Photo Challenge – Page 30 – Wandering Dawgs

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #260 – Overlooked

August 5, 2023January 22, 2024Posted in Photography, Road Trip, TravelTagged Favorite Quotes, Lens-Artists, overlooked, Photo Challenge18 Comments

For this challenge our guest host Janet from This, That and the Other Thing.has asked us to “share photos of something you normally overlook or something you think other people would overlook.”

It’s not the Destination, It’s the Journey
Ralph Waldo Emerson

During all our years of wandering Henry and I have traveled the back roads to discover places that many travelers overlook. When planning a road trip we try to find interesting and fun things to do in between our major destinations. We’ve discovered delightful small towns and during our camping days went miles out of our way to camp in a campground with a beautiful view.

In 2009 we made an RV trip that took us through Iowa. There were two places on our Bucket List in Iowa that I’m sure many travelers overlook. Both of the destinations had movie themes.

The first was the Field of Dreams Movie Site near Dyersville, Iowa where the movie with the same name was filmed. It was magical being there standing in the cornfield, walking around the bases, and imagining Shoeless Joe Jackson and the other ball players coming out of the cornfield to play baseball. I posted more about our visit here.

Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville, Iowa

It was easy to imagine the players coming out of the corn to play ball

We were traveling in our RV and couldn’t find an RV park close to Dyersville. I searched all around the area before I found a Corps of Engineers park on the Mississippi River in Petosi, Wisconsin across the river from Iowa. We love camping close to bodies of water so it was perfect for us. If we hadn’t wanted to see the Field of Dreams we would have never discovered the Good Old Potosi Brewery or the Grotto we passed as we drove from the campground to the Field of Dreams.

Our second Iowa destination was the town of Winterset. Not only is Winterset the setting for the movie “Bridges of Madison County” but it is also the birthplace of John Wayne.

We didn’t have as much trouble finding a place to stay there. We stayed in our first ever city campground and we loved it. We set up the camper, put our payment in an envelope, and dropped the envelope in a drop box. The park was nice and the location was perfect for exploring the covered bridges and John Wayne’s birthplace.

Roseman Covered Bridge, Madison County, Iowa

John Wayne’s birthplace in Winterset, Iowa

Flash forward to 2013 when we took our RV to Alaska from Georgia. We loved every place we went but our favorite place was Haines, a small waterfront town. The view from our campsite was spectacular, the people in Haines were friendly, the scenery and wildlife were amazing, and we loved the laid back atmosphere there. Where else can you visit the Hammer Museum and eat fresh Dungeness Crabs straight from the boat?

To reach Haines by road travelers drive south on the long, scenic Haines Highway from the Yukon Territory in Canada before entering Alaska. Most RV’ers we met had been to Skagway but overlooked Haines because of the driving distance between the two towns. We opted to take the one hour trip by Alaska Ferry from Skagway to Haines. I’ll be forever grateful to the guy from Anchorage who was camped next to us in Skagway and suggested we look into the Ferry. We were sad to leave Haines but enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we drove north on the Haines Highway to continue our Alaska adventure.

This is the view from our campground in Haines

We saw many Bald Eagles while in Haines. This one was at Chilcoot Lake State Park, Haines, AK

Sometimes in our travels we like to go for scenic drives and if we see a gravel road that looks interesting, we’ll drive on the road just to see where it goes. We stumbled upon this view of the Crazy Horse Monument when we took a turn on a gravel road in Custer State Park in South Dakota

View of Crazy Horse Monument from the top of the Coolidge Overlook in Custer State Park

We’ve discovered many more overlooked destinations in our travels. There are many great places along the way if you can just take the time to look around.

Many thanks to guest host Janet of This, That and The Other Thing for the challenge Lens-Artists Challenge #260 – Overlooked

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #258 – Fences

July 22, 2023Posted in PhotographyTagged Fences, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge40 Comments

For this challenge guest host Dawn Miller has chosen Fences as our topic.

One of the first fences I thought of was Tom Sawyer’s Fence in Hannibal, Missouri.

This next fence from the Texas Hill Country is one of my favorites. I’ve included it it other challenges because I love the boots on top of the fence posts.

This next fence keeps people safe as they are walking along this mountain trail.

I can’t resist capturing animals behind fences.

Many thanks to guest host Dawn for the challenge Lens-Artists Challenge #258- Fences

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #257 – Simplicity

July 15, 2023Posted in PhotographyTagged Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge, Simplicity20 Comments

For this challenge guest host Philo has chosen simplicity as the topic.

The header image shows simplicity using negative space to highlight the red canoe on Lake Louise in Canada.

I chose some simple flower images.

My final image features the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado. The humans climbing the dunes look tiny compared to the huge sand dunes.

Many thanks to guest host Philo of Philosophy through Photography for the challenge Lens-Artists Challenge #257- Simplicity

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #256 – Inspiration found in the kitchen

July 6, 2023Posted in PhotographyTagged Food, Inspiration found in the kitchen, kitchen, Lens-Artists, Photo Challenge31 Comments

For this challenge Ritva Sillanmak challenges us to find Inspiration in the Kitchen and to show our favorite cup. The above image is a mug I got when our Labrador Retriever Blondie was very young. She’s been gone for several years now but every time I drink from the mug it reminds me of her.

We have lived in our home for over 40 years. Our kitchen has been through one total renovation and some of the appliances have been replaced more than once. I’ve spent countless hours in the kitchen preparing meals, cleaning up after meals, baking, and teaching our kids and grandkids how to bake cookies and cakes. The kitchen is a happy place.

Our kitchen and dining room are one big room divided by a kitchen peninsula that is like an island but connected to one wall. That peninsula has been used as a breakfast bar, a lunch counter, a space for baked goods to cool, a place for friends for family to gather around to eat appetizers, and as a buffet table for big meals like Christmas and Thanksgiving.

Below, the two Tupperware items on the left and the Corning Ware casserole dish have been used thousands of times ever since I got them about 50 years ago. I still use them all the time.

A post about the kitchen wouldn’t be complete without some food. These next two images are two of the dishes I made for July 4th weekend. On the left is a shrimp pasta salad made with wild Georgia shrimp, fresh patty pan squash, mushrooms, broccoli and Vidalia onions. On the right is Southern Succotash made with fresh okra, butter beans, tomatoes, corn, Vidalia onions, bacon and basil for garnish.

Many thanks to guest host Ritva Sillanmak for the challenge Lens-Artists Challenge #25s – Inspiration found in the kitchen

Lens Artists Photo Challenge #255 -Telling a story

July 1, 2023Posted in Butterflies, Nature, PhotographyTagged Lens-Artists, Monarch Butterfly, monarch caterpillar, Photo Challenge, Telling a story16 Comments

Patti has challenged us to focus on telling a story with our images.

My story is the life cycle of a Monarch butterfly. I haven’t been able to capture Monarch’s in my garden this year so these images are all from my archives.