White Sands, Continued

In this post, I chatted about White Sands and how beautiful it is at sunset.  And that's true.  But it is equally beautiful during the middle of the day.  It's hard to capture in pictures the size of the dunes made by the gypsum.  This one shown below was grand.  

Even more amazing was the plants.  Quick growing plants live in this area, stretching to survive over an incoming dune. In the middle of this particular photo, you can see the two plants in the middle of the frame are half covered with the sand.

As the wind moves the sand, it makes cool patterns in the sand.  I thought this one was cool.

But as the dune moves on its way, the plant has generated a vast root system which keeps the gypsum from moving with the rest of the dune.  The sand is tangled in with the roots and prevented from moving with the breeze.  That leaves these large towers throughout the park, waiting for the nest dune to pass by.

Run Free

There is something about a horse that I absolutely love.  They are large animals and can be intimidating, but I find them to be some of the most gentle creatures on earth.  

This is a photo of Easter Island.  Usually, when people show photos of the island they show the pristine blue water or the awe inspiring maoi status.  And if anyone has looked through this blog, I'd be guilty as well.  But the land is also so inspiring.  There are few trees on the island due to over-cultivation in the past.  But the grasses, the wildflowers cover the land beautifully.

Which makes for a good environment for the wild horses.  Yes, there are wild horses roaming all over the 63 square mile island.  Which explains the rock walls and turnstiles to protect the more significant sites on the island.  (Although, horses can jump and I did see them entrapped inside of the very area the walls were built to protect.)

One night I was walking home from a late night dinner.  The town on this island is small and there are few lights on the streets.  Footsteps could be heard, but the darkness prevented seeing the maker of the noise.  Suddenly I was surrounded by 5 - 10 wild horses as they overtook my pace and wandered down toward the beachfront.

That's when it was confirmed that I was someplace unique.  I can honestly say I had never previously been surrounded by wild horses in the middle of the busiest street in town.

White Sands National Monument

White Sands National Monument is an amazing place in the southern part of New Mexico. Not really sand at all, the dunes are made of gypsum. The gypsum is from the nearby mountain ranges. While typically the gypsum would be dissolved by the water and eliminated via water run-off, this place is different. The water here runs into a basin where there is no outlet. Once the water seeps into the ground, the gypsum is left in crystallized form.

The dunes it forms are amazingly tall. The day we went, kids were sledding down the sides and scrambling up to the top again. We looked at the evidence showing how the dunes moved over time.

But sunset makes this place magical. The light brings out the colors of the area. People wandered among the plants snapping photos where shadows formed that previously had none. Items in silhouette were stunning against the desert sky.

Southwest Wild Flowers

As mentioned here, a friend and I traveled around the 4 corner region during early May.  Of course in the desert region of the south west, I knew the soil would be dry and sandy.  However I didn't know the flowers that thrived in that kind of land.  These wild flowers were so beautiful and dotted the desert floor.

Byodo-In Temple, Hawaii

Who has ever fed the fish at the Byodo-In Temple in Hawaii? If so, you likely have a photo just like this one. The temple is built in a valley on the island of Oahu where the light brings out all of the colors of the surrounding area and the air is heavy but cool.

Around the temple is a large "lake" of water that is stocked with fish. The nearby gift shop has fish food for sale. So it's common to see people feeding the fish. What was surprising is how active they were at grabbing their next bite. Years later, I went back to this temple. These fish are now almost a foot long and not nearly as cute during fish feeding time.

Valparaiso, Chile

After independence from Spain in 1818, the harbor at Valparaiso received all shipping traffic that went between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans as the international port. With the development of the Panama Canal in 1914, this port received less traffic and slowly the city started to diminish in size and wealth.

Today the majority of the shipping traffic in Chile goes to another port in San Antonio, about 100 miles south of Valparaiso. But it is hard to tell in this picture. Fishing boats, navy ships and others were in port (with many waiting to dock). If this is a slow day, I can't imagine the traffic that this port used to see.

Rome, Italy

I think a lot of people in the world have this photo of Trevi Fountain in Rome. They snap this photo as they throw a coin into the fountain to insure their return to the city.

But I wonder how many people have this photo of Trevi Fountain in Rome. The fountain, and a nearby gelato shop, fill tourists' hands with ice cream and cameras. Wandering though this square many times, it was rare to see it with fewer tourists.

This site attracts many people. And it should. The fountain itself is beautiful! I could stare at the marble and it's water for hours. The water has a blue color that one often sees at a sea.