Artificial tree or real tree - that is the question

Every year at about this time, I always struggle with the idea of getting a tree for the holidays. Do I get a fake one, or a real one???

Growing up, every year we got a real tree. I loved going with my family to the tree lot, picking out a 9 foot Douglas fir, bringing it home, and then we decorated. Pretty much all in one day/night.

These days its tough to choose what is best for the environment - do I purchase an artificial & manufactured tree or a real tree grown and cut for this specific purchase?

I do hear there is an alternative - getting a potted tree. But I haven't seen that option locally yet.

My decision was purely financial & rule abiding this year -  a small artificial tree that I can reuse & I lived in an apartment that doesn't allow real trees.

I'm sure this internal debate will continue when I buy a house - of course by then, hopefully the potted trees will be more available. :)

Happy Holidays!!

Valley of Fire, Nevada - 2008

In the early summer of 2008, I again journeyed to Nevada and found the very cool state park: Valley of Fire. 

It is Nevada's oldest and largest state park - formed in 1935. The terrain was incredible - almost other worldly as I hiked and drove among the rock formations, which colors varied greatly as I explored. There also was not a lot of people present that day, which enriched the otherworldly feeling. And petroglyphs - a lot of them!!

I remember being really impressed with the visitor's center, and all of the history accounted for in the displays.  The link I have above is to the Nevada State Park Valley of Fire website - it has all kinds of information about how the park got its name, the animals, and history of the peoples who lived and passed through the area. If you are interested in visiting, I highly encourage you to check it out!

My last Nevada park post will be coming soon - Red Rock Canyon State Park. I have to say, with all of the really cool scenic areas near Las Vegas, don't spend all of your time on the strip if you are visiting!!

Not sure if you can read the sign - it says "atlatl rock". Unfortunately I can't remember what it means - guess you'll just have to visit! :)

The differences in the rock colors is amazing! Deep reds to this yellow gold!

  

I love the deep red of the rocks juxtaposed with the green of the plants - absolutely beautiful!

See the little figures in the middle of the picture?

The petroglyphs were amazing. There was a path with steps that would take you up for a closer look - not too many steps though! The glyphs are partially protected by a plastic "screen" - you can see the edge of it at the bottom of the picture. Though it looks like "Ike" was able to carve his name in part of the rock - stupid humans...why do we always wreck stuff?

 Shots I just couldn't help to pull over a take!

Memories of Past Adventures

I had recently been saying to myself that I really needed to go on a trip next year and experience something completely new.

So when I was going through my actual photo albums (with actual film that was developed - i know i'm old) for photos for my trip down memory lane entries, it really struck me how many cool places I've already been and the awesome adventures I've experienced.

One of the most life changing adventures was when I was 19: I lived and worked in Yellowstone National Park, WY for a few months. I had never even been away to camp, and there I was driving across country in the unknown on my way to the unknown. It was a scary, fun, nerve-wracking, cool, character-building, stressful trip!

At the time, I questioned my sanity and that of my parents for letting me go - this was before cell phones! But when I reflect back on it, all I can think of is how glad I am that they let me go. How different I am because of it, and how it built my self confidence and self reliance. Now I did leave earlier than I had planned, and drove back with my family when they came out for a vacation - but I'm glad I did that too. Because now I have the memories of our vacation.

I lived in the dorms and worked in the hotel gift shop. I was able to drive all around the park, hike some pretty cool trails, and witness some incredible sights. Like that of a buffalo walking right down the side of the road past all the cars. Or the time I was talking on the pay phone next to the employee dining room, and an elk walked right past me on the side walk. Or the afternoon I was sitting in my dorm room reading, when I heard what sounded like a flock of seagulls; turns out it was a herd of female elk and babies wandering through town.

I'll never forget that adventure...the people I met or what I had seen.

Some might say I live too much in the past, and sometimes I probably do. But I think remembering helps me get through any bad days I might be having and spurs me on to find new adventures.

My adventures also remind me of who I am and what is important to me when I loose sight of it.
So, in the words of Jason Hawes from TAPS, "On to the next"!

Rhyolite Ghost Town, NV - 2007

Continuing my trip down memory lane brings me to an unusual place, a ghost town.

In 2007, I was visiting a friend that lived in Las Vegas. We tired of the strip and wanted to see what other types places Nevada had to offer. Nevada has more than a few ghost towns, but we settled on Rhyolite as it was a day trip - about 120 miles north of Las Vegas near the town of Beatty, NV.

Now you may be asking, why include this? Because it's a town that has been reclaimed by the elements. With a few other surprises :).

Rhyolite is literally in the middle of nowhere. There was a lot of nowhere on the drive to it, around it, and on the way back. But Nevada's desert is really interesting to view through a car window. So different from what I'm used to in the midwest. Ok. Maybe not 4 hours interesting (two there and two on the way back) but you get the idea.

This was my first bonafide ghost town I'd ever visited (that I can remember anyway). And it was desolate, inhospitable, and quiet. Wandering around the town, I had to wonder what it looked like and sounded like at its height in 1905. It was like many of the small mining towns that popped up all over the west: rose fast and declined just as quickly.

But these ghost towns are a part of our history, and I find them facinating. It was a truly cool experience to wander around these buildings and look out over the landscape and wonder what it was like.

And the ghosts, can't forget them!

This was the "You are Here" map outside one of the buildings that showed the walking/auto tour around the town. 

Outside the bank, with an image of the original building

...and inside the bank

Pretty sure this was the train station. I think at one time is was opened to tourists, as it is the most refurbished building - but as you can see it was also closed to the public back in 2007. Maybe it has reopened?

This building was also used recently, but the mercantile was closed and for sale? Hmmm...

So this is the brothel. 

And the jail. Got to say, the jail looks more hospitable...even without a wall and a roof.

Looking back at the main part of town from the brothel.

Love the distance shot, as the feeling isolation really sinks in.

The brothel is the little building on the left...not sure about the other building.

This was a landscape shot of the surrounding mountains or hills depending on your definition (a hill to me is something I can easily climb w/o packing water and supplies ...ergo I am calling this a mountain :) ) Notice the mine shaft opening in the lower right of the photo.

Now remember when I said ghosts and surprises? Here they are!

The following are sculptures made by an artist that exist in the Rhiolyte open air museum that is located just as you are driving in to the town. There were other abstract sculptures. But the following are what caught my eye!


Creep right? I loved it! :)

This is actually of The Last Supper. Apologies for not getting a good full front shot so you could really see it.  

Copper Harbor MI - Aug 2004

Since it's November and getting a bit chilly/damp/cold/inhospitable to roam in the woods - I thought I'd use this time to trip down memory lane and show pictures of previous trips I took. Starting with a trip to Copper Harbor MI I took in August 2004.

I remember it being a beautiful location, full of hauntingly beautiful places to roam. It felt isolated. Not too far from Houghton/Hancock (where MIT is located), but since it was about six hours driving distance from the Mackinaw Bridge, I remember feeling like I was headed further in to the deep woods the longer I drove. The people I met were all very friendly, and I bought a book of real local ghost stories in town to read around the camp fire - maybe that's why I think of ghosts when I think of Copper Harbor :)

Overlooking the harbor and the town

The lighthouse

I stayed at McClain State Park camp ground - it was a good jumping off point for all the places I visited. Right on the water, it was great to listen to lake as I fell asleep. And it was dark, the real dark. One that isn't corrupted by city lights or airplanes - and the stars were amazing.

Estivant Pines is an old growth forest that I visited - 600 years old trees! Old growth forests are rare in MI as the entire state was logged long ago when our country was in its infancy. It was a rare treat to roam among these giants.

          

The Lake of the Clouds was an interesting place to visit - another breath taking view even on a cloudy day. Aptly named I think.

The lake from a distance

And the final stop on my memory tour is Pere Marquette Falls, this time the day was sunny and the water was sparkling!

National Park Passport is Nifty!

So when I was at the Cuyahoga National Park, I picked up the National Park Passport. Its pretty cool.

The passport is an actual book that lists all of the national parks, monuments, battlefields etc and you can get it stamped at each one. It also comes with a map of the US with a list of all of the sites and where they are located.

You can purchase them at any of the National Parks, and I think online too.

Wow, I am way behind!

Map and passport + my cat Jasper's nose

Opened to the Midwest region, with the stamp from Cuyahoga!

Cuyahoga Valley National Park - Brecksville OH

Cuyahoga Valley NP was an unexpected natural treasure surrounded by an urban landscape.

Located off of/almost surrounding the 77 freeway (correction: the freeway between Akron & Cleveland  is 77; coming from Columbus, you would take 71N) between Cleveland and Akron, it is easy to get to from multiple directions. It is unlike any NP I've been to before because there are really no large untouched-by-man tracts of land; it primarily is the land that is on either side of the Cuyahoga River. And despite hearing road noise almost every time I was in the woods, and encountering homes and commercial buildings more often than not, it was still a joy to be there.

During my day trip, I was only able to make it to two of the parks attractions that the website (http://www.nps.gov/cuva/index.htm) suggested: The Ledges and the Brandywine Falls (and yes, all I could think of every time I heard the name was Fellowship of Ring!)

The Ledges

The Ledges is an area of a sandstone shelf that has produced, overtime when pieces have broken off, boulders and fissures. It is almost magical to climb around these moss covered stones and explore the hidden rooms.

I arrived early morning when it was still cool and the moisture was still heavy in the air. The mist and the dappled sunlight peaking through the trees, along with the crisp aroma of autumn, made the experience very memorable. Very few people were hiking that morning, so even though I could hear traffic noises far off, I felt peacefully isolated as I explored.

At the end of the hike I was rewarded with a view of a true overlook - you know how sometimes you go to parks and the sign says "Overlook" and you hike all the way up there and ta da...nothing but a two story view of a road or parking lot? Well not this one, it was worth the wait!

Walking through the woods to the stairs that would take me down to see the Ledges

Love the morning sunlight through the trees

Here are the steps...made out of what else?  sand stone

These next photos were shot exploring the area the top of the steps...I was so amazed at the change in the landscape: from muti-color hardwood trees and pines to moss and lichen covered stone, live ferns...  and just all of the green.

                 

Moss, lichen, and fern all in one pic!

Sorry for the blurry picture,  but the steps were so cool I had to include even a bad pic of them!

                             

These next pictures are all from exploring only one half of the hiking trail (at the bottom of the steps I turned left instead of right. Next time I'll turn right).  

                             

I really love these hidden areas

                             

Almost looks like this should be in an overhang above water, but a wider shot of this  is below and as you can see...

...just more sand stone. But seeing the layers and knowing the type of rock, this area was buried under water at one point in our recent past.

See that light "line" through the moss? Those are small stones that have been exposed in the sand stone. I thought the contrast was interesting

Beautiful old birch trees

Have I mentioned I want to live here?

And the overlook speaks for itself....

Brandywine Falls was another neat area to visit, but was very touristy as you could essentially drive right to it and had a lot of people. And steps...a lot of steps. Why are there always so many steps?

But it was a nice way to end a most excellent day!

Such a life-like picture...