Ribbit Macro Monday

Macro Monday is easy to play, snap a macro (or any close-up) photo, post it on your blog and come back here and sign Mr Linky. Don't forget to visit each other. :)

The Snake Saga Continues

Haden carefully carried the snake back to the car so I could grab the macro lens.  However, I'm not that fond of snakes so I handed the camera over to Dennis to get these closeups.

His skin has such a pretty pattern!

The snake was then set free.  He quickly got away from us.  But I couldn't help but wonder what the carload of girls would have done if they had stumbled across him on their was past our car.

Did you know that snakes emit a smelly substance when they feel threatened?  Haden was  the lucky recipient of said substance.  He got it on his clothes and the whole vehicle reaked!  We had to pull over so he could change and the clothes were placed in a bag and tied closed.  The car still stunk for the rest of the trip and some smell still lingers.  The clothes have been washed but you can still smell the faint odor.

My Snake Wrangler

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

After spending several hours exploring the falls we made our way up into the Adirondack Mountains and found a camping spot at Limekiln Lake State Park. We had a beautiful campsite and enjoyed our night there. If you can believe it, we used cheap swimming pool air mattresses under our sleeping bags and liked them more than our bulky camping air mattresses. Very comfy!

The next morning our path took us by a natural gorge and waterfall and of course we had to stop and hike in to see it. Very pretty!

On our way back to the car Haden’s wish was fulfilled - we saw a snake!

Apparently, he noticed us too.

After I took a few shots, Haden was unleashed and he went to work on catching the unsuspecting fellow.

This little snake struggled a lot so it took Haden a few minutes to sooth him. In the above photo he has the head held down because it kept trying to bite.

You can see that Haden is very gentle with him.

Finally, boy and snake seem content.

Ring Billed Gull babies

There were many Ring Billed Gulls with nests and babies at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls - oh what I wouldn't have given to be able to take the good camera down.

Niagara Falls in the daylight

We got up early the next morning and went back to the falls.  If you missed the night shots you can click here.  The silhouette photo was taken at this railing near horseshoe falls.

We were blessed with a double rainbow.

And we just had to know if there was a pot of gold at the end of it.   (The little white spots are gulls)

Not sure I see any gold, but it's pretty cool that the rock shares the rainbow colors.

We continued our Goat Island tour by going to the Cave of the Winds.  That deck looks a little scary - and wet- from up here doesn't it?  We put the little point and shoot in a waterproof package and took it with us.

So the rest of these photos were shot with the Olympus point and shoot by Dennis.  Here's me at the first deck.  Not much water on me yet.  That's Bridal Veil Falls behind me.

I love this shot!  That's me looking like an angel.  :)  Dennis did good!

Ok, my feet are getting wet now, and the water is cold, but I'm still smiling.

Now Haden and I are on the Hurricane Deck, a mere 20' from Bridal Veil Falls.  Very windy and wet!

And Dennis says, "Back up a little.  Back up."  About this time a huge splash plopped on my head, soaking me entirely.  Those rain things aren't really that helpful, they are an illusion of dryness.  Before this I was having a good hair day!  Haden's still smiling.

Next we went on the Maid of the Mist Boat tour.  We would have loved to take our big cameras down there but just couldn't risk it.  So again, the point and shoot had to snap our memories.

The force of all the water falling kept our boat pretty rocky and there were plenty of splashes to make a clear photo nearly impossible.

Me, trying to find a dry spot at the base of horseshoe falls.  We just stayed there letting the water pellet us.  What did I say about a good hair day?

Dennis isn't happy with these photos, the water droplets irk him to no end.  But I think they help reveal what we were going through at the time the photos were taken.  It was wet, windy and the waters kept raging.  Great memories!

It calms down a lot once you get away from the falls.  We were on a boat just like the one in the photo and that's Canada over there.

Niagara Falls, New York

We went 4100 miles, in 12 days, covering 12 states (IL, IN, OH, PA, NY, VT, NH, ME, MA, RI, CT, and NJ) on our vacation.  You have to really love the people you're traveling with to be able to practically live out of a car for that long and not kill each other.

Going full-throttle every single day, sleeping maybe 7 hours a night.  The proof is in the reality that although I let myself be lax in my diet, even had cheesecake, doughnuts, and brownies (resigned myself to gain a few pounds) I did not gain one pound!  I was thrilled when I saw the scale read the same as the day we left!  But, of course now I'm back to the diet.

We made it all the way to Niagara Falls, New York our first day - very, very long day! We checked into the motel, grabbed our gear and walked down to the falls. They were magnificent!

Rushing and tumbling.

The lights change colors periodically.

A photo cannot do them justice. These are some magnificent falls! Just to stand and listen to all the force - the noise of them drowns out all other noise and puts you in your own little world of solitude.

I have no idea who these people are but I thought the silhouettes looked cool so I snapped. As you can see, we weren’t the only ones out enjoying the night lights at the falls.

Horseshoe Falls

There’s a little story about my first trip to Niagara Falls. In 2006, Dennis and I took a spur of the moment trip up to Canada. We decided to go see Britney in Pennsylvania and since neither of us had been to Canada we went via that route (spent a night in Sudbury). We’re crazy like that.

So, on the 4th of July we passed by the falls. Dennis had seen them as a child, but I never had. Well, being 4th of July and all it was wham packed busy, on both sides of the falls. We could not even find anywhere to park and we needed to continue our journey - and we had our dogs with us and could not leave them in the car for an extended period.

A plan was formed, I turned on my camera, Dennis drove on the crowded road and when he was right in front of horseshoe falls I jumped out of the car. I ran up to the railing (on the Canadian side) and snapped away, then quickly ran back to the car and off we went.

This trip to Niagara Falls topped my first view by a long shot.  We spent a couple of hours there at night and another three the next morning.

I wouldn’t want to be in those rocks - ouch!

The views kept us up late that night - just so breathtaking.

I totally wish I could have captured the sounds as well.

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

New York Wildflowers