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| Building some larger panels |
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| pile of gessoed panels!! |
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| 1 done and ready for gesso |
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Today
Last night, we watched over a hawks bill turtle nest waiting for the hatchlings to emerge... a no show, Haleakala tomorrow... panels built and gessoed so...today, I'll paint.
Saturday, October 22, 2011
After I promised to write more, it's been a while again. We've been to a number of places since the Tetons. Dinosaur, Colorado National Monument, Arches, Canyonlands, Kodachrome, Grand Staircase, Bryce, Zion, Pipe Springs, Grand Canyon (north Rim and South Rim), Wapatki, Walnut Canyon, Sunset Crater, and Tuzigoot.
Dinosaur: Fun, we arrived for the opening day at the new visitor center. Conner was the first Junior ranger in the new visitors center. We saw some dinosaur fossils and met some nice folks. There were a lot of dignitaries there and the entire ranger staff. There is absolutely nothing around the park. The towns on the map generally consisted of a gas station, and maybe a bar. We missed the opening of the best feature in the park, after 5 years they're reopening the visitors center that contains the majority of the large fossils that have been excavated but not removed from the park. Some day we'll have to go back and check them out.
Colorado National Monument: Beautiful park that we didn't even know about until spending a couple of nights in Grand Junction, CO. It was only about 5 miles away so we decided to head over. It was easily the scariest drive that I have ever done. Super windy with sheer drop offs and very few sections with guard rails. Still, it was a beautiful park and it's founder had the same name as my grandpa Youmans. John Otto... tho that was his full name and just my grandfathers first and middle. I have a few paintings in mind there. The ranger that awarded Conner's badge was from the Adirondacks. Pretty cool place. A huge shift in weather and scenery from the Tetons.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5666393516430273473
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Arches: What a great park, sooooo beautiful, just outside the town of Moab. We loved it there, Of course we visited double arch which is in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was our favorite spot in the park. We attended a ranger talk at the coolest amphitheater that we had been to yet. It was in the campground and had lights and a movie screen, all outdoors. Bats were flying around and at the end of the program, Conner was awarded his badge
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5666404969541319745
Canyonlands: A great park, we met a really nice interpretive ranger/volunteer from Rochester, that new someone from Middleburgh and remembered what a small world it was. It was pretty hot there, but at a high altitude so it was much cooler than it was in Arches (which was close to 100). Canyonlands was not crowded and is a fairly primitive park with only pit toilets. The only water was at the visitors center water fountain. We arrived at sunrise and wandered around all day. It seems we are always pleasantly surprised by the parks that are less traveled.
Dinosaur: Fun, we arrived for the opening day at the new visitor center. Conner was the first Junior ranger in the new visitors center. We saw some dinosaur fossils and met some nice folks. There were a lot of dignitaries there and the entire ranger staff. There is absolutely nothing around the park. The towns on the map generally consisted of a gas station, and maybe a bar. We missed the opening of the best feature in the park, after 5 years they're reopening the visitors center that contains the majority of the large fossils that have been excavated but not removed from the park. Some day we'll have to go back and check them out.
Colorado National Monument: Beautiful park that we didn't even know about until spending a couple of nights in Grand Junction, CO. It was only about 5 miles away so we decided to head over. It was easily the scariest drive that I have ever done. Super windy with sheer drop offs and very few sections with guard rails. Still, it was a beautiful park and it's founder had the same name as my grandpa Youmans. John Otto... tho that was his full name and just my grandfathers first and middle. I have a few paintings in mind there. The ranger that awarded Conner's badge was from the Adirondacks. Pretty cool place. A huge shift in weather and scenery from the Tetons.
Pics: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5666393516430273473
===========
Arches: What a great park, sooooo beautiful, just outside the town of Moab. We loved it there, Of course we visited double arch which is in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was our favorite spot in the park. We attended a ranger talk at the coolest amphitheater that we had been to yet. It was in the campground and had lights and a movie screen, all outdoors. Bats were flying around and at the end of the program, Conner was awarded his badge
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5666404969541319745
Canyonlands: A great park, we met a really nice interpretive ranger/volunteer from Rochester, that new someone from Middleburgh and remembered what a small world it was. It was pretty hot there, but at a high altitude so it was much cooler than it was in Arches (which was close to 100). Canyonlands was not crowded and is a fairly primitive park with only pit toilets. The only water was at the visitors center water fountain. We arrived at sunrise and wandered around all day. It seems we are always pleasantly surprised by the parks that are less traveled.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Grand Tetons and Yellowstone - https://plus.google.com/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5657837867757998513
Up til now
The trip has been great, we left the Tetons a few days ago and are meandering through Utah soon. Dinosaur was a neat stop and Conner happened to be the 1st Junior Ranger sworn in at the new Visitors Center, unfortunately we missed the opening of the new exhibit hall that isn't scheduled til next week. That halls been closed for 5 1/2 years and contains the best samples of dinosaur fossils that the park has.
The Tetons were amazing, Jen and Timmy joined us there and we hit the trail most days. On the 1st day we hiked up to Inspiration point from our campsite at Jenny Lake. The 3rd day we did a 10 mile grueling trail to Amphitheater Lake, it earned it's Most Strenuous rating with 5 miles of steady climbing. Conner did great as usual. I'm taking a hiking break and letting a wicked blister heal from the trek. So worth it tho, the views were outstanding and getting back into the Tetons is spectacular. Backpacking up there would be great. After the hike we jumped in the frigid Jenny Lake and shared a couple beers on the shore, the water was "refreshing" it felt good to be clean :) Conner made some new friends who were rooting him on to dive in. They came over and visited with us for a while, I am always amazed by how easily he makes new friends.
In between big hiking days we drove the loop for views, hiking short trails, seeing the Tetons from a distance. Conner and I headed out just after sunrise one morning to see wildlife and were rewarded with Moose, Wolves, Bison, Pronghorn, and Elk. That was the same day that we hiked to Amphitheater and on that trail we saw a red tailed hawk, a bald eagle and a deer. It was a stellar day for everyone.
We drove up to Yellowstone and did the loop in one day. The geology of the park is pretty cool. Conner earned his Young Scientist patch since he already did his Junior Ranger there last year. It was a long day, in the evening, we saw lots of bison, a fox catching a critter, but not much other wildlife. I have to say the Tetons are not to be missed, Yellowstone has to be seen for it's geological elements alone, but if you had to choose.... the Tetons would be my pick hands down.
The town of Jackson was very friendly and we had a great time the day we left the area. We went to the rec center for a shower and found out that we could use the pool with a huge water slide... we had a picnic in a park in the center of town and then went back to play once the pool opened to kids. Who knew that would be part of the day? The highlight for me was 2 showers in a day :)
I've not been painting and we're probably going to speed through the next section of the trip, we're in need of a break, funds are extremely tight and I really want to paint. It's been such a great trip, the country constantly amazes me, and I can't wait to get back to some of these places.
Sequoia and Kings Canyon Photos - https://plus.google.com/photos/101238042997102842287/albums/5657816578417146705
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Conners Blog Post up
Conner has a new blog post:
http://connersjuniorrangeradventure.blogspot.com/
I'll post more stuff soon.
http://connersjuniorrangeradventure.blogspot.com/
I'll post more stuff soon.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
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