Allegheny Mountains and Western Maryland: November 2 and 3, 2009

It was exactly two months ago that Bill stopped here
on the PA Turnpike to have me take this picture. Now you
can see the change of the seasons.

I just had to take an "artsy fartsy" picture on the way
to Horseshoe Curve.

I liked the gnarly tree in the midst.

A typical hilly street in Altoona, PA.

Surprised to see an alpaca on the side of the road.

Here you see a hybrid of an alpaca and vicuna.

Upstream from the Johnstown Flood of May 31, 1889,
you can see the broken dam. Thousands of lives
were lost due to the influence of the very wealthy.

This little Conemaugh River looks so benign, but when it
was dammed up, it was the heartache of many when
it broke.

I have wanted for years since the 9-11 tragedy to make
a visit to the site of the Flight 93 Memorial near Shanksville, PA.

I was truly overwhelmed with the site once I laid
my eyes on this. A park ranger was describing the cell phone
messages to loved ones, a vote taken by those on board, etc.
I was captivated and sincerely wondered if I could have voted to
crash a plane and lose my life in the process to save others
in our nation's Capitol.

Bill pointed this out to me in light of a very difficult time
in my life as I have resigned from Holy Cross. I loved it!

Being from New Jersey, I had to include this.

The American flag represents where Flight 93 actually
crashed in the field. On Saturday, November 7, 2009, ground breaking
will take place for a permanent memorial to those
brave individuals who sacrificed their lives to
save many.

A long distance shot of the Flight 93 Memorial.

I was quite insistent we find the highest point in PA.
We did! Don't you like the fact that signs become
part of target practice!?

On our way to the Rocks as Bill poses for us!

Massive Rocks!

Contemplating the wild rhododendrons
that were all over this moutain.

Welcome to Western Maryland!

It was pretty, even if it was past the colorful season.

Enjoying the view!

I saw this massive cut in Sideling Mountain years ago
on Route 68 and so wanted to see it again.

Not a bad picture as this and the one above was
taken out the front window of the Subaru.

This was as close as we could get. The exhibit center was
closed, but the view we saw was wonderful. Next stop is NJ.

Leaving Ohio

As we were nearing the eastern border of Ohio,
I decided to take a couple of pictures depicting
America Past. You wonder what this barn was
like in its hey day!

Parts of this barn looked like it was still in use.

I finally got a shot of these purple wild flowers.

Due to construction, it was impossible to catch
the Ohio River. The bridge leading into
Pennsylvania was the best I could do.
Tomorrow we are off to Volkwein's, my favorite
store in Pittsburgh to find church music
for the small children and teens.
Then, much to my chagrin, we head east to NJ
and for me it will be back to Target in the cash office
at 7 am on Friday. Thanks for following our
travels this year to Colorado.
God Bless You All!

Nightly Routine

Today, Tuesday, September 15, was an uneventful

day for our photographic blog. We drove over 400

miles through the plains of Iowa and Illinois and saw

more corn, soybeans and alfalfa than can be imagined.

Since we had taken many pictures of these on other

trips, we thought we would do something different.

For many trips I have watched Bill with his nightly

routine of making his bed comfortable for him.

Here is a synopsis of that routine.

First he looks at the bed that housekeeping

so carefully made.

Then he removes the foot sham, folds it neatly

and throws in on a chair.

He untucks the sheets, blankets and comforter

from the bottom of the bed.


Bill then folds the comforter in half on the
opposite side of the bed.




He assesses the configuration of the pillows.
The configuration depends on the number of pillows.

Being there were four pillows, he arranged them

two by two. After lying down, he will

determine the exact angle of the pillows

The next step is to fold the sheet over the divided comforter.

Finally Bill crawls into bed and pulls the sheet over his torso,
leaving his feet exposed.

With his bed being a comfortable nest,

he can fall asleep.

Good night, Bill...I'll see you in the morning.

Eastern Nebraska and Western Iowa

One of thousands of large farms covering Eastern Nebraska.
Most of the original farms were on plots of land one mile square.

Route 30 East.

Fields of soybeans, alfalfa and corn.

Crossing over the Missouri River.
It forms the boundary between Nebraska and Iowa.

Welcome to Iowa!

We found two new wind farms along Interstate 80
in Walnut and Adair.

Iowa wild flowers.

Soybeans turn a golden color when they are
ready to be harvested.

Southeast Wyoming and Western Nebraska

We took a detour to southeast Wyoming.

Guess what we saw?
That's right...camels!
Some camels were imported to the west
to serve as beasts of burden in the dry areas.
It did not work too well.

Wyoming prairie grass being blown by
a thirty mile an hour wind.

Welcome to Nebraska!

The thirty mile an hour wind picked up newly plowed
soil and blew it into a mini-dust bowl.

Nebraska has some areas that are reminiscent of
the Badlands of South Dakota.

Near Sidney, Nebraska, are modern wind farms.
There are still reminders that old fashioned wind
mills are working to pump water.

There were several huge boots like these in Cheyenne,
Wyoming, but we could not stop the car to get a picture.
We did find this one later on Route 30 in Nebraska.