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Central Texas…
Firstly, some of you may have noticed that a new page appeared in the main menu, which shows the way of Vivalavida since mid December. It’s along this line that you can find the sites of my pictures images. This line represents the path of Vivalavida but doesn’t include mountain bike rides or hikes I did. Maybe coming in a future version
From Austin, I went discovering several sites in central Texas. I didn’t expected Texas as rich in beautiful places.
It begins with the Hamilton Pool, a wonder created by a small river which falls into a natural pool partly dominated by a large vault.
1. Arrival on the site (panoramic of 4 vertical images)
2. A real wonder… 😉
3. Suspended vegetation…
4. The impressive vault that covers part of the pool.
Few tens of miles to the west, I went to the Pedernales Falls The river falls down a few tens of feet in successive stages. A beautiful place in the morning light…
5. Boondocking and early Wake up to enjoy the morning light on the river…
6. First pot in the limestone.
7. The falls.
8. The river carves its way into the rock…
9. Details…
After my tour of the falls, I looked some birds in a quiet corner…
10. Female cardinal…
11. … and her male.
12. Bright yellow for this lesser goldfinch (I guess)…
13. A mockingbird.
14. A house finch.
A few miles further west, I enjoyed a nice walk on Enchanted Rock that bears his name. A wonderful serie of red domes. It was quite crowded since that Monday was holiday in Texas…
15. Large boulders at the foot of the dome (panoramic of three vertical images)
16. Throughout the climb, forms sculpted by the wind and dust are amazing.
17. Arrival on the summit of one of the domes…
18. The main dome (panoramic of three horizontal images)
19. Behind, I walked to a small lake for a different point of view…
20. The mountain peels..!
21. Marks on the rock…
22. At the top of the main dome, the view is endless…
I then continued my travel to the west and will present soon other nice Texas locations! 😀
Stay tuned for more to come…
Texan coast and some urban…
I’m back after ten days of no man’s land in the extreme southwestern Texas and I find a Wifi to write this small update (I have a little delay, sorry… 🙂
After the episode of mosquitoes, I continued my journey on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston Island. Galveston is a known beach resort, southeast of Houston, but almost deserted at that time of the year.
1. Lighthouse next to my road…
2. VivaLaVida on the ferry to Galveston.
3. Jetty in Galverston
The west side of the island is remained wild, protected by a State Park. The island forming an inland sea isolated from the ocean, it’s a haven for thousands of migratory birds, including some rare. I stayed two days to observe them and I will present here some.
4. Early arrival of thousand of Red Heads.
5. Group breakfast…
6. Elegant duck.
7. A rose spoonbil…
8. A march oak.
9. Stern hunting…
10. White pelican.
11. Full moon in early morning…
I then headed to Austin, a nice city a little different from other Texas cities. Cosmopolitan and a little European style, I spent a day and a half. There is Live Music everywhere, whole streets where there are bar after bar on both sides, in each Live Music from 2 to late in the night … It was sunny and quite warm, in the seventies…
12. Camping before Austin…
13. Downtown Austin
14. Boot shop…
15. … and texan hats!
16. Some urban…
17. A big foot.
18. The State Capitol.
19. Commerce Street…
20. Reflection…
21. Back street…
That’s it for these images of this beautiful city where I felt that life seems good. The next update will take you to west Texas, discovering some wild places along VivaLaVida’s road…
Mississippi delta
After visiting the nice town of New Orléans, I spent a couple of days in the Mississippi delta, a huge wet zone and totaly flat. VivaLaVida sometimes slept on the beach it-self and I could observe many birds…
1. A nice campsite, isn’t it?
2. Half sun! 😉
3. A seagull at sunset…
4. Sunrise with sea mist…
5. Halo in the mist…
6. Work of the night probably…
7. Another campsite…
8. Royal terns resting.
The next day, I moved a few tens of kilometers and arrived in Texas in an area where there are freshwater marshes behind the dunes, promise an interesting ornithological fauna.
As I walked there, I met me a retired volunteer. Exchanging a few words with, she said: “From 5, mosquitoes will attack you!”
Me: “Really? Even in the wind?”
Her: “Yes , pray for having wind…”.
I found a place to sleep on the beach and after photographing the sunset, I walked into VLV and have undertaken to postprocess some images. Around 9:30, when I turned on the light, stupor: it was almost impossible to see through the windows as there were so many mosquitoes above! Thousands at least. Then I realized that a good fifty were able to enter VLV, where I’m not sure yet . Perhaps through Dashboard ventilation since all other issues being closed… So I had a pretty mosquito hunt before cooking my diner and after because obviously they continued to enter. The next morning, there was again a good fifty but fortunately, as these little creatures have never loved me, , I had only one bite on a toe… : – D
So much for the story.
9. The campsite in question under a nearly full moon.
10. A snowy plover.
11. Two others…
12. Readheads.
13. A nice heron…
14-16. A small series on the brown pelican, wonderful.
17. A neighbor of my camp…
Bye for now……
Way back from Florida
After a few days on the Gulf of Mexico, I received the long-awaited message: my definitive papers arrived!
So I left the ocean for heading up to Atlanta, not without taking small roads with few detours. I then wiped the cold wave that made twenty deaths in North America, with till -52°F in the East.
1. A march next to the road.
2. A bird seen while a quick stop to eat something. To resist to the temp of 16°, she puffed its feathers…
Driving through Alabama, I made a detour to the extreme western Georgia to visit Providence Canyon, a small Bryce Canyon… I got there at 14:30 and it was 14°, the maximum of the day.
3. The trail strewn with ice flowers. To give the scale, ice rods are approx. inches high..!
4. At the bottom of this pretty little canyon, unfortunately with difficult light (panoramic of three vertical images).
5. I told you: it looks a little like the famous Bryce Canyon (panoramic of two vertical images).
6. View from the top (panoramic of four vertical images).
Since I came out around 16:30, I left the tarmac to get a place for the night. I followed a dirt road and came across an old fire watchtower. Usually, the base is surrounded by barbed wire fence that prohibit access to, which wasn’t the case of this one. So I took the opportunity to climb on it, taking precautions for the wooden steps which were well rotten, even some missing…
7. VivaLaVida from an unusual angle…
8. View on the forest around…
I then continued the small dirt roads and after about thirty mile, I found a place to sleep next to a pond, who booked me a nice surprise. While I was out photographing VLV in a pretty sunset, I heard an unusual noise. I have been listening… Yes, it was the sound of an animal gnawing something. Night falling, I spun seek binoculars and tried to locate it for ten minutes without success. Then I heard a “splash”, still without reaching to locate it… Finally, I discover a beaver swimming in the pond, pulling the small tree he had just cutted! It was so dark that I could picture of him to show you. But I saw him come near the entrance of her hut and dive to enter. Then I heard him shake to drain and move the small tree to his companion, exchanging small pretty cries. He then came pout again and swim away across the pond, disappearing into the darkness… I heard him later continuing to gnaw in the dark night. It was a great emotion to see my first wild beaver..! 😉 It made me forget the cold (10° then) and I haven’t regretted the numb I had back in VLV. That night, VLV’s thermometer got down to -2°F, my coldest night in VLV so far.
9. The picture that got me this beautiful surprise…
I joined Atlanta the next day and found my driving license as well as the Title, the ultimate Sesame for my real start. Unable to invite Colin’s family partly sick to share a last dinner, I took my real flight the next day, already with some unexpected on the first night. To discover soon… 😀
Atlantic Ocean (3)
I announced an urban and animal update… Urban because I spent a few hours in the beautiful city of Savannah. This city had its heyday from the time when the cultivation of cotton, still present today, was the number one economy throughout Georgia.
It’s a two stages city. Downstairs is an arm of the sea and the commercial harbour. The canal is bordered by houses of rich traders from 19th century.
1. Forehead of the old harbour
2. Rich buildings built in the 19th century
3. They now house shops, hotels and restaurants.
4. Small stairs alleys provide access to the rear of these buildings…
5. … where we discover the second floor of the city and first a kind of semi-underground street.
6. It is in the upper town that are the shops today…
7. …but it retains nice neighborhoods…
8. … and old buildings.
I spent almost the whole day of 31 and had a small Eve lunch: fried shrimp as starter – this is the local specialty – and a wonderful bass, a treat! 😀
9. Meanwhile, WivaLaVida waited for me wisely…
10. Continuing south, I made a brief stop to visit Fort Pulaski
11. Built in the early 19th century, it was the scene of a battle that allowed the English to push back the French.
12. Canon batteries are impressive!
I took the road south again and spent Christmas Eve on the pretty Jekyll Island where I have not seen Mr Hide..!
13. Bridge that provides access to Jekyll Island.
I had a nice New Year Eve at my campfire with two girls whose pick-up stoped not far away from VLV. Before that, I had the chance to observe quite a bit of birds, including a beautiful red-breasted woodpeker.
14. What is that thing which looks at me?!
15. I watch it from the corner of the eye…
16. But I continue to flush out my meal!
17. there were also cardinals. here the male with bright colors!
18. And the female…
19. And a wild dove…
20. Not to mention that watching me constantly!
21. A little further, I saw coming a white ibis…
22. … then two.
23. A heavy rain ended my observation…
I then took the road to Florida to visit a friend, poking me in the land and the bad weather. To discover in the next update… 😉
Atlantic Ocean!
I had announced it in my last update, Vivalavida discovered the ocean on Christmas Day. The desire to see something a little different after more than three months of Appalachian, so I took the road to South Carolina after a detour through Atlanta to discover a great World Market (in which he was unfortunately forbidden to photograph…) where I bought my Christmas dinner…
I left Atlanta late and since this huge city is perpetually congested with dozens of miles of trafic jams, I stopped in a National Forest about 70 miles away to spend the night near an old fire watchtower.
1. Boondocking…
Having decided to take the back roads to better discover the landscapes of eastern Georgia, I crossed areas where walnuts are grown. Some “walnut fields” stretched out of sight, like the one I squatted to lunch.
2. Walnuts…
Taking my time, I discovered the ocean only at dusk. Time to find a place to spend the night on Hunting Island, I had a good Christmas diner: Scottish smoked salmon with dill and Moscato d’Asti Nivole..!
3. Christmas diner
I still made a small walk on the beach and enjoyed photographing the sky. The brightness was curious, with the moon just before moonrise, below the horizon…
4. Christmas sky…
5. Waked up early to go seeing the ocean before sunrise, I enjoyed right again splendid colors…
6. Almost slack…
The recent hurricanes have claimed more than 100 yards from shore, gnawing the beach and sometimes leaving a standing tree which now seems to have grown in the sea .. Superb for images!
7. Survivor, well almost…
It is hard to see on the pictures but there was a strong wind and it was 34°F. I had really cold fingers coming back to VLV after 2:30 walk on the beach!
Having spotted a pond behind the dunes, I left again a little later to go birdwatching.
8, 9 et 10 : Willet
11 et 12 : Sanderlings
13. Great egret
14. Heron
15. Another survivor…
I then moved to the salt marshes behind the island that sheltered me for the night.
16. Sweetness of this flat wet land…
Having spotted an osprey with binoculars on the bridge deck that allows access to the island, I used Vivalavida as approach him when my silhouette would have made him to scamper at 150 yards…
17. Watchful hunter…
18. Just beforedoing what we do in the bathroom… 😉
19. A last one..! It’s not everyday that I can get so close of such a lord… 😀
I then returned buck to the wet land and I had the chance to see some other species…
20. Eastern bluebird
21. Great-tailedgrackle. It’s a verry common bird here, not apprehensive. Here is the male
22. … and his female…
23. I end this update with a picture taken from the long bridge that provides access to the island. It allows you to discover the wet land covered with rushes and flooded at each tide…
To be continued…
And as the days go by and I’m never sure when I can connect properly, I already send you my best wishes for the new year approaching. Can he invite you to fully experience your desires and dreams as I have the chance to do it with Vivalavida..!
A big thank you for your faithfulness to follow this blog… 😀
D5 Creation