But the Candle is Always There...

Religion is a candle inside a multicolored lantern. Everyone looks through a particular color, but the candle is always there.
~ Mohammed Naguib ~

Hi my friends,

I love to find great quotes like this one and to combine it with one of my photographs I have in my archives. This photo was made in Santa Fe, NM on my recent travel
"Across America".

Thank you for all the kind comments again to my "Wordless Sunday" photo yesterday.
I'm glad you liked it :)

See you tomorrow, here on the same spot....
Susanne


My CALENDARS 2010 are available to buy!

Were I a cloud.....

Were I a cloud
I'd gather My skirts up in the air,
And fly well know whither,
And rest I well know where.

Author: Robert Seymour Bridges
Source: Elegy--The Cliff Top--A Cloud

Hi my friends,

thank you again for all your comments :)

Tomorrow we will be heading towards West again! Probably towards Santa Fe in New Mexico - I'm so excited! I'll let you know and will share one or two photos with you...LOL... as always :)

See you later,
Susanne and David

Oklahoma - here we are!

We left Amarillo this morning and had 250 miles to drive to Oklahoma City, that was our goal for today - we didn't made it! We were to late already from start on, but what's up... we are arrived save in Cherokee El Rino in Oklahoma for our night place in a campground.

These photos are again some nice landscape impressions from the route today

This yellow bridge in the picture is the real good old Route 66 that is following I-40 for long way.

In Oklahoma changed the soil color to red again, and it's a very intensive red - different and much stronger than I have seen in Arizona

Pretty red hills on the horizon
(all the picture are click able to see it bigger)

It seems for me that Oklahoma is a farming state

And another pretty landscape
(all the photos were captured out of my window)

Hi my friends,

Thank you again for all your wonderful comments to my sunset photos (with horses) from yesterday. I'm happy you liked it! :)

Some days ago I made a remark here on my blog that we have "new decisions to make". I have not forgotten to keep my promise and to tell you what's all about.

O.k., we've decided to make new experiences and give our travels a deeper meaning, that's why we decided to do a summer job as "work campers" in Branson, Missouri. That's the reason why we are heading to East again. :)

What is work camping?
It sounds so far to be something fun - we will see :))

We will be on a very nice campground located on a pretty lake and close to Down Town Branson, where a lot of theaters/shows of famous singers and entertainers are. We will be working a total of 24 hrs a week for a free parking space and the rest of the week we are off and we will enjoy everything what Branson has to offer.

I hope, we will like it, we absolutely don't know what we are expecting because we never have done something like that before. But it's never to late to start something new in life for collecting new impressions, to meet other new and fun people and to learn also some new stuff. We will have also the possibility to visit all the famous shows for free or almost free.

The summer in the hills and on the lake in Branson is much more enjoyable than the hot deserts of Nevada or Arizona. This was one of the biggest reasons for us to choose Branson,MO as our new place to stay over summer time.

Cross your fingers for us that everything will come as we are wishing for. :)

I will have hopefully more time for my blogging again and for visiting also all your great blogs and to bring a lot of new photos from an other beautiful place in this pretty country!

Stay with me and see you later,
Susanne and David

No perfection at all

Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it.

~ Salvador Dali ~

Hi my friends,

Finally I have some time to relax - and to show you also other photos than just landscapes...LOL... :))

Thanks again for all your wonderful comments and compliments! It makes me always happy to hear and to read that you liked my post(s) :)

Susanne

Pretty Landscapes on The Way to Phoenix,AZ

This photo belongs actually to the post before, when we left Sedona. It is such a pretty last view back towards the red rocks of Sedona! I just wanted to share it with you too. :)

This was the fantastic view, when we were driving from Flagstaff over all the hills towards Phoenix

Pretty color contrast of yellow fields and the "Black Canyon" mountains

The first fields of Saguaro Cacti came up, those are so typical for Arizona
I love these trees

Another pretty view close by Black Canyon City


Hi my friends,

we are still in beautiful and warm Phoenix, Arizona and have booked just now another night. We cannot decide where we want to go as next....LOL... :)

Thanks for all the nice comments and the loyal visits! Love you all! :))

Come back soon!
Susanne and David

Visiting a good old friend...

Michael Earney is a world known great artist and film maker and a sculptor and he is also a good old friend of David - my husband - back from the time when they both were living in California, in the 1970's. He showed us around in Port Aransas, Tx where he is living today. Check out also his website: http://www.earneyworks.com/bio.html

We went down to the Port to see dolphins jumping and the pelicans flying...

They had each other a lot to say since almost 35 years they have not seen each other in person again!

While the guys were chatting I tried to capture the dolphins swimming in the port

The dolphins were very fast disappearing into the water again

Michael is a voluntary worker for the ARK in Port Aransas. A very responsible dedication to help the endangered animals of the sea. Here we are in the Turtle House of the ARK, Michael was feeding some of the injured Turtles and checking also the water quality


The ARK

The University of Texas at Austin's Marine Science Institute (UTMSI) in Port Aransas, Texas, dedicated its new sea turtle building on 21 August 1999. The new ARK building came about as the result of some generous gifts from individuals and foundations. Most of the donations came from concerned Texans, but others came from as far afield as Boston and Bermuda. The leading light in garnering these gifts, was Edie McAllister of San Antonio and Port Aransas. Mrs. McAllister, a long-time member of the UTMSI Marine Science Advisory Council, was given a tour of the ARK three years ago on a typical hot South Texas summer day. She was concerned by the summertime problems faced by the animals of the ARK; namely the uncontrolled growth of algae and high water temperatures in the uncovered outside turtle tanks (conversely, in winter, water temperatures dip too low and inside tanks had to be found for the turtles each year). At first, the suggestion was to build some proper shade structures for the tanks, but soon, a kernel of an idea came that it might be possible to build a permanent and substantial facility designed specifically to house sea turtles and sea birds in need of rehabilitation. Mrs. McAllister was dogged in her determination to find funding for the ARK. That determination has now borne fruit and the ribbon-cutting at the ARK took place at 11:45am on Saturday, 21 August 1999.

Read more about here:
http://www.utmsi.utexas.edu/staff/amos/ark/ARKdedication.htm

One of the turtles was very nosy and interested in what I was doing with my camera, she/he came always back again over to me. Does'nt she looks pretty...? :)

There were outside also some pretty pelicans - with broken wings

And it seems they liked to show off their colors.

I will show you tomorrow more photos about very sick and injured Turtles in the Turtle Hospital in the ARK. Thank you Michael to show us a very interesting part out of your life - beside all your beautiful paintings and art works!

Hi my friends,

spontaniously we decided to stay 2 days longer in this beautiful place Port Aransas, in the South of Texas. I like it here very much, I could even imagine to live here, everything is so peaceful, it is nice warm and don't forget the pretty beach! We have enjoyed also very much to meet David's friend, Michael Earney again and having good conversations between artists together.

Thank you for all your kind comments and loyal visits to my last posts, my friends! Stay tuned, there will come more interesting stuff - we both enjoy our travels very much! :)

Susanne and David

From Alabama to Texas!

After our visit in LuLu's ("crazy sista" of Jimmy Buffet - see my post from yesterday) we were heading towards Mobile Alabama and crossing soon the border over to Mississippi

This is the welcome sign at the Tourist Information Center

And in Mississippi are the Magnolias blooming already

The main attraction here was a trainer that was used since the 1960's. Also the astronauts from Apollo 13 were trained in this capsule.

This is now the Lunar Lander

Fred Haise was one of the astronauts of the mission of Apollo 13 and he was a local guy from the region here in Mississippi

This is the moment before we crossed over the bridge and also over the famous Mississippi River in Baton Rouge in Louisiana

View down to the "good old Mississippi", captured out of the car

Always take also a look back! This is the skyline of Baton Rouge, LA

The oil industrial area of Lake Charles, LA

We were driving also trough heavy swampy areas

And arrived at the border to Texas

Friendly welcome signs everywhere!

Hi my friends,

Thank you for all your kind comments to my last post and for visiting my blog. I do appreciate your words and your loyal visits.

We are arrived now in Texas, not to long ago. Only some miles behind the border at I-10 we have found a nice little campground. I'm pretty happy for that, then last night we spent a night on a Truck Stop again and it was raining like crazy and not so friendly looking around us. It was the first time on our trip that I felt a little bit insecure. But we "survived" the night well and we were driving almost the whole day long - to Texas. What I need now is a real Texas hat, right...? :)

We don't know just now what we will do and where we wanna go tomorrow. Maybe down to the Gulf shores to Galveston and Port Aransas to enjoy the beaches and to watch the wildlife. Who knows.... we will see...

Stay tuned and see you soon again with new pictures.
Susanne and David

LuLu's Homeport, Gulf Shores Alabama

Last night we slept on the parking lot of the Wal-Mart in Gulf Shores AL because we didn't get into the State Park there. That was o.k. with us, we had a quiet place to sleep. The next morning - today! - we went visiting LuLu's Restaurant at Homeport Marina, a very special place that YOU should not miss to see if you're in that region.

Have a look at her website: http://www.lulusathomeport.com/index.php and you will understand what I'm showing you with my pictures here!

The little gift shop pavillion by LuLu's. Of course I have a new Tshirt from there too :)

The entrance to the restaurant

Inside view of the restaurant

Outdoors - with the sandy white beach

A real beach scene for everybody to enjoy

also kids can have fun here....

A very smart selling and marketing system is behind this business with more than 180 employees - Lucy Buffets PR is decorating the walls

A woodden pelican is spreading his wings - a nice decoration at the restaurant sealing

The ice cream corner with a lot of tasty choices

LuLu's colorfull painted houses - makes you feel like you're in Key West

LuLu's fountain for youths

What a pretty waiting spot for getting seated. In a nice talk with Brenda, a manager of the place, told us that in season time over 4000 people (per day !!) are visiting this place!

Hi my friends,

thanks again for all the nice comments to my yesterdays sunset shots.

We are arrived in the State of Louisiana already!!! We drove after our visit by "LuLu's" over to Mobile, AL then trough Mississippi and arrived here on a Truck-Stop place short befor Baton Rouge for the night. btw, it's raining like crazy!!!

Tomorrow we will drive to Texas. The exact place where we will be I don't know today, but maybe we'll be going toward Austin... we will see.... Stay tuned with me!

Susanne and David