Stories Old and New

The photos for this post are all from a set of experiments with a special program.  Let me know what you like or don't like.

Himalayan Blue Poppies, Perth, Scotland

View: Valley of Fire, Nevada

Hieland Coos, also called Hairy Cows

Old Mission Santa Barbara

Our GPS Says to Us: Damn It, Do It My Way (A New Story)

       On our recent trip from Las Vegas to Death Valley, Lizzie Our GPS had a wee tantrum when she couldn’t get her way. After a nice breakfast at Mom’s Diner in Pahrump, Nevada, we wanted to go to Death Valley. There are two routes into the valley from the east (the Nevada side): the south entrance heading into Furnace Creek and the north entrance into Stovepipe Wells from Beatty, Nevada. We wanted to go into Death Valley from the south—that created the problem.
       As we left Mom’s we were heading north on Hwy 160 toward Beatty and wanted to turn off on Bella Vista Road to Hwy 190 towards Furnace Creek. As we approached the turn-off a couple miles out of Pahrump, we knew Lizzie was planning a route through Beatty. Sure enough, as soon as we made a left (west) off Hwy 160, Lizzie said, “In point two miles, turn right on 33rd Avenue, and then turn right.” She was trying to get us to go back to Hwy 160. But we weren’t listening. A few blocks further she said, “In point two miles, turn right on Melrose Place, and then turn right.” Again we weren’t listening. In a couple more blocks she said (only this time I could swear there was a grunt prefacing her comment), “In point two miles, turn right on 42nd Avenue, and then turn right.” We just laughed at her audacity. In another couple of blocks, with some viciousness, we were sure she said, “In point two miles, damn it, turn right on McGuire Street, and then turn right.” We sort of apprehensively chuckled, but kept going straight. There was a slight pause, then Lizzie took a new tact and sweetly said, “In point two miles, turn left on Bradford Way, and then turn left (please).” We knew we had gained the upper hand.
      Lizzie, our faithful GPS, got the last word though. About a half mile past her last direction, with an exasperated sigh she said, “Continue straight on for 35 miles.” We could hear in her undertones, “You will do it my way.”

Iris, Branklyn Gardens, Perth, Scotland

New York New York in Las Vegas

Canadian Geese in Flight

    The next two stories are samples from our latest book, THE RAMBLING ADVENTURES OF A TRAVELER AND GOLFER, which is only weeks away from publication. It will be available on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk and a Kindle version will follow shortly.

The Good and the Bad of a Travel Dinner

      On a Saturday night in September we ate at the Brasserie at the Townhouse Hotel in Melrose in the Scottish Borders. Supposedly the restaurant is rated the #1 restaurant in the area by Trip Advisor. The food was excellent--we shared a fish cake as a starter and I had pan fried duck breast as a main. The service, though, didn’t match the food.
      Our waitress was not local (Polish or Romanian most probably) and was new to the job so we could forgive some things. We had a difficult time making ourselves understood and she didn’t do things she was supposed to--give us bread, check that our meal was right, see if we needed anything. She basically took our order, disappeared, brought our food, disappeared. At the end I had to get the manager to get our bill. When she brought the bill I asked about the lack of service. The manager said all those things should have been automatic, but she blew it too. She didn’t apologize for the poor service and made no effort to correct or make up for the problems--a free coffee or dessert or adjustment of the bill would have been nice, but we didn’t even get a “sorry about that.” She did say she would speak to the girl, but that’s no consolation for us.

      Oh, well, so far about 57,000 people have read my Trip Advisor review of the good (the food) and the bad (the service) of our Townhouse Hotel dinner.

Campbeltown, Scotland

Daisies

Festival Dance, Loch Fyne, Scotland

And Where Is Canmore GC?

      We arrived at Canmore Golf Course just outside Dunfermline at the edge of Fife in Scotland. They weren’t ready for us. The manager whom we had made arrangements with wasn’t there. The pro shop was closed. Luckily the girl in the clubhouse lounge was flexible. With our email confirmation for comped golf she got us on behind a group of locals. We could find only one functioning trolley, so Anne took that one and I carried my clubs (after lightening my bag by five clubs). Only once or twice I didn’t have the club I wanted, but I managed to adapt fairly well. I loved the weather--cool and slightly foggy--but Anne thought it was miserable. Of course, I won our match.
      That’s not the real story; it’s just the set up for the rest. Earlier in the year we planned a road trip (Love road trips!) to Alberta Canada to see Lake Louise and the surrounding area. We booked in at our Worldmark timeshare in Canmore, Canada next to Banff National Park. Before our Canada trip I worked on planning the fall Scotland trip which included trying to book into the Canmore GC near Dunfermline. I sent my usual email and a few days later got a surprising response: “Your books sound interesting, but I think you’ve sent your request to the wrong Canmore GC. Our club is located in Canmore, Alberta, Canada. If you are ever in the area I’d love to comp you golf for your book. Regards, Secretary Canmore GC, Alberta, Canada”
      I checked back at my email and could see that I’d pulled the Canada course instead of the Scotland track. I wrote back an apology and said, “By the way, we’ll be in your Canmore in about two weeks and would love to bring you a book for a round.”
      So now I know where Canmore GC is. At least two of them. We’ve played them both and I can highly recommend them both as well. 

Abandoned in Beattie, Nevada

Wet Lily

Truro Cathedral, Truro, Cornwall, England

Wary Cat

A Tale of Two Valleys: Valley of Fire and Death Valley

We had never been to the Valley of Fire about 50 miles northeast of Las Vegas, but we had been before to Death Valley.  On our most recent trip to Las Vegas we managed to go to both valleys.  

Valley of Fire Visitor Center

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

The Valley of Fire, Nevada’s first state park (1935), is an area of ancient sandstone and sand dunes at an elevation of between 2000 and 2600 feet.  The valley has been often used for both TV and movie filming: “The Professionals” starring Burt Lancaster and Lee Marvin and “Star Trek Generation” were filled there.  

Valley of Fire Landscape

Big Horn Sheep in Valley of Fire

      Prehistoric users of the valley include Basket Maker people and later the Anasazi (Navajo for “Ancient Ones”) Pueblo farmers from nearby Moapa Valley.  

Sun and Pinnacle on Mouse's Tank Trail

Native peoples used the Valley of Fire from about 300 B.C.E. to 1150 C.E. for hunting, food gathering, and religious ceremonies.  One of the main features of today’s park is the rock art found particularly along the Mouse’s Tank trail and Atlatl trail.  

Anasazi Petroglyphs Carved on Rock varnish

Symbols for Shaman and Circle of Life

We spent time photographing the scenery and especially the petroglyphs along Mouse’s Tank trail.  The Tank refers to two natural potholes in the sandstone rock part way down a waterfall (usually dry) at the end of the canyon that hold water longer than other places.  

Ceremonial Dancers and Big Horn Sheep

Petroglyphs along Mouse's Tank trail

And it’s called Mouse’s Tank after a southern Paiute Indian named Little Mouse who hid in the area to avoid (unsuccessfully) a lynching party.  The trail is one of the riches areas for petroglyphs—symbols carved into the surface of rock varnish or desert varnish (glossy black, brown, or orange-brown layer of natural chemical deposit on rock surfaces, mainly in the desert).  

Petrified Log in Valley of Fire

View from Rainbow Vista in Valley of Fire State Park

Besides the Anasazi carved symbols, the area is rich in geological splendor.

Death Valley, California

Nopah Mountain Range at the South End of Death Valley (from the east).

Nopah Mountain Range

In Death Valley (California) we stayed at Stovepipe Wells Village in the north end of the valley.  The motel provides decent and relatively inexpensive accommodation as well as a small grocery store, gift shop, bar, and restaurant (average at best).  On this trip we had some good photo opportunities with sun, clouds, and clean air one day—the next day was much hazier.  

There is plenty to see in Death Valley and on this trip we tried to do things we hadn’t on our last visit.  Before we dropped into the Valley at Furnace Creek (Hwy 190) we drove the three miles dirt road (easily passable by passenger cars, especially if they are rentals) of Twenty Mule Team Canyon.  

The Road through Twenty Mule Team Canyon

Twenty Mule Team Canyon

The eight mile paved road called Artist Drive is also great for photographers.  

View on Hwy 190 above Death Valley

A highlight for us was Salt Creek—a boardwalk along a small stream which is home to the rare pupfish and several species of small birds.  

Sunset at Salt Creek

On the way out of the park we stopped at the ghost town of Ryolite on our way to Beatty in Nevada.  

Ryolite ghost Town Relic

Even Beatty, NV, Is Starting to Look Like a Ghost Town

The two valleys are great places to explore and photograph, but always in the desert caution is necessary.  Be safe, especially in extreme heat, and be aware of the fragility of the desert environment and the artifacts left by the “Ancient Ones.” 

Rock on Hwy 374 Near Titus Canyon in Death Valley

Feedback Please: Let me know your favorite photo from each valley--tell me which photos I should mount up and frame for sale.

Two Stories and a Photo Lesson

This post contains a couple of travel stories that will be in our next book which now at least has a title, The Rambling Adventures of a Traveler and Golfer (not set in stone yet, so comments are welcome)--the book is into the editing stages now.

Loch Awe and Scottish Mountains.  This will be the cover of the new book.

Also in this post is my take on what makes a good travel photograph--this comes from a presentation I did for a local arts group.

Night Noises and a Strange Animal Pen

We found a lovely B&B in the Dumfries area of southern Scotland in the isolated village of Twynholm.  We had a quite nice large bedroom at Linnhope B&B, but a couple of things made the stay special.  First, on the menu for breakfast was “trout and scrambled eggs--when available.”  There was a handwritten note on the menu: “Available now.”  I ordered the trout because Sue, the B&B owner, is a fly fishing instructor and I figured she’d know how to do trout well.  I was right.  Breakfast was delicious home-smoked fresh trout and eggs.  Fantastic!

The second reason Linnhope was special is stranger.  In the night we heard scrabbling noises above our bedroom, but the house is only one story.  We figured the noises were from some vermin in the rafters above the room; a squirrel or mouse.  The noises never disturbed our sleep. In the morning we looked out to the manicured backyard and saw a strange animal pen (our guess) in the yard.  It was about an eight foot square fenced in by 2x12 planks.  In one corner there was what looked liked a small dog’s house.  We couldn’t figure out what the pen was for--it wouldn’t have kept in cats, small dogs, or rabbits.  At breakfast we asked about the pen.  Sue said, “It’s for the tortoises.”  She explained that they have two pet tortoises who spend the day out in the pen and the nights in the house in the rafters above our room.  Ah, the noises in the night explained!  She went on to explain that the tortoises made great pet because in the winter when they close up the B&B and travel the tortoises hibernate in boxes of excelsior in the attic.  Then she said that right now they were overfeeding them to get ready for hibernation and then they would “purge the little guys” before putting them to bed.  She left the “purging” details to our imagination.  

Bus Tour vs Self Tour

Great bus tours are plentiful and can be a very effective mode of transport to see Ireland.  But we choose to drive ourselves.  It gives us more freedom and allows us to be flexible as we tour.  Perhaps the best explanation of the advantages to self-touring can be summed up in one experience we had on our first tour of Ireland.

Irish Round Tower and Celtic Cross.

Corcomroe Abbey is an early 13th-century Cistercian monastery located in the north of County Clare at the edge of the Burren.  Known as St Mary’s of the Fertile Rock, the abbey is famous for its detailed carvings and rich ornamentation.  Set against the limestone rich hills of the Burren near the sea, the abbey is a prime tourist location.  We drove into the parking lot just as a tourist bus was dropping off a large group of visitors and just as the heavy clouds dumped a downpour onto the tourists.  

Anne and I sat in the car waiting out both the deluge and the drowning tourists.  Soon the bus horn sounded and the wet tourists trundled back to their rolling cavern, which now I’m sure was steamy and smelled something like a wet puppy.  The bus pulled out of the parking lot at the same time as the sun broke free of the dark clouds.  It’s then that Anne and I starting exploring the lovely abbey now made more photogenic by the rising steam off the stones.  Is there any wonder we choose to self-tour rather than bus-tour.

Travel Photo 101

Cairn Holy Chambered Cairn, Scotland

Loch an Eilean Castle, Highlands

The preceding  pictures of Loch an Eileen Castle in the Scottish Highlands and the stones of Cairn Holy Chambered Tomb in the County of Dumfries and Galloway in southern Scotland are good examples of artistic photographs taken while traveling.  I would not call them great “travel photos.”

What makes a “travel photo” particularly good?  How is a travel photo different from an art photo.  While many good travel photos can also be good art photos, there are key differences.  An art photo, whether landscape, seascape, cityscape, portrait, or still life, emphasizes composition rules (or breaking those rules) and/or details like color, pattern, contrast, etc.  The key element to a good travel photo is the telling of a story.  In the following examples look for the story inherent in the picture or the story that the picture evokes.  A few of these travel photos are also good art photos, but primarily they each tell a story.

Tearoom Conversation, Kirriemuir Art Gallery Cafe, Scotland.

Fishmonger at a street market in Crieff, Scotland.

Fire Bomber, Mt Ashland Fire

Early Selfie--Snow Beard

Street Drummer in Portland.

Street Dancer, Dumfries, Scotland

This last example is my pick as the picture that is most successful as a travel story and an art photo.

Sunset on Princess  Street, Edinburgh.

Which are your favorites?  Let me know.

Stories and Photos: Happy Holiday

Playing Out-of-the-Way Golf

We’re not afraid to play out-of-the-way golf on small village courses not as manicured as the famous or larger tracks.  We’ve had to shoo the sheep and rabbits off the greens at Leadhills GC in the Scottish Borders. We’ve played at Achill Island in Ireland where the fairways were defined by lanes of white rocks (on the fairway you could move your ball from sheep droppings, but off the fairway you play the ball as it lay). And we played a round at Helmsdale in the far north of Scotland where you pay for golf at the neighbor’s house.  With these experiences behind us we didn’t even consider not booking golf at Orkney GC on the main Orkney island.  We booked ahead and were given courtesy of the course (free golf).

Isle of Skye GC

We showed up about a half hour early for our round, but nobody was about.  There was one five-some of men out on the course and one greenskeeper driving around on a mower.  The changing rooms were open, but the lounge and office were locked.  The wind was sharp (20-40 miles per hour) and rain was threatening.  We were just about ready to leave when a local showed up to play.  We chatted with him for a while and found out that at that time of day (10AM) nobody would be in the office.  

Even though the course looked rather basic I decided to have a go and Anne decided to walk.  Taking five clubs and other non-essentials out of my bag to lighten it for carrying (since the club had no trolleys to rent), I got ready to carry.  The course was actually more interesting than it seemed at first.  It was the wind that really made Orkney GC entertaining golf.  Without the wind the course would be a good practice track, but in the gusting wind it’s a nice challenge.

It wasn’t our usually reception at a course where we book ahead to write, but I’m glad I played--and it only rained on one hole.  Out-of-the-way golf can be fun golf. 

   

Unbelievable Accident 

In our travels we’ve seen several road accidents or at least the aftermath of the accidents.  In Ireland we were almost late for a tee time at the Dooks GC near Killarney when we came upon a motorcycle accident (learned later that the cyclist had died) and in the North Berwick area of Scotland (East Lothians) we had to wait as they cleared the debris from a car/motorcycle accident (non-fatal).  But in the spring of 2013 we witnessed our first motor accident right in front of us.  As we were returning to our Crieff B&B home after golf we got stopped in a traffic snarl going through the shopping area of the village.  Parked cars on the road and a construction project had reduced the main road to just one lane.  The path was very tight for a large blue double-deck bus.  

As the driver inched his way through the constriction a parked car pulled out of its parking spot straight into the middle of the big blue double-deck bus.  How the driver (or anyone) could miss seeing the big blue double-deck bus right beside her was beyond belief.  The driver of the car was a woman (probably early thirties).  The accident put a large dent in the bus and took off a good portion of the car’s left front.  The accident also completely block all traffic both ways.  We watched the maneuver as if in slow motion directly in front of us.  It took about fifteen minutes to get traffic (one-way) flowing again.  We figured we didn’t need to register as witnesses to the accident, after all the bus was full of witnesses who watched in shock as the lady rammed the bus. 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE AND BEST WISHES FOR A GRAND 2015!!!

     We can tell you much about our year through our pictures.

We did a lot of flying this year: twice to Scotland, twice to San Diego, and to Las Vegas and Death Valley.

In our Scottish home in Crieff, Merlindale, I was treated to a great birthday dinner of Paella.

Anne learned to be the egg man, goo goo g'joob!

  

We got some culture at the Scottish National Museum.

Did a little hiking in the Black Cuillins of the Isle of Skye.

Took photos where ever we could, including Sango Sands Beach in the northwest corner of Scotland.

We played plenty of golf--39 rounds in Scotland, several in Canada, some in Las Vegas, even in Death Valley, and of course, at our home course Arrowhead.

Anne Louise got a second visit to Lake Louise in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

Besides some great highs of the year, we also had some lows.

But altogether it was a GREAT year.  We stayed healthy and happy.  Celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary.  And we wish you all the best for 2015!