Pic of the Day

Okay, so technically, these are two pictures, not one, because I just couldn't decide. They are both from Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. 

The Grand Canyon

We only had a few hours of daylight at the Grand Canyon, since Arizona doesn't observe daylight savings time, but it was a totally awe-inspiring sunset. I'd always thought people who hiked into the canyon were crazy, but once you see it, it's so totally amazing that it almost compels you to climb down into it. I went a few hundred feet down, and it was awesome.

I took a gazillion pictures, but here are the best.

Vermont

My grammie and I had an awesome time in Vermont! I have never seen so many beautiful trees all at once. I don't have that many great tree shots, but here are some of the fun things we saw:

A countryside scene, taken in West Cornwall, CT.

Classic covered bridge.

Grandma at the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA

Norman Rockwell's studio.

View from the top of Mt. Greylock, near Williamstown, MA

More views from the top of Mt. Greylock.

The watchtower on Mt. Greylock. You can climb to the top, but I was too scared.

 Colorful hillside near Adams, MA

 The Vermont Country Store in Weston, VT-so much cool stuff!!!

 The old-fashioned candy counter in the Vermont Country Store-too bad it's not penny candy any more.

Gorgeous hillside in the Green Mountain National Forest.

 Moss Glen Falls along Route 100 on the edge of Green Mountain National Forest. We didn't know this place was here, but it was so gorgeous and peaceful-well, minus the hordes of camera-toting tourists.

 Another beautiful, colorful hillside, this one in Waitsfield, VT. Some of the views along Route 100 were amazing, but unfortunately, there was no safe place to stop and take pics.

 Sweet little country church in Waitsfield, VT.

The flavor graveyard at the Ben & Jerry's Factory, which you can see in the background. We didn't tour the factory because there was a long wait and they weren't in production that day anyway, but it was still a cool place to stop and see.

 These next few shots are all of Lake Champlain, taken from Burlington, VT. We got there just around sunset, and it was so pretty.

 We also took a tour of the Vermont Teddy Bear Company factory in Shelburne, VT, which was pretty neat.

My favorite part was the teddy bear hospital, where they repair any "injured" bears that were made by the VTBC. You can see this little guy is on a honey drip!

We had such beautiful weather all weekend, and it was so awesome to just look at the pretty New England scenery. The fall foliage is as nice as they say! I'll end with a few of my favorite "tree" shots.

There's just something about trees I love. My two favorite tree quotes about trees are:

 "I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree."

~Joyce Kilmer

"I couldn't live where there were no trees-something vital in me would starve."

~L.M. Montgomery, from Anne of Green Gables

Up next, I'll be returning to my summer road trip-I think we left off along the Oregon coast.

Yukon Gold

The drive from the Alaskan border to Haines Junction involves some of the most beautiful scenery combined with some of the most horrific road conditions. A long day and a half in the Yukon, but still totally worth it.

A trumpeter swan in a pond just over the Canadian border. Apparently, swans like the cold, because there are five species common to this area.

Burwash Landing is located along the shores of Kluane Lake, which is absolutely beautiful. The area was developed because of the Yukon gold rush, as you can see by the "world's largest" gold pan sign. We may not have struck it rich in gold, but if eye-popping scenic views could be traded for case, I would not be working anymore!

Kluane Lake. It is so beautiful along here that you just want to sit and enjoy the view forever.

Kluane Lake is located in Canada's Kluane National Park & Reserve. This area, along with Wrangell-St. Elias National Park in the US, are home to many of North America's highest peaks, including Mt. Logan, which straddles the US-Canadian border; the area is designated a UNESCO World Heritage site. I've seen several of those in my travels now, and if you're near one, stop and check it out. It's always worth it.

The mountains overlooking Kluane Lake. I think these are called the Pelly Range. Or maybe the Ruby Range, but basically they are an extension of the northern Cascades.

Miles Canyon, where the Yukon River narrows just upstream from Whitehorse. Again it's amazing how clean and beautiful the water looks.

The suspension bridge over Miles Canyon. It was pretty scary and wobbly, but I'm proud to report that I made it across. Almost makes me want to go back and try the Hell's Gate bridge again. Almost.

The views on the other side of the bridge were so worth walking over it. We went on a (short) hike until the sun started to sink in the sky. Which of course was a beautiful sight itself.

There's just something about pine trees that makes my heart happy. Not that I don't like other kinds of trees, but that northern, scrubby pine, clear water, crisp air landscape is so peaceful. We liked Miles Canyon so much that we decided to stay in Whitehorse for the night. We did so at Robert Service Campground, a tent-only campground that was one of the best we stayed in. Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures.

After we pitched our tent, we went exploring around Whitehorse a bit, taking in the sunset over the Yukon. And making a much-needed Wal-Mart stot, where we were surprised to find pretty good prices for the middle of nowhere Canada.

The next morning we continued down the Alaska Highway, stopping briefly in Teslin to check out the Teslin Tlingit Native Heritage Center, which was a "must-stop" for me. Of all the native art and culture I experienced (which actually wasn't much, although it wasn't nothing, either), I think the Tlingit culture is my favorite, so I was excited to see how the inland groups lived compared to their coastal cousins. (Although I still haven't been to Sitka and some of the other coastal regions where the Tlingit live).

These are some Tlingit totems. I love the colors and the style of the animal representations.

Well, that concludes our brief time in the Yukon. The Yukon Visitor's Center in Whitehorse has an amazing video about other places to go, and someday I'd like to see Dawson City and drive the Dempster Highway to Inuviak.

Up next will be our exploits in British Columbia, including driving through an active wildfire, seeing dozens of black bears, driving to the top of a glacier, and enjoying Vancouver's Stanley Park.