Friday, October 23, 2015

Today, we visited Auburn University, a really nice college town about 30 miles down the road in Auburn, Alabama.  I think most of the population was wearing orange and blue - clearly a lot of Auburn Tiger fans.  We forgot about crossing into the central time zone which made us early for lunch, so our first stop was the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Art.

I know we have seen the birds below at least twice before.  The bronze sculptures highlight the sad circumstances behind the extinction of all five species.

The Lost Bird Project, bronze 2007, by Todd McGrain

More Chihuly glass - 600 pieces, weighing more than 2,000 pounds, hanging from the ceiling.

Amber Luster, blown glass, steel 2003, Dale Chihuly

17-foot chandelier

The sculpture below appealed to me for some reason.  Maybe I was just mystified by what processes would be required for its creation.

Curvae in Curvae, cor-ten steel 2011-12, by Beverly Pepper

Chinese woodblock prints were technically intriguing, but not really my taste.  I found I will never read Chinese - three characters on each print indicated it was part of the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tokaido Road collection.  I could see some similarity, but would never have seen them as the same from print to print.

This was my favorite

46th Station: Kameyama, woodblock print

The realism achieved in the oil painting, below, made it one of my favorites.  You could almost believe the sun was shining on the canvas.

The First Communion, oil on canvas 1882, by Birge Harrison

One collection included some strange and unique sculptures created with recycled items including shoes and irons.

The Worrier, bronze 2014 by Willie Cole

Ironmaster/GE Male Figure, Metal iron parts, cord, wood, and wool 1998, by Willie Cole

Outside, a walkway around a lake led us past a number of interesting pieces of art.  The one below took us by surprise with its realism. Joani actually thought she saw these guys move.

Self-Portrait as Bunnies (The Bathers), mixed media floating sculpture 2014, by Alex Podesta

Joani found the Auburn University Museum of Natural History on Google Maps.  There were no signs outside and even inside the building people were unsure what we were talking about.  The door below was the museum's main entrance.  We charged right in and checked in with the first person we saw.  He explained this was a research lab with some specimens, but really no funding to make it currently presentable, so nothing to see.  Back outside we realized we were illegally parked, so we quickly exited the campus.

Now I understand why the "visit the museum" link on their website would never load.

Auburn's iconic clock tower was completely encased in scaffolding so I had to take this picture of a picture to complete the campus record.

Our primary reason for the trip to Auburn was to attend the Southeastern Raptor Center's raptor show (each game weekend Fridays at 4pm).  We were hopeful it would be as good as the shows we saw at Callaway Gardens years ago.

It was great!  The amphitheater was in the sun and it was plenty warm, but halfway through the show, we were shaded by nearby trees.  At showtime, the crowd was more than twice what I captured in the early picture below.   

This poor Screech Owl just looked sad.  Maybe it was because they did not let him fly free.

These are rescued birds.  No mention was made of his eyes, but they look a bit off to me.  This sweet little Eastern Screech-Owl, named Groucho, is only about 8 inches tall.

The Barn Owl, below, was quite vocal.  We were told it was a lot of owl cuss words, but if it was really upset I don't think it would have perched so calmly on the handlers arm.

David caught him in mid-screech, mouth wide open.  He was not happy about being awakened in the middle of the day.

"What!?! You ran out of mice!!!"

This hawk was blinded in one eye...

...which makes hunting in the wild nearly impossible.

This is Percy, a Lanner Falcon.  We learned a Peregrine Falcon is the fastest creature on earth (when in its hunting dive it can exceed 200 mph.)

I think the look on the Great Horned Owl, below, was the same that I saw on several of my teachers when I was misbehaving in class.

Check the lens on this hawk's eye. It looks like a telescope lens - no wonder he can see dinner from so high in the air.

Below is Nova, also known as War Eagle VII.  He is a Golden Eagle and he flies at Auburn games to help get the crowd in the proper spirit.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

We lounged on the deck, soaking in the beautiful weather until we just could not stand it any longer.  That's when we decided to get up and get moving.  There were a lot of developed trails in this park, but we opted for a stroll along the lake shore.  The Corps of Engineers had lowered the lake level in anticipation of springs rains, so we had a pretty wide shoreline.  

Our quiet approach only let us get within maybe 50 feet of the very wary Blue Heron below.  Behind him, you can see how close we were to the dam that created West Point Lake.

Still not sure if our timing was off or if there just was not a lot of fall color possible with the trees in the area.  I think Joani caught some of the nicest color we saw in the pictures below.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

We have had some of the most beautiful weather for the past couple of days which prompted many hours of lounging on the deck.  Today, for something different, we took a drive over to Pine Mountain, GA. The area was familiar since we had visited Callaway Gardens many times in the past, but there were several things we had yet to explore.

The visitor center for F. D. Roosevelt State Park was built in the 1930's by the CCC.  

From the back porch of the visitor center, it was clear we were on top of a mountain (or what passes for a mountain in this area).  What a view!

Dowdell's Knob was FDR's favorite place for a picnic when he visited the Little White House in Nearby Warm Springs.  He had a BBQ grill built on the overlook.  It was filled in with concrete to help with preservation or we might have cooked a few burgers. 

I was trying to have an economics discussion with Frank, but he just wouldn't listen.

While we were so close, it made sense to check out the state park campground.  It surrounded Delano Lake and was nice, but lakeside spaces were better suited for tents and small pop-ups or small RVs. The handful of 40-foot sites on the lake were pretty steep and would probably scrape the chassis, so beware.  There was a loop we missed that we read later had many sites that would accommodate a 40 foot RV.

The lake was certainly picturesque and Joani got a touch of that fall color we were waiting to see.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

There were two museums in Columbus, GA, we wanted to visit.  I was not sure a Saturday visit would be a good idea, but it all went well - neither place was crowded.

The Coca-Cola Space Science Center had a nice 3-D printing technology display.  We noticed 3-D printed pieces in many of the displays around the museum.

How crazy is it that NASA e-mailed a file to the space station. Astronauts then 3-D printed a 3-inch pound torque wrench specifically designed for a task onboard the station.

The museum had four flight simulators that bounced me around pretty well.  I never crashed the plane, but apparently, I was supposed to find other planes and engage in a dogfight.  Fortunately,  the Air Force won't need to rely on my piloting skills.

Outside the museum was Heritage Park where the history of the region was highlighted.  It was interesting, but not really very photogenic. We could not have asked for a  more pleasant day to walk around the displays and read about the past few hundred years of development along the Chattahoochee river basin.

Only a few blocks away was the Columbus Museum.  It included a historical gallery along with several art collections.  Interestingly, there were many pieces of 19th-century furniture presented as art.  

The museum had a "boatload" of Chihuly glass.  It seems like Dale's artwork has been in a lot of places we have visited on our journey around the country, but then, he probably has the most well-known glassworks in the country, if not world.

Boat Installation 2001, handblown glass, wood by Dale Chihuly

The artwork collection did not really "bang my shutters".  It included a lot of modern impressionist work and some really bizarre 3-D and multi-media pieces that just made me scratch my head and ask "huh?"

Self Portrait with Skill, The Tam, The Smoker No. 21, The Torso, 1983 oil on canvas by Joyce Treiman.

Yellow Pad 1997 oil on linen by Janet Fish

.

Despite the signs warning patrons not to touch, Joani really wanted to feel the authentic Eames designed chair and ottoman below (don't worry, she behaved herself - no touching).  Although it looks a lot like something you might find today in IKEA, this was really unique and very futuristic in its day.

Lounge Chair and Ottoman 1958-70 rosewood, aluminum and leather by Charles and Ray Eames

(above) Composition 1939 oil on canvas by Ray Kaiser Eames

We finished the museum pretty quickly so we could get ourselves to a late lunch/early dinner (we were both famished).  The Space museum had an astronomy program scheduled for the evening, but we didn't want to leave Sam alone that long, so we headed home.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

The plan was to continue south into Florida and coastal Alabama, but we decided to spend a few more weeks around the area to enjoy the nearly perfect weather.  With a little luck, we may get to see more fall color at the same time.

Some neighbors mentioned a couple of parks a little to the north still along the Chattahoochee.  Joani did her research and found both looked very promising.  One was already closed for the season, but R. Shaefer Heard Park, a Corps of Engineers park on West Point Lake, was still open.  It was only 79.2 miles (75,336.3 total) mostly on very nice secondary roads.  We hit the road by 9:00 to give us a better chance to snag a site (since we had no reservations).

I'm not sure we could have found a better place.  Site 91 was a long pull-through with a large deck overlooking the lake.  Some large pines gave us some great shade.

Joani used the blower to clear the deck before we settled in for the afternoon.  By "settled in", of course, I meant kicked back with a chilled glass of wine.  Exploring will have to wait for another day.