Natural Bridge - Bryce Canyon

Only one shot from the Natural Bridge lookout but I thought it had potential so I put it through the editing process and this is the result.   Definitely some creative license at work here but I do like the results.

Our friend Lori Arthur is staying with us for the next week before she goes back home to the daily grind.  My Lori has scheduled a week of activities and sites to see.  I am the chauffeur and pack horse.  The latter required to carry packages as they shop till we all drop.

Later.  

Bryce Point

Bryce Point is another one of the lookout points with an elevation of 8300 ft.  All shot on Oct 21 between 9:30 and noon.  

I changed the sky and added a mystical filter to change it up a bit. 

1 Hoodoo, 2 hoodoos, 3 hoodoos.....
14,654 hoodoos, 14,955 hoodoos.
Damm, I lost count.
1 Hoodoo, .......

It was cold and windy up on the rim. 

Well on to the next viewing point.  

Later.       

Bryce Canyon

We departed home on October 15.  We got up early and I got busy winterizing the house while Lori headed out to the dentist for a filling replacement.  The appointment was supposed to have been on the previous Friday but a freak snowstorm with massive power loss across the province resulted in her dentist office closing due to a lack of electricity.  We headed over to Town & Country Campground where I had parked the trailer for loading and some much needed cleaning.  We left about noon with our first destination being Regina.  

An uneventful drive and pulled into a mostly empty campground on the outskirts of Regina.  We spent the night and started hooking up in the morning for our trip to Lethbridge.  I was pulling in the slides when a fuse blew. No power to raise the rear stabilizing jacks or bring in the slides.  Fortunately this had happened to us before and I knew where the fuse was located.  Then I started looking through my tool box for my collection of fuses.  I looked everywhere, well almost everywhere, and could not find the replacement fuses.  I remembered packing them but I also remember reorganizing and repacking a number of items and thought I may have forgot to put the fuses back into the trailer.  I ended up scavenging a fuse from another circuit in the panel with a view to buy some new fuses in Lethbridge.  I ended up finding my spare fuses later that day while setting up in Lethbridge.  

Once we were set up we headed over to Jeff and Carrie's place for dinner and a visit with them and Oscar, Jack and Milo.  How fast they are growing.  Oscars voice has dropped a couple of octaves and has his learners drivers license.  Will be nice once he gets his full license this winter, turned 16 on Dec 6.  With the boys all in different sports leagues and music lessons an extra driver will certainly help getting everyone to their destination on time.    So proud of Jeff and Carrie for the family they have created.

We got to Butte, Mt the next day and that's where the toilet broke.  A small plastic tab on the flushing mechanism broke off.  After a few phone calls we located a Camping World in Idaho Falls which had the model we needed in stock.  It was on our route south so we stopped in and picked up the replacement and headed on to Pocatello, Id. for the night.

The Cowboy RV park in Pocatello was almost full up and the only spot we could get was a double long site and we were parked in the rear site.  Once set up my truck would be sandwiched between our trailer and the 5th wheel in front of us.  Not great but ok for an overnighter.  The real challenge was the length of our site did not allow me to pull the truck clear of the trailer after unhooking.  I unhooked and pulled the truck ahead enough to clear the hitch and planned to lower the pin to about 1" above the bed of the truck.  We would still be nose high but it was the best I could do.  So I'm busy watching the pin as I lower the nose of the trailer.  I'm getting close to stopping but for some reason the distance between the pin and the truck bed isn't getting any smaller.  I still have my finger on the switch to lower the trailer but the gap isn't getting any smaller.  What the hell is happening.  Then I look up and see what the problem is.  Since I couldn't pull the truck up far enough for the pinbox to clear the truck bed the nose of the trailer ended up resting on the side rails of the truck.  Once the two met the weight of the trailer was pushing on the truck rails and compressing the trucks suspension.   I expressed my frustration with a few colourful words, not to be repeated here, and reversed the front landing gear.  Thankfully no damage was done to the rails of the truck.  Stupid Stupid Stupid.  

Each year in our travels there is always something which causes additional stress to the travels.  Some of my favourite: 
Pulling into a gas station where the canopy is an inch too low, cracking the air conditioner shroud. Then not finding out about it until driving down the interstate in heavy traffic and watching in my sideview mirror as the shroud flies into the air, tumbling down onto the roadway just in front of a semi.  Thank goodness only my pride was damaged.  
Then there was the time we hooked up, left our TV antenna up and ended up having to replace the antenna at our next stop.  Later in the same trip while in a campground heading to our RV site I pulled over to the side of a narrow roadway to allow someone to pass.  I knew I would be brushing up against some small branches of some very large Lilac bushes however I wasn't worried as it was mostly small twigs and leaves.  Then I heard the rip.  Unbeknownst to me there was a light standard hiding overhead in the bushes and it ripped the rubber roof. 
On one trip down, just after we had had the trailer into our RV dealer to install a new battery, we stopped in York, NE.  It was cold and we had our propane furnace running which runs off of 12 volt power as do most of our lights. Then the lights started to dim.  Next to go would be the blower on the furnace.  Turns out the RV Dealer had crossed the wires when installing our new battery and we had just run it dead and blew the main fuses in our surge suppressor.  Luckily there was a Walmart close by and I bought a battery charger.  After switching the wires on the battery terminals I hooked up the charger and we had light and heat.  
Last year was probably the scariest.  We had been going down some serious downgrades in New Mexico when I heard a change in the pitch of the engine.  I looked at Lori and said "That doesn't sound good".  Everything still seemed to be operating ok so we continued on.  Next rest stop our travel companions pointed out the my truck was smoking.  What the hell.   I checked all the fluid levels, slid underneath and looked around.  Not sure what I was looking for but thought it was the thing to do.  We babied the truck into Tucson and turns out during one of those downgrades the truck shifted hard into 3rd gear and blew the rear differential seal.  Fixed under warranty but all it takes is mechanical problems to turn an otherwise enjoyable trip into a headache.  
There have been other more minor things and all RVers have their stories to tell.  At least no blown tires at highway speed, fingers crossed, or other life threatening incidents.  But the culmination of these incidents plus a few other items has caused the romance of pulling 14,000 lbs. down the highway to slowly disappear.  We still enjoy seeing new wonderful sights but the day we drive through the front gates of Gold Canyon RV & Golf resort we each take a breath of relief with a collective feeling that we are home.  Each year we discuss the switch to buying a park model and selling the truck and trailer.  This year we made the leap.  More on this in later posts but this will be our last year of RVing as we are now owners of a park model.  A new chapter with new opportunities and no doubt new challenges.  

So on to some pictures from our trip down.  

One of our stops was in Fillmore, UT.  Not particularly notable however there was an old pasture behind our trailer with a sky full of menacing clouds but with enough room left for the setting sun to shine through.  

Our first major stop on the way down was at Bryce Canyon National Park.  We have now hit 4 of the big 5 National Parks in Utah.  The only one eluding us so far is Capitol Reef.  All of them have been jaw dropping with Zion probably being our favourite but Arches and Bryce Canyon are not far behind.  

Seeing Bryce Canyon can be done simply by driving up the highway along the rim of the canyons.  View points along the 18 mile journey are often right on the side of the highway so all one needs to do is park, get out of the car, walk a few feet and take in amazing views.  The first lookout is at 7758 ft with the last at 9115 ft.  Of course if one wants to be a little more adventurous there are plenty of hikes down to the canyon floor.  We went down a few, at least part way, but we were not in hiking shape just yet and the walk back up involves plenty of stops and lots of huffing and puffing trying to calm the racing heart. 
I will break up the pictures by each of the Canyon Views. 

Agua Canyon at an elevation of 8800 ft.  The valley floor below is probably about a 2000 ft drop.  I can only imagine what the views are like from the floor.  The pictures were taken on Oct 24 at about 9:00 AM.  Still get the amazing soft morning light which really brings out the colours.  

Black Birch Canyon, at 8750 ft. on Oct 21 around 11:30 AM.  Still some nice light but definitely a bit harsher. 

The skies were blue with a few white clouds but for the
picture above I thought I'd change it up a bit and put in a stormy sky. 

Thats it for this post.  Plenty more canyon pictures on the way. 

Later. 

A Monarchs Life Cycle

Hey,  I'm almost getting to the point where I can start processing pictures from Snowbird 5 which we started almost 2 months ago.  So many pictures so little time.  At this rate I will need to live till I'm very very old so I can get caught up processing my pictures.   

But first, back to our backyard. 

Years ago we planted milkweed in a flower garden in our former house.  We were pleased with the entertainment provided by the Monarch butterflies, in their various forms, which eat the leaves of the milkweed plant.  First thing we planted in the new house were 2 milkweed plants, also called butterfly bushes.  Last year we had a few caterpillars gorging themselves on the young plants but this year word must have gotten out.  We lost count but estimate we had at least 50 caterpillars from late August to the end of September.  When they disappeared from the plants we started our search around the foundation, under the steps, sunroom, lawn chairs and just about any structure that they could attach to and allow the chrysalis to form and hang around till the transformation was complete.  

So here is a short pictorial of the process. 

Here is an old monarch.
The colours are faded and the wings beaten and tattered.
A trip to mexico and back will do that.
It looks like I feel some days.  

I am assuming that they lay their eggs on or close to the milkweed plants cause a short time later these fat little caterpillars start showing up.

I took tons of pictures trying to get a good closeup of their heads.
 Then I realized I was mostly getting shots of their ass end.
Turns our they have antennae at both ends of their body.
 The larger pair of antennae are at the head end.
I think.  

While they move slowly they are relentless in their pursuit of the new leaves.
They move around the plant until one day they are gone.
Then a few days later it seems a new batch appear
and start the process all over again. 

Once the feeding is done they crawl off and attach
themselves to just about any stationary object where
they can hang upside down.
As the internal chemical conversion process starts
they start to form a J.
Kind of like doing a "crunch" but holding it for a real long time.

I tried to get a shot of the metamorphisis from a caterpillar
to the chrysalis however once the process begins
it only takes a few minutes.  
On the right the black shell at the top of the green chrysalis
is the remaining skin of the caterpillar.
When its ready to come out it starts doing its version of the "twist".
Shakin all about till the shell is moved to the top and and then falls off. 
On the left is the remnants of a chrysalis which has
 "hatched" into a mature monarch.     

As the chrysalis matures it develops a hard translucent shell.
The Jade green colour is accented with black and gold.
Very pretty.

As it approaches the hatching stage you can see the
colours of the developed butterfly inside.

The ugly caterpillar becomes a beautiful Monarch.
Compare the colours on the newly born monarch to the first
picture of the older one which was at the end of its life cycle.  

They will sit around for hours after hatching.
Slowly spreading their wings to dry them and exercising their muscles.
Short flights turn in to longer ones and then they are gone.  

The Monarchs aren't the only ones attracted to the Milkweed plants.  

Thats it for the nature lesson.  Next its on to our trip south.

Till then.  

A few more flowers

A bit of a mixture from the English Garden at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg and one shot from our very small flower garden.

English Garden

English Garden

English Garden

 Lily pond at English Garden
My favourite cause of the flower and sky reflection in the water. 

In front of our house.  

English Garden. 

About 4 miles from our house.
Backed up the truck to the edge of the field and sat in a lawn chair
 in the truck box till the light was right.
People driving by on the highway must of thought I'd lost it.
Perhaps I have. 

This was our view from our back yard when we left.
Phase 2 of our development is under way.  

A few more pictures of the lifecycle of the monarch butterfly and then its on the road again.  I hate it when I get so far behind.  

Later.   

Can't see the forest for the trees

We regularly make the drive up to Swan River to visit Lori's mother and on that long long drive there is a stretch of highway between Ste Rose du lac and Dauphin that has a stand of Aspen running along the highway.  Have always wanted to stop and try and capture the beauty of all those white barked trees and we finally did that this summer.  

Can't see the forest for the trees. 

 About a mile further along the highway is a lone dead tree in the middle of a field.  Can't get too close as the field is fenced with barbed wire but was the perfect opportunity to try out my new 70-200mm lens.  The sky that day was a pretty boring white overcast so I also tried the new sky replacement tool in Luminar 4 and it worked pretty well.

Back at Pineridge Hollow a few more flower pictures. 

Would have been nice if the white flowers were a bit bigger
as they get lost in the brightly coloured leaves

Nothing like a little zoom blur to put the flowers in motion. 

Thats all for today.  

Snowbird 5 Has Begun

Snowbird 5 has not only begun but is well underway.  My diligence at regular posts has deteriorated a bit more each year.  I took a look back at my last post in April and realized I left off after our hike at Arches National Park and never did a post on Dead Horse State Park, Canyonlands National Park, our trip home or our stop to see Jeff and family in Lethbridge.  Perhaps I will get back to some of that at a later date but suffice it to say poor wifi at the RV Park in Moab, Ut. prevented me from posting at the time and once we got back home life took over and I never got back to it.  

Our summer was filled with the usual trivia of life that seems to fill up our days.  Lori's mom had some medical appointments in Winnipeg so came down to stay with us for a few stretches this summer.  This effectively made my office her bedroom and I never did get back to spending the time learning the photo editing software that I had purchased.  Lots of time for that this winter I hope.  

I did manage to spend most of July and Aug in the basement fixing it up to Lori's specifications so we now have a large fitness area.  No more excuses.  I had never done drywall before and while I will label my efforts as a success I hope to never have to do it again.  A new wall and doorway blocked off the furnace and water heater, etc into an out of view mechanical storage room.  All thats left is the baseboards and door trim which I will do next summer.  Only a couple more small projects left and the Honey Do list will be complete.  That of course will all change as you will read in subsequent posts.  

We had a very hot and dry summer but by late August that all changed and the rain started and never stopped.  The farmers were already looking at reduced yields due to the lack of rain in June and July which turned into a major challenge of getting the combines out in the muddy fields to get the crops off.  Apparently its the second year in a row where the potatoes have had to be left rotting in the fields.   My hats off to anybody in Agriculture where so much of their livelihood is beyond their control.   

We had a major snow storm go through just before Thanksgiving leaving large areas of the Province without power.  It was weeks before some of them got power back and some northern communities had to be evacuated.  We were on the eastern edge of the storm and escaped most of the carnage however as we departed west along the Transcanada on Oct 15 we saw the aftermath with Hydro lines down and snowbanks in the fields.  

2 years ago Lori took a fall and broke her arm just a month or so before our scheduled departure.  That departure had to be delayed for a few weeks until the followup X-rays showed the healing process had started.  This year, about 2 weeks before we were scheduled to depart Lori was out at Birdshill Park for a walk with Charli and she came back with a 3 legged dog.  A trip to the Vet and turns out Charli ripped a ligament in her back leg.  At her age, almost 13, the best and least costly option was bed rest, anti-inflammatories, and injections of Cartrophen to help with the soft tissue regeneration.  Those first few days were pretty taxing on my back as I had to carry her everywhere, including outside to do her business.  After almost 2 months Charli is back to her usual prancing on her walks although with a distinct limp.  No more long walks in the desert for her.  

Well thats enough verbiage for now.  I did manage to get out on a few local photo shoots of flowers at Pineridge Hollow, see below, the English Garden at Assiniboine Park and a large collection of the life and times of Monarch butterflies.  I'll post some of these later as well as pictures of our stop in Bryce Canyon National Park and a few other points along the way.

Enjoy the pics.  As usual, best viewed in full screen mode.  

Framing in the wall dividing the mechanical/storage room

Framing in the common wall between our neighbour and ourselves

Boxing in the duct and plumbing was fun.

Mudding and Taping.  Uggggh!
Happy with results with the exception of one seam which has a bit of a hump.
TV will hang their to cover my fopa. 

My able bodied assistant helping with the painting. 

Almost there.  The flooring was hard on my knees and back.
Thanks to a flooring sale at Costco total project came in under $4,000. 

To borrow from Canadianna.
The last spike.
Or in my case the last board.
Thank goodness for gel knee pads. 

Finished except for baseboards.
I added 13 pot lights but no plans to finish the ceiling.
Good Enough Construction strikes again.

Here are some shots from the gardens at Pineridge Hollow.  If you are in the Birdshill Park area and haven't been to the restaurant for lunch or dinner you gotta go.  Excellent meals and all locally sourced.  They have a great farmers market on Saturday mornings and the gardens are beautiful.  

I had just purchased a 90mm macro lens second hand from a wedding photographer who wasn't getting much use out of it.  Its going to take a little practice as the focal plane is very shallow but together with process in Luminar 4 and Topaz Studio I like the results.  There is no end to the creative options available in this digital world.  

Some basic processing in Luminar and then the Topaz filters take it from
 a photo to a painting.  

The 90mm Macro is one of the sharpest lenses Sony makes.
Can really see it in the Bee's wings and hairs.

Just waiting for an occupant to sit and enjoy the beauty.
I masked out the chair to keep it crisp but the rest is all swirls and brush strokes.  

Thats it for now.  Thousands more pictures to cull and edit.  Just need to make the time.  

Later.