Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Blending In or Standing Out

Scottsdale, Arizona.

This week, Ann-Christine challenges us to focus on blending in versus standing out in our environment. She includes images of animals and birds that blend in or stand out with their outer coverings. She also features an example of architecture blending in to the environment with her opening image. You can read more about her challenge here. That image got me to thinking about a visit made a couple of years ago to Scottsdale’s Taliesin West, the Architectural Institute and compound built by Architect Frank Lloyd Wright and his students of architecture. In designing the compound, the architect envisioned in the late 1930s a winter home and headquarters of his school of architecture that is deeply connected with the Sonoran Desert upon which it was built.

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Lens Artists photo Challenge – Path

Somewhere in Arizona.

The state is a hiker’s dream. In fact, this hiker didn’t even know he was a hiker until he came to Arizona in his retirement years. In that time, I’ve hiked over 1300 miles that I can document in the MapMyWalk application. My first hundred miles or so aren’t in that figure as I had been hiking over a year before using MapMyWalk regularly. Doing the math, I’ve hiked about 250 miles a year, though not all in Arizona.

Cellpic Sunday – 16 September 2018

Somewhere over southern North Dakota.

I’m writing this on Saturday evening. Yesterday we brought our Civil Air Patrol glider from its home base in eastern North Dakota to Mandan, in the south central part of the state. Our plan was to give cadets in the western part of the state orientation rides, one of many benefits that cadets receive from being a member.

Lens-Artists Photo Challenge – Action

Buckeye, Arizona.

This week, Patti Moed asks us to “Capture nature, people, objects, or animals on the move. You can read Patti’s entire challenge post here. Coincidently, I am gathering action images for an upcoming blog post on my “Travel Tuesday” posts, a review of how I use my Nikon D500 for action shots, one of its best capabilities. In the shot above, a barrel racer in the National Senior Pro Rodeo Association rounds a barrel on her way to the finish line.

Hello Dolly – Paddlewheel Cruiser on Canyon Lake

Apache Junction, Arizona.

In previous posts here, I’ve focused on Canyon Lake, a reservoir created by one of a string of four dams on the Salt River. In 1925, the Mormon Flat Dam was completed creating the smallest lake in the chain. The lake is about 50 miles (80 km) from Phoenix. Only about 15 miles (24 km) from the city of Apache Junction, the drive is scenic and winds through the Tonto National Forest and parts of the Superstition Mountains.

Cellpic Sunday – 19 August 2018

White Tank Mountain Regional Park, Waddell, Arizona.

This week, I was reminded of our hiking club in Arizona in a couple of ways. Yesterday (Saturday, 18 August), I got an email from the folks at MapMyWalk. It was my 5th anniversary of downloading and using the app to help map our hikes. Though I don’t use MapMyWalk for hiking exclusively, the vast majority of miles tracked with the app are in Arizona deserts on hikes, mostly with the Verrado Hiking Club. Among other details, the email pointed out that it’s tracked 1362 miles (2192 km) since I started using the app.

Oatman Arizona – Two Paths Converge

The road to Oatman, Arizona.

Actually, one of the roads led us through some beautiful country, slowly. First, some background… regular readers followed our trip from Phoenix to Las Vegas via US 93, through Arizona’s Joshua Tree Forest, past Hoover Dam and into Sin City. On our way back, we wanted to take a different route. Looking at Google Maps online presents two viable paths to Oatman from Las Vegas. The shorter trip is via US 95 through Searchlight and Laughlin down to Fort Mohave. But I didn’t check Google Maps once we were on our way. Apparently that was our mistake, or fortunate happenstance, depending upon your disposition.