Monday, July 8, 2024, Schnitzel, Fort Anne, Campfire Sunset, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, Canada

We woke up to some thick fog and saw something I'm not sure I've seen before - a fogbow! It was sunlight reflected off of the fog so it was exactly opposite the direction of the rising sun.

It was low tide so we walked to the wharf we saw on moving day to have a look. The three boats in yesterday's picture were out fishing and we were looking 25 feet down to the seabed. To contrast, I tried to take the same pictures at high tide the next day.

Fantasy arranged a lunch at a German restaurant in Annapolis Royal. We had our choice of Schnitzel or Bratwurst. Joani had the brat and I had the schnitzel and we shared. I think the schnitzel was delicious and my favorite. Blueberry crumble was served with ice cream for dessert.

Our host, the pastry chef, was from East Germany (her husband was the cook and her daughter was one of the servers). She talked for a few minutes about her history and how they ended up in Canada. She was passionate about what she sees happening to Canada now and the parallels with what she lived through in East Germany. She did not get the memo about no political discussions.

After we finished, Steve, the tour wagon master, tried to round everyone up for a group photo. Talk about herding cats. 

He did get everyone still for a few moments, but we have yet to see the picture so I have no idea if he was successful. I cannot imagine everyone was visible in the picture but maybe he will share it later.

The fog was long gone and the sun was brightly shining. It was a beautiful day for another walk around Annapolis Royal. We started with Fort Anne.

The museum, housed in the last remaining building in the fort, had a model to help visualize the entire fort in its prime.

In a cutaway of the building's wall, we could see how bricks had been used to fill in around the timber framing. Using building materials from older buildings was referred to as "bricknogging".

There was a picture of Queen Elizabeth sewing a few stitches in the tapestry of her great-grandmother, Queen Anne.

Later in the evening we sat around a fire and watched the sunset. Clouds rolled in before it sank below the horizon but we did get to see some nice color even if we didn't see the actual sunset.

The fog rolled rolled in and then it rolled back out again.

Jean, Brian, Jean, Randy and Joani

Jean and Randy's fur baby, Sheldon.

As night fell, we watched a fishing boat work the shoreline.

It gets dark pretty late at these latitudes in the summer so it was time to call it a night after a long and eventful day.

May 20 thru 25, 2024, Munising, MI

Since rain was in the forecast, we broke camp early. The first few drops landed as we finished emptying our tanks. That might have been our earliest departure ever at 7:30am. What was especially nice was how still it was - not a hint of breeze, as can be seen in the lake pics below, and nice conditions for our 186-mile drive to Munising (we visited Munising once before in June of 2018).

Another benefit to the early start was critter sightings. The road had very little traffic, other than us, so we saw a wild turkey, a deer, a momma bear and her cub, a bald eagle (very close to the road at eye level), and a huge heron. They were all elusive enough that pictures were not possible but it made the drive even more memorable.

When we reached Munising the wind was still dead calm on Lake Superior. Our site (number 35) in Munising Tourist Park Campground had a nice view of the water.

With our early arrival, Joani had plenty of time to roam the shoreline hunting agates. A little breeze came along with a light sprinkling before ending the day with a beautiful sunset. 

Several days we had rain which was to be expected this early in the season. Since we were staying for 6 nights we were happy to see a mix of weather. Especially when the light rain was illuminated by the sun creating a beautiful rainbow.

After the rain, we were treated to some awesome cloud drama.

We awoke one morning to some thick fog. Joani opted for the shoreline of Bay Furnace Park (for a second time) for more rock hounding.

I picked up a few interesting rocks but mostly I snapped pictures. It was cool enough that these dragonflies stayed put as I walked by. They were sizable - I would estimate their wingspan at about 4 inches. You have to zoom in to appreciate their vivid colors.

We did not take the cruise along the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore this time. We hiked again to Munising Falls. I thought, with the recent rains, it would have more volume but looking back at pictures from 6 years ago it looked very similar.

Miners Castle Rock looks almost as picturesque from the overlook as it does from the lake level on the cruise.

We were able to hike to Miners Fall, something new to us this trip. The day was perfect with dappled sunshine on huge collections of colorful wildflowers in bloom.

Miners Falls was, hands down, our favorite falls within the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Park. I tried to capture the water movement with a long exposure which I thought worked well.

I wanted a closeup of the tiny blue flowers. Unfortunately, I did not review the picture while we were there. Later, I found I had missed focus. I should have used a tripod.

This was our second time in Munising and while some things were familiar, there were some new things as well and we would not mind staying here again. I certainly recommend the "Yooper Burger" and Onion Rings at Foggy's Steakhouse and Lounge.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Rainbows and Sunsets, Wahweap Campground, Page, AZ

Even while we sat at in the coach all day relaxing, nature had a way of showing off. I happened to look out the window and saw the vivid color of a rainbow down by the lake.

 Mild-mannered red rock by day turns into a... 

 ...glowing ocher rock at dusk with a flair for drama.

 And then we noticed it was a double rainbow!

 The clouds were moving fast and changing the light by the minute...

 ...but the rainbow just continued to strengthen.

 We finally jumped in the car and drove 5 miles to the Wahweap Overlook to see if the sunset might try to outdo the rainbow.

It failed, but it was nice just the same.

Friday, February 22, 2019, Weeks 2 and 3 at Pismo Beach

We made the short hike to the Monarch Butterfly Grove several times and this picture below was one of my favorites. The butterfly floated down for a closer look at who was taking his picture.

The low count was somewhat disappointing but the sunshine made the butterflies more active and much more colorful.

The beach access below Eldwayne Ocean Park, just a bit north of what we always referred to as Shell Beach, had very few visitors and a lot of interesting rocks. I found the critters in the tide pools to be more interesting

That yellow stucco house at the top of the access stairs with the fantastic ocean view could be yours for a cool $5.8 million.

If you wait a bit at many of the tide pools, they suddenly start to move. Nearly every shell in this pool was home to a Hermit Crab. I wonder why this one was sporting blue ankles.

My research tells me it is a blue band hermit crab making his home in a turban snail's abandoned abode.

The rock below was mostly buried but the quartz mixed in with the red and yellow rock caught our eye. When we finally cleared the sand away it was 9 by 7 by 6 inches and weighing in at 19 pounds. It might make a nice pair of bookends when it is cut and polished.

You just have to wonder why this one rock was so attractive to whatever created the pockets in its surface.

The "sand" on this beach consisted of stones and shells tumbled to about an eighth inch. The shiny and colorful bits collected in the pockets.

One of our neighbors drove in yesterday with his best friend in tow. Mandy, a very friendly Australian Shepard, rides in comfort in her custom trailer outfitted with manual and powered roof vents, sliding side windows, rear picture window and a hinged roof for easy access.

Looking out the front window we saw blue sky and sunshine so we decided to walk along the beach for a bit. The wind was in our faces on the way to the beach, so the ominous dark clouds inland seemed to be no threat.

At the beach, it was quite another story. The wind shifted and started blowing strongly out to sea bringing the inland clouds towards us.

The contrast in the sky was dramatic looking in one direction and then the other. We decided we had better head for home.

The view to the north toward Pismo Beach.

The view to the south toward Oceano Dunes.

The combination of precipitation, clouds and sunrays gave the sky some uniquely weird texture.

It was so strange to be pelted by sleet just before we got back. The little ice pellets bounced off of us keeping us dry - sure beat giant wet raindrops. In the first two weeks of our stay, we have experienced just about every kind of weather Pismo Beach had to offer.

It was not THAT cold. I was in shorts and flipflops, a bit chilly but nowhere near freezing.

Another first for our stay was the lightning and thunder. Sam was surprisingly mellow through it all but he was happy to get home.

We enjoyed a full rainbow on the way back to the coach.

The birds were hopful this would be a good spot to ride out the storm.

Joani's aunt and uncle (Maggie and Jim) made the trip over from Bakersfield this week and will stay in their Montana 5th wheel through the end of the month. We met them one night and gorged ourselves at the La Casita Mexican restaurant. I'm hopeful we will see them many more times before we have to leave.