Here is another of my favorite photos from my road trip.
It was cold, rainy, and oh-so-muddy (you can see a couple of errant rain drops on my camera lens) when I took this photograph of horses huddled outside the barn in the Fruita Rural Historic District, in Capitol Reef National Park. I want to get back there on a better day for hiking. And that pie, of course!
Here is another of my favorite photos from my road trip.
I was in Zion National Park in October looking for Bighorn Sheep, and I found them! This young one looked so at home on his slick rock perch.
What can be said about 2018? It was an unforgettable year.
I’m incredibly grateful for my friends and family who care about me, but I also had to do some letting go of people who weren’t the friends I thought they were.
I also had the amazing opportunity to go on a monumental several-month road trip of the United States. Despite never having traveled alone for more than a week, I packed up my car and set out entirely alone. I stayed with some friends and family along the way, but the majority of my nights were camping by myself. Not only did I get to see some of the amazing scenery and history this country has to offer, but I also got to prove to myself that I can travel solo and have a great time in my own company.
And last, but certainly not least, I got over 15,000 annual views on this blog. My current figure is 15,098, which is more than 1,000 more views than I received last year. I must be doing something interesting! Thank you to all of you who read.
Without further ado, here’s the recap:
I was so excited I could do a high ponytail!
At the Expo
Me with the Golden Gate Bridge
Oliver and I on our last day
Taryn and Me with the bow of the Cutty Sark
I am hopeful that 2019 will reveal itself to be a good year, with new beginnings and continued love from my friends and family. May all your lives be blessed as well.
With the countdown to Christmas and all its associated chaos/busy-making, I haven’t had much time to write…
So I’ll entertain you over the next few weeks with some of my favorite photos from my road trip.
This is Natural Bridge viewpoint at Bryce Canyon National Park. Even though it is named Natural Bridge viewpoint, it is actually an arch, not a bridge, geologically speaking. Bridges are formed by water; arches are formed by wind and other forces.
Natural Bridge (although it is actually an arch) at Bryce Canyon National Park
With the countdown to Christmas and all its associated chaos/busy-making, I haven’t had much time to write… Not to mention the fact that I am still having major issues with my internet service, but that’s a rant for another time.
So I’ll entertain you over the next few weeks with some of my favorite photos from my road trip.
This Longhorn Steer lives at the Grant-Kohrs Ranch National Historic Site in Deer Lodge, Montana. I love cows – I have always thought they are very cute, and this guy is no exception.
Day 4, Wednesday, June 27, 2018
We continued our tour of Greenwich with a brief walk through of the historic Greenwich Royal Naval College. The buildings here were built between 1696 and 1712, and were originally the Royal Hospital for Seamen at Greenwich, or more generally known as Greenwich Hospital. The hospital was built on the instructions of Mary II, who was troubled by the lack of care for seamen returning from the Battle of La Hogue. The chapel and the Painted Hall were both built at this time.
One of the buildings at the Naval College
Eventually the hospital was closed and the site was converted to a naval training center; it served this purpose between 1873 and 1998. It is now managed by the Greenwich Foundation, which opened the site to the public in 2002, and does a variety of events, movie filming, and other activities there.
The fountain at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich
The Painted Hall is an artistic masterpiece; the work of Sir James Thornhill, between 1707 and 1726. During this period, the United Kingdom was created, and the murals on the walls and ceilings depict the political change occurring at the time. Other themes include cultural and scientific achievements, naval accomplishments and commercial enterprises. The murals and ceilings are currently being restored.
Our visit was a little confusing; the guidebook and the Painted Hall’s website indicated that the site is free to visit. However, when we went in, there was obviously an admission charge of 11 pounds. We decided not to pay, as we had a lot of other tourist activities we were doing, so we checked out the entryway artwork and exited. I think that the site is technically closed because of the restoration, but you can choose to have a guided tour of the ceiling, and that is what the admission was for. It would have been nice if the Greenwich Foundation made this more clear. If you can shed some light on this, please let me know.
One day I would love to see the Painted Hall, in all its restored glory; the art in the entryway was pretty amazing… In the meantime, you can see photos at the Painted Hall website.
The entry of the Painted Hall
We did walk across the way to the original chapel, which is also an architectural and artistic masterpiece and dates from the time of the hospital. I love seeing old churches, and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. Both the art and the woodwork here are beautiful.
Costs: Old Royal Naval College – Painted Hall – 11 pounds? (not included with London pass), Chapel – free
A year ago today, I was at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. visiting the memorials. It was a cold, sunny day and it was a humbling experience to visit the World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Memorial, and the Lincoln Memorial. There was a ceremony honoring veterans at the Vietnam Memorial, and there were many Vietnam Vets in attendance.
To all of our Veterans, thank you.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate — we can not consecrate — we can not hallow — this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863
