The harbor at Seward, Alaska during the blue hour (which is about as dark as it gets in August).
A Cruise through the Clouds
On our last morning in Seward, Alaska, we woke up to this view of a cruise ship, which had docked during the night. The early morning fog gave an air of mystery and magic to this gigantic ship, which looked like it was sailing through the clouds.
What Lies Beyond
I’m still going through my Alaska photos, which bring back memories of the beautiful sights we saw everywhere. This shot is from our boat trip out of Seward along the Kenai Fjords.
Home for Elves?
My Alaska family (especially Miles) has become fascinated with the mushrooms and toadstools that abound in this wet climate. According to Wikipedia, this amanita is classified as poisonous and is noted for its hallucinogenic properties. I just think it looks like the perfect setting for a fairy tale!
Shades of Green
Alaska is SO GREEN- at least in the summer. This was taken at the Eagle River Nature Center on our walk with the kids. As I look ahead to Fall, I am wondering what it looks like there now. I am imagining some golds among the greens.
Friday Flower Trio
Here is another version of my yellow daisy/sunflowers with almost the same edit as yesterday.
Flower Foto Fun
Photoshop, textures, Topaz Simplify and Impression- so fun!
Caption this photo!
As I was getting ready to leave the fair, we locked eyes and had a moment. . .
Love at First Sight
We went over to the fair last weekend to catch the photography exhibit (no, I didn’t enter this year), and it was a good opportunity for me to snap a few photos of the livestock. My little AAUW photo group meets this week, and the topic is animals. I could not resist this sweet piggy- what a cutie!
Alien?!? Robot?!?
Is it an alien? A robot? A silo? A barbecue?
Nope- it’s an old furnace used for smelting copper in the late 1800″s by the United Verde Copper Company Mines in Jerome. The coke used for fuel was brought around the horn from WALES- and shipped by train to Ash Fork. From there, it was brought over the mountains by mule drawn wagons to Jerome. I’ve walked by this many times on our visits to Jerome and never stopped to look at it before.
I am always amazed by displays like this- and grateful to local historians who think it’s important to save these artifacts from the past.
Tuzigoot
Here is Tuzigoot, the last ancient pueblo we visited- not built into a cliff, but at the top of a rise. We arrived about 15 minutes before closing, so we had barely got to the top when it was time to climb down again.
Here is the view as we pulled into the parking lot.
A shot taken as we climbed the steps at the top.
And here is the view FROM the top- the road we took back as we headed to Jerome, the last stop on our trip before we headed down the mountain back to Prescott.
Montezuma Well
The travelogue continues! After visiting Montezuma Castle (and then having lunch at the nearby casino on the reservation!), we drove down the highway to Montezuma Well, another part of the same National Monument. A short walk takes you to an overlook of an eerily deep green/blue well, where cliff dwellings line the surrounding rocks. Yes, the water does really look this color!
We didn’t take the steps down to the water itself, but just continued on the upper trail.
I converted the photo below to black and white; it looks a bit like another planet to me!
Montezuma Castle
Last week, we had a beautiful day of sunshine, a break before the torrential monsoon rains we had a day or two later. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and take a drive to the Verde Valley (about an hour away) to see some of the sights on our Arizona bucket list.
The first place on our list was Montezuma Castle to see cliff dwellings!
The pueblos are located in the cliffs overlooking Beaver Creek, hidden behind the trees.
Trio in Black and White
You might not recognize these, but they some of the wildflowers/weeds growing in the dirt pile from across the street!
Thank you, You came Here
Before we headed to Alaska last month, we looked at places we might visit during our short stay there. One of the places that caught my eye was the Eklutna Historical Park, near Eagle River, where our family lives. Advertised as an “Alaska Native and Russian Orthodox cultural experience“, the site includes two churches and an old cemetery, irresistible to this photographer/genealogist! As soon as we arrived, it started to rain, so we were only able to spend about a half hour there, but I managed to take a few photos while protecting my camera from the rain. The site is a blend of the Russian influence and the native Athabaskan tradition of building spirit houses over the graves of their family members. The church above is the new church, built in 1962.
Below are some of the colorful spirit houses in the old graveyard, which is still used. The log church is the original Russian Orthodox Church, built by the Russians some time between 1830 and 1870 in Knik. Around 1900, the building was moved to the old graveyard in Eklutna. The spirit houses show a blend of the Orthodox and native traditions, often decorated with the Orthodox cross.
melinda anderson photography 