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Our first stop: Okefenokee, Georgia
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Mariana, Florida. Good old boys country. What makes the States a cliche
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With the beaten up old car I'd been driving for about a year, we depart from Florida, our home for about 18 months
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Resident, Florida Caverns State Park
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Another BBQ and another local resident
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Some idea of the cheap vehicle we had swagged from Iqbal
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Florida Caverns. Inside. Interesting
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Heading West into the Bayous
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Somewhere in the Bible Belt deep South
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Deep, Deep South.
The KKK handing out flyers, probably Mississipi |
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Louisiana. I enjoyed it, especially the
Boudin Noir at the Cajun festivals |
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Lots of these, just by the side of the road
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We were never reticent about taking
people up on offers.
Elysian Fields Street Car, New Orleans |
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The French Quarter, New Orleans
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The French Quarter is actually quite small
Only a few blocks in total |
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Usual Tourist Stuff awaits the unaware tourist in Nawleans
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We tend toward camping in state parks.
We have a "Gold Pass" for federal parks,
but they don't have hot water |
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Louisiana shore line. Big BIG oil
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Welcome to Texas.
Get the idea yet? And we are white |
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Dinosaur Footprints Park, Texas
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I guess these guys were pretty big
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Big Bend National Park
Hardly anyone here. Maybe a few illegals |
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I cheapskated on the film I used,
so they are not very good shots |
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I think we stayed here in the park about 5 days
It was very peaceful |
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The park is very sparse.
I think we stayed 4 - 5 days |
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The Rio Grande.
No, no one crossed on our watch
No border patrol back then either |
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Great views from some of the higher valleys
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Ah, this has some artistic merit
Artistic subject even |
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I don't care, I like these shots
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I think we just enjoyed being out of
the great American rat race here |
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Somewhere in Big Bend park, judging by the background
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I didn't take many photo's
And very few were
National Geographic quality |
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A few of the almost zero visitors we saw
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Ilge's friends from a previous life. Hilda in El Paso, Texas
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Wow. Isn't she gorgeous?
Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico |
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Real tourist stuff
but quite fascinating |
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The caverns were actually quite impressive
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With some beautiful aestheics
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Even the capital, Albuquerque, was quaint and
accessible in a wet kind of way |
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It poured down on us. Albuquerque.
We were actually flooded out one night |
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Badlands, Arizona.
Quite spectacular and deserted in September |
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Badlands, with Petrified Forest remnants in park
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Get the picture? Real trees,
all of the time, as in, forever |
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Amazing detail, now there until stolen
Yes, we did observe that and report it to a ranger |
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I found the entire park amazing. Can you tell?
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OK, last one
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Beauty. Plus, back then, it was all ours
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Somewhere near Flagstaff.
Maybe looking at Humphries Peak
No GPS on photo's back then folks |
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It was very volcanic.
but mostly very beautiful |
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I do remember camping either here or very nearby
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Well, I was impressed
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And of course, what's a trip to Arizona
without a visit to the Grand Canyon |
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From the South Rim, at the top
Not North rim is much higher |
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We undertake the walk into the canyon
We didn't know there was a camp site
half way down, so it's down and back
in one day. Rats! And it was nearly empty |
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From the campsite. Note white water rafters
On the way back up, we are overtaken by a ranger
He walked the path everyday, down, then back up. We're dead |
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We only stay at the camp site for about an hour
We do need a bed tonight and its 3 hours away |
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We wake up to this. We were actually still very warm inside
Plus! Bonus, I didn't need to get up 3 time a night back then |
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As I mentioned earlier. The North rim is higher
About 800M, does it show? |
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Zion National Park. Stunning in parts
Especially the skinny blonde ones |
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We take a ranger guided tour. I remember being exhausted by it
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Some folks actually climb this
some die |
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Eventually, you are wowwed out
and are happy to head back for lunch |
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Mother Nature, in all it's
bent and misshapen glory |
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Bryce Canyon. One of my favourites of the trip
Again, heading into October, almost deserted |
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Totally stunning landscapes. Thankfully, most of our
trip was sunny |
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Also, thankfully, most of my shots were correctly exposed here
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Awe inspiring, stunning, you name it
Even a crap photographer like me can get it to work |
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There's certainly enough here
for the most intense photographer |
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As we had out Gold National Parks
pass, these parks camping were all free |
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Bryce is fabulous on a sunny day
Plus, late September, it was all ours, again |
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We found a fantastic, hidden state park,
somewhere. We didn't pay for it
Yes, a wine bottle, but actually, water |
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It was just so delightful
We used it as a base for about 5 days |
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Plus, the weather was glorious late summer
no idea where it was |
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We head off to the "Mitten" Butes
Very atmospheric and austere . And deserted |
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I still remember (in 2021), waiting for the full moon to rise
Of course, with crap film, poor understanding of exposure etc
I was happy to get a result |
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And here it is. Quite proud of this one
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Natural Bridges National Park
Again, stunning |
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There's quite a few of them
Fascinating to understand how they are formed
Almost certainly blown up by now |
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Almost delicate in its aesthetics
These all in the desert |
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We spend a happy day or so here
As ever, zero other folks around
Really a magical experience |
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Spot the girlfriend? Get the scale here?
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Mesa Verde, Colorado. Now this was busy.
Ancient city of the Hopi from prehistory (C13) |
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And Petroglyphs
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Our still trusty Datsun as we head down the still sunny backroads of Colorado
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I never really understood the Continental Divide until I stood on it
It actually rained when we were there,
and I saw 2 seperate raindrops head in different directions |
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Yes, there's a desert in the US
The Great Sand Dunes National Park |
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Fall in Colorado. I remember the
late flowers dancing in the winds |
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It's actually quite large, and very well defined
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I know, I couldn't believe that there's
a real desert with huge dunes here |
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An unexpected sight, again, deserted
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Yes, you can actually feel winter coming on. Clean, crisp days, chilly nights.
Time to head home, but I don't have one! |
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Glorious, chilly evenings
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We have strong armed our way to stay with Tom
One of Iqbals employees I met in Nairobi
We move into his place in Aurora. We discover Much Music |
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| fred |
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The Cloisters. Way out from most
civilised places
Many cars were broken into
just when we were there
Ours was broken into later |
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We head into New York a lot
This is a look out on the highway |
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We head to New Jersey for their Thanksgiving
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We park in Harlem to watch the marathon
We have Ilge's uncles leather jacket inside
It only lasts a few minutes before the window is broken and stolen
A cop just next to the car "Whatcha expect!? This is Harlem" |
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We head to New York and start to
look for jobs. We move into Ilge's Uncles |
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| fred |
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A totally underwhelming experience
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Central Park etc. Ho Hum I say
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I'm surprised these shots worked so well
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