Traveling with Eileen

Cape Henlopen and Lewes Beach, Delaware

2012-01-27T17:37:00.000-05:00

On Dec 22-23rd hubby and I took a quickie trip to the Delaware Shore. We had been having some nice weather and we thought an overnight at the beach would be a great early Christmas celebration.

Whitetail deer seen across the street from the Cape Henlopen's nature center.

Our first stop on the 22nd was at the Cape Henlopen State Park, it is a great place for birding and has a beautiful beach. The Fort Miles is also part of the park and you can visit the old fort and lookout towers.

This is the beach on the Delaware Bay side of the point at Cape Henlopen Park. We walked the loop trail along the beach on the bayside to the point and around the point to the Atlantic beach and then to the trail back to the parking lot. Except for a few people fishing and a couple of horseback riders we had the beach to ourselves.

After leaving the Cape Henlopen Park we continued along the Rt 1 Hwy toward the beaches. We did not make reservations but at this time of year and all the hotels along the beaches we did not think we would have a problem finding a room for the night. The Best Western was located right on the Coastal Hwy and we were always happy with the Best Western hotels in other places we visited. I have to mention the Best Western had a great price and a nice room for our night stay.

Above is the beach at Lewes, Delaware just a short walk from our Best Western hotel.

From our room which had a nice view of the bayside, just off of the coastal highway. We had a delicious dinner at a local Lewes restaurant called The Port. Very good food, the cream of crab soup was delicious.

Just down the Coastal Hwy is the Indian River Inlet it is very popular spot for fishing and a favorite spot for birders. We were able to park and take a walk along the Indian River to where it meets the Atlantic Ocean.

To see more beautiful and scenic shot click on my link Scenic Sunday. I hope you enjoyed my post on the Delaware beaches. Thanks to the Holleys for hosting Scenic Sunday and thanks for stopping by to see my post. I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend.

Panama Polleras

2011-12-16T17:58:00.001-05:00

I am linking up with Scenic Sunday and click to see my Camera Critter post at the El-Nispero-zoo-Panama

I am skipping around some showing our last night in Panama, our tour guide arranged a special dinner at the Miraflores Lock at the Panama Canal. After a great dinner we were treated to a show which was a group of Panamanians doing their traditional dance with their beautiful costumes.

The women's costumes are called Polleras, it is said this dress is the most admired and beautiful costumes of the Americas. There are tales saying that the Polleras are copied from a gypsy dress in Spain at the time of the conquest of Peru and was brought to Panama by servants of the colonial families.

Each female dancer had a different color dress, shoes to match, jewelry and the ornments to decorate their hair was also gorgeous. The hair piece called a tembleques is made of a tortoise shell comb embellished with pearls and gold and is worn on top of the head and resembles a crown or a halo.

Watching the men and the women dance was just lovely as was the music they played. It was a wonderful time on last night of our trip. We met nice people on our tour and everyone got along great during the whole week we were together.

To see more wonderful scenes from around the world please visit Scenic Sunday.. Thanks to the Holley's for hosting Scenic Sunday. And thank you for stopping by my blog for a visit. I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend.

Panama Skyline and skyscrapers

2011-12-03T05:42:00.003-05:00

For my Scenic Sunday I am showing some of the Skyscrapers in Panama City, Panama.

My link for Camera Critters...common-moorhen

Panama has some tall buildings and still even more being built. You can see some of the Panama's skyline on my header photo above.

The corkscrew design on this building above was one of my favorites. Some people in our tour group said it reminded them of lego building toys.

The skyscrapers include offices, banks, hotels, casinos and condominiums. There are over 80 banks in Panama City.

A Hard Rock Cafe is a must have in a big city, I also heard there will be a Hard Rock hotel also.

This shot above was taken from the moving bus, I assume they are playing a soccer game.

There are over 100 skyscrapers in Panama City and over more than 150 being built. Panama is in the middle of a building and economic boom.

Before visiting Panama, I pictured Panama more of a lush rainforest and the canal. I did not even think of a booming city. The cool thing is the rainforest is probably no more than an hours drive away.

The Metro Mall was right outside our Panama City hotel. A very popular place to shop with the locals and the tourist.

Edit: An answer to Ann's question I am adding some info on Panama's economy and wealth. The tourism industry generates over 2.5 billion dollars, the re-export business (free trade zone) is another 2.5 billion dollars and the canal generates over 1 billion a year.

To see more beautiful scenes from around the world check out Scenic Sunday. Thanks to the Holleys for hosting Scenic Sunday. And thank you for stopping by to see my post. Have a safe and wonderful weekend.

Scenic Sunday Panama

2011-11-26T04:37:00.000-05:00

I am linking up with Scenic Sunday

I have some more photos from our first full day of touring Panama City. The tour included stops at the San Jose Church in Panama known for its famous gold alter.

The church is use to visitors stopping in to see the gold alter. We arrived in time for the mass and the singing of a pretty hymn. It is a lovely church located down a small cobblestone city street.

One of the few murals painted on the buildings near the church.

After leaving the church in Panama City we headed to the Miraflores Lock and the canal. We were able to stay long enough to see some ships make their way to the lock and to enjoy the exhibits at the visitor center.

For more wonderful photos from all over the world please visit Scenic Sunday. Thanks to the host of Scenic Sunday and thanks for stopping by to see my post. Have a great weekend!

Panama Caravan tour

2011-11-19T06:33:00.001-05:00

I am linking up with Scenic Sunday

Hubby and I took a week long tour of Panama with Caravan tours. The Caravan tour included two nights in a Panama City hotel and tours around the city and then two nights at a rainforest hotel with more tours and two nights at the Pacific Ocean resort and the last night back at Panama City. I did arrange a bird guide for a day. I could not go to Panama without getting the chance to see some of the exotic and my cool Panama birds. But, this post will be on Panama City and some of the sights we saw during the two days we toured the city.

The morning part of the tour included the Panama Viejo visitor center museum displaying artifacts from 500-700 years before the Spanish arrival. The center included displays of clothing, furniture, pottery and a model of what old Panama City would have looked like.

Panama Viejo (old Panama) city founded by the Spanish in 1519 . A gateway for gold from the Inca Empire.

In 1671 famous Buccaneer Henry Morgan ransacked the city and burned it to the ground. It is interesting to see the old ruins with the new city skyscrapers in the background

The Panama Viejo is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Vasco Balboa a Spanish conquistador and explorer. The first European explorer to see the Pacific in 1513. He claimed the Pacific Ocean and all its shores for Spain.

These photos and tours were done on the first full day of our Panama Caravan tour. Actually, the Viejo visitor center and ruins was just the morning part of the tour. I will do another post on the afternoon tour. We visited the San Jose Church with the gold alter and had lunch at the Miraflores Canal Locks.

I hope you enjoyed my tour of Panama Viejo center and ruins, to see more wonderful scenes from around the world check out Scenic Sunday. Thanks to

Chincoteague Ponies

2011-10-22T07:04:00.003-04:00

I am linking up with Scenic Sunday and Camera Critters

I am sure a lot of bloggers have read the book Misty Of Chincoteague, it was my favorite book as a child. The Chincoteague volunteer fire dept auctions off the ponies in July every year to raise money. They are also doing what is called buy-backs. The buy-backs are foals that the firemen had picked to stay in the herd. The foals are auctioned off at the pony penning to give people a chance to "own" a Chincoteague pony without having to take it home. The new owners will get the foals official registry name and a certificate but the foal will stay on the island with the rest of the Chincoteague herd.

On Friday evening the cowboys were rounding up the 40-50 of the Chincoteague ponies for a vet check and to get their worming medicine. This happens three times a year in April, October and July.

One of my YouTube videos of the Chincoteague horses all gathered for their worming medicine. I captured some of the horses making sounds after getting their medicine, probably something similiar to the sounds I would make if I was given some icky tasting medicine. Well maybe not the same sound I would make but you know what I mean..

A shot of the horses penned waiting for their turn of the worming shot. The Pintos are my favorite I love the multi colors.

The horses have numbers on their thighs, which are actually the number showing the year they were born. This one above was born in 2006

In the background the Palomino stallion Chief( the white one) is fighting again with another stallion. They do not like being penned up in a small area. They get jealous over their groups of mares.

I would not want to be the one trying to hold this gate shut. The Chief was being a bad boy while penned up, fighting and kicking other horses.

Above you can see the vet shooting the worming medicine into Chiefs mouth.

The two dominant stallions Prince born in 2007 is off white with white spots and the other off white horse is the Chief born in 2008. They are all beautiful horses and I took so many photos. It is was hard to choose which one to add to my post.

To see more scenic photos check out Scenic Sunday and to see more cute and wonderful critters check out Camera Critters. Thanks to the Holley's and to Misty Dawn for hosting these fun memes. Thank you also for stopping by to see my post. I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend.

Lighthouse & Chincoteague Island, Virginia

2011-10-13T05:33:00.021-04:00

These are some scenes from Chincoteague Island Virginia and the Assateague National Seashore for my Scenic Sunday post. To see more scenic shots from around the world click on my link.

The view from the top of the lighthouse. There were free climbs to the top celebrating the 144th birthday of the lighthouse.

This shot above you can see the wildlife drive and the Atlantic Ocean.

I hope you enjoyed my views of the Assateague Lighthouse on the Chincoteague NWR. To see more beautiful scenes from around the world check out Scenic Sunday. Thanks to the host of Scenic Sunday and also thank you for stopping by to see my Scenic post. Have a great weekend!

Bermuda's Crystal Cave

2011-09-24T06:54:00.000-04:00

I am linking my Bermuda's Crystal Cave with Scenic Sunday. I have not shown all my Bermuda photos and I thought our visit to the Crystal Caves would be a great post. After our three hour tour of the island we asked to be dropped off at the Crystal Caves. Hubby loves spleunking so I thought a tour of these caves would be perfect for him. We had time to get a quick bite to eat while we waited for the next tour. I was happy sitting at the tables outside watching the birds we waited.

We had a nice tour guide during our visit to the caves, he told us the story about how the caves were originally found. The story goes two 12 year old boys looking for their lost cricket ball that fell down into a hole. The boys follow the ball down into the hole and discovered the cave. Crystal Cave got its name from the deep crystal pools in the cave.

The water is so clear you can see the bottom of the cave floor.

I am pretty sure these formations are called straws.

There were floating bridges so we could walk back further into the cave. It was pretty cool checking out all the formations.

More formations in the water and reflections.

I hope you enjoyed my Bermuda Crystal Caves post and to see more click Scenic Sunday . Thanks to the host of Scenic Sunday the Holleys. Thank You for visiting my post and blog, as always I appreciate the visits and the comments. Have a great weekend!!!

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust Nairobi Elephant Nursery

2011-08-27T06:18:00.107-04:00

This week I am doing something special for the new Our World, my first PicStory and my Friday Ark and Camera Critter. I do not advertise on my blog but I was happy to receive a request to do a blog post from National Geographic. The featured story is on the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Nairobi Elephant Nursery in Kenya. I read this story sometimes with tears in my eyes and sometimes with a smile on my face. It is a touching story and a wonderful thing happening at this elephant nursery. I believe in conservation and protecting the wildlife and endangered critters and that is what this story is about. I want to thank the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and to the wonderful keepers of these orphaned elephants.

National Geographic (credit: National Geographic)

Nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/orphan-elephants/nichols-photography

The following excerpt comes from the September issue of the National Geographic magazine, on newsstands now and the link to

the full article online: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/09/orphan-elephants/siebert-text.

These are sad and perilous days for the world's largest land animal. Once elephants roamed the Earth like waterless whales, plying ancient migratory routes ingrained in their prodigious memories. Now they've been backed into increasingly fragmented territories. When not being killed for their tusks or for bush meat, they are struggling against loss of habitat due to human population pressures and drought. A 1979 survey of African elephants estimated a population of about 1.3 million. About 500,000 remain. In Asia an estimated 40,000 are left in the wild. And yet even as the elephant population dwindles, the number of human-elephant conflicts rises. In Africa, reports of elephants and villagers coming into conflict with each other appear almost daily.

The plight of elephants has become so dire that their greatest enemy—humans—is also their only hope, a topsy-turvy reality that moved a woman named Daphne Sheldrick to establish the nursery back in 1987. Sheldrick is fourth-generation Kenya-born and has spent the better part of her life tending wild animals. Her husband was David Sheldrick, the renowned naturalist and founding warden of Tsavo East National Park who died of a heart attack in 1977. She's reared abandoned baby buffalo, dik-diks, impalas, zebras, warthogs, and black rhinos, among others, but no creature has beguiled her more than elephants.

Orphan infant elephants are a challenge to raise because they remain fully dependent on their mother's milk for the first two years of life and partially so until the age of four. In the decades the Sheldricks spent together in Tsavo, they never succeeded in raising an orphan younger than one because they couldn't find a formula that matched the nutritional qualities of a mother's milk. Aware that elephant milk is high in fat, they tried adding cream and butter to the mix, but found the babies had trouble digesting it and soon died. They then used a nonfat milk that the elephants could digest better, but eventually, after growing thinner and thinner on that formula, these orphans succumbed as well. Shortly before David's death, the couple finally arrived at a precise mixture of human baby formula and coconut. This kept alive a three-week-old orphan named Aisha, helping her grow stronger every day.

All photo credits: ©Michael Nichols/National Geographic

Dedicated keepers at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust's Nairobi Elephant Nursery in Kenya protect baby Shukuru from the cold and rain, and the risk of pneumonia, with a custom-made raincoat.

Even orphaned babies out for their morning walk from the nursery seem to understand the complex structure of elephant society. Here the oldest orphans lie down to invite the younger ones to play on top of them.

The introduction of orphan elephants to Tsavo National Park is bringing wild herds back to a region devastated by poaching decades ago. Ithumba mountain is near the park's northern border.

Again credits for these awesome photos by : Michael Nichols/National Geographic

My interest in elephants has really peaked from seeing them recently at the National Zoo and especially two weeks ago when I heard that the elephants at the Baltimore Zoo linked trunks and all clustered together before the earthquake was felt. It is amazing these animals are so sensitive. Being an animal lover, one of my dream trips is to do an African Safari and to see these wonderful animals in the wild.

You can check out the whole story in the September issue of the National Geographic magazine on newstands on August 30. I really enjoyed reading this beautiful story about the orphaned elephants and I hope you all do too. It is also cool that you can go to the Sheldrick wildlife trust site and adopt one of these orphaned elephants. Thanks to the hosting group at Our World PicStory and Friday Ark and to Misty Dawn of Camera Critters.

Thanks to everyone for visiting my blog and post.. I hope the end of your week is great and that everyone has a great weekend.

Lions, Tigers and Bears

2011-08-20T05:09:00.000-04:00

For my Camera Critters I am showing some of the critters hubby and I saw while visiting the Smithsonian National Zoo in DC.

Some of my favorite critters at the zoo, the Panda bears, monkeys, orangutans, elephants and the tigers.

One of this zoo's big atttraction is the Panda Bears and the lions cubs were on my list of animals to see. I wanted to see how much they have grown since our last visit. They have grown a lot and all 7 cubs are doing well.

Below the Prairie Dog is looking a little chubby but not as big as the elephant. The Orangutan was climbing the tower while we were there and I love the meerkat's pose for me. I enjoyed seeing the Howler Monkey but it was much nice seeing them wild in Costa Rica .

A chubby Prairie Dog

I hope you enjoyed my critters from the Smithsonian National Zoo and to see more cute and wonderful critters please visit Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting this fun critter meme. Also, thank you for visiting my post. I hope everyone have a safe and happy weekend.

SWF.....Sunset while cruising

2011-08-11T05:24:00.000-04:00

For my Skywatch Friday I am showing some of the sunset photos from our cruise ship. Also, a shot of the moon. We had gorgeous skies while cruising and I enjoy skywatching. This is most likely the last cruise we will take. We have enjoyed cruising Alaska , Western Caribbean , Eastern Caribbean and this last one to Bermuda. You can click on my link to see pic's from my previous cruises. But, we really enjoy the fly-drive type vacations. Stopping where we want and as long as we want.

These are in the same sequence as I took them but a few of them are zoomed in closer to the sun.

I like the long line of clouds just hanging over the ocean in this shot below.

I hope you enjoyed my skies and sunset. Take some time and enjoy the beautiful skies from around the world please visit Skywatch Friday. Thanks to the hosting group: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy and Klaus.

Also, thanks for stopping by to see my post. I wish everyone a great weekend and beautiful skies.

Bermuda's Green Sea Turtles and other critters

2011-08-05T20:05:00.002-04:00

For my Camera Critter post I am showing the Green Sea Turtles we saw while touring Bermuda. Our guide stopped to show us these Green Turtles outside the aquarium. A group of children were there feeding the turtles lettuce (at least it looked like lettuce) when we got there at end of their feeding time and we were offered the leftovers to feed.

Bermuda.conserveturtles.org

Bermuda has a great conservation program going on for the Green Sea Turtles. The link above explains the history of the Green Sea Turtle, fished almost to the point of extinction. I am happy that Bermuda cares so much about these endangered animals. In the USA it seems to be a constant battle to keep animals and birds on the endangered list and to protect them. Being an animal lover, I am all for protecting all the species that may be even close to being endangered or near extinction.

These Green Sea turtles looked like gentle creatures, we just had to watch our fingers when feeding them. My son and his friend were doing the feeding while I was taking photos.

The water in Bermuda is so clear you can look down and see the fish.

I always enjoy seeing the critters and that includes this cute Lizzy the lizard.

I hope you enjoyed my Green Sea Turtles and critters from Bermuda. To see more cute and wonderful critters check out Misty Dawn's Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting and thanks for stopping by to see my post.

SWF>>>>Bermuda sunrise

2011-07-28T03:21:00.002-04:00

For my Skywatch Friday I have a few sunrise photos from our ship the Enchantment of the Seas docked in Bermuda. I also included some shots of Bermuda and the beautiful sky.

This moody looking sky greeted us as we made our way to the top deck to watch the sunrise.

This was the second day in Bermuda so we up early and were excited about seeing more of Bermuda. We only had till 1:30 in afternoon to see and do as much as we could fit in the small amount of time we had left in Bermuda.

We were happy to see the sun rising up over the other end of the island.

After watching the sunrise, we rushed off for breakfast. You can not go hungry while on a cruise ship. They have plenty of food.

If we can we usually try to arrange our own tour and excursions. We usually meet great local people and pay a lot less for the tour. By the way I have two unused two day bus tickets for Bermuda, anyone interested? My son and friend did not use their bus passes. Our plans were to take the bus to the beach to hang out for awhile and then go back to the dockyard for some shopping.

By the time we made our way off the ship, took the bus to Horseshoe Beach this is what the sky looked like.

Back on the ship, we looked back at the view of the Dockyard and the shopping mall.

Here is our view from the back our of ship as we were leaving the dock.

I hope you enjoyed my Bermuda skies, I sure did. To see more wonderful skies from around the world click : Skywatch Friday . Thanks to the host: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy and Klaus! Also, thanks for stopping by to see my skies and I hope everyone has beautiful skies to enjoy and a great weekend.

SWF>>>>Sunset on the bay

2011-07-21T03:47:00.006-04:00

For my Skywatch Friday I have sunset photos from our cruise to Bermuda. We enjoyed the sunset on the Chesapeake Bay on the first night of the cruise from Baltimore to Bermuda.

The Cheseapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States and approximately 200 miles long. It lies off the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by Maryland and Virginia. Noted for its beauty it does have environmental issues like over fishing and crabbing.

I hope you enjoyed my sunset on the Chesapeake Bay and

to see more beautiful skies from around the world please visit Skywatch Friday. Thanks to the hosting group: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy and Klaus.

Also, thanks for stopping by to visit with me and I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Today's Flowers

2011-07-17T07:02:00.000-04:00

This is my post for Today's Flowers

During our stop in Bermuda we took a private guided tour of the island. We visited many of the highlights of Bermuda. Our guide showed us a little extra, one extra stop was a privately owned garden. The pond and waterlilies were beautiful.

I have always loved waterlilies and the yellow ones are just gorgeous.

I was trying to capture the dragonfly on the pink waterlily one below.

The pond was design like a map of Bermuda... A very cool idea and a neat pond. Bermuda has a lot of islands connected by bridges.

I hope you enjoyed my post for Today's Flowers please click on the link to see many more beautiful flowers.
Thanks to the hosting group of Santili, Denise, Pupo and Sandy. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you take the time to enjoy the flowers and that your Sunday is wonderful.

SWF..........Cruising to Bermuda

2011-07-14T13:27:00.000-04:00

For my Skywatch Friday I have some shots from our cruise to Bermuda from Baltimore this past week. It was a great vacation for hubby and I and my son and his friend. The first shots I have are of our ship the Enchantment of the Seas going under the Key Bridge and the Chesapeake Bay Bridge here in Maryland.

The Key Bridge

It looks so close! I liked looking at the pretty and puffy white clouds thru the bridge on this shot below

The second bridge over the Chespeake bay is the double span of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

This shot shows the east bound bridge along side the west bound bridge. The sky was perfect for cruising.

This shot below shows the ship is past the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and we are on our way to Bermuda. It was a fun cruise, the weather and the skies were gorgeous all during our vacation .

I hope you enjoyed my skywatch shots and to see more beautiful skies from all around the world

check out Skywatch Friday . Thanks to the hosting gang of Skywatch: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy and Klaus.

Thanks for visiting me and my post. I'll be posting some more pic's soon from our visit to Bermuda. I appreciate all the comments and the visit. Have a great weekend!

My memories of London

2011-04-30T07:35:00.002-04:00

It has been nice to watch the wedding of William and Kate and seeing it all on the news has brought back memories of my trip to England.

For my Scenic Sunday I have some of my tourist hot spots we visited while in London and England.

Big Ben under renovation

Buckingham Palace

London Bridge

Windsor Castle

Trafalgar Square, look at all those pigeons

These are photos from my archives and a trip I took to England with my girlfriends. We had a great time and have lovely memories of our trip.

To see more scenic photo from around the world please visit the Holley's at Scenic Sunday.

Thanks to the Holleys for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post and I hope you all have a great weekend.

Chincoteague ponies

2011-04-23T06:57:00.001-04:00

Happy Easter to everyone!

For my Camera Critters
Anyone that has read the book Misty of Chincoteague has fallen in love with these wild ponies. They roam the island and can be seen walking down the roads and on the trails. As a child Marguerite Henry's "Misty of Chincoteague" was one of my favorite books to read. I would bug my Mom and Dad to take me to Chincoteague to see the pony auction they held every July. Now as an adult Chincoteague is still one of my favorite places to visit. I love watching the ponies and seeing all the wildlife that is attracted to Chincoteague Island.

This horse has the number 5 on its side.

I hope you enjoyed my Chincoteague ponies and to see more wonderful

cute critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters

Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting and thanks for stopping by to see my critters.

National Zoo Gorillas

2011-04-09T06:24:00.001-04:00

For my Camera Critters I have some photos of the Gorillas seen at the National Zoo. I thought it would be neat to show baby Kabibi taken 03/21/09 after she was born Jan 10, 2009 and some shots of her just last month. Kabibi's daddy is a silverback named Baraka. I read that the name Kabibi means "Little Lady " in Swahili. The first two photos show her in the arms of her mommy Mandara. Kabibi is one of 7 Gorillas living at the National Zoo. Mandara is mom to six of the Gorillas at the zoo.

Kibibi , a baby gorilla. Kabibi seen below being carried in her mommy's arms.

Some interesting tips on watching gorillas. Did you know they consider staring rude? If Gorillas stare at each other, it is a challenge to fight. It is a courtesy they extend to each other to look away if their eyes meet. Each animal has a retreat to go to if it feels too many eyes.

Now, here is Kabibi two years later.

Kibibi and her mommy Mandara. Sorry there is bad reflection on the glass in this photo.

I am not sure if this gorilla below is the daddy. Kabibi does have older brother and sisters. I did read that the daddy Baraka has a pronounced crest on its head. While we were watching them this one below grabbed the bamboo from the hands of baby Kabibi. After that happened Kabibi walked over to her mommy and shared some bamboo. The male can grow up to 6 feet tall and weigh up to 400 pounds.

The 7 Gorillas at the National Zoo in DC are Western Lowland Gorillas. And the Western Lowland Gorillas were listed as endarngered. The Western Lowland Gorillas live in Cameroon, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Angola and Nigeria. The gorillas are vulnerable to ebola, deforestation, and the horrible poaching.

I hope you enjoyed my Gorillas and to see more critters please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post. I hope your weekend is wonderful.

Trees, Trees and more Trees

2011-04-03T17:14:00.011-04:00

After doing my post below about how much old growth forest has been lost in the USA due to clearing for the old time homesteading and mostly for logging. I decided to make a new post for Mosaic Monday and Sally's Blue Monday with my archive shots of the various parks we visited where we saw these huge Redwood Trees. A few people commented that the Olympic National Park also has the old growth forest. Their comments brought back memories of our visit to the Hoh rainforest in the Olympic National Park.

The first mosaic shows my son Brian in his younger days ( he is 18 yrs old now) running around all in blue in the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park. If I knew then what I know now I would have never let Brian as close to this tree. The frequent rain in the Hoh rainforest contributes to the lush canopy of both the coniferous and deciduous trees. Mosses and ferns also add to the enchantment of the Hoh Rainforest. The National Park protects what is the largest remaining old growth forest and temperant rain forest in the lower 48 states.

This mosaic is a mixture of photos from our visit to the Redwood National Park which has the tallest trees and Sequoia National has the big wide trees both parks are in California. The giant sequoia trees are among the largest trees on earth. The Giant Forest was saved from logging by the creation of the Sequoia National Park..

The General Grant tree in Sequoia NP was designated as the nations Christmas Tree in 1926. This tree was so tall I could not fit it all in my photo.

This was our rental car at the time, of course we had to take a picture of it going thru the tree.

I have to thank the National Park system for protecting these old growth forest and these amazing huge trees. Hopefully these beautiful trees would never become a means for balancing the budget. Crazy things can happen, they might decide they need to build a road thru the forest. These trees are national treasures should be be treated as so and conserved. I would like to see logging come to end as far as logging these grand old trees and the old growth forest that we have left today.

Please visit Mary's Mosaic Monday to see some wonderful mosaics and Sally's Blue Monday to see everything blue. Thanks to both Mary and Sally for hosting these fun memes. And thank you for stopping by my blog to see my post. Have a wonderful week!

Rockport State Park

2011-04-02T08:51:00.003-04:00

I am link up with Scenic Sunday with some pic's of the Rockport State Park and its old growth forest.

Being married to a tree hugger visiting the Rockport State Park during our North Cascades trip last fall was a must do. The Rockport State Park is an old growth forest and is 670 acres located along the lower Skagit River. The park has over 600 acres of old growth timber and has an ecosystem that has never been disrupted. It is a natural forest with a canopy so dense that only minimal sunlight penetrates to the ground.

I am not positive but it seems that only the western states have the old growth forest. If anyone knows where we can find some more old growth forest on the east coast, hubby and I would love to visit. Since being married I have visited the tall Redwoods National Park, Sequoia National Park, I believe there were some old growth trees located in Yosemite when we visited and this last visit to the North Cascades National Park.

Walking along the trail, we saw these beautiful ferns and the gorgeous trees. It was a quiet place with only sounds of birds and sometimes the sound of water could be heard.

I have found a website showing the loss of old growth forest over the years and found it to be very alarming and sad. Here is a link Old growth forest. Looking at the map my state of Maryland does not show any old growth forest. It is no surprise the Forestry managers of Md seem to like the idea of clear cutting. You can click on the link to find your own state to see if there any old growth forest.

My photo below does not really show the size of this downed tree, but walking along next to it I felt small. Even dead trees provide shelter for mammals, birds and insect species.

I found even this mossy tree to be a beautiful sight.

The roots of this downed tree even looked beautiful covered with moss and ferns.

Am I one of the few who love these old forest and would hate to loose them all. I read that in the Pacific Northwest 80 percent of the forest are slated to be logged. Old growth trees provide crucial resources that younger forest can not provide. From the canopy to the fallen decomposing trees old growth forest sustain a web of life from soil building organisms all the way up the food chain. What old growth forest are left in the USA need to be conserved.

I loved this early morning foggy Skagit River scene. The Pacific Northwest is beautiful area to visit.

The old growth forest are treasures that I feel should be saved and appreciated by all. I love to walk along the giant forest, how about you? I hope you enjoyed my post and photos. Click on my link for Scenic Sunday to view more beautiful scenes from around the world.

Giant Panda at the National Zoo

2011-03-25T19:50:00.001-04:00

For this weeks Camera Critter I am showing my favorite animal ..the Giant Panda bear seen at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. There are two Giant Pandas at the national zoo, their names are Mei and Tian.

I am not sure which is Mei and which one is Tian, but this one really enjoyed eating the bamboo.

They are just so cute, you want to hug them!

We were told they might find out in the summertime if baby pandas are on the way.

This one looks like it was rolling around in the dirt, maybe this one is the male.

Hubby and I became Fonz members, which is Friends of the National Zoo. We plan on many more zoo visits thru-out the year. Mean time if you want to see lots more critters visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting this fun critter meme and thanks for stopping by to see my critter post. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

SWF....Keep the skies clean over Bryce Canyon National Park

2011-03-24T04:35:00.000-04:00

My Skywatch Friday post are shots from my archives of my various trips to Bryce Canyon National Park. It is one of my favorite parks, the trails are amazing to walk among the hoodoos. The scenery and sky over the Bryce Canyon is just gorgeous. This is also my plea to help put a stop to the Alton coal mining just 10 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park. Here is a link to send a letter to the governor of Utah protesting the Alton strip mine.

Various articles on the Alton coal mining NRDC and Robert Redford and OnEarth.org. Alton is located 10 miles from Bryce Canyon National Park and Bryce is just 50 miles from Zion National Park. I read that just Bryce Canyon National Park attracts over 1 million tourist a year. I for one would not like to see coal mining trucks, dirty air pollution and the natural beauty of the beautiful red rocks destroyed on the way to the national parks that I love.

Please visit Skywatch Friday to see beautiful skies from around the world. Thanks to the hosting group of Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Klaus and Fishing Guy. Thanks for stopping by to view my skies and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Coal Mining near my favorite park Bryce National Park

2011-03-22T19:07:00.002-04:00

Help to stop the proposed Alton Strip mine just 10 miles from Bryce National Park. Click here and take savebiogems.org/redford/bryce-canyon-action also check out this article from Robert Redford in the blog Tonic

I have been to Bryce National park a few times and have loved it. I want to share some of my old photos to show what a beautiful park it is. There are times where I feel I need to step up and take action. I have sent my letter to the Governor Herbert of Utah. I am hoping some of my blog readers will also click on the link and send their own letter. The beauty of this park and Sounthwestern Utah should be protected and preserved.

I hate to see this gorgeous park ruined with dirty air, coal mining trucks and the natural scenery into and around this beautiful place.

I am linking my post up with Susan's Outdoor Wednesday thanks Susan . Please visit and check out all the wonderful outdoor blog post. Thanks for stopping by my post.

National Zoo lions

2011-03-18T19:36:00.002-04:00

For my Camera Critters post I have some shots of the lion family at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. There were 5 cubs all playing with each other and their parents. It was not possible to get all five of the cubs in one shot. They were all over the place. Naba is mommy to three of the cubs which were born in September and Shera is mommy to 4 cubs born in August. I read that one cub died so that should leave six but we only saw five playing outside.

I am pretty sure this was the first time for me seeing the lion cubs, they sure were so adorable It was really cute seeing the cubs interacting the larger male and female lions.

Cubs playing with daddy Luke.

This is one of my favorite shots, the daddy looks so proud and peaceful.

I hope your enjoyed my Camera Critters this week and please visit Misty Dawn to see more wonderful critters. Thanks to Misty for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my post. Have a great weekend.

SWF at the National Zoo in DC

2011-03-17T04:05:00.000-04:00

Happy Saint Patricks Day!!!!

For my skywatch I have a few shots I took while visiting the National Zoo in DC last weekend. It is one of my favorite zoo's to visit, the exhibits are just wonderful.

One of the budding trees at the zoo

This was the first time I caught the one of the orangutans using the O-line. The O-line is a transit system for the orangutans to use to travel from the Great Ape house to the Think Tank. It is wild to be there watching the orangutan climbing on these ropes that hang right above your heads. And that they can use these to go from building to building.

We stopped to watch right under the O-line as the Orangutan climbed and hung on the ropes. This time the female used the O-line to go to the next tower and stopped to wait for the male to come along too.

Not the prettiest skies, but it was a nice day with warm temps.

But the male had other ideas and stayed in the yard outside the Great Ape house. We were told by a worker that the female will not go all the way to the Think Tank by herself .. so we watched as she made her way back along the rope to the tower in the yard.

She wasn't going anywhere without her man. LOL!

These are for my Skywatch Friday post and I hope you enjoy. Click on my link to see more awesome shots from around the world. Thanks to the Skywatch host: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Klaus and Fishing Guy

Also, I appreciate your visit and comments. I hope everyone has a wonderful St Patricks Day and a great weekend.

Great Falls National Park, Virginia

2011-03-14T17:53:00.001-04:00

On Sunday, hubby and I visited the Virginia side of the Great Falls National Park. The Potomac River was flooding and the overlooks on the Maryland side were closed. Parts of Maryland received up to 3 inches of rain on Thursday which flooded many rivers, streams and creeks.

The Potomac was a very fast moving river with the most recent rain we had and all the snow melting. It was neat seeing a rainbow show up from the mist and fast moving water.

I have some still shots of the mighty Potomac and I was able to take some video of the river with my Canon SX20. It was my first time using the video, I was surprised at how easy it was to make the video.

My videos of the Great Falls is at Eileen's Youtube and Eileen's YouTube II

Click here to see more wonderful blogs and photos That's My World and Watery Wednesday

Thanks to the wonderful host Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Klaus and Fishing Guy.

Also, thanks for stopping by to see my part of the world. Have a great week.

SWF.....Baltimore Harborplace

2011-03-10T12:18:00.001-05:00

These are my skywatch shots from March 3rd. I took my camera to work with me and was happy to see some pretty skies. I am also trying to get in some exercise by taking brisk walks down to the harbor. So I feel good by walking and taking some pictures along the way.

I saw some pretty pinks along the walk to work.

The early morning pinks and blues are some of my favorites.

Hard to believe just a short distance away the sky turned more orangy.

The next couple are from my quick walk down to the harbor. I loved these contrails.

The sun was rising between these two buildings and by trying to take this shot I scared these ducks away before I could get a good look at them.

On the picture below, I believe it is a test area where grasses are growing to help keep the harbor water clean. I hope the test area works.

To see more wonderful skies from around the world Click on my SKYWATCH FRIDAY link. I hope you enjoyed my skywatch.

Thanks to the hosting group of Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Klaus and Fishing Guy! They make Skywatch Friday happen every week.

Thanks also for stopping by to see my skywatch. Have a wonderful weekend.!

SWF..at home & work

2011-03-03T05:17:00.002-05:00

For my Skywatch Friday I am showing various scenes from different days starting with the cresent moon on my way to work and a sunset from my backyard.

City Hall's dome

"Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky".

Rabindranath Tagore ...found this lovely quote from Brainy Quote

This quote is just right for my photo below ..it is not sharp but I really love the blue color of the sky and the awesome looking clouds. The building in the middle is the War Memorial building in Baltimore.

Sunrising behind the Shot Tower

Now we are back in my yard watching the sun setting.

I hope you enjoyed following me to work and back home. To see more wonderful skies please visit Skywatch Friday

Thanks to the host: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Klaus and Fishing Guy.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend......ENJOY!!!

SWF>>>>Sunrise on the road

2011-02-17T13:42:00.003-05:00

These are some shots I took of last Saturday's sunrise while my hubby was driving. We were on the way to Barnegat Lighthouse State Park in New Jersey. LOL, it is not very easy to take clear photos while the car is moving 65 miles an hour. Oh, and I almost forgot my left hand is still in a splint. So I was trying to take these shots one handed with the car moving. They might not be the sharpest shots but I just love the colors.

Click on the photos for a larger image

The photo below looks like a scene from Hitchcock's movie The Bird's. LOL, I know its awful but I think it is funny.

There was no way this one would come out clear, between the car moving and the birds moving it just wasn't possible.

To see more beautiful skies from around the world, check out Skywatch Friday. Thanks to the hosts: Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Fishing Guy and Klaus. Thank you for stopping by my skywatch and I hope you have a great weekend.

Shenandoah's White Oak

2011-02-08T14:17:00.003-05:00

First, I must mention these are my hubby's photos, he asked me to post them on one of my Watery Wednesday post. On Jan 25 he decided to take a day trip to Shenandoah's White Oak Trail. This is his favorite trail to see the waterfalls while they are frozen. I was still at home recovering from my hand surgery and in no condition to go walking around on snow and ice. So today you are Traveling with Mike instead of Traveling with Eileen.

These do look much nicer if you click on the photos for a larger image.

BRRRR, it looks very cold! I hope you enjoy hubby's photos and he will get a kick out of reading your comments.

Thanks for stopping by and please make sure to visit more Watery Wednesday post and thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting.

Costa Rica critters

2011-02-05T07:23:00.001-05:00

Since my hand surgery I have not been taking new photos so I am showing some of my favorite Costa Rica critters from my archives. We went to Costa Rica in March of 2010 and I loved it there. The critters, birds and scenery were all wonderful. These shots are from a wildlife refuge cruise at Cano Negro, it was a river cruise that that took us to the border of Nicaragua. The photos were taken from a moving boat so they are not the best quality.

You can click on the photos for a larger image.

It was neat to see this monkey hanging from the tree eating the flowers.

This guy looks all pooped out, doesn't he?

AWWWW , look at the shy little baby, isn't it cute? He is hiding by his momma's neck.

Water Buffalo, they produce milk that makes mozzarella cheese.

Bats all lined up, they blend in well with the tree.

                                      This Blond Howler Monkey was one of my favorite sightings. I believe the blond howler monkey is more of a rare sighting.

Please visit Misty Dawn's Camera Critters to see more cute critters. Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting and thanks for stopping by to see my critters. Have a great weekend!

SWF..Sunset

2010-12-02T03:53:00.007-05:00

These are shots of the sunset on the last night we were in the Outer Banks. We were at the Pea Island NWR. The sunset was amazing. The Pea Island Wildlife refuge is one of my favorite places in the Outer Banks and I am sure I will be visiting there again.

These closeups are my favorites I love the birds flying across the sky and the tree.

Today 12/2 is my birthday and now I feel one day older than yesterday.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Skywatch post and to see more beautiful skies from

all around click here Skywatch Friday

Thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Fishing Guy and Klaus.

Outer Banks Lighthouses

2010-11-27T08:06:00.001-05:00

For this weeks Scenic Sunday I have some shots of the Lighthouses we visited during our trip to the Outer Banks.

We visited three different lighthouses, they were Bodie Island which was under renovation, Cape Hatteras and last was the Currituck. I love seeing all the different lighthouses and I can add three my to more collection.

Bodie Island Lighthouse under renovation

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

Currituck Lighthouse

I love lighthouses and I really enjoyed our trip to the Outer Banks. If we go again I would like to go in the spring time to see the different birds.

I hope you enjoyed my Scenic Sunday shot and

to see more click here Scenic Sunday thanks to the host of Scenic Sunday

and thank you for visiting my post.

SWF....Outer Banks Sunrise

2010-11-25T04:00:00.007-05:00

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!!!

This is another of the sunrises we saw we staying in the Outer Banks. It was great staying on the beach and being able to walk out on the beach first thing in the morning. Each morning the sunsets were different but each were beautiful in their own way. My favorites are usually the shots capturing the birds flying over during the sunrise. I enjoy simple things like seeing the sunsets and sunrises and I am very thankful for my family and friends and to see these beautiful skies.

Another of my favorites is seeing the sun's reflection on the sand and waters edge.

A zoom in on the sun

These are my Skywatch shots and to

see more beautiful skies visit Skywatch Friday

Thanks to the hosting group and thanks for stopping to see my skies.

Outer Banks

2010-11-21T20:00:00.001-05:00

These are some of the scenes we saw while recently visiting the Outer Banks. Photos included in my mosaic are of the Pea Island NWR header photo , sunset at Pea Island, Wright Brothers National Memorial..see my previous post for more photos, Jockey Ridge State park is home to the tallest and natural sand dune, Bodie Island Lighthouse under renovation until Dec 2010 and Nags Head Woods Preserve.

Jockey Ridge State park had a nice Tracks in the sand trail.

The trail took us along the Roanoke Sound for a short time

The Bodie Island Lighthouse under renovation until Dec. 2010, but the grounds and visitor center are open to the public. They also had a nice nature trail which included a lookout tower over a pond. The pond was great for checking out the birds and ducks.

Nags Head Woods Preserve, five miles of trails in anciet oak forest. A beautiful place.

Sunset at Pea Island NWR

This is my entry for Mary's Mosaic Monday and click on my link to see more wonderful mosaics.

Thanks for stopping by to see my post. I hope you all have a great week and a Happy Thanksgiving.

The First Flight

2010-11-20T07:13:00.001-05:00

During our visit to the Outer Banks, North Carolina we toured the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills. The museum had a great replica of the Wright Brothers plane and it was neat to see photos of others first flights...like first on the moon and the first woman. Outside was the monument and markers for each spot one thru four where Orville and Wilbur landed each time they took off.

December 17, 1903 the day man first flew

Orville and Wilbur Wright

Amelia Earhart the First Woman in flight

The men of first space flights

Commemoration of the first flight Amelia Earhart and others in 1928

The sculpture is another replica Wright Brothers first flight and is located on the grounds of the memorial.

"I got more thrill out of flying before I had ever been in the air at all- while lying in bed thinking how exciting it would be to fly." Orville Wright

These are my scenic photos for Scenic Sunday and to see more wonderful scenes from around the world visit Scenic Sunday

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the host of Scenic Sunday.

SWF...Kill Devil HIlls

2010-11-18T03:51:00.002-05:00

These are some shots of the first sunrise outside our hotel at Kill Devil Hills in the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Kill Devil Hills is an odd name isn't it? On another post I will show some shots of the Wright Brothers National Memorial located in Kill Devil Hills. Can you believe I actually do sightseeing besides birding? For some reason I always thought the first flight took place in Kitty Hawk. We were up every morning around 6:30 to see the sunrise. We had the sunrise and sunset times memorized and tried to be in the right place each time. Our hotel was ocean front so we didn't have far to go to see the sunrise.

After watching the sunrise we would leave to eat breakfast and get an early start sightseeing and birding. The birds I saw on the beach near our hotel were mostly gulls, pelicans would fly by and a few Sanderlings. The Sanderlings are cute little peeps running away quickly from the waves. My hubby loves the rough ocean and the big waves and it can be hard to drag him away. We found some great looking sea shells on the beach and I finally got to see a live starfish. Really cool.

I loved seeing the beautiful rays from the sun rising behind the clouds. Click on the pic's for a larger image.

We were so busy watching the sun rising that I did not notice this fin ( at least it looks like a fin to me) until I looked at this shot below on my computer. I hope this was a dolphin and not a shark. It was close to the shore. I cropped this shot closer to show the actual dolphin fin and not all the waves.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Skywatch photos and thanks to the hosting team of Skywatch Friday

Click on my link to visit some of the beautiful skies from around the world.

Camera Critters

2010-10-08T19:29:00.003-04:00

For this weeks Camera Critters I have a few more critters we saw while on vacation in Washington State. One is a deer we saw during our hike on the lakeshore trail in Stehekin also a few goats some we saw penned up in the town of Leavenworth and some goats we saw while hiking at Artist Point, Mt Baker. The goats were far away and looked like white spots until we saw them get up and they started moving around.

I am not sure but I believe this a mule deer

Leavenworth goats.. not so wild here. Tourists were feeding them and they loved being scratched.

Mt Baker..From a distance the goats looked like white rocks on the ground that is until they got up and walked away.

I love animals....any kind of animal and seeing them wild and in their own habitat is a real treat for me.

To enjoy more critters from all over click here: Camera Critters Thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting and thank you for stopping by to see my critters.

Noonsack Falls

2010-10-05T18:15:00.000-04:00

The Noonsack Falls is located a short distance off of the scenic Mt Baker Hwy. The Noonsack river flows thru a narrow valley and drops 88ft into the rocky river canyon.

These are my Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday thanks to both of the host 2sweetnsaxy and Susan. Also, thank you for stopping by to see my post.

Picture Lake, Mount Baker

2010-10-01T20:27:00.004-04:00

After leaving the city of Leavenworth, we made our way back around the Cascade Loop to do the scenic Mount Baker Byway. One spot I had to see was the Picture Lake. A very popular place to take photos of Mt Shuksan's reflection. It was a little windy the day we were there so it was hard to get that perfect shot. But, I was happy with the reflection scene and the pretty walk around the lake.

The scenery around the Mount Baker byway is just gorgeous.

Click on the photos for better viewing

To see more awesome reflections visit Jame's Weekend Reflections

I am also linking up with Scenic Sunday. Visit the Holleys Scenic Sunday

Thanks to James and the Holleys for hosting and thanks for visiting my reflections post.

Leaving Stehekin

2010-09-28T05:20:00.001-04:00

On the last day at Stehekin we had just enough time to take the shuttle to the Rainbow Falls before we had to take the Lady Express back to Chelan. It was a one hour tour to the waterfalls and a stop at a one room school in Stehekin. The weather was beautiful and a great day for our boat ride back to our car.

Rainbow Falls

One room schoolhouse for Stehekin, it was in use until recently they built a more modern schoolhouse.

Lady Express leaving Stehekin, the skies were looking beautiful on our boat ride back to Chelan.

People riding jet skiis were having fun with the waves that were created from our Lady express boat.

After arriving back in the city of Chelan we hopped in our rental car and took off for our next stop along the Cascade Loop in the city of Leavenworth. You can see some of my Leavenworth photos here: http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/2010/09/leavenworth.html

You can check out these memes I am link up with 2 sweetnsaxy's Watery Wednesday, Susan's Outdoor Wednesday and my Skywatch Friday.

Thanks to all the wonderful hosts of these fun memes. Also thanks for visiting my blog and checking out my post.

Skywatch Stehekin

2010-09-23T05:22:00.001-04:00

After arriving in Stehekin we quickly threw our luggage into our room and decided to take a walk along the lakeshore trail. The trail followed the lake and there were many views of the lake and sky along the way. There was one part where the trail looked like it had been thru a mudslide and water was cascading down into the lake. This trail goes 17.2 miles and a stopping point for backpackers along the way is Moore Point which is 7 miles from Stehekin. I was birding along the trail hoping to see some lifers from the west coast. I heard all kinds of birds and of course they all hid from my camera.

The mudslide was cause from a heavy rain strom a few weeks before we got there. It looked so fresh like it just happened.

We were happy to see some blue sky poking out from all those clouds.

An overcast sky and some of those stubborn clouds were still hanging low on the mountains.

Luckily the skies were just overcast and we did not see any rain. After our walk we looked forward to our dinner at the Stehekin Landing's restaurant and a delicious dessert from the famous Stehekin bakery.

These cloudy skies are my skywatch for this week.

To see more skies from all over click here: Skywatch Friday

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy and Klaus.

Lake Chelan

2010-09-21T05:25:00.002-04:00

Two and a half days of our Washington State vacation was spent in Stehekin which is part of the North Cascades National Park. The only way to get to Stehekin is by boat ride, float plane or by hiking in. We chose the Lady of the Lake boat ride which starts in the town Lake Chelan and goes for 55 miles to Stehekin. There are two choices the slow boat Lady of the Lake for 4 hours or the Lady express for 2 and half hours. Our stay at Stehekin was for two nights so we just packed up what we needed for these days for our stay at the Stehekin Landing Resort. We decided to do the four hour boat ride on the first day and come back on the express. We would leave the dock at Lake Chelan at 8:30am and arrive in Stehekin at 12:30. We did make three stops along the way in places called Field Pt, Lucerne and another when we pulled to shore to pick up some backpackers. It is a very scenic boat ride starting off with beautiful lake homes, fields of apple trees and some vineyards near the town of Lake Chelan and eventually becoming all mountains on both sides of the lake. It did not rain but it was a very cloudy overcast day. The clouds added to the scene hanging low on the mountains. More about Stehekin on another post.

There were waterfalls along the lakeshore

Below is the stop to pick up some backpackers is an area that was used years ago for the taping of a Lassie movie staring Elizabeth Taylor

Stehekin is a place for relaxing and enjoying the outdoors. No telephones and no TV's just enjoy nature.

I am linking up to Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday thanks to 2sweetnsaxy and Susan for hosting these great memes.

And thanks for stopping by to see my post and blog. I hope you enjoyed my post.

Camera Critters..Black Bear..Leavenworth, Wa

2010-09-17T19:48:00.005-04:00

MY Skywatch post now follows this Camera Critters post.

During our vacation last week we stopped in Leavenworth, Washington. I read about the Leavenworth Salmon Hatchery being a top place for birding. Being a birder I had to stop at the most popular place. Besides seeing the Salmon hatchery there are trails for walking and some lead to the rivers edge It was along the river we sighted this black bear. I just love seeing bears so this was one of the great sightings for me and all the great birds.

We were able to watch the bear across the river from us for awhile until something spooked it and it ran off. We stood watching the river for a while and then I noticed an American Dipper in the water. Very cool , the Dipper is a life bird for me. I will do a post on my Washington State birds at another time.

To see more critters from all over click here: Camera Critters and thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting this fun critter meme and for stopping by my blog.

Dreary skywatch over Diablo Lake

2010-09-16T05:13:00.000-04:00

These are some shots of the dreary looking skies we saw the first two days of our vacation in the North Cascades. The clouds were hanging low over the mountains. It was still beautiful looking scenery with the clouds and mountains.

These are my skywatch shots

and to see more wonderful skies from all over the world click here Skywatch Friday

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Fishing Guy and Klaus

Skywatch over Seneca Rocks

2010-08-12T05:32:00.000-04:00

My skywatch is from my visit to the Seneca Rock park in West Virginia.

Thanks for stopping by to see my Skywatch Friday and thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Wren, Sandy, Fishign Guy, and Klaus.

Casselman River Bridge and State park

2010-07-28T18:58:00.002-04:00

Last weekend, hubby and I took a short trip to western Maryland. The Casselman River Bridge and state park was one of our stops. The Casselman bridge is a national historic landmark built in 1913.
It was at one time the largest single span stone arch in the United States and one of the first major bridge on the national road US Route 40 which was known as a East-West United States highway. Now we have the faster Rt 70 and the old Rt 40 is a slow and more scenic route.

A view of the river towards Rt 68

We saw lots of these spotted fish in the Cassleman River, anyone know what kind they are?

A view of the park from the bridge

We finished our day at the nearby Penn Alps Restaurant and tried some of the wonderful their Mennonite food. I had a their Asian Chicken Salad with the White House dressing. Wow, was it ever delicious. So good I had to bring home a bottle of the dressing. After dinner we checked out the Artisan village and the House of Yoder. My favorite part was visiting Gary Yoder and his amazing bird carvings. Gary Yoder's bird carvings are in collections around the world and I was happy to meet him and watch him do some carving. If you happen to be in the area I would say this place is well worth a stop.

I am link up with Outdoor Wednesday thanks to Susan the host and 2 sweetnsaxy's Watery Wednesday.

Thanks to both of these gals for these fun memes and thanks for stopping by to see my post.

Cuyahoga Falls

2010-07-20T12:58:00.004-04:00

These photos are from my archives and one of our past trips to Ohio. We stopped at the Cuyahoga National Park to see the Brandywine Waterfalls. Cuyahoga National Park is south of Cleveland. The winding Cuyahoga River was given the name crooked river by the American Indians. The park also has a nice Bike trail next to the working rails and the canal.

A view at the top of the falls, looks just like a trickle of water.

My hubby is fascinated with waterfalls, if we are traveling and a waterfall is in the area we make a point of stopping to see it.

This is my Watery Wednesday post and Outdoor Wednesday to see more click on my links. Thanks to 2sweetnsaxy and Susan for hosting and thanks for stopping by to visit my watery post.

Murals under the expressway

2010-06-20T20:25:00.004-04:00

Usually, I post my travel photos on this blog but today, I guess you could say you are traveling to work with me. I wanted to show the murals or paintings on the concrete columns holding up the expressway I take to work. The murals were painted by local artists. There is a municipal metered parking lot under the expressway and on Sunday's they hold a farmers market on the parking lot. Local Maryland farmers provide their fresh produce, fruits, meats, herbs, flowers, even fresh fish and more for economical prices. The farmers market runs from May to December. The most popular day is the Sunday before Thanksgiving.

This painted colum below is one of my favorites.

I think the artists did wonderful painting these murals and they are perfect for the farmers market. This is a multi meme post I am linking up with the memes below.

Mellow Yellow Monday click on my link to see more mellow yellow. My thanks to the gracious host of Mellow Yellow
and
Ruby Tuesday click on my link and visit Mary's Ruby Tuesday. Thank you, Mary for hosting this fun meme.
and
That's My World Click on my link to see more of the world. Thanks to the hosting team of Sylvia, Wren Sandy, Fishing Guy and Klaus.

Monkeys

2010-05-07T18:41:00.000-04:00

Just when you thought I was done, I have more Costa Rica photos. These are of the monkeys we saw while traveling around Costa Rica.

I have all kinds of monkey photos. We saw the White Faced monkeys, Spider Monkeys and the Howler Monkeys. We received plenty of warnings about them but they seemed to leave us alone and we did not have any incidents involving the monkeys. I thought they were all cute. I have only seen monkeys in the zoo so it was really cool to see them in their own habitat.

Spider Monkey

White Faced Monkey

Howler Monkey

The Golden Monkey

This Howler monkey was eating the flowers

This one is in deep thought

A monkey tree

These are my critters for this weeks Camera Critters Thanks for stopping by and thanks to Misty Dawn for hosting Camera Critters

Sunset Skywatch Friday

2010-04-29T13:44:00.003-04:00

One of the best sunsets I have seen was during our Costa Rica vacation in Guanacaste. Our hotel was ocean front so we didn't have to go far to see the sunset.

This is also my Weekend Reflections entry. And to see more wonderful shots visit here on Friday:James Weekend Reflections. Thanks to James for hosting this fun meme.

A closeup

The color seem to change when I zoomed in closer with my camera.

To see more skies click here Skywatch Friday and thanks for stopping by.

Also thanks to the hosting team of Skywatch Friday: Fishing Guy, Wren, Sylvia, Sandy and Klaus

Guanacaste, Pacific side of Costa Rica

2010-04-24T05:52:00.002-04:00

The last two nights of our stay in Costa Rica was a Marriott resort in Guanacaste. The beach was lovely and the resort was awesome. The header shot is a sunset from our first night there.

Skywatch now follows this post.

Infinity pool at the resort

Some of the Howler monkeys in the trees near the beach

These are some of my scenic shots from the Pacific side of Costa Rica, to enjoy more beautiful scenes from all over click here Scenic Sunday

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the Holleys for hosting Scenic Sunday.

Another Costa Rica skywatch

2010-04-22T14:00:00.002-04:00

I am still going over my photos from my vacation in Costa Rica. One day we stopped at a Coffee Plantation for a luncheon. Beside the luncheon, we were treated to a show of the local dancing and we could walk on a trail thru some of the coffee plants.

We were treated with nature's show a beautiful rainbow at the coffee plantation.

You can click on the photo for a larger image

Thanks for stopping by to view my skywatch and to see more beautiful skies click here Skywatch Friday

Also, thanks to the hosting team of Skywatch Friday.

Costa Rica oxcarts

2010-04-17T05:50:00.000-04:00

During my trip to Costa Rica we stopped in a quaint artisan town called Sarchi. It is known for its beautiful arts, crafts and souvenirs. It is mostly recognized for the lovely painted oxcarts. The largest and and oldest oxcart factory is found in Sarchi.

Each oxcart I saw looked like a beautiful piece of artwork. They are highly ornate and elegantly carved and painted with beautiful bright colors. A national symbol of Costa Rica, the oxcart played an important role in the country's history. The oxcarts were used to transport coffee beans to the markets. If you should visit Costa Rica, Sarchi is definitely worth a visit. And wouldn't it be cool to have one of these oxcarts in your yard.

This is my Scenic Sunday post and to see more scenes from all over please click on my link. Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the Holleys for hosting Scenic Sunday.

A Tortuguero sunrise.. Skywatch Friday

2010-04-15T14:07:00.000-04:00

During our trip to Costa Rica we were up early for the sunrises. At Tortuguero, Costa Rica we were able to watch the sunrise on the Caribbean Sea. Our room was just a short walk away from the beach. These are shots of the first sunrise on the Laguna Lodge beach.

On the shot below I like how the suns rays are shining above this cloud. I did not adjust any light on this photo but the colors got more intense as the sun was rising.

I was able to catch more of the sunrise's reflection on the water on this photo below.

It turned out to be the start of another wonderful day. Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the hosting team of Skywatch Friday

Tortuguero, Costa Rica sunset

2010-04-08T14:06:00.004-04:00

On the third day of our Costa Rica vacation we were driven to the boat dock where we then taken by boat to our Tortuguero Laguna Lodge. We spent two nights at Tortuguero. Our lodge in a National park that is located between the canal and the Caribbean Sea. It was also a great location for the sunrises on the Caribbean, the wildlife and birds were amazing. But, the first evening we sat and watched the sunset near the canal and listened to the howler monkeys. These are a couple of my sunset shots that first evening of our stay.

Click for a larger image

Thanks for stopping by my blog and thanks to the hosting team of Skywatch Friday

Costa Rica..Watery Wednesday

2010-04-06T17:55:00.000-04:00

A visit to the Baldi Hot Springs was included in our trip and tour of Costa Rica. It seemed similiar to the water parks we have here in the states. There was even a water slide. The difference being some of the 30 pools had HOT water, we saw signs at the pools ranging from 102 to 152 degrees. They recommend cooling off the the colder water pools. The Baldi Hot Springs are safely located out of the risk zone of the Arenal Volcano. My hubby enjoyed them, but the only hot water I like is in the bath tub. I had to take a shot of the Volcano while I was walking around the lovely gardens they have on the grounds.

Thanks for stopping by my blog and thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting Watery Wednesday

Costa Rica. Fortuna

2010-04-04T08:26:00.004-04:00

Hubby and I recently spent ten days in Costa Rica on a Caravan tour. Two of the nights were spent at a great location in Fortuna. I am going out of order these are days 5 and 6 of our ten day vacation. Our room had a great view of the Arenal Volcano. Of course most of the views were cloudy but it was still a beautiful view. I would wake during the night hoping to see the top of the volcano clear so I could see the red glow from the lava.

One night I woke to see a small cloud over the top of the volcano and an almost full moon. My picture does not come close to the actual sight.

Check out my Costa Rica birds at http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/2010/04/costa-rica-birdpart-two.html

Thanks for visiting my blog and to see more wonderful scenic sights go and visit the Holleys at Scenic Sunday

Costa Rica

2010-04-02T06:51:00.001-04:00

On the first day of our Costa Rica tour we were met at the airport for our transfer to the San Jose hotel. Our home for the first two nights of our tour was the San Jose Barcelo. At the welcome dinner and briefing, we met the rest our group of 42 nature lovers and our tour director. By this time, I was anxious to start the tour and to enjoy the wildlife and the beautiful Costa Rica paradise. Our nine night, ten day vacation included breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Our tour director made sure everyone was happy and had a great time.

Sunrise on the second day, looks like a great start to the day.

Day two..Poas Volcano and the cloud forest. As you can see the clouds were there and we did not have a view of the crater.

The ferns that lined the walkway were just beautiful.

Lunch break included a nice view of the valley.

Sunset back at the San Jose Barcelo hotel.

I will be posting my Costa Rica bird photos at my blog http://viewingnaturewitheileen.blogspot.com/2010/04/costa-rica-birds.html

I hope you enjoyed my San Jose skywatch and you can see more skies from all over at Skywatch Friday

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks to the hosting team of Skywatch Friday.

Weekend Reflections

2010-03-12T05:17:00.002-05:00

These reflections are from my most recent visit to Atlantic City and the Jersey shore. I was up early for the sunrise (header shot) and we practically had the boardwalk to ourselves. Hard to believe this gorgeous sunrise and we were the only people there to enjoy it.

I think this is what they call the Steel Pier, not what it use to be years ago.

For more wonder reflections visit James at Weekend Reflections

Thanks for stopping by my blog and have a great weekend.

Weekend Reflections

2010-03-05T17:27:00.001-05:00

These photos are from my archives and my last trip to Blackwater Wildlife refuge. On the wildlife drive I noticed the sky was reflecting on the ice and water.

I hope you enjoyed my reflections and to see more go and visit James at Weekend Reflections

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to James for hosting this fun meme.

Watery Wednesday..Seaweed Wrap

2010-03-02T18:10:00.004-05:00

For my Watery Wednesday post I thought of the seaweed photo I took while at Barnaget beach last weekend. Weird, I know! But listen, what I did not know until my last cruise that the spa's use seaweed for body wraps. During the cruise the spa would send out flyers offering different treatments and the seaweed wrap was one of the specials. Apparently seaweed has many benefits. If you didn't know already seaweed can relax you, stimulate your circulation, it can be used as a body cleanser and detoxifier and best of all reduce cellulite. WOW, I am just amazed at all these benefits.

A gold mine, see all those dark spots in the water, yes that's seaweed!

This great hunk of seaweed was right on the beach, ripe for the taking.

Did I mention it also helps with joint pain, arthitis and aching bones?

It is rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals that are absorbed into your skin while having the seaweed wrap. It is also suppose to be wonderful on dry skin. I have read it can help to increase your metabolism. This just sounds wonderful, like a miracle cure? Now, I am just so sorry I didn't walk along the beach and pick up every piece of seaweed I saw and bring it home with me. I do think you have to be able to put up with the strong marine odor but with all these benefits what's wrong with a little stinky odor.

I could have asked these duckies to move so I could pickup the seaweed in the water under and all around them.

I hope you know, I am just kidding about picking up this seaweed and taking it home with me. My Jeep would be smelling fishy for weeks, YUCK! I am not sure if the "mircle" seaweed is the same as NJ seaweed? Now I might have everyone going out to find their own seaweed to wrap their bodies in. If it really does have a few of the benefits I mentioned I could stop taking my Aleve, Advil and Tylenol.

To see more Wonderful Watery Wednesday photos click here: Watery Wednesday

Thanks for stopping by my blog and thanks to 2sweetnsaxy for hosting Watery Wednesday.

Weekend reflections..

2010-02-26T17:16:00.000-05:00

These shots go well with my sunrise photos on th post below. I woke up early and looking out our hotel window I notice the sunrise in the building across from ours.

To see more go and visit James and his Weekend Reflections .

Thanks for stopping by my blog and thanks to James for hosting this fun meme.

Atlantic CIty Sunrise

2010-02-25T14:21:00.001-05:00

After Sunday visit to Barnaget beach we stayed a night in Atlantic City. I was up early to enjoy this pretty sunrise.

To see wonderful skies from all over go and visit Skywatch Friday

Thanks for stopping by and a special thanks to the hosting team of Skywatch Friday.

Scenic Sunday..Costa Maya

2010-02-20T06:35:00.000-05:00

From my archives Costa Maya was one of our stops on our western Caribbean cruise. During our visit there we took a shore excursion ( a bus ride 73km west of Costa Maya) to the Chaccoben ruins. The ruins are surrrounded by jungle which is the habitat for various critters such as the howler monkey, fox, deer, armadillo, ocelet and the jaguar. There was a path that took us past three excavated pyramids and different walls and staircases. Settlement by the Maya at the site is estimate at 200 BC and the structures date from 700 AD.

To see more beautiful scenes go and visit The Holleys Scenic Sunday meme

Thanks for stopping by and thanks to the Holleys for hosting Scenic Sunday

Wildflowers..Mosaic Monday

2010-02-14T17:44:00.001-05:00

From archives, I created my mosaic with wildflowers I've seen at various national parks. I am not familiar with the names of the flowers but I thought they were all beautiful.

Thanks for visiting my blog and thanks to Mary of Mosaic Monday

To see more wonderful mosaics click on my link.

Scenic Sunday....California

2010-02-13T05:40:00.001-05:00

These are some of my favorites places and photos from our visits to California. Some of which I think are the highlights are Half Dome in Yosemite, Monterey beach, Carmel tree and deer on Pebbles Beach Golf Course, Sequoia, Lassen and a pretty view of a river near the Redwoods Nat'l Park.

Yosemite waterfalls

Monterey, Bug Sur

Redwoods

Half Dome, Yosemite

I hope you enjoy my travels thru some of California, to see more wonderful scenes from around the world go and visit the Holleys at Scenic Sunday

Thanks to the Holleys for Hosting Scenic Sunday and to you for stopping by my blog.

Weekend Reflections

2010-02-12T06:23:00.000-05:00

These shots are from my last trip to Ocean City, Md . The pier is reflected nicely on the sand and shoreline. I like this shot because it does not have any snow in it. Sorry, I am really tired of looking at snow.

Thanks for stopping by and to see more great reflections go and visit:

James and his Weekend Reflections