Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn

Yellowstone is one of the most memorable parts of my world this year, and here are a few photos of the famous Old Faithful Inn within the park. This is the largest log building in the world.

For more sights from around the world, visit My World Tuesday.

Yellowstone's Geyser Hill

Near Old Faithful a short walk takes the Yellowstone visitor to Geyser Hill, a very active area where boardwalks safely link the various attractions. There are various springs, of which Heart Spring was my favorite.

A little further away is Castle Geyser, which we were lucky enough to see erupt, although not up close.

Lion Geyser erupted while we were right next to it.

In fact, we were so close I took a photo while standing right under it's spray! I was surprised that it wasn't boiling hot, otherwise I wouldn't have gone this close.

Here are Lion (closest)and Castle geysers together.

Finally, here's Pump Geyser, named because it looks and sounds like a pump, sending bursts of water up regularly.

If you're in the Old Faithful area, don't miss this easy nearby walk. And that's my Scenic Sunday entry for this week.

Icy Blue

Thanks for all the comments on the post of my first-ever photo, they were fun to read. And happy Thanksgiving to my American readers, and to anyone else who celebrates the holiday. I'm very thankful for my wonderful family and friends, my health, and my job, and too many other things to mention here. Anyway, here's a typical local scene for this time of year (taken in my yard, as are many of my Skywatch Friday shots), ice on the trees but beautiful blue skies overhead.

For more skies ranging from icy to tropical visit the great Skywatch Friday meme.

My First Photo

I know that this is a terrible photo, but I'm posting it for sentimental purposes, so try not to laugh too much. As far as I can tell, it's the first photo I ever took, back in April of 1972 when I was growing up. Obviously, it's the Eiffel Tower, probably taken from the Arc de Triumph.

My first camera was a little box that took square photos, and black-and-white film is all I had back then. Despite the poor quality, I hope this photo brings back some memories for other bloggers of their earliest photography attempts.

Having spent many of my early years in Holland, I've got lots more old photos of Europe in case I ever run out of recent photos of the American West (and wherever else I might happen to visit). Europe remains an important part of my world, and I'm sure their are other My World Tuesday bloggers that will post much better shots from it this week! Hopefully I'll get to visit France again one of these years, and get some much better photographs.

Friendly Little Yellowstone Critters

Our cabin in Yellowstone was surrounded by many of these little creatures, which I think are prairie dogs. They were obviously used to being fed by people because they'd come right up to us, even though we didn't give them anything. They were certainly cute!

Visit the Camera Critters meme to see more creatures from around the world.

This Evening's Sunset

Just in time for Skywatch Friday, Mother Nature decided to give us a feast for the eyes this evening.

The photo was taken in my yard this evening, and as is always the case unless otherwise noted here, is straight out of the camera. Enjoy lots more Skywatch Friday sunsets!

Thanks to all my followers - I was pleased to reach 100 a few days ago, something I never imagined when I started blogging! Thanks also to those who comment - I read and enjoy all the comments, and it's fun visiting those blogs. To answer a couple of recent questions:

1. I used to ski, but I haven't in several years. I plan to go a couple of times again this winter.

2. There are certainly wild animals where I hike. I have seen bears (mama with her two cubs not more than 30 feet [10 meters] from me), snakes, and assorted other creatures. One time a bear ran across our yard as my son was walking in the front door. But they are generally not dangerous around here - the two main outdoor dangers in Colorado are lightning and hypothermia, even in the summer if you're at very high altitudes. Although there have been a couple of mountain lion attacks nearby in the last few weeks...

My Cold World

My world has finally turned wintery - it was 13 degrees Fahrenheit this morning (that's -10.5 Celsius). These photos were taken in my yard last Friday morning, when the snow and freezing fog had lifted and left some very pretty scenes.

I'm sure you can find warmer worlds on the My World Tuesday site.

Monument Rock Hike

For Scenic Sunday, here are some photos from a hike around Monument Rock back in June. The light was flat but I did the best I could. The path winds through the trees.

There's a pretty little lake with a bench that makes a nice resting place.

This is Monument Rock, a towering slab in the middle of a field.

On the way back to the car is an old root cellar, now open to the sky and vandalized.

I enjoy having hikes like this just a few minutes drive from my house - I'll try to get out there again after it snows. And for more scenic blog entries, visit the great Scenic Sunday meme.

Tunnel Vision

We're getting into the time of year when it's harder to get good photos for Skywatch Friday - for the next few months it's usually cloudless blue, or occasionally simple gray when snow is falling. I was hoping to get photos of last nights snow before I went to work this morning, but the clouds stuck around and the flat light would have made any photos boring. So I'm reaching into my archives from late last year for these.

 That photo was taken walking into this tunnel, on Gold Camp Road just above Colorado Springs.

Enjoy lots more skies from around the world at Skywatch Friday.

Westlands Park

Here are the last of the photos from Westlands Park near Denver last weekend. The park was very attractive - I think these tall stones were part of a water feature, turned off for the winter.

Nearby was a covered area, ideal for picnics shaded from the hot summer sunshine or to shelter from a rainstorm.

You may have heard of the Harvest Moon, but each full moon throughout the year has its own name. This little circular area was inscribed with the names of the various moons throughout the year, along with astrological information in the concrete around it.

Even the concrete walls were decorated - this example shows a hole the shape of a bird to keep things interesting.

And that's this week's visit to my world, visit the My World Tuesday website to visit other parts of this amazing world.

Friendly Ducks

Here are some Camera Critters from last weekend at Westlands Park - there were lots of ducks in a pond, and somebody was feeding them so they got quite close.

For more fine animals of all kinds, visit the Camera Critters meme.

Cloud Ripples & Big Dipper

I don't think either of these Skywatch Friday photos is particularly good, but I think they're both mildly interesting in their own way for this meme. The first is of a sky I saw a few days ago, which I thought looked like ripples in the sky, complete with an airplane.

The second is a night shot with the Big Dipper particularly prominent. I captured it taking long exposures during one of the summer meteor showers, but never caught any meteors.

I'll try to come up with something better for next week. In the meantime visit Skywatch Friday for lots more upwards-looking photographs.

Yellow, White & Blue

I keep thinking all the trees are finished dropping their leaves in my part of the world, but because Colorado has so many micro-climates, I keep finding more color. These photographs were taken on Saturday near Denver (specifically in Greenwood Village), in Westlands Park; I was there to watch my wife play tennis. First up is a reflection off a lake,including a bench on which I'd have enjoyed sitting for a while as the day was beautiful.

And here is a view walking out of the tennis club.

I'm sure there are lots of Halloween and fall foliage photos over at My World Tuesday, so visit it today!