Day: September 18, 2017

Here is a collection of random things from the past two weeks or so.

This is the first Runaway Truck Ramp I think I have ever seen that was recently used (before being groomed for the next victim).  It was on the dreaded interstate I took on my way up to Arches National Park in Utah.

There is a non-graveled lane to the right which is evidently how a tow truck gets on site to extract the, now stuck, truck.  I saw another ramp somewhere on this trip, I don’t remember where, that was twice as long as the conventional ramp and ended almost completely vertical.  I swear, if it had been paved instead of covered with gravel it would have launched the offending truck into space!

Next up, some cool vehicles I saw in the little town of Oatman on the day I drove part of Historic Route 66.

Next, a hot air balloon I saw shortly after it was launched while I was on my way to Scottsdale to visit the Frank Lloyd Wright residence.

And then there was the tent on the property of Taliesin West which is typical of where Mr. Wright’s apprentices were expected to stay while working for him.

And later that day, a mountain I passed on my way east to Show Low, Arizona.

Then, on the day I drove up to the Petrified Forest National Park I saw this in a field off to my right.  My guess would be that the externally rusted tank holds water for the cattle which lives on the property and is pumped up from underground, initially by wind-generated power and more recently by solar-generated power.

And finally, when I arrived at the Park there was a bicycle rally in progress.  Here are two riders I met when I was at the Visitor Center, ready to embark on the second half of their ride for charity.  They are riding the newest craze, an E-Bike which is motor assisted.  I may need to look into that when I get home.  My brothers gave me a bike for my 50th birthday (to try and promote a healthy lifestyle) but the bike rack on my car got far more miles put on it than the bike ever did.  I’m not in very good shape and just don’t have the stamina for bicycle riding.  Kudos to those who can ride considerable distances for charity, motor-assisted or not!

And a conventional bicycle, waiting for it’s rider who is off taking a break.

This locally found phytosaur bone was on display in the Visitor Center of the Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona.  I’ll let the accompanying signage handle the spelling, pronunciation and size relativity matters.

The Petrified Forest National Park overlaps a larger area (which runs through parts of several states) called the Painted Desert.  It is called that because of the numerous formations which contain a multitude of colors, generally in the form of striped layers.

The colors are more vibrant in person and, like those in the Grand Canyon, are their intensity can be affected by both sunshine, sun angle and cloud cover.

The Painted Desert is a large area in the western US which contains formations with a wide range of colors, or in some cases merely multiple shades of white and gray.

There are two people on the path in the photo below, to give you some idea how big these particular formations are.

And there are people on an overlook at the top of the photo below.

This formation is located within the Petrified Forest National Park in northeastern Arizona.  There are several rocks which contain numerous petroglyphs, images scratched into the surface of the dark areas on the rocks.  These images tell a story, so the result is kind of like reading a newspaper.

These huge rocks must be viewed from an overlook so I had to zoom in using the digital camera.

On Sunday I took a meandering scenic drive east and south of Show Low (in eastern Arizona).  I visited several lakes (natural and man-made) and spent extended periods of time just staying put in various locations, watching birds, waiting for elk to appear (they didn’t), and just enjoying a nice Sunday out in the country.  These are some of the things I saw.

Horseshoe-Cienega Lake (near Greer, AZ)

READY FOR WINTER

These are the first metal snow fences I’ve ever seen.  They appear to be made of aluminum.  In the background is the Sunrise Park ski area, west of Eagar (pronounced A-gar) Arizona, patiently waiting for the first snow to fall.

Crescent Lake (on the road back to Big Lake, near Greer, AZ)

Birds near the Lee Reservoir (on the road back to Big Lake, near Greer, AZ)

These were the coolest birds to watch.  They aren’t very big and they would fly up in the air and hover for 4 or 5 seconds at a time, furiously flapping their wings flying in to the wind (which was blowing at a fairly stiff rate all day).

The only other bird I think I’ve ever seen behave that way is a hummingbird.  I don’t know if these small birds can do it without significant wind restricting their forward flight but I plan to return to the spot tomorrow and see if they still do it under different conditions.  It was fascinating to watch.

Nelson Reservoir, on Route 191 south of Eagar, AZ

The visual effect of the setting sun on the metal snow fences.  The fences are kind of like wooden pallets propped up on their sides, slats of wood (or in this case metal) in staggered pattern attached to strips of wood (or in this case metal) going in a perpendicular direction.  This caused shadows to be cast alternating with spaces where the sun was able to pass through.