MOTION THURSDAY

During a visit to Egypt, before the political drama, my travel companion, Pei Wan Chen took this shot from the window of the bus. I was under the impression that the pyramids are at a distance from Cairo and was astonished to learn that they are just outside the city. They loom large; one catches sight of them in the most surprising places, at the end of a crowded street, from the windows of the bus as it travels throughout that modern, crowded city.  

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SKY WATCH FRIDAY-EAST AND WEST COLORADO

The difference of the terrain between eastern and western Colorado is striking but the skies are equally magnificent in both areas. The picture on the top was taken in Eads, a little town just inside the eastern border with Kansas. The view of the mountains at sunset was taken from my friend Laura's deck in Lakewood, near Denver. This is what she sees from her deck every evening. How lucky is she? And how lucky Molly and I were to spend three glorious nights in her home, a welcome respite from our tent camping.

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THINK GREEN THURSDAY-BIG SPRINGS, MISSOURI

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RUBY TUESDAY-ON THE ROAD WITH MOLLY

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Molly and I left our campground in Red Fleet State Park in Utah and drove north through a bit of Wyoming and into Idaho. Of all the spectacular sights we saw on our cross-country trip, that day was filled with astonishingly varied and breathtakingly beautiful landscapes. We traveled through at least five exceedingly different terrains; verdant forests, red, rugged, craggy mountains, flat dry plains and the white hills shown in today's header, all devoid of human habitation. We were impressed with how much of this country's western states can't support much human activity; a man in Eastern Colorado said a person with less than 10,000 acres is considered a "hobby farmer"! We learned that our Eastern and West Coastal expectation of finding gas whenever and wherever we needed it was a foolish assumption. On this particular day we gratefully pulled into a gas station in a tiny town with only fumes left in the tank.

WEEKEND REFLECTIONS- ON THE OZARK NATIONAL SCENIC WATERWAYS

Reflecting on privilege and reveling in the memories of a cross country-trip with my daughter, Molly, from New York City to Bellingham, Washington. In 2 1/2 weeks we drove 5,500 miles on the back roads and slept under the stars in her all-mesh tent  (rain fly at the ready). 

This is picture of Round Spring, a natural spring south of Salem, Missouri on highway 19. For thousand of years humans have been coming to this spot and we could imagine that they found it as idyllic as we. We could imagine that in addition to a useful source of fresh water it was considered a spiritual place. 

At our picnic lunch in a town park we met a couple celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary by re-visiting the places where they had honeymooned. They told us not to miss Big Springs and Round Springs, just up the road. That was one of many good tips we received as we made our way across this beautiful country, seeing it in a way impossible on the interstates.

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