USS Iowa Guns & Ammo

The U.S.S. Iowa, open to the public near Los Angeles, has very impressive guns.

And the ammunition is also very large.

They also have cruise missiles (empty tubes now, I'm sure).

And finally, here's another view of the guns.

Our World Tuesday

Sleeping Giant

This Garden of the Gods rock formation is called Sleeping Giant. Can you see him? His head is on the right, facing up towards the blue sky.

Here's another view from a different angle, with Pikes Peak in the background.

Orange Friday

Scenic Weekends

Merry Christmas!

To all my readers who celebrate it, a very Merry Christmas! (The photo was taken in New York shortly before Thanksgiving.)

Icy Morning

We've had some cold weather lately.

But the freezing fog can make for some lovely photos.

As long as I can go inside where it's warm when I'm done!

All photos were taken in my front yard Saturday morning for Our World Tuesday and Blue Monday. I Heart Macro
meme.>

Vincent Thomas Bridge from USS Iowa

When we were in Los Angeles last summer I visited the battleship USS Iowa, which is now open to the public. I'll be posting photos from this over the next few weeks, but I'm starting with one of the Vincent Thomas Bridge, taken from the deck of the famous battleship.

The USS Iowa is now moored in the busy port of Los Angeles where massive container ships are constantly being loaded and unloaded.

Sunday Bridges

Kindergarten Rock

Going back to one of my favorite places, this week's Skywatch Friday post focuses on one specific rock in the Garden of the Gods.

It's called Kindergarten Rock.

Some of the rocks resemble their names, but I have no idea how this one got its name.

I hope you like seeing photos of this city park as much as I enjoy taking them, because as long as I live here I'll keep visiting it.

Wet Plants

Here are the last couple of photos from a late fall hike in the Palmer Reservoirs area last year.

I love rain or dew on plants. Visit Our World Tuesday to see all sorts of photos.

Stardust

The North Sea gets some tremendous gales, and they sometimes resulted in shipwrecks. Here's one from 1976 (a scanned slide) when I lived in Holland - the Stardust. This may be a copy of one of my father's slides.

 Vintage Weekly

Mill Pond Heron

I have my repaired laptop back so I'm ready to do some blogging - it has a new motherboard (luckily under warranty). From our recent trip to New York, here's a statue of a heron in Centerport.

Please visit the awesome Skywatch Friday page for more skyward photos.

Palmer Reservoir

These photos have been waiting over a year to get posted. They're from the reservoir above Palmer Lake.

I'm linking them to the Scenic Weekends and Weekend Reflections memes.

One World Trade Center

As luck would have it, low clouds obscured the skyscrapers the day I was in lower Manhattan a couple of weeks ago. But I'll take whatever photos I get, so here's One World Trade Center (formerly known as the Freedom Tower), vanishing in the clouds. It's an obvious Skywatch Friday entry.

The last time I was on this site was almost exactly one month before the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

San Fernando Mission Grounds

Here are the last of my photos from the San Fernando Mission in southern California, this time focusing on the beautiful grounds. This arch stood out against the blue sky.

This large expanse of grass and trees was relaxing.

This series of columns is very famous.

I always love fountains.

Since it's a mission I'm linking this to Inspired Sunday, and of course to Our World Tuesday. I will be without my main PC for a couple of weeks as it's getting repaired so I may not be able to comment on your blogs.

Happy Thanksgiving

To all those who celebrate it, Happy Thanksgiving. Until we moved to the United States, we had never heard of it, but here it's a major holiday, with most companies giving employees a four-day weekend. It's a time to spend with family and friends, and to give thanks for our blessings. I don't have a themed photograph for it, but since this is a photo blog here's a 1986 photo of Mount Rainier scanned from an old slide.

Skywatch Friday

Vintage Weekly

San Fernando Mission - Mayor Domo's Residence

Going back to the San Fernando Mission, the mayo domo had his own residence, and it is quite impressive.

This is for Inspired Sunday and Our World Tuesday.

Rheinfels Castle

Germany is full of castles and ruins, and back in 1976 we visited the Rheinfels Castle. This is a scan of a slide from that visit.

Vintage Weekly

New York Skies

We just got back from a short trip to New York. Here's a Skywatch Friday entry from last sunny Saturday afternoon. You may recognize the Empire State Building (that's as close as we got), and I was amused by the electronic billboard with the blue advertisement. There's more to come once I catch up on all the other unposted photos from this year.

San Fernando Mission Workshops

Back when it was founded, the San Fernando Mission about which I've been posting for a few weeks had to be self-sufficient. The workshops have been restored. They could make their own clothes...

...as well as anything else they needed.

Our World Tuesday

Happy Socks

For Camera Critters and Pets Forever, here's a photo of Socks looking happy on a hike, one of his favorite things to do.

Thanks to our Veterans

On Veterans Day, I'd like to thank all of our veterans who have kept America safe. Here are some photos from Saturday's Veterans Day parade in downtown Colorado Springs.

There's a big military presence in our town so holidays like this mean something. I'm linking this to Our World Tuesday.

Scheveningen Harbor

Here's a scanned 1976 photo taken in Holland, at Scheveningen harbor.

Back then it was largely used by fishing boats, and people walked around it. It's for Vintage Weekly. It took a little work to make this one usable as it wasn't level or well-framed, but a little editing did wonders.

Pismo Beach Sunset

It's been winterlike the last couple of days, so here's a warm May photo from Pismo Beach, near San Luis Obispo, along the central California coast.

It's for Skywatch Friday.

Mission San Fernando Wine Cellar

It may seem like a strange thing to find in a church's convento, but the one at the San Fernando Mission has a wine cellar that was recently opened to the public. It was used to produce wine for  mass, and it was also sold.

These were very challenging photos to get as it was very dim and I didn't want to use flash. They're 3.6 and 1.8 second exposures, all I could do was lean the camera against something. I'm linking this to Our World Tuesday, and to next weekend's Inspired Sunday as this is within a church complex.

Garden of the Gods Reflections

The very heavy September rains created a once-in-a-generation pond in Garden of the Gods. I got some sunrise photos before work one day, and here they are. The water is all gone now and isn't likely to be back for years, possibly decades.

Weekend Reflections

Scenic Weekends

San Fernando Mission Convento

Continuing to explore the San Fernando Mission, here are some photos of the Convento building. This is the only original building remaining in the mission, built between 1808 and 1822, and it contains many fascinating artifacts.

It used to be the priests' residence, but is basically a museum at this point.

There were several signs indicating important people who had visited, including the Pope if I remember correctly.

All photos were taken without flash. I'm linking to the Our World Tuesday meme. And as I just found out about the Inspired Sunday meme, I'm adding a link to that - I'll have several posts for that in the next few months.

Eltz Castle

I always liked the mysterious look of this photo of Eltz Castle in Germany. It's a scan of a slide taken back around 1976.

It's for Vintage Weekly and Scenic Weekends.

Golden Gate Skies

Here's an unusual view of the famous Golden Gate Bridge, taken during our California trip back in May. It's a Skywatch Friday entry, and an early post for Sunday Bridges.