Joani & David's Travels: County Parks

Showing posts with label County Parks. Show all posts

Friday, June 29, 2018, Cave Point County Park, Door County, WI

We continued our exploration of Door County, WI, with a trip to Cave Point County Park. Strangely, the county park, with free admission, was surrounded by Whitefish Dunes State Park that required a park pass. We just made sure we didn't stop in the state park and everything was cool.

I found Cave Point Park to be a bit unnerving. First, there were no rails to keep you from going over the edge of cliffs 20 or 30 feet above the water. Then, if you survived the fall there were few places to safely get out of the water. A pretty stiff wind created some sizable waves making it look extremely dangerous. Finally, and most troubling of all, was realizing you were usually standing above a cave or hollow where the crashing waves made huge whumping sounds. I'm sure there was really no danger, but then you start thinking sooner or later the water will triumph over the rock and the cliff will fall.

David and I think very differently! I have a healthy respect for the power of nature, but my mind saw unique geology and unobscured views. I never felt uneasy.

Sam was always curious about what was over the edge, so I had to keep him on a pretty short leash.

Sam is not a water dog, but he loved drinking Lake Michigan water.

I actually took a picture of the "rock stacker" along with the sign asking people to please not stack the rocks. Joani wouldn't let me make a citizen's arrest, so I just shook my head and resolved to move along. The cairns did have some aesthetic appeal, so of course, we had to take a few pictures before we left.

Door county seemed very similar to the area north of Traverse City in Michigan - small touristy towns, wineries, and cherry groves. The cherries were easily visible from the roads and while they looked good we found they were still a month away from being ready to pick. The grove below was next door to our campground.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

We left Utah today and headed into Idaho. Jerome, ID (just a few miles north of Twin Falls) was a comfortable drive of 172.6 miles (78,824.3 total). A lot of the drive was uphill and the engine temperature ran 160 degrees most of the time and never exceeded 180 degrees. I think I can safely assume any overheating problems are in the past.

We settled in at the Jerome County Fairgrounds with water and 50 amp power for a mere $10/night. At the office we were told to park anywhere we wanted. I chose to face west to minimize sun exposure on the refrigerator. It probably was not exactly what they had in mind and it looked a bit strange, but we were the only campground guests so there was no problem. Our location also gave us a nice shaded parking slot for the car.

It was a beautiful day with a lot of sun, but a high temperature in the mid-eighties - nearly perfect! Sunset brought some spectacular color to our evening sky to end another great day of full timing.

Thursday, December 12, 2013, Mount Palomar, March Air Reserve Base, Riverside, CA

We headed out early for Mount Palomar Observatory on Palomar Mountain - it was our last opportunity to see it, and this morning looked good. At one point we saw a total of six balloons in the air. They are all in the picture below although a couple are hiding very near the intervening hills.

It was a lot cooler on top of the mountain and there was plenty of snow and ice in the shaded areas. Sam got to walk on some ice, but his attitude said: "big deal, I've seen worse back in Georgia."

There was only one other car in the lot and I'm pretty sure it belonged to the woman in the museum store - it must be lonely up here a lot of the time. The nice visitors center had a lot of displays showing some of the history and accomplishments of the observatory. The 200 inch Hale telescope was the largest in the world until the 1970s when Russia built a 236-inch instrument. I think the Hale is by far the more recognizable and more noteworthy telescope (has anyone even heard of the BTA-6 at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Science?) Now, of course, all new large telescopes are built with segmented flexible mirrors and there is really no limit to how large they can be.

Joani is walking on the concrete weight used to initially set up the telescope's mount. It is the same size, shape and nearly the same weight as the glass mirror now in the telescope.

I had a poster of this guy's work framed over my office desk at work for many years.

As we rounded the corner on the way down the mountain, we were surprised by this little nugget in the road - it was not there when we were headed up the mountain. One more thing to watch for on the treacherous mountain roads along with wildlife and bicyclers and of course, other cars!

We were back down the mountain early enough that we decided to visit the air museum at March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, CA. Among several other memorials, there was this monument to military dogs that seemed to be unique.

We miss Sasha (the love of Sam's life)

The museum included quite a variety of aircraft (some restored, some in work) spread over several acres and in several hangers. We were on our own to wander among the planes and since it was such a beautiful day we took our time.

Wednesday, December 11, 2013, Lake Skinner Park, Winchester, CA

I made a big crock pot full of chili, which seemed like a good idea given the weather, even though today was probably the warmest it had been during our stay at Lake Skinner Park in Winchester, CA. Bob and Dorothy drove out to our coach to visit us. We were able to spend a few hours outside in the nice sunshine with mild temperatures and no breeze. We talked about motorhomes, improvement projects, camping and even some astronomy. The sunset was especially colorful and I was able to catch a few pictures that really didn't do it justice. The color spread out across the sky making it pretty in every direction! Shortly after the sunset, it cooled quickly, so the chili hit the spot. Coffee and apple pie rounded things out as we continued talking indoors.

Thanks, Bob and Dorothy, for the visit - we had a great time and look forward to seeing you again the next time we are in the area.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

San Diego, CA, was just a little more than an hour south, so we took a drive planning to see Balboa Park. The park is large and includes more than you could expect to see in a single day. We were able to visit three museums, a cactus garden and get in a pretty good amount of walking.

We parked next to the bandshell. One of two wings on this ornate structure is below. The detail was difficult to capture and we soon found every building in the park was as rich in architectural detail as this was, providing a lot of photo opportunities.

Off to one side of the Spreckels Organ Pavillion. The organ was covered leaving us to wonder why it was named such.

We walked through the House of Pacific Relations Friendship complex where there was a small bungalow for each of several nations with ties to San Diego. Representatives from each country open their doors on Sundays, but we found a group of Norwegian wood carvers that met on Tuesday mornings, so they had that one house open. We were able to see some genuine Norwegian furniture and other items on display.

David is lucky enough to have 50% Norwegian blood coursing through his veins.

Sam was happy to meet Chip (a little terrier mix - hiding behind the heater)

The Timken Museum of Art displayed a lot of rare old master's works. Quite a few of them dating from the 1600s. There were a lot of docents who liked nothing more than the chance to tell you all about the paintings. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside the museum.