Vacation, part two…

2010 08 24_1025 Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone, (Canary Springs?)

2010 08 24_1180- Timmy and I on Beartooth Pass.

2010 08 24_1274 Yep, REAL wildlife this time. Bison, Yellowstone.

2010 08 22_0605 I rented a 200-500 zoom lens before leaving. This is Crazy Horse, up close and personal….(and what an inspirational project…)

2010 08 22_1089 President Lincoln, Mt Rushmore (For scale comparison, all of Mt Rushmore can fit in the space behind Crazy Horses head …)

2010 08 23_0787 Devils Tower.

I have too many images, by the way! I have to do some serious culling and editing before I post to my website, but figured I would continue to offer a taste….we are having a BLAST!

Vacation In Photos…

 

2010_AUG Vacation-52--Don’t Worry, be happy! I am posting only a SMALL selection of our trip to:

Sioux Falls, Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Needles Highway, Keystone, Billings, Yellowstone, Grand Tetons, Salt Lake City, The Salt Falts, Rocky Mountain National Park, Boulder and whatever else we see before we head home. These are only the first few days!

 

2010_AUG Vacation-1= All vacations are better with Nutella! Sioux Falls Park, picnicing.

2010_AUG Vacation-12--See, our little black rain cloud did come with us on vacation after all!

2010_AUG Vacation-23-This is for YOU, dad!!

 2010_AUG Vacation-48--   Jesse James Memorial. First Train Robbery right here!

 2010_AUG Vacation-53--Wind Turbines. They have a lazy elegance, tumbling slowly and not quite synchronized.

2010_AUG Vacation-82- After breakfast every morning, we need to get rid of the evidence of our mass-murder of insects. A white car is a sorry sight in SD… There have been some gross and blood fronts of cars!

2010_AUG Vacation-97=Sioux Falls, South Dakota….A very lovely downtown water park area….would that the James in Richmond could realize even a portion of this feeling of community.

2010_AUG Vacation-72-Fog. Much, heavy pea fog, for hours and hours and hours.

  2010_AUG Vacation-162= Mitchell’s Corn Palace! Yes, the facade is decorated in CORN. And other grains. Yearly, they change out the corn and the theme of the art.

 2010_AUG Vacation-172--One of our constant companions, Timmy’s FAVORITE sign of all. (BTW. South Dakota? It’s under construction.)

2010_AUG Vacation-198-Walk the Dinosaur!

 2010_AUG Vacation-190-- Field of sunflowers.

2010_AUG Vacation-266-Badlands Park. WOW, is really the only word that I can find. Amazing, astonishing, incredible, unbelievable, unearthly, WOW.

2010_AUG Vacation-296-  The most common form of wildlife in the badlands. These little buggers are EVERYWHERE.

 

Oh, you wanted REAL animals?

 

Ok, how about HIM?

 

2010_AUG Vacation-396-Long Pronged Deer. Yes, I AM that close…there were a dozen grazing at an overlook….

So, there you have it. The first three days, in a few photos (mostly unedited, and what I DID do was on the laptop, and i am not thrilled with the screen)…

Hope you enjoyed!

The Summer of Skirts…

I think it is high time for a silly, frivolous post. After all it’s August. The end of summer is either approaching or upon you. (Hopefully the dog days of summer don’t visit. Don’t think I could do with HOTTER than July, thanks.)

Skirts, I think, can certainly fulfill that topic! In the summer, a skirt is so much more comfortable than almost anything…light and airy…

I shop for my clothing almost exclusively at Goodwill. I just LIKE it better, because they are not exactly the same as every store in the mall each season.

I am able to find interesting items, good labels, well cared for and did I mention a great price?

Goodwill of Central Virginia has a system whereby all items with a certain colored price tag are 50% off any particular week. I TRY VERY HARD not to look at anything that is not on sale.

Yes, it’s one of a kind and it could be gone next time. But you know what? I have too many clothes anyway!! It has to be an extraordinary find to pay ‘full price’ for something. (And by ‘full price’ I mean $4.99 for a skirt or slacks, $6.99 for a wonderful pair of broken-in jeans, etc)

(I have a work uniform. I don’t get to wear all of this too often. I could probably save a LOT of money if I would stay out of Goodwill…sigh.)

But, look at all the wonderful skirts that found their way into my closet this yearIMG_9665-IMG_9659 IMG_9660- IMG_9661-IMG_9664-  IMG_9662 IMG_9663- 

Well, one I’ve owned for a while longer. But it WAS a Goodwill find! I didn’t bother with showing off all the combinations with the blouses I have at home or have picked up at Goodwill to go along with these pretties, but I am a happy camper! 

Off on our wild west adventure in just over a weeks worth of sleeps! Facebook updates on occasion, and a blog post or two, and photos uploaded to http://www.rteest42.smugmug.com often, I hope!