JUMPING FOR JOY, FROM ALASKA TO FLORIDA

I have spent the last month traveling!!  From a cruise to Alaska/Canada to Alabama/Florida, what a joy. This post will spotlight Pensacola, Florida, then the beach at Destin and finally Alaska.  (Hopefully)

 This little lady expressed it so well, I wish I had a video.  She was literally jumping for joy.

     As you can see I am experimenting with black and white.      

 


Love the retro look and the attention to detail.

 We were in Pensacola and Destin for the weekend.   Leon wanted the Naval Museum and I wanted to go to the beach.  We spent most of the day at the museum which is awesome, it is a photographer's dream.  There as so many possibilities and challenges!

Of course I had to have  images of the Blue Angels. The challenge was all the light coming in the windows and  the planes showed up very dark.

There were so many historic planes to image.

                    Old  - Kitty Hawk
                                 
                              to

                  New - the Moon Walk

We went to the lighthouse in the afternoon.

                  Alas, this trip will have to continue later - Part 2 - to the beach.                            

                                     

                                              See you later, happy travels! 

Let the Adventures Begin (POST FROM LAST SUMMER)

It's been a while since my last post but life is starting! I have started a new travel journal and gratitude journal.  I will be drawing inspiration from both of them.  (From my retirement  rules: travel to inexpensive places in the US and blissful pleasures.)

A couple of weeks ago Leon decided he would surprise me with a trip.  Now we use to go somewhere every weekend, but he is a caretaker for his 93 year old Mom now.  So the trip was very unexpected.  One thing this blog will have is my/our adventures and my photography locations/challenges.

 Our destination became Cullman, Alabama!  It is a 6 hour drive from Southern Illinois.
(By the way, it is closer to Huntsville than Chicago!) So off we went at 7:00 on Friday morning. Our first destination is Decatur, Alabama for BBQ at Big Bob Gibson.  It is our favorite place to go for BBQ!  Always a loaded potato.  Big Bob Gibson Restaurant has won many, many awards! A very dear friend introduced us to the restaurant and we miss her company but she is forever in our hearts!

Then on to Cullman, a little ways down the road, y'all!   We were on our way to discovering covered bridges and some of the most beautiful countryside.  Now I've been to Alabama numerous times, mostly Huntsville to take heirloom sewing classes.  This however was a complete adventure.  Our first stop was the Clarkson Covered Bridge.  It is a little west out of Cullman, but you feel in a different era, in a different country.  It is a park with a beautiful very rustic covered bridge and mill wheel.  There is a creek running through it with footpaths up and down the hills.  I loved the little water fall before the bridge.  Best of all bathrooms!!  My photography challenge was the extreme bright sunlight to deep shade.  You will see a sampling of my ambitions throughout this post.  Some good some bad!

The other bridges were in Blount County, Swann, Easley and Horton Mill Covered Bridges.

 They are definitely Alabama's Best Kept Secrets!  We felt like we found them all by accident and seemed to wind up and down country roads with no end. All three bridges can be visited in a few hours and are not far apart.  If you need to get away from job and chaos the roads and bridges are a welcoming salve.

Winding our way back home through Alabama and Tennessee, our last unexpected adventure was in Columbia, Tennessee.  We visited James Polk's home and my photography challenge was to photograph in a museum without flash.  James Polk's home and many other beautiful homes are in Columbia and we've decided this will be a city well worth revisiting.

(Well, pictures will follow just not sure when.)  This post was started last summer, so now I just have to find them in my thousands of images!  This truly is a great area to explore and reminds me of Nashville, Indiana.  (Yes, you read that right, Indiana not Tennesse!)

Happening in my little bit of Heaven!!!

I've decided to try something new!  This was suppose to be like a journal for me, so for a little while I will construct this blog differently.

It will be what is happening in my life--- my joys, my adventures, my simple life. So here goes, if you like it let me know, if not I'll change it.  I just read an article discussing whether your blog was for you or your readers.  For a while it will be for me, reminders of what I enjoyed and created.  Hopefully it will give you some inspiration.

EXCITED ABOUT LITTLE MOMENTS

A few minutes ago I was running around the house like a little kid.  I awoke from a nap by a boom of thunder!  I was still in a dream state and confused about what was happening.  I remembered the windows in the car were rolled down to let the heat out.  I jumped up, found outside clothes, and ran for the car.  No rain, but I could hear it coming!  The wind was rushing through the trees to the west and my tall sunflower was whirling around in circles!  I rolled up the windows and put the flower baskets and watering can out for much needed rain water.  Then the rain came in buckets, I ran out the back door to rescue a lawn chair which had collected a couple of cups of water.  All this time it is thundering and swishing the trees in every direction.  Finally I am able to sit and watch the rain.  I am completely soaked, I watch as the sun is shining and the the rain keeps coming.  I want to go out and play (but wait I am 60- something)! For a few moments I am a child again, watching my Mom take down the clothes waiting for her to say it is "ok" to play in the rain.  I can't even imagine the excitement  people in the West must feel with approaching rain!

Funny the moments that excite us!  Sometimes for joy, remembrances, or new opportunities.  I've had them the last few weeks, well for that matter, especially since my retirement.

I went to the lake a few weeks ago to practice using my camera. Bogard's Point is surrounded by water with tree lines in many directions. I wasn't expecting anything special, but came across a pair of geese.  They were conversing back and forth oblivious to my presence.   I was excited to be that close to them taking pictures the whole time.  When I am on a photo shoot, I am oblivious to time, temperature, and physical discomfort! Before I know it, the sky changed and I am aware of dusk approaching. I take pics while walking to the point/edge of the water.  The clouds are changing (Rene's instructions in my head "You must have clouds for a good sunset image.") The colors change, the water is so still, I am at peace!  Finally I stop to check my images, they are the best sunset images I have ever made! I sit down to admire the ever changing colors, excited and at peace.  Tears well at such a beautiful sight, it is free and I appreciated it all!

At the end of May I had a super duper adventure!  A cruise to Alaska!  Now the planning lasted for 6 months, but the real excitement mounted the last few weeks before.  The unknown, my first cruise and flight by myself!  Excitement doesn't even touch the feelings I had!  Everything, and I mean everything was a new adventure.  I was so far out of my comfort zone.  But alas, this is a continuing post!

So my challenge to you is recalling your small and large exciting moments.  No matter how monumental (a trip to Alaska) or a tiny moment (an unexpected rainstorm or the ice cream truck).

WHAT EXCITES YOU???