Skywatch Friday 04/24/09

Sunrise in Topeka, KS last week at the CWCCA National Specialty.

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Happy Earth Day

Taken from top of road between Clarksville, Washington and the Wallowa Valley in Oregon, August 2005.

Utah Scenes

The driving time is coming out almost exactly the same coming home as it did going.  It was 27 hours on the way there:  13 hours Sunday, 11 hours Monday, 3 hours Tuesday.  So far coming back I have 10 hours from Topeka to Laramie, 11 hours from Laramie to Winnemucca, and should have 6 more hours tomorrow between here and home. The sprint card doesn't work in Winnemucca, so I paid Motel 6 the $2.99 for the access code.

Above and below: near Park City, Utah

 The Great Salt Lake.

 Mountains west of SLC. It was a beautiful, warm, dry,  sunny day.  It's so nice to be back on the west side of the Continental Divide.

Power generation in Utah:

The old (taken from westbound rest area just before the salt flats.)

And the new.

On the Road Again

Somewhat unexpectedly, the Sprint card is working well here in Laramie, Wyoming. I'll take the opportunity to post a few travel pictures from today.

 
 I found a more attractive area of Kansas.  US 75 north from Topeka goes through rolling hills and along the river.  It reminded me of the wheat field areas of Eastern Oregon.

Auburn NE, just over the Kansas-Nebraska border.  It struck me as quintessential small-town mid-America

 It snowed more in Wyoming during the week since I last passed through.  This was taken looking northwest from the rest area just outside of Cheyenne. Molly says that snow is for running free in.  Her feet hit the snow in the rest area and again at the motel and she started to frolic and then to run with a joyous look on her face.  Until she hit the end of the leash and turned around to give me a glare.  As I was wearing sandals - and no coat - I was unprepared for a winter outing.

   

Dropping down into Laramie, Wyoming as night falls.

I may not make it any farther than Winnemucca tomorrow.  That's about 10 hours from here, and then it's another 6 hours from there home.  I'm not sure that I'm up for 16 hours of driving.  I don't want to leave before daybreak as I imagine that the snowmelt that was on the road this evening will be ice early tomorrow morning.  If I left at 7 a.m. that would put me going across the Cascades from 10 to 11 p.m.  As there isn't much in the way of accomodations between Winnemucca and home, I might do better to take my time and do a little sight-seeing around Salt Lake City.

Road Trip Day 2

Here are a few pictures from the Wyoming portion of the trip. The rest of the day consisted of crossing hundreds of miles of eastern Colorado and most of Kansas. You can put on the cruise control and sleep through them.

   Wyoming windmills at sunrise.

Rest area at the northern edge of the Snowy Mountains.

The co-pilot hard at work.

Interesting rock formations between Laramie and Cheyenne.

Road Trip Day 1

I didn’t have internet service the first night so I’m a day behind with pictures.  First day: home in Southern Oregon through Nevada and Utah to Evansville, WY.  Total time about 12.5 hours.

Early morning clouds over Klamath Lake.

 Warner Creek ski area near Lakeview.

 Above and below: rest area in northwestern Nevada.

 Wild donkeys near Denio Junction, Nevada.  Steens mountain in Oregon in the background.

 Snow covered peaks, Nevada.

 Bonneville salt flats, western Utah

 Red cliffs near the Utah/Wyoming border.

Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

More pictures from last month's visit. Most of the pictures were taken with Tom's Nikon, a couple with my point-and-shoot.

 Bottom's up!

Spring pairings: two by two

The Western Meadow Lark: oft heard but seldom seen.

A flock of geese grazing in the meadow.

 There were many fur-bearing animals as well.

And the predators to dine on the smaller of them.

Twilight came during our visit.