Skywatch Friday - Assorted Clouds

As usual in the spring, we had quite the variety of skies in the last few days (including a thunderstorm off in the distance, too far away to photograph), so here are a few of them. I like the highlights from the sun in this first one.

The second one, taken three days later, shows the sun trying to break through.

And on this final shot from yesterday, I found the almost straight line where the clouds end fascinating. This line went from horizon to horizon, but I would have needed a fisheye lens to show that.

Please visit the Skywatch Friday site for lots more great spring skies.

My World Tuesday - Colorado Springs Founders

For My World Tuesday, here's a little information on my city and a couple of important figures from its history.

Colorado Springs was founded by William Jackson Palmer as a resort town back in 1871. It sits at an elevation of 6,035 feet (1,839 m) above sea level, but rises higher on its northern and western edges. It's at the foot of Pikes Peak, a mountain you can see in several of my photos. William Palmer was a colonel in the Union army during the civil war and was involved in the construction of railroads in the American West. He lived in Colorado Springs until his death in 1909. There's now a large statue of him on his horse in downtown Colorado Springs.

This statue is actually in the middle of a major intersection, causing lots of accidents. I'm sure he'd be happy about that! 

Spencer Penrose was one of the regions most important philanthropists. He and his wife Julie founded the El Pomar foundation back in 1937, and it's still active today with $500 million in assets and $25 million in annual grants to Colorado nonprofit organizations.

A few days ago ewok1993 asked what part of Colorado to see first. Assuming that you're not visiting for the skiing, here's where I'd start.

1. Rocky Mountain National Park. This is probably the single best way to see the mountains of Colorado. It's close to the main population centers on the Front Range, and there are nice places to stay nearby in Estes Park.

2. Not that I'm biased since I live here, but Colorado Springs (and nearby cities such as Manitou Springs) makes a great base to explore this part of the state. Area attractions include:

• Pikes Peak, elevation 14,110 feet (4,300 m), up which you can drive, take a cog railroad, or hike if you're in very good shape.
• Garden of the Gods, an amazing series of red rock formations.
• Royal Gorge, an hours drive south, with one of the worlds highest suspension bridges and other fun touristy stuff such as the world's steepest incline railway to the bottom of the gorge.
• The United States Air Force Academy.
• Lots of local hiking in such areas as North Cheyenne Canyon.
• Assorted attractions such as the Olympic Training Center, the Pro Rodeo Hall Of Fame, Cave of the Winds, Seven Falls, and many more.

3. There's so much other stuff to see in the state that you could spend weeks, including the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, the Great Sand Dunes, and the southwest part of the state including Ouray and Telluride. But the two mentioned above make a good place to start.

Scenic Sunday - Ferry to Bainbridge

One of the things worth doing in Seattle is riding one of the many ferries, a great (and inexpensive) way to get fantastic views of the city. We rode one to Bainbridge, an island on the other side of the Puget Sound. First up is a view of the city from the ferry.

Here's the Space Needle.

Here's a seagull, it's easy to get pictures of these as they follow the ferry.

This is looking towards Bainbridge Island with the Olympic Mountains in the background.

And finally a couple more general views around the Puget Sound.

Skywatch Friday - Stormy Skies

All this week's Skywatch photos were taken from just outside my front door. We've had a wide variety of weather this week, from warm springlike days to snow. We finally had some clouds that looked like summer storms rather than the standard winter clouds - we'll see plenty of these in the next few months.

And yesterday morning it was snowing moderately, enough to close the schools and make the roads icy.

It's definitely springtime in the Rockies. For more springtime skies, visit the Skywatch Friday home page.

My World Tuesday - Eisenhower / Johnson Tunnel

I apologize if you commented on my blog and I haven't visited your blog lately - I was out of town this weekend with visiting family. I'm looking forward to making my rounds soon.

For this My World Tuesday entry, I thought I'd share a little about the Eisenhower and Johnson tunnels, two tunnels under the continental divide which carry Interstate 70 - if you drive from Denver to most of the ski areas you'll pass through them. The Eisenhower tunnel carries the westbound lanes, and the Johnson tunnel the eastbound lanes, but they are side-by-side and basically identical. At a maximum elevation of 11,158 ft (3.4 km) above sea level, they are the highest vehicular tunnels in the United States, and some of the highest in the world. They are approximately 1.7 miles (2.7 km) long. These pictures were taken driving eastbound on Saturday (by my stepdaughter Jennifer, so my driving was not distracted!)

Here we're about the enter the tunnel on a snowy afternoon.

Here's a picture inside the tunnel.

And finally we're about to exit and start the long, long downhill to Denver.

Of all the things in Colorado to post, the inside of a tunnel may be one of the least interesting, but it's a small part of my world from the weekend. For other peoples' worlds, visit the My World home page.

Scenic Sunday - Monument Rock

One of the local hikes is Monument Rock, and I thought I'd share some photographs I took there on a hike last fall for this Scenic Sunday post. As with most trails in this area, it winds through woods.

You glimpse Monument Rock itself fairly often.

Near its base is a pond (I've posted a picture of the rock reflected in this pond here in the past).

The rock is fairly tall, and much wider than it is narrow. There's a tree growing right against it on one side.

I liked the reflections and these tree roots.

I also liked the shape of this tree.

And finally, the remains of this root cellar show that you can't get away from graffiti anywhere.

Skywatch Friday - What a Difference in 24 Hours

We've had quite a variety of weather in the last week. Over the weekend we had some snow and howling winds, leaving up to 2 foot drifts over my driveway. My first Skywatch photo was taken Saturday morning after the snow had stopped but the wind had not, so what you see is blowing snow.

The second shot was taken on Sunday in town, where the temperature hit 78 F (25 C), on Tuesday.

What a difference 24 hours can make!

As with every week around this time, please visit Skywatch Friday to see many skies from around the world.