The Holy Grail of Road Trips

I love how this post starts with orange pumpkins and ends with an orange sunset.  But what else would you expect on an absolutely outstanding fall day. Sunny, 80 degrees and lots of fall fun.  There were pumpkins and apples at this orchard. 

And what an abundance of riches.  Right next door at Carpenter Nature Center in Prescott they were doing a raptor release. We saw hawks, owls, kestrals and eagles up close and personal.  I love this beauty shot.

We always hike Maiden Rock bluff in the fall.  And we always see eagles soaring overhead.

Can you spot the train?

The vista in the other direction.

But it wasn't just sweeping views that enchanted.  Shrooms!

And colorfully spotted walnuts.

And pompous fronds blowing in the breeze.

We had pizza at my favorite place.  The Nelson Stone Barn.  But you already know that.

Dramatic clouds illuminated the night.

Fall colors sprouted in the hills.  Not many restaurants have this country view.

We made a surreal pit stop at a sand pit.

But now we had to quicky make tracks...

To enjoy a spectacular sunset before we drove home.

What a day.

Saturday's Critters

Wild Bird Wednesday

Yellow!

We stopped by our property on this dead end road this summer.  Something prompted me to take this photo.  The corn was more than knee high and the yellow wild flowers were so pretty against the leaning sign.  It prompted a yellow scavenger hunt the rest of the weekend.  It wasn't very hard. 

A sign of winter times.

Through the yellow door.

This goes here.

The curb leads the eye to the yellow prize.

Muted yellow

Soft yellow

Yellow and a little critter.  A snail peaking out.

Vibrant yellow.

Happy yellow.

Neon yellow.  Do you recognize this sun?

 A blaze of haze hides the sun.  Yellow on fire.

The super moon glowed.  Cool yellow.  A high wire act extravaganza!

Saturday's Critters

It's not just the hills that have eyes...

Shhhhhhh.  I'm reading.

Silence is the theme at www.illustrationfriday.com

This pick is timely since I created it for the MNSCBWI fall conference several years ago.  And their annual fall event is just a week away.  I won the illustrator mentorship award that year.  And now my friend and former men tee Nina Crittenden is the current mentor. She illustrated Cedric and the Dragon (the inspiration for the book above) and now is working with a major publisher.  Someone will be very lucky!  

I've come a long way as well since those early days. In frequent flier miles.  Ha!  

But I have illustrated two books since then.  And many moons...

San Juan Del Sur

Welcome to San Juan Del Sur.  The official location of this season's reality T.V. show Survivor.  The island of Ometepe was another previous Survivor location.  And we were just there as well!   Plus we drove right by the location of the season in Guatemala.  That makes us feel like real adventurers.  But thank goodness we were able to dine on the best that Nicaragua had to offer.  Instead of rice and boiled water.  San Juan Del Sur is a tourist town. So where are they dropping off the new crew of survivalists?  Well, I don't know.  But there is plenty of wilderness near by.  So what does San Juan Del Sur have to offer?

A great beach!  I love soft and firm sand for walking.  And a little warm Sun and wave action doesn't hurt either.

Ouch!  I love this photo.

Beached.

Perched.

Bridging the gap.

Be sure to walk all the way to the end.

And take time to enjoy the view.

P.S.  I've created a new photo blog.  A place where I can sell photos and photo cards.  Click here to check it out.  And if you like it, please help me spread the word!  It's called My 3rd Eye. That's what my camera is to me. 

To see my ode to the toucan and Dominical, Costa Rica scroll down...

Saturday's Critters

Bird D'pot

Wild Bird Wednesday

Dreams Do Come True

I wish I was here.

There's really nothing else to say about this week's www.illustrationfriday.com theme wish.

But dreams do come true.  We're going there again in 2015.  Here's what I wrote a few years ago curled up in bed listening to the howler monkeys outside our cabana. It was probably around 4 am. I'm usually so excited to start the day it's hard to sleep.

The mist slowly thickened in the hills over the top of Dominical. A bolt of lightning flashed on the horizon.  And a blast of thunder hushed the chorus of cicadas.  Soon the vibrant green rainbow of forest completely vanished behind the clouds. The first rain drop fell on the leaf of the trumpet tree and bounced onto the large beak of a chestnut mandibled toucan.  The sparsely decorated branches of the tree were no match for a jungle rain storm. The toucan looked toward the ocean and quietly flew out of sight. 

To see photos of Costa Rica, birds, flowers and more... click here!  I've created a new photography blog called My 3rd Eye.  That's what my camera is to me.  

Spring Forward. Fall Back.

I thought it was timely to finally post my bluebird photo that I snapped at Cedar Lake this Spring.  This photo was taken the night before the first official day of Summer. I couldn't wait for the transition. Now we are only a few days away from Fall.  It sure went fast.

They have quite a few blue bird houses at Cedar.  So I was hoping to spot one.  If it wasn't for his blue back he would totally blend into the tree.

We stuck around for a Summer's Eve sunset.

Time sure flies when you're having fun.

Saturday's Critters

Wild Bird Wednesday

New found Happiness!

Happy Dog

I look up at Happy Dog every day.  He sits above my computer in an old row of pet portraits that I painted years ago.  But he is a novelty to this blog.  Completely new.  I just scanned him for the first time. He fits the novel theme over at www.illustrationfriday.com this week.

I think my subject was yawning.  But what was captured by my paintbrush was unbridled joy. This reminds me of a funny email that my husband keeps sending me.  He will highlight certain words and sentences. And resend it to me. Then laugh about it when he gets home. And it makes me laugh every time.  Here it is...

Dogs vs. Cats

Two Different Points of View

DOG DIARY8:00 AM - Dog food! My favorite thing! 9:30 AM - A car ride! My favorite thing! 9:40 AM - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!10:30 AM - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!12:00 PM - Lunch! My favorite thing! 1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing! 3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing! 5:00 PM - Milk bones! My favorite thing! 7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing! 8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing! 11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing! CAT DIARYDay 983 of my captivity!
My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets. Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength. The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape.

In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet. Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a 'good little hunter' I am. The sick bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of 'allergies'. I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow - but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges. He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return. He obviously has issues.

Keep Calm and Ferry On

Rivas beach and Concepcion Volcano in the background

I didn't expect to take my favorite photo in Nicaragua after they lost our Ferry reservation to the island of Ometepe.  But I did.  We don't speak Spanish.  And when we arrived in Rivas to take the Ferry we experienced our first trip hiccup.  What would that mean?  Sleeping in our car?  Bribing a ferry worker?  Well, luckily it only meant waiting, drinking a Tona and walking on the beach by the Ferry station.  We made it on the next boat.  But things can get pretty confusing pretty darn fast when you don't know when, why or how things go wrong. 

Our vehicle.  I remember wondering if we would get on when I took this photo.  It seemed like such a crap shoot.  When we got on they had Spanish soap operas on the T.V.  And the locals all bought homemade snacks that ladies brought on in big baskets.

The good news.  We arrived on Ometepe at sunset.  The bad news.   We had to drive to our lodge on the other side of the island in the dark.  And if you have ever driven in Central America you know it is not recommended to drive after dark.  The funny thing is that it is not necessarily because of crime.  Every person, cow and dog like to hang out in the road.  It's dangerous! 

Well, I've already posted some of the things that we did on the island. Hit my labels at the bottom to check out some other Ometepe island adventures. 

This post is all about the coming and going.   Now we are trying to figure out the return trip.  Dean is talking with some other gringos.  Hmmm.  Hopefully if we work together we'll get on.

I took this photo of a kiskadee standing tough in the concrete jungle while waiting.  And waiting.

Here it comes.  Do you know that Nicaragua has 19 Volcanoes?  And I just saw on the news that they were hit by a meteorite!  Good grief.  When it rains it pours.  Anyway, we were staying on an island with two of them.  And there's another one peeking out in the right hand corner.  I think it might be Mombachu.  

Ometepe is slowly fading away. The rear view of an amazing adventure is always bittersweet.  You can see both volcanoes in this photo.  Concepcion is on the left.  The cone peaks at 5,280 feet.  Which makes it the world's highest lake island.  And Maderas volcano is on the right. 

It was a beautiful place.

And if you haven't already, please click here to see my illustrated map of Ometepe!  It's published over at the cool travel website TheyDrawAndTravel.

The end! 

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Guess me from behind...

Guess me from behind

Joan Rivers made me cringe.  But most importantly she made me laugh. I can't imagine a Friday night without Fashion Police.  Even my husband loved it.  Neither of us really care about fashion.  My husband definitely doesn't.  But it was so fun to laugh at celebrities.  Joan made fun of herself as well as everyone else.  So I decided to bravely post my own dos and don'ts on non-celebrity fashion.  In her honor...

Each photo highlights a Fashion Police segment. The top is Guess me from behind.  Where the hosts guess celebrities solely from their behind.  It was always hilarious.

"Witch" stole my look! (+ cat)

  O.K. It's supposed to be Bitch.   But I'm channeling Joan and trying to be funny.  I posted two shots to represent two celebrities wearing the same outfit.  The horror!  One is Angelina Jolie and the other is me.  I wish.  Ha!

Starlet or Streetwalker

Definitely street walker since I'm dressed up as a Saloon girl.  This was one of my favorite segments.  And it wasn't always easy to tell. The staircase in my old apartment building makes for the perfect retro backdrop here.

Hot Ticket

I felt "Hot" on this night in South Beach. We even got served free drinks at one of the bars on Ocean drive.  I like to think it was because of my Hot ticket status.  The good ole days.

Aspen

Busted!

In which celebrities are caught wearing the same (frumpy as shown here) outfit at two or more different events.  For shame.

My events...

1) climbing a mountain

2) Hugging a teddy bear

Rack Report

This one is obvious!  I love this old wishful photo taken in New Orleans.

RIP Joan Rivers

Saturday's Critters

P.S. To see my latest illustrated map of the island of Ometepe click Here!  They filmed the T.V. show Survivor there.

Spring Goslings

I figured I'm way past due in posting my spring gosling photos.  Since most of these little buggers are filling the skies with squawks and following their elders south already.

 Cute Goslings were swimming at Lake Nokomis this Spring. No big surprise. The only difference was that this isn't Lake Nokomis. It is the flooding around Lake Nokomis.  The relentless Spring and Summer rains turned all of Minneapolis into a water park. 

He's got a leg up on his peers.

Look at that sweet face.

Drip dry.

They're all small fries! But they don't stay this cute for long. 

Wild Bird Wednesday