Gratitude Challenge Day 8 :: Beauty

Today's Gratitude Challenge is almost too easy. I just have think of when I say, "Oh wow, that's beautiful," and start making a list.

Day 8: Something beautiful.

While a lot of things fill this bill, I'd say Mother Nature ranks right up there on top. Whether it's fall colors creating a beautiful scene...

Or a stunning sunset that leaves you speechless...

She owns the market on pure, unfiltered beauty. And I'm grateful for it.

Not just because I enjoy taking pictures. Even with nothing to permanently capture the image, my mind can. And I often think, well thanks, God. That was a real treat!

That's after I "oooh" and "ahhh" a bit, of course. Based on the thousands of beautiful photos I took in Alaska, too, I'd say I'm on to something with giving Mother Nature some credit. 

I may change my opinion later this week if we get snow, but for now, thanks!

#gratitudemonth

This is my Father's World :: Part 4

This is my Father's world.
O let me ne'er forget
that though the wrong seems oft so strong,
God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father's world:
why should my heart be sad?
The Lord is King; let the heavens ring!
God reigns; let the earth be glad!

And now for some of the natural wonders of my Father's World. Needles Highway cuts through Custer State Park, which is part of the Black Hills. There are twists and turns and one-lane rock tunnels that require a warning honk of your horn and a quick prayer you don't meet someone halfway.

But it is beautiful in its rugged, jutting way. Check it out...

A fellow traveler warned us to follow the speed limit, do not exceed it!

Two-lane tunnel. Yay!

Eye of the needle.

And its shadow.

Careful!

View thru the windshield. Don't worry, I was not driving!

Black Hills.

Mom checking out the distant view.

"Needles" sticking up everywhere.

More needles.

Slow down. Way down.

Single lane but short.

Always look out both sides of the vehicle. Pretty views.

Interesting rock patterns.

Mom gets sassy with her last pose of the day!

Stay tuned. I still have to share Devil's Tower wonders and those memorable Badlands. If luck is with me, I will be home tomorrow, so your Wild West tour may wait a few days to continue.

(If I survive the Wild NorthWest Wisconsin!)

Wild West :: Part Five

We have now transitioned from Wild Women of the Wild West to Bad Women of the Wild West. Oh, make that BadLAND Women!

Our westward trail has ended. Checked out of our hotel in Rapid City this mornng and started heading east. Destination: the Badlands!

There are a million words to describe the Badlands. The first two are MUST SEE. Seriously, after all the sights we've seen up close and far away on this trip, this rocky landscape was the most amazing natural landmark I have ever seen-- if you can call thousands of acres just one "landmark."

There are a few routes to take in the park. The one we traveled covered 20-some miles and only took us 4 hours or so to complete. If you want to know why we could practically stop every half mile to look and take photos, you'll have to go.

While a cursory description would say these are just varying rock formations, that doesn't cut it. As we traversed the paved part of the park, our elevation changed constantly and, subsequently gave us changing view and angles and general scenery. Sometimes green prairie grass swaying in today's high winds and sometimes tall rocks or deep canyons and sometimes a mixture of both.

Naturally we didn't dare break any laws today -- especially veering off any paths! Not worth it for ANY photo!

Mom checking out the scenery from one of our first of many lookouts.

Tell me again why I bothered curling my hair this morning only to put a hat on in the gale-force winds?!

So many neat layers within rock layers. Awesome. Rain held off but sun only came out occasionally to change the view by the second.

  

I was totally enamored with the stripes on the rocks. All even heights and widths. All matching shades from rock to rock. Just don't know how it's formed that way, but I am going to read up on that. Such an amazing natural creation! wow.

At sunrise or sunset, or even a full moon as a backdrop, so many of the rocks looked like they could be city skylines.

We did not seei any buffalo roaming on the range, but we saw these big horn sheep scaling the rocks. I thought they were mountain goats but my nephew, who hunts out in this neck of the woods, corrected me. How would I know? I'm the tourist who got excited when we saw big fat black cows and thought they were buffalo!

After our long tour ended, we continued east and stopped in a little town called Kadoka for lunch at a little cafe. We then continued to Mitchell, S.D., home of the world's one and only Corn Palace.

The bad news is that it is under major construction so there were only a handful of "artistic" images on display.

It should be pretty darn cool when it is done since it is honoring 100 years, I believe. The good news is they did have some nice displays on the inside and a handful outside on just one side of the building.

Pretty cool artistry with corn cobs, isn't it? Kind of a tourist trap, really, but worth stopping by.(says the professional tourist).

Here I am hanging out with the Palace Guard. He was teaching me corny jokes. Naturally, I was all ears!

After our quick stop in Mitchell, we laid on the gas (within legal range) and made it to Sioux Falls by nightfall. Stopped at Sonic to eat. Yay. Loved that place when we went there on our mission trip last summer. Just don't have them around home at all.

That Coconut Cream Pie shake will have to last me indefinitely..Not that I won't have some ice cream of some sort in the meantime.

This tourist is still on vacation, after all!

Wild West :: Part Three

The Western weather gods were making up for our soggy Sunday. And we thank them for it.

On a day of touring national monuments and driving through unique scenic roadways, it was such a treat to have postcard picture perfect cloudless skies! Thank you!

First on the map was Mount Rushmore. This really should be on everybody's Bucket List. I was like a kid at Christmas. As soon as it came into view on our drive there, I was so excited!

Our four great faces with the "official" great faces of South Dakota!

There are several angles of the four presidents that a tourist can see. Mom and Rachel stayed near the visitors center while Rayna and I took our cameras and hit the trail. I have no clue how many dozens of photos I took, but it was just a breathtaking sight from all angles.Just amazing

It was a lot of walking and plenty of steps. Felt fine going down, but what goes down must go up! May feel that in my calves tomorrow! Couldn't complain with how beautiful a day it was.

After Mount Rushmore, it was south to the Crazy Horse Monument. My mother said it didn't look like much different from when she and Dad saw it 20 years ago. But after watching the video explaining the story behind it and seeing just how far they have come, it was pretty impressive. And, though, I doubt it will be finished in my lifetime, will be quite impressive when it is finished.

The 1/34th scale model of the finished monument.See what I mean about the timeline for the finished project?

From Crazy Horse, we took the Crazy Course -- otherwise known as Needle highway. Just a twisty, windy, scary narrow driving course through the Black Hills and Custer Park. We had some scary one-lane tunnels where you prayed you wouldn't meet an oncoming vehicle. Took some neat photos I will share soon.

Eye of the needle along the Needle Highway.

Just lots of unique landscape. Very cool. And, well, majestic.

Got back to Rapid City a little after 5 p.m. and joined Tim and family for supper at Sanford's -- a great set-up like the Sanford & Sons junkyard on TV. Great decor and great food. The boys were entertaining as always, too!

Came back to hotel to chill out and try to upload photos. Just not gonna work how I want this trip. Hope you can enjoy your ride with me without them!

Scenic Route

A few images from Jim's "Roots Roadtrip" out East.

Funny how the people out East say Wisconsin is beautiful, but we don't have anything like this! Jim enjoyed many views of the Adirondak Mountains while driving around upstate New York and Vermont.

... Of course, they don't have a lot of deer out there, either.

There's just something about covered bridges that make me think of Clint Eastwood... I mean think of the old times.

But this is better than ol' Clint any day. Those who know me and my love for lighthouses and water know that this is why I wish I was there! Sigh... Maybe next time...

Scenic Route

God blessed me with a beautiful sunrise on my morning run today.

I almost missed it. It was still a bit dark out when I was heading west and then south. But when I turned around to head back north I glanced to my right and saw the beautiful pinks and oranges behind the black silhouettes of the trees.

As usual, I thought: "I wish I had my camera!" But some things are just meant to be enjoyed for the moment -- and we can take a picture in our mind. As quickly as it appeared, it was gone and the sun was up to brighten the day. By the time I got back to the house, the opportunity to share it had disappeared with the colorful hues.

Maybe it was just meant for me. Sometimes I need reminders of the beauty around me. I am guilty of having tunnel vision. Whether it's running or biking or driving, I know where I need to go and how to get there. My focus is often tunneled in on just getting there.

Last week a friend in the publishing business stopped by our Iola office on a visit from Arkansas. He was meeting family in the lakes area south of Wisconsin Rapids so I gave him directions how to get there since 90 percent of the trip is my route to and from work each day.

When he arrived at his destination, he called me to thank me for the great directions and commented, "That was the most beautiful drive I've had in Wisconsin. How did you pick such scenic route?"

Scenic route? Frankly, we drive that way because it is the shortest distance between points A and B. I hadn't considered it a "scenic route" ... or maybe just hadn't noticed.

On my way home that day, I took special note of it. He was right. There is a beautiful variety of scenery. Why didn't I see that before?

Makes me wonder what else I'm missing ...