with us.  I'm guessing he thought we were stranded.

 

After a nice visit, we moved on down the road and across a dusty dirt road to connect to the park's main road.  We missed the northwest half of the park...didn't want to backtrack...but got a good feel for it.  I wish we had more time to explore its trails.

 

The Badlands was our last "sight" to see.  We left it around noon and drove through the rest of South Dakota and down just below Sioux City, Iowa before stopping.  We were going to stop and see the Corn Palace, but by the time we got to Mitchell, it was getting late  so we thought better of it.  No great loss I'm thinking.  Too beat to do anything but crash, we got on the road early the next day and drove down to I-80, across Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and finally, Ohio.

By this time the road had taken its toll on me and decided to nix my plan to stay a few days in Marblehead/Port Clinton.  I rose early Friday morning said my good-byes to Ingrid and headed south.  Only eight hours vs thirteen. But as luck would have it, there was a bad accident on I-81 and I got stuck in its aftermath.  I arrived home in ten hours soooooo tired but hugs and smiles from Judy and kisses from Shaynee took a bit of the edge off. 

Lots and lots of catching up to do: bills, laundry, photos, etc. but it will all get done.

Mount Rushmore

A drive day...through the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming and then the Black Hills of South Dakota ending at Mt. Rushmore.  We did take a bit of a side trip to see The Devil's Tower.  The weather had turned cloudy which made it look like a volcano that just erupted instead of one that erupted millions of years ago...

An added treat to our diversion was coming across a field of prairie dogs on our way out.

We then traveled off the interstate through the town of Deadwood and down to Keystone...a town at the base of Mt. Rushmore.  After checking in we took a walk around town, grabbed a bite to eat, then went to see the monument's lighting ceremony. 

We're going back tomorrow morning to see it by day, then we'll head over to Badlands National Park for a quick look before leaving the area.