Saturday, May 31, 2025

Black Hills

 The last couple of days exploring some beautiful scenery and wildlife require that I include a comment about cuts to the National Park System. If you camp or like exploring the beautiful recreation areas the U.S. has to offer, you know how popular these resources are and how heavily used. Already strained by an interested public, the Parks not face cuts in personnel and resources. No matter how you look at this Republican decision, even economically, you understand this cut is foolish.

The Black Hills is another nearby resource we have not thoroughly explored. Folks visit the Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore attractions far more frequently than the parks and forests. We spent most of a day driving through Black Hills National Forest and The Needles. Sylvan Lake is one of the scenic mountain/lake settings I have viewed. 





 






Tuesday, May 27, 2025

South Dakota One

 We are on our way to Salt Lake Cindy and Olive's high school graduation. We have plenty of time so we asked ChatGPT for plans for a 3-day trip - stops, side trips, lodging, etc. The results were great with stops in Rapid City and Casper. We have been through this route many times, but often the way to somewhere else and  we did not take in the local sights.

Mitchell

Mitchell is home to the Corn Palace. The Corn Palace is decorated with corn kernels of different colors (see images). It must take a lot of careful work to create giant murals. The Palace is never as large as I expect, but it does contain an arena suitable for athletic events and farm animal judging. Traveling this time of year is great because the tourist season has yet to start,





South Dakota Badlands

We lived in North Dakota and visited the North Dakota Badlands several times. The Badlands (North and South Dakota) are known for the unusual land formation which resulted from layers of deposits that were then eroded away. The Badlands are also home to wildlife. We saw buffalo at a distance and mule deer up close.










Sunday, April 6, 2025

Aloha

 


So ends another winter spent in Kauai. I am glad to be back in Minnesota and getting my plants started for the garden. In a week or so, I will likely miss Kauai.

I have to admit that the present political and financial crisis has me worried. If the present downturn continues, will we be able to continue spending our winters in this way? I am trying to be positive, but nothing at this point seems under my control. 


Sunday, March 30, 2025

A tale of tails

 Our time in Kauai is coming to an end and we were able to fit in a whale-watching, sunset cruise. We had planned a similar outing earlier, but had that event cancelled because of high winds. This trip was one of our most successful outings of this type in terms of the number of whales we saw, but most did nothing exciting such as leaping or slapping their flukes, Mostly we just saw spouts, backs, and tails,





Some spinner dolphins swam in front of the boat until they became bored and left us.





Natasha, Victor, and Sonia.







Friday, March 28, 2025

Early morning yoga

 


We are moving into the time of year when school its Spring break and some families and wealthy students take vacations in Kauai. Tbere is a spot across the way that is on the edge of a cliff over the ocean and once a week I see a yoga class meeting there. Because it is early morning, I see the class silhouetted against the sky. The class was extra large today and I tried to capture what I saw with my telephoto. It turned out pretty well.