Tag Archives: flowers

Monday, June 15

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If I count days from May 5, when we landed at Heathrow, today is day 42 of our trip. (Obviously if I count from May 4, when we left SFO, it’s day 43. I’m going to bet readers could figure that out too. We are all so smart that way.)

I have to acknowledge that we are a people of privilege: so many can’t manage to do a trip like this. So I must remember to be very grateful. I also have to realize that any trip could our last, as we never know what the next day will bring. So again, I’m grateful.

Acknowledgement over ‘n out. But gratefulness is not over ‘n out. Ever.

Once we were dressed we went upstairs to get our coffees. We won’t pay £17 each for a breakfast here, but the coffee is free all day so that was fine by us. We made them (just one of those automatic machines) and took them back to the room with us as we figured out what we were doing.

Once coffee was done and we’d decided on our agenda we headed out. Dan suggested we grab breakfast nearby, so we did that first. Nothing close to £24!

Then it was over to the tube where we went, with one change, all the way to Richmond to visit Kew Gardens. And yes, Dan figured out the directions. Whew!

The Kew Gardens are huge. We obviously couldn’t see everything there, but we did see quite a bit. We went into most, if not all, of the houses … from tropical (so humid) to desert, and in between. The plant life at the garden is pretty amazing. (But their roses aren’t nearly as wonderful as what I find in San Jose, I must say!) We wandered and wandered. At one point we headed toward the “Redwood Grove”. What we found was one redwood (I think Dan said it was a coastal one). That was it! But there were other large-ish trees around. In any case, we spent a whole lot of time at the gardens, and I will just share photos, a video, and leave it at that.

(I’ve now managed to upload more photos and I think that’s enough. No one needs to see all the photos I shoot!)

We did have a nice, inexpensive lunch at the gardens. Exciting, I know.

From there we walked to where a boat would take us all the way to Westminster. It was a nice, relaxing ride, and it felt good to get off our feet for over an hour. We’d never done a Thames boat ride before, and I’m really glad we did this one. I wouldn’t mind taking another going the other direction, but we’ll see if we can fit that in. And yes, more photos without explanation. (I’m feeling tired and feeling a bit discombobulated right now — more on that later.)

Getting off the boat and heading out into the crowds was rather like culture shock. We had been in nature for so many hours and suddenly we could barely move. I’m so glad we aren’t staying anywhere near that area.

It was time for dinner so we went to a pub we’ve now been to twice already. I wanted to be able to go to the bottom floor (two flights down) because I had great memories of eating there on our first trip together to London: that time we met up with Jan and Greg and ate at the same pub! Yummy food was enjoyed.

Then back to the tube for an easy ride and short walk (because we went Dan’s way!) to our hotel.

But now for the tired and discombobulated bit. First of all, we did walk a lot, so of course I’m tired. But when we got back I told Dan I was going to take a shower. I had noticed a paper bath mat sitting on a shelf, but checking the shower floor I thought it wasn’t too slippery. WRONG. I started the shower and almost immediately fell to the floor. That is one dangerous shower. Fortunately nothing was broken and I got that darn paper bath mat and put it on the floor. What a dumb thing, though: it was falling apart by the time I was done showering. I think they should rethink their bath mat idea!

Now it’s time for me to listen to at least one recording I’m to study, and then off to sleepy land.

15,099 steps, 6 miles, 5 flights climbed

Sunday, May 31 — Walk, Day Five

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We moved our breakfast time up to 8:00 because today is our longest walk. We will be walking 14.4k so around 9 miles.

First, of course, packing, which at this point is fairly easy: everything has its spot and I mostly remember where those spots are.

Breakfast was quite nice. I took no photos of that, but I did take a photo of the stairs we had to deal with with our luggage, and a photo of said luggage waiting for pick up.

Then it was time to walk and off we went, first through Winchcombe and then on to Puck Pit Lane.

Jan graciously and gracefully demonstrated a new kind of gate we had to use at times.

We had, of course, gorgeous landscapes.

I shot this plant to try and identify it. According to my phone it’s broad bean. I know, not exactly a thrilling close up photo of the plant, but the fields were impressive.

Then it was back to a grain that the iPhone said was “bread wheat”.

We arrived in Hailes and Greg and Jan kindly posed for me. There was also the ruins of the Hailes Abbey. And there are to be no detectorists in the field by the abbey. You’ve been warned

We checked out the Hailes church, which included frescoes which I found interesting as I hadn’t realized any churches here had those.

Then it was back to fields and meadows, and of course gates. Ah, the gates … or stiles … or kissing gates. So many have different ways of opening and closing. It’s like an intelligence test, and I think I mostly score a B or C, but the one with a chain was easy to figure out. I give myself an A (because I do not believe in A+ as I frequently mention to Dan).

We passed by Wood Stanway Farmhouse and then entered Stanway. I had thought that might be a place to stop for a rest or whatever but there wasn’t anywhere near our path that looked like a possibility.

So on we marched. We passed sheep, and continued on through a bit of a lush “tunnel” (it felt like it, anyway), until we reached a road we had to cross.

Then it was more on the path, which wasn’t always smooth. I had to remember to lift her feet so I wouldn’t take another spill!

Oh … and I made a video during the above portion of the walk.

We passed by the Stanway House. I don’t know if people ever get to visit, but it and the church by it were locked tight.

From there we entered the Cotswold Way trail. (There are a number of trails in the Cotswolds.)

There was a huge beautiful tree that I had to shoot to see if it could be identified. The iPhone said “European Beech” and when Greg reached us he said it was a beech, but had a different name (in German) for it.

We went through more meadows.

Finally we were in Stanton. We were weary and ready for a rest and maybe some lunch. I had noted in my research that there was The Mount Inn where we could get a bite. Well gee, it was a big climb to get there. Ah … I get it: “Mount Inn” as in mountain. Cute. Or not. None of us were all that keen on the hike up. We ordered our food and drinks and were surprised by the amount of food we had. I forgot to take any photos of the food (I blame the climb), and only have one shot of part of the room we were in.

Then we had the last leg of our walk. I thought it was two miles. I was wrong: it was a bit longer. First we walked back down the hill in Stanton.

While Jan and Greg went ahead I told Jan I would go back to find Dan as he wasn’t with us. Since I found him near the Church of St. Michael & All Angels we went inside.

Then it was (surprise!) more meadows. And sheep. Some were the spotted sheep we had been told we might find. (Confession: I thought they’d be spotted on their wool. Heh. No … spotted faces.)

There was one very large climb. I had feared it might be there, but Dan had suggested it wouldn’t be a big one. Gee, I was right! So up up up we climbed. But climbs don’t look like climbs in photos so never mind that. Just know we made it up to the top.

And then there were the cows with one beige stripe. We saw those in Scotland too. I’d never seen them prior to this trip.

More walking. More meadows. More lovely views. And a new kind of gate … but not really a gate.

Finally we arrived! Our longest day was done. And hello Broadway! Now they say the neon lights are bright but I didn’t see even one neon light here. Be forewarned. We checked into our hotel and our room is lovely.

We met Jan and Greg again for dinner, which we had right at the hotel. You get no photos of dinner. But it was good and I’m tired and there you go. But here, have some photos of only a few of the stairs we had to take to get to our rooms.

Now it may be only 8:50 here, but I’m pretty darn tired and hoping I will sleep after that long walk. Goodnight!

26,207 steps, 10.26 miles, 7 flights climbed

Wednesday, Death Valley Trip

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Well gee, let’s wake up even 15 minutes earlier, shall we? Yep … 4:15. Painful for this girl, but so it goes.

We got ready, packed up, and Dan loaded the car. Then off we went. Bye bye Beatty.

First stop: Mesquite Dunes. I was surprised to see tons of brown eyed primrose, and another flower I think is another sort of primrose. It’s always amazing to see what can grow in the dunes. I took some shots of the big picture but even more of flowers with my macro lens.

I tend to run out of steam before Dan, and today was no exception: I headed back to the car long before he did. I got a good amount of reading done.

Once Dan returned we went up a gravel road and set up breakfast. Fighter jets roared above us … so much for a quiet breakfast! I shot a few more photos because why not?!

We went to Stovepipe Wells to see if they had a DEVA wildflower book but found nothing. Books must not be popular for tourists.

Then it was goodbye Death Valley.

We decided to go out a different way. The brittlebush was plentiful.

We made our way to Father Crowley Point, where fighter jets practice above what is called Star Wars Canyon.

I walked around to see if I could find flowers. A higher elevation meant fewer flowers, but I did find some. When I went back to Dan he was chatting with a guy. As we stood the younger man pointed … a jet. It flew right past us! The noise was deafening. Dan may have gotten some good shots. Sadly I was just frozen due to the surprise … really shock! … of it all.

We stuck around a good long time but didn’t get another low flying jet.

Driving on Dan opted to take a dirt road detour on the way to Saline Valley.

There were a lot of Joshua trees, and this one was the first we saw.

More dirt road, another tree, among many …

Back to the main road, highway 190. Soon the Sierra Nevada came in to view.

We drove past Owen’s Lake a the tiny town of Olanche, and started looking for a spot to set up lunch. it wasn’t a tremendously scenic spot, and we opted not to get out our chairs and table, but food was eaten.

Next up was a rather ho-hum under one hour drive to our lodging for the night. Hello Ridgecrest.

But OH! A king-size bed is quite welcome, as was a hot shower and change of clothes. I’m a clean machine.

Then it was feet up (clean feet!) and get this blog entry going.

Finally, it was time for dinner. We had a couple of ideas in mind. The first place we were planning on checking out was a French restaurant called Mon Reve. We got there, walked in to see if there was a menu posted, and … well … never mind! We were seated and that was that. Forget the other choice! The server was also, I’m sure, the owner. He did the serving, and his wife, I believe did the cooking. It was just a lovely spot and we really enjoyed a relaxing, end-of-trip meal. (My meal is pictured: salmon and scalloped potatoes.)

Back to our hotel we went, for some reading and rest.

Tomorrow we are homeward bound, although you never know how many detours we might take.

Goodnight!

Tuesday, Death Valley Trip

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Today began even earlier. Our alarm went off at 4:30 AM. Too early, but up we rose and we were on the road by about 5 o’clock, this time with cups of bad hotel coffee for our enjoyment.

As we were driving, we were talking about staying in Beatty. There’s the advantage of saving quite a bit of money. I think it was nearly $1000 less, which is nuts. But the added drive almost makes that savings not worth it. Plus sometimes I’ve been able to get better deals at places in Death Valley.

Our first destination was Lake Manly. Dan had some ideas of where he wanted to shoot for the sunrise, so we pulled over, he got out his equipment, and I got out my phone and did a bit of walking while he shot. Sometimes I’m just not in the mood to pull out the camera. Besides, lots of the flowers were not quite open yet… I think they slept in more than we were allowed.

Of course, eventually I did have to get out of the car. I just can’t resist the flowers, even if they are looking sleepy. And then I found some that I hadn’t seen yesterday so that required the camera for sure!

After shooting those, I wandered a bit more and found other flowers— things I’d already shot yesterday, but why not try some more? I primarily use the macro lens, but did remember to snap a few on the iPhone. Including one that showed the terrain. If one was to look from the road, you might not even notice the flowers.

Later I walked to where Dan was shooting , warning him to watch for sneaker waves. (Yes, I’m really good with jokes. Or not.)

Then we drove a bit to find a nice breakfast spot.

From there we went to Devils Golf Course. (They leave the apostrophe off, so I will too.) Last time we were there I neglected to take a photo, so that was remedied.

Artist Drive & Artist’s Palette was next on the agenda.

We had seen a large bike group heading up the grueling climb. They cheered when all had reached what seemed like the top — Artist’s Palette (I wonder if they knew there would be more climbing, though not nearly what they’d done.

Natural Bridge was a surprise … tons of desert five-spot flowers. I took a lot of photos of those and other flowers with my macro lens.

We didn’t do the entire walk, but we did go past the natural bridge.

Lunch was at Texas Spring, on a rather astounding table and benches.

After checking messages where we had a signal Dan drove toward Ubehebe crater. We stopped briefly at a place prior to that.

Then the crater. I walked as closely to the edge as this wimpy girl could, but had to back away. I did manage a few iPhone photos of the crater and other views, though.

Another drive and it was dinner at Stovepipe Wells. (No photos.) Finally it was the final drive back to Beatty: tomorrow we are elsewhere.

Stay tuned!

Hello (again) Death Valley!

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After our earlier visit to DEVA we thought we might come again because it seemed as if there were signs that we’d find some nice flowers in March or April. Then we started reading reports of the rain the park had had and seen photos that implied perhaps even a February trip might be a good idea. Because of that we made reservations for both late February and March, and waited for more news.

Well, even more rain meant now might be a good idea, so early this morning we headed on our way.

The drive was uneventful — especially for me since I didn’t do the driving. Here are just a few shots (the train bit was in Tehachapi).

While in the Panamint Valley, just prior to heading up the mountain, we saw a car veer off the road on to the playa. That’s a huge, ugly, rotten, illegal thing to do. Dan held on to the horn for a good long time and whoever was driving must have gotten the message. But driving on the playa just ruins it for everyone else. What a dumb thing to do!

As we neared DEVA we saw a lot of the yellow … desert gold was definitely plentiful! There were places that were just blanketed. We also saw evidence of Phacelia … the purple does stand out! Eventually we pulled over and did a bit of investigating. I took a few iPhone shots just for the record. (Tomorrow I’ll get more serious about some macro photography.)


I learned about the name Stovepipe Wells…

Dan drove to a few different spots, just to get ideas of where we might shoot in the next few days. We also visited Salt Creek, where we saw more pupfish than we’d ever seen before! Stay tuned for the video … maybe It’ll appear soon, or maybe we’ll have to wait until I get back home.

More driving and I did pull out the Canon with the macro lens. I hope some of the shots turn out nicely — won’t know until I get home, though.

Eventually we headed to our motel. Places in DEVA were outrageously expensive so we found a Motel 6 in Beatty, Nevada for less that 1/3 of what we’d pay in the valley. It’s a drive, but so be it!

We checked in — the kind woman at the desk moved us to the first floor and we were relieved since the elevator was broken and we have a lot to haul into the room. She had her Fox News running — we are in a different part of the world now. Go figure.

For dinner we went to Smokin’ J’s BBQ. I had a turkey sandwich, Dan had turkey slices with fries (and more), and we ordered a salad to share.

Too. Much. Food.

Who knew? But in any case, it was just fine and it was one of the very few places open. Beatty isn’t exactly a hoppin’ happenin’ sort of place. (Population 880)

Then back to our hotel we went. We have to get up far too early in the morning so I am quickly writing this before a bit of reading and then sleep.

Stay tuned for more adventures. Today was just a “gotta get there” day, after all.

Death Valley, December 22

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It was an early morning day: our alarms (yes, both mine and Dan’s) went off at 4:15 AM. At that point I wasn’t sound asleep in any case so it wasn’t a miserable awakening.

While loading the car a runner went past. That’s one early run! She wisely had lights on both front and back as I learned when we later passed her on the main road.

I sort of dozed on and off as Dan did the long drive in the dark. I do have a tendency to fall asleep in moving vehicles … not only in cars, but in trains and planes as well. It’s a gift. 😉

The final road to our destination was not “sleepable”. It was washboard for a while, and at one point quite narrow. Again, I’m grateful for the driver. I think the drive itself was a bit more than an hour.

We arrived at Aguereberry Point at a very good time. Sunrise was still a bit away, but the colors … well … they were amazing. I didn’t use my good cameras, but the iPhone was just fine.

I’ve been to Aguereberry a few times now, and today’s visit was really rather pleasant. It was chilly, yes, but not like one time when the wind really made it ridiculous and another when it was pretty darn freezing.

Dan continued to photograph. Me, not in the mood, sat in the car part of the time since even with the nicer weather it does get cold, what with the wind and the clouds that were blocking the warmth of the now rising sun. And mostly I was really enjoying the peace and quiet one experiences in this area.

From Aguereberry Dan drove a short bit to a different view, hoping to get some light on the water down below. It’s possible a bit of dozing took place as well.

It appears that the light today might not be a photographer’s dream, and tomorrow Dan has read that it will be rather gray. We’ll see how it goes. I enjoy the area no matter what. (I’m not sure I’d want to be here in a huge storm, though, and while I’m glad to have experienced a dust storm once in my life I could do without that as well.)

More driving and a brief stop at a small cave Dan investigated … it really didn’t go anywhere.

At one curve I noticed a lot of trees below and figured there must be a water source. Going around further we saw a very bright cottonwood which was catching the sun so of course we had to stop. But gee, what are these pink things on the ground? Flowers. In December!

Crossing the street I then saw a spot of orange. Mallow. Another surprise.

Since Dan was continuing with his photography I walked up the street a bit, seeing tons of evidence of the wild burros but no burros in sight. And then more mallow. Plus this marker. Who knows if it’s for real or not? Guess I should look up the name.

More of the trees …

Finally we wound up at Wild Rose Campground. Breakfast time!

After eating we drove up the road a bit, seeing a few building that may or may not still be in use, and then headed over to Skidoo. The drive was long and bumpy and, for yours truly, sometimes scary. I’d done the trip before, but I’d forgotten at the drop offs in some areas. Thankfully Dan knows my fear and is very careful. He also suggests I grab my emergency passenger brake. It works so very well. How do I know? Well … we’ve not gone over a cliff. Yet.

Here is the photo of my emergency passenger brake being put to use:

We didn’t go all the way to the mine, but stopped at what used to be Skidoo, which was a convenient spot for one of us to get a bit of a rest while the other worked on this blog entry. (Waking up at 4:15 and doing ALL the driving while yours truly nods off does mean a nap or two is in order.)

Then back where we came from. This time, though, Dan mentioned that he thought we could probably find Furnace Creek from where we were. Sure enough, I found it, could spot where our lodging was, and where the fancier place up above and to the right was. Can you see them? (The Ranch is a darker rectangle, if that helps.)

More driving in a very windy area as we looked for a lunch spot. We ended up near a nearly wiped out abode (A cabin? An actual house? Dunno!) and driving past that we wound up near a mine that was a bit more sheltered. We first took a quick look into the mine … but no, we don’t go into these things.

Then we set up our chairs and table and worked very hard and diligently on eating. So far I think we should get an A+ (and everyone who knows me knows I don’t even believe in pluses!) when it comes to eating. Hah!

We saw some interesting clouds as well. Dan mentioned that seeing Mare’s Tail ones was often interpreted as “rain in 24 hours”, and we did see those, along with other strange clouds.

We walked back to the ramshackle place and took a few photos. Dan has probably taken photos nearly every time he’s been here, so he wanted to grab more, knowing the place isn’t long for the world.

From there we drove to another building. If the dates are right it was built in in 1951, but who knows if that’s really true. It was in better condition than the first, but of course there’s no way in the world I’d ever want to stay there. Dan got the door opened, so I could shoot a few photos of the inside, but I wasn’t even about to walk into it.

Our drive then took us to another “Oh, I might as well take a photo!” spot for Dan, as the light was good. I worked more on this blog then. When I looked back up that light seemed to be going. One has to work very quickly with photography!

Side note: we often think, “Oh, it’s 1 hour to our next destination,” but get distracted by photo ops. Go figure. (Good thing there aren’t many flowers … we’d get distracted even more then!)

It was decided that we’d head back down to Stovepipe Wells and see what the light was doing when we got there.

Turned out it was doing nothing but fading to gray.

We filled the tank (it’s unbelievable how many miles we drive to get from place to place!), and then sat in the car below the power pole location to see if the sun decided to poke through the clouds.

Eventually we drove up to the end of the gravel road. We saw a strange plant someone had placed on a rock. And then … gee, some flowers on the desert holly! I’d never seen that before. Obviously I had to pull out my macro lens and shoot that, along with another plant with incredibly tiny leaves. I hope something turns out — I’ll only know when I get things into Lightroom.



Then it was halfway down the road to wait to see if that boring light turned into something magical.

The answer was no. Ah well … can’t have great light every single day.

We went back to our room, unloaded all the gear, and headed to the tavern here. We enjoyed some pizza and salad and I neglected to take a photo until it was too late so you’ll have to use your imagination. But yes, it was yummy and yes, I ate too much.

We don’t know what tomorrow will bring: the weather forecast isn’t promising. But only time will tell …

Until then, goodbye!