Niagara Falls / Toronto, Ontario – February 2010
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| Me with my favorite species of owl in the world – the barred owl, an unreleasable girl named Teddy. |
When business took us to Rochester, New York, Roman and I decided to make a weekend trip out of it and visit Niagara Falls and then some friends in Toronto before heading back. Sometimes impromptu travels can be the best kind – this was definitely a trip to remember!
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| Rainbow over Niagara Falls, New York. | Tigers find my hair delicious. | Gorgeous Great Horned Owl at the Mountsberg Raptor Centre. |
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Hoosier National Forest / Lexington Kentucky - October 2009
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| Sisters of St. Benedict Monastery |
Hoosier National forest, in the central part of southern Indiana, was a beautiful surprise. I didn’t know much about the park before stopping there, but was captivated by its beautiful waterfalls, gorgeous rock formations, and mossy forests. I wish I’d had time to stay and do more hiking.
Right near the park was the amazing architecture of the Sisters of St. Benedict Monastery – I am not a religious person but I really love and appreciate the beauty of structures like this. We had a very nice tour – if you’re ever in the area and enjoy old churches and beautiful buildings, check this one out!
After passing through Hoosier, we visited friends in Lexington, Kentucky and had a tour of the world famous Kentucky Horse Park.
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| Kimahri and I resting in a beautiful natural cave in Hoosier. | A standardbred being put through its paces at the Kentucky horse park. | A silly glamour shot of our car, “Smith” the Pontiac Vibe in Hoosier. |
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Northern Minnesota – Dogsledding – December 2008
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| Me with lead dog Balto |
Over the New Year’s holiday, Roman and I, along with two of our best friends, Teagan and Kenket, decided to take a trip up to northern Minnesota to go dogsledding. We were hosted by Kathleen of WintermoonSummerSun Kennels in Brimson, MN and it was a truly wonderful, unforgettable trip for all of us! The weather cooperated (only 20 below at night and getting into the teens during the days) – the snow was perfect, and the rustic wood-fire cabin lodging and traditional Finnish sauna was a treat.
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| Roman driving a sled on home. | Kenket and sled dog puppies. | A retired sled dog enjoying the good life. |
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Rocky Mountains National Park Roadtrip - September 2008
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| Bison grazing at Custer State Park, SD. |
It is hard to write about the Rocky Mountains, they are the sort of thing you really have to go to experience – the sheer size, majesty, and power of the mountain range. Unlike a lot of the places I’ve traveled to, the Rockies feel ‘distant’ – being a newer mountain range, still growing (maybe in the aggressive ‘teen’ years) – a bit intimidating, cold, beautiful.
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| It is really hard to capture the beauty and size of the Rockies. | Cowboy Roman on a really wonderful tour of the RMNP on horseback. | Hiking in the park, you find many surprises like this beautiful hidden lake. |
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Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada - January 2007
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| Amazing Rock Formations. |
Fire Valley is just north of the Lake Mead area in southern Nevada. I had driven past the signs many times on my yearly pilgrimage to San Jose for business and decided to take the scenic detour and check it out on the way back this year – and am very glad that I did!
I think that January is about the most perfect time to visit Valley of Fire – since it’s reasonably warm instead of scorching hot and lacks much tourist traffic at all, so you basically have the park to yourself!
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| A natural arch. | Fat ones, skinny ones. | Incredible stone textures. |
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