Old Mountainous Skywatch

Here's an old scanned slide from 1995 for this week's Skywatch Friday entry. It's near the famous town of Aspen as the clouds cleared at the end of a small snowstorm.

Phantom Canyon Brewing Company

Brewpubs which brew their own beer are very popular in Colorado. Here's one in downtown Colorado Springs.

Their beer is excellent and the food is tasty too. It's my entry for Our World Tuesday this week.

Kyongju Palace

Continuing with photos from Kyongju, South Korea, here is the first of a series from a palace.

My wife is visible in this photo! And it's for Vintage Weekly.

Siamese Twins Rocks

If you've read this blog for long you know that Garden of the Gods is one of my favorite places to go, and I visit several times every year. Here are some photos of the Siamese Twins rock formation; it's not as well-known as some of the others because you have to hike a few hundred yards to it (it isn't visible from the roads). We start with the trail leading up to it.

And here's the formation itself in the classic Colorado sunshine.

You can look through it at Pikes Peak (this time the sunshine had disappeared).

There are other rock formations nearby.

Climbing without the right equipment is not allowed in this park.

This is an obvious entry for both the Orange Friday and Scenic Sunday memes.

Unusual Sunrise

This week's Skywatch Friday entry is a sunrise with unusual clouds.

It doesn't have the deep reds we sometimes see here but I still loved it!

Driving to California

Long road trips are part of Our World here in the American West. These are photos from when we drove to California back in May; we drove approximately 2,700 miles (4,345 km) in five days. We start with Interstate 70 (shortened as I-70) here in Colorado, which leads through mountains. This major highway tops out over 11,000 feet (3,350 meters) above sea level, at which point it goes through a tunnel!

There are pretty canyons too.

In Utah the terrain is much dryer but still very pretty.

This final shot is from California, which is also often very dry. We're no longer on the interstate but on a smaller road.

Road trips can be fun but this much driving does become a little monotonous.

South Korean Bell

This week's Vintage Weekly post is the famous Bell of King Seongdeok in Kyongju (Gyeongju), South Korea. Don't read the text after the photo if you're squeamish.

The legend (which may not be true) is that when the bell was initially cast it made no sound when struck. A monk dreamed that if a child was thrown into the metal as the bell was recast, the bell would ring. So this was done, and the bell now rings with the most beautiful tones (although it's no longer rung due to its age and condition).

New Years Socks

Here's a photo of my favorite Camera Critter, Socks, taken last January 1. He's probably thinking "let's get on with this hike, stop taking photos of me!"

Visit another fine meme, Pets Forever, to see more of our favorite animals. And I'm entering the photo into Tina's PicStory whose theme next week is snugly - Socks loves to snuggle with us day or night.

Curvy Lightning

I didn't get as many lightning photos last summer as I wanted, but fortunately I have several that I haven't posted yet. Here's one of them taken from our deck.

Fortunately it hit behind that house, not on the house. Join the skywatching fun at Skywatch Friday.

Long Train

Last week I showed you some train tracks in Colorado Springs. These tracks are active, with coal being most commonly transported.

These trains are very long and take many minutes to pass by.

They have several engines at the front and back to help them get over the nearby hills (specifically, Monument Hill which is around 7,300 feet or 2,225 meters elevation at the low point where the train goes over it).

The freight cars can seem endless.

It's a big part of Our World Tuesday.

Symonds Yat

I'm skipping all over the world for my Vintage Weekly posts - this week it's back to England for a view of Symonds Yat in 1975.

Red Rock Canyon in January

Next week's theme at Tina's PicStory is red, so I'm going all the way back to a New Year's Day hike in Red Rock Canyon. It's also for Orange Friday and Scenic Sunday (if it's active this week).

This is a great winter hike - because of the lower elevation it doesn't get much snow, and any snow melts quickly.

Even though it's within the city it's still full of pretty sights.

And there's even an old quarry to walk through!

I'm sure I'll be back here again many times.

Misty, Snowy Mountains

I'm going back to October 1995 for this week's Skywatch Friday entry. It's an old scanned slide, taken one morning while camping not far from the town of Aspen when I woke up to fresh snow and a nearly-collapsed tent.

But the beauty was worth it, and I have more scans to post soon from this trip.

Train Tracks

For this week's Our World Tuesday entry, here are some train tracks taken on a walk in Colorado Springs late last year.

I wonder what we'll see on these tracks for next week's entry?

Kyongju, South Korea

I'm going back to South Korea for this 1998 Vintage Weekly photo, to the city of Kyongju or Gyeongju, as Tina's PicStory theme this week is K. This is a burial mound, kings were buried in these many centuries ago.

The people give some sense of the size of the mound.

Final Fall Fox Run Photos

Here are the last of my fall photos from nearby Fox Run Park.

This was early October and the leaves were past their best, but they qualify for the Orange Friday meme.

This reflection is for the Weekend Reflections meme.

It's a shame that people feel the need to carve into the trees, they probably don't understand the damage they're doing. Or they don't care.

I'm linking the last photo to Guest Heart Thursday, and it's also a Scenic Sunday post.