Gambel's Quail

The Greenway, after the rains...

This is a little more than a mile to the east of the Johnson Road entrance to the Greenway on 6/30.

The haze in the following picture didn't help much, but this is what the flood looked like a littler earlier in the month.  Tropical storm dumped about 3" on already soggy ground.

There be Dragons Here!

We were visited by this big fella.  I've never seen a dragonfly as big. I had a hard time getting it back out without damaging its wings, but we finally did.

Cape Henry Lighthouses

The "new" lighthouse on the left was built in 1881.  The one on the right in 1792.  That, by the way, "was also the first federal construction project under the Constitution" (per both Wikipedia and information from the gift shop).  You can climb to the top of the old brick one (192 steps, I was told).

The newer one is made of iron and remains in operation.

Cardinal

OBX - Thankgiving Weekend

The Wright Brothers first powered flight markers, Kill Devil Hills, NC

 Currituck Lighthouse, Corolla, NC

 Jockey's Ridge, Nag's Head, NC

 Fort Raleigh, Roanoke Island, NC

 Roanoke Marshes Lighthouse, Manteo, NC

Bodie Island Lighthouse

Pima Air & Space Museum

Over on Exploring Arizona I've just added a number of pictures from our trip to the Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson.  That day was one of the best I've had in a long time!

Here's an extra shot!

Charlotte Greenway

A big tree along the greenway, a pond coated with green scum, a Green Heron and a turtle doing their things, and the greenway boardwalk...

Linville Falls, NC - just off the Blue Ridge Parkway

Charlotte Uptown During "Taste of Charlotte"

Charlotte Speed Week

Charlotte Speed Week, Tryon Street, Uptown Charlotte.

Charlotte Uptown

Charlotte uptown.  Taken from the 46th floor with a cell phone through slanted glass, so not the best picture in the world...

Charlotte, by the way, has an Uptown, not a downtown...

McCormick-Stillman Railroad Park, Christmas Time

Scottsdale has a wonderful park dedicated to miniature trains, ranging from Z-gauge on up to others that are big enough to ride on.  During the Christmas season they put up decorations along the tracks.

They've also just added a new building for their small-scale layouts.  They expect it will take the volunteers another 4 or 5 years to complete all the work that they're doing.

As you can see in the shot below, there are different layouts for each of the sizes and a lot of open framework is still showing.  I personally hope that they leave at least a little of that so that visitors can see the "behind the scenes" work.  It's pretty impressive!

Well worth a trip in July, but especially festive just before Christmas.  A word to the wise:  Go during the week and before school gets out for the holidays.  The lines get very, very long on the weekends!  Oh, and the park entrance is free, but it does cost a couple bucks to ride the train.

Cactus

We think that this is a male cactus...

Monterrey

Beautiful scenery along the California coast.