Travel & Places
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The Woods
I know, going a bit large today. You’ve gotta be able to see the whole panorama.
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Nature in the City: Tandy Hills Natural Area
Ah, Tandy Hills, a wooded oasis in the middle of the Meadowbrook neighborhood and the not-so-nice area of the east Ft. Worth Lancaster area. I am still in wonder of how I never knew this place existed until last March and I grew up driving right by the place just about every other Sunday when we went to visit my grandmother for Sunday lunch. If you haven’t been here I highly recommend it. There are lots of trails to walk about, the area is very hilly and there is even a playground for kids. We did see what appeared to be a homeless persons camp so you might want to…
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The Morning Gang
Behind the scenes at Goose Island State Park, on the pier. Discussing the morning’s catch…. Friends drop by to say hello and see where lunch may be at… Hey Bob, how’s life treating you? Just fine Jim, just fine. Loving the weather, aren’t you? Guess I’ll go now, see you later!
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Turtle Love
Ah, sea turtles. I love ’em! I think the first time I saw a sea turtle was when one popped its head up for some air while I was swimming in the Gulf of Mexico off of Port Aransas growing up. At first I thought it was a sea snake, but upon closer examination I realized it was a turtle. I had no idea turtles lived in the ocean, moreoever in the murky Texas coastal waters. Then I did my internship in college and fell in love with them. Unfortunately I didn’t make an effort to get a job working with them when I graduated but I at least started…
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(Windy) Wordless Wednesday
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Texas Road Trip: Palo Duro Canyon State Park
I think my favorite state park we went to was to Palo Duro Canyon. It was so beautiful and red! This photo is Chris up on the Lighthouse Peak. It is a 3 mile hike out to the peak and not too rugged in my opinion, but then again I have varying degrees on what ‘hard’ is now with a hiking trail. The only issue is taking enough water since there is not any water along the trail and it can get very hot out there. I highly recommend taking this trail as you will also go by the Capital Peak as well. There was a lot of wildlife along…
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Ballooning above Plano
Chris’ mom got us a ride on a hot air balloon on Friday morning for the Plano Balloon Fest. I was leery of going because of some previous accidents in which I was thrown out of some boats and some really bumpy airplane rides, but the ride was pretty smooth. We didn’t go far or high due to zero wind and I wasn’t that appreciative of the guide bumping the treeline on purpose, but it was fun to see. I definitely wouldn’t do it again but if you don’t have issues with heights I’d would suggest going!
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Texas Roadtrip: Caprock Canyon State Park
Our first stop on our road trip was out to Caprock Canyon State Park. We took U.S. 287 from Fort Worth out past Mineral Wells Wichita Falls, a town I’d never been too and I was surprised that it was a decent sized city, and on into the rugged, western setting of Texas. We thought we’d prepared and brought everything but once on the road we realized we’d forgotten our dinners. We’d decided to buy those heat and serve frozen meals, like Berrtolli or Stouffers, since they are easy to cook and pretty tasty so we pulled over into a dinky little town with a tiny grocery store to buy…
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Roadtrip Roundup
What I thought was a milkweed bug, but I’m not sure so someone id it for me, on a yellow flower in Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Check out the pollen it’s kicking up at the top right! Our whirlwind road trip across Texas is now over. Somewhere in the middle to late part of the trip I got a little exhausted thinking in photos. Thinking about what to shoot, angles, techniques and trying to go above and beyond. It was just a bit too much, I think. When we got to the beach on Mustang Island I just wanted to sit and be, to relax and love the water…
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Waiting for the Stars….
For some reason the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department decided that putting Wi-Fi at their state parks would be a good idea. I’d say that mostly this is a good idea, except that it probably isn’t because then people like me end up online. But that’s ok, I’m watching a line of brown pelicans casually fly across Copano Bay while the moon is pushing half full, the first star is out (or is it a planet…?) and the yellow orange glow of sunset is still lingering. I’m really just waiting for the stars to fully come out so I can practice some night photography. Maybe I will come out with…