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“Pic of the Week”, November 27, 2020: Grain Elevators, Thunder Bay
There are eight massive grain elevators in the Port of Thunder Bay, situated on the western shore of Lake Superior. Trains bring much of the bounty from the Canadian prairies to Thunder Bay — wheat, durum, canola, feed grains, peas and other crops, as well as grain by-products (smaller amounts are also shipped to Churchill and Vancouver). These foods are temporarily stored in these enormous structures before being loaded onto ships that then make their way through the St. Lawrence Seaway, bound to countless ports around the world.
The Port of Thunder Bay has the largest grain storage capacity in North America, currently handling about 6 million tons of grain each year (though capable of more). Ship loading rates range from …
“Pic of the Week”, November 20, 2020: Bozeman’s Rusty
Situated on the grounds of the Museum of the Rockies, part of Montana State University, you’ll find this rather striking statue of a draft horse. It was created by artist Jim Dolan, a California native who moved to Montana, attended MSU, and is still a resident of the state.
Rusty is crafted of large iron chain links and is free for anyone to visit. I rather liked this work of art, the size of a real-life horse. True to his name, Rusty is indeed rusty.
(Click on thumbnail to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
.All Trips / Nevada / North America / Southwestern USA
Anderson Junk Yard, Dayton
Dayton is a short drive from Carson City, Nevada. We have some friends who live there and, as I’m prone to do, my wife and I wandered around the historic core of this small town.
A few blocks off the main road we came across this treasure chest of junk. Acres and acres of great stuff sitting in the elements rusting and fading away. A lot of it was quite old, like farm equipment, but what impressed me most was what a diverse collection of stuff this was — cars, trucks, toys, and so much more!
The sign said we were at “Anderson Yard”. The place was locked up when we visited, but we were able to walk around its fence and …
Tagged Anderson Junk Yard, Dayton
.All Trips / California / North America / Southwestern USA
It’s interesting to stroll through and read the grave markers for people who died here, many of whom played important roles in the development …
Yosemite National Park’s historic Cemetery
I’ve traveled to Yosemite National Park at least a dozen times in my life, always enjoying each visit, but it was not until my latest visit that I discovered it had a small historic cemetery in it.
Yosemite Cemetery (also known as Pioneer Cemetery) is located in Yosemite Village, near the Yosemite Museum. It’s quite secluded and peaceful, shaded by cedars and surrounded by a low split-rail fence. The graves were originally scattered throughout the park but after President Lincoln signed the bill creating Yosemite National Park into law, the remains were collected into this small cemetery.
Pioneer Cemetery, Yosemite National Park
It’s interesting to stroll through and read the grave markers for people who died here, many of whom played important roles in the development …
“Pic of the Week”, November 13, 2020: Lupins, Thunder Bay
In my travels I’ve come across three places where lupins were growing in abundance. 1) South Island of New Zealand, 2) Ushuaia, in southern Patagonia, and, 3) Thunder Bay, on Lake Superior’s western shore. I’m sure there are other places that love and grow lots of lupins, but these are my observations.
Many of the ditches and roadsides in Thunder Bay had a thick growth of these colorful flowers, as you can see in these photos.
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge, right arrow to advance slideshow)
“Pic of the Week”, November 6, 2020: Old Burying Grounds, Halifax
As you walk down Barrington street in Halifax, you’ll pass the Old Burying Ground. I guess “burying ground” sounds a little better than cemetery. But it is old, especially by Canadian standards, with graves dating back more than 250 years. The Burying Ground was established the same year as Halifax was founded and the cemetery was closed to new graves in 1844.
There are some 12,000 people interred here, but only about 1200 headstones remain. Most of the names of those buried here are unfamiliar, but I bet there are many colorful stories about some of these residents. For example, General Robert Ross rests here — it was he who lead the successful raid of Washington DC in 1814 (War …
.All Trips / Alaska / North America
Bald Eagle and Salmon, Alaska
It’s the dream of every photographer to capture the classic image of a bald eagle plucking a struggling fish out of the water. While we didn’t get to see that moment this time, we did see the immediate sequelae of this action while in Katmai National Park.
We came across this drenched eagle, its talons deeply embedded into the flesh of a chum salmon. The eagle had clearly been in a struggle getting this hefty fish to shore, and the fish was still flopping about a little as the bird began to feast on his fresh sushi.
This sequence of images shows the fish protectively eating his meal. While our boat was probably 10 meters from him, that was too close and …
Tagged bald eagle, fishing, Katmai National Park., salmon
.All Trips / Central Canada / North America / Saskatchewan
Rambling around Wolseley, Saskatchewan
A roadtrip across the Canadian prairies can be both interesting and boring. There’s always something to see near the TransCanada highway if one looks — colorful fields, animals, etc — but much of the drive is across hundreds of miles of flat farmland where one mile often resembles the next, so it’s important to take breaks to keep from day-dreaming while driving.
My mind was starting to wander when I spotted a sign for a town in eastern Saskatchewan that offered two unusual sites : 1) a swinging bridge, and 2) an Opera house. You don’t see many opera houses in small Canadian towns, so I decided to pull off, get a coffee, and see what was of interest in Wolseley.
Wolseley …
Tagged opera house, swinging bridge, Wolseley
