Summer Wildflowers

Here are some wildflowers from a couple of recent hikes. Fall will be here soon, and the leaves turning, but in the meantime I plan to enjoy the last warm outdoors weekends.

Visit the My World Tuesday site for lots of great photographs from around our world.

West Thumb (Yellowstone)

Here's another Scenic Sunday post from Yellowstone, which has several different areas which contain geysers and hot springs. One of them is right next to lake Yellowstone, and it's called West Thumb. The thermal activity can be seen long before the area is reached.

One you get there a series of boardwalks will lead you safely through the various attractions. Mostly this consists of steam and hot pools, as the geysers here don't go off very often. But it's very much worth seeing for these amazing springs, like Bluebell Pool, shown here. You can see our shadows in this shot, as well as the shadow of the boardwalk.

Next is a photograph of Lake Yellowstone.

The Abyss Pool looked just like you'd expect, as if it was bottomless.

The steam was thick in places, and there was definitely that famous sulfur smell to it.

Finally, here is a photo of Blue Funnel Spring.

While it may not have the spectacular geysers of some of the other basins, don't make the mistake of missing West Thumb if you're ever in Yellowstone.

Magical Sunrise

Taken Monday morning for the magical Skywatch Friday meme - be sure to visit it soon.

Canyon Village Dining Room (Yellowstone)

One day at Yellowstone we stopped for lunch at the Canyon Lodge dining room in Canyon Village. I thought it looked like something from a different decade, classic American decor but from a different era. The food and service were from this day and age, casual but tasty.

I liked the outside of the building, with huge steel beams holding up the roof. I bet in the winter these are needed to support the weight of the snow.

And that was my world, just a few weeks ago. Visit the My World Tuesday site for lots more unpredictable, fun and interesting photos.

Yellowstone - Canary Spring

One of the places we visited in Yellowstone was Mammoth Hot Springs, famous for a series of terraced springs that sometimes flow and sometimes don't. Several of the springs were flowing when we were there, including Canary Spring, shown here at its source.

As it flows downhill it creates a series of natural terraces.

The heat and minerals of the water kill nearby trees.

These springs are uniquely beautiful, and I'll have more photographs of them in future posts.

Late Summer Skies and Trees

For this week's Skywatch Friday post, here are some typical late-summer skies seen through the trees at Fox Run Park, taken recently while I was walking Socks. First up is a pine tree, followed by a beautiful Colorado aspen. These blue skies with white clouds are very common in the early afternoon; later those clouds can build into strong thunderstorms.

And finally, here's a sky which I though looked like it was painted in watercolors - not worth a post by itself but I wanted to show it anyway.

For more beautiful skies visit the Skywatch Friday page.

Seattle Docks At Night

For My World Tuesday, I'm posting the last of the Seattle shots from February, taken on our last evening there. We ate an enjoyable meal at a well-known seafood place,and I took this shot of their sign as we left.

There were a fair number of people out enjoying the surprisingly pleasant weather.

But I found that as soon as we were off the main street near the water, it quickly started to feel deserted, not a place to hang around. This final shot was taken on the way back to the car.

I'm sure we will be visiting Seattle again since we've got family there. In the meantime, I know that some participants of My World Tuesday live there, so click on the link and you'll see more shots from Seattle and around the world.