Rocky Mountain Memorial Grove

Hiking near where I live in the Monument area I ran across the United States Forest Service's Rocky Mountain region memorial grove.

It was established in 1920 to honor those employees who died in World War I. It has now been expanded to honor all employees and former employees who have passed away. Plaques are mounted on the bronze sculpture to recognize them. And that's my Our World Tuesday post for the week.

Rudesheim

For this week's Sunday Scans, here's a photo that I think was taken in the beautiful German town of Rudesheim, way back in 1974 when I was a kid, although it may be from another town since my records aren't perfect going back almost 40 years.

That's all from this Germany trip, but I have photos from other trips to Germany that I need to sort through. Next week we're off to the Mediterranean!

Vancouver Hotel Views

I thought some photos I took from our hotel room in Vancouver back in May would qualify quite nicely for this week's Scenic Sunday post.

I was very pleased with the views from our room, but even more pleased with what we saw when we left the room, some of which I've posted already.

Blue Sky & Trees

Again I've learned more about one of my photos thanks to my knowledgeable commenters - this time Lesley and snowwhite both recognized Siegfried and Roy, and one of their lions, as the subjects in Monday's statue - thanks for the information. I should have known that myself, especially considering the statue's location!

Here's a photo I took on a recent late-autumn hike for both the Skywatch Friday meme, as well as for Tina's PicStory, whose theme this week is trees. It shows scrub oak in the foreground (more a bush than a tree), which has long-since shed its leaves, as well as some of our common pine trees, and our typical mostly-blue skies.

I was almost lying on the ground to get this angle, I'm sure my little dog Socks wondered what I was doing!

Las Vegas Statue

For Our World Tuesday this week, here are two photos of a statue on the Strip in Las Vegas. The first is taken during the daytime, the second using the illumination at night (no flash).

I don't have any more details on the statue, but I do have a handful of photos still to post from our April visit to Vegas.

Rudesheim & Grapevines

In my last Sunday Scans photo we saw a view of the German town of Rudesheim back in 1974. For the first December entry we move a little closer to the town, showing off some of the vineyards for which the town is famous.

Join me next week when we'll visit the town!

Portland's Hawthorne Bridge

For both the Scenic Sunday and Sunday Bridges memes this week, here are a few photos of the Hawthorne Bridge that crosses the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon.

 The span I'm standing on in this photo lifts to let ships pass.

 It doesn't show very well in this photo, but the counterweights that help lift the bridge are huge! (And these are some of the few blue skies we saw in our week in the Pacific Northwest.)

I like bridges, and can't resist photographing them when I'm nearby.