A number of friends and readers of MillersTime have commented that there have not been any of Ellen’s photos posted in awhile. While we have had to curtail some of our more adventuresome travels, Ellen has continued her ‘missed career’ (photography) as you will see in this post.
We spent a week this past September visiting longtime friends In Maine, exploring parts of Acadia National Park, enjoying cool nights and perfect days, and loving numerous lobster lunches and dinners.
We disagreed about whether we had ever explored Acadia, but we were spurred on having just read a friend’s recently published book (Steve Kemp’s An Exhaltation: John D. Rockefeller Jr.’s Crusade to Save America’s Wonderlands). We also recalled renting a sailboat in Bar Harbor with another set of friends, at least 50 years ago, when we did not know (and still don’t) how to sail.
This turned out to be a low-key photography trip: A number of these photos — both landscapes and details were taken in the same place — a cloudy morning at Round Pond. We missed the changing of the leaves, but particularly enjoyed an afternoon carriage ride through many of the ‘roads’ Rockefeller built or made sure were preserved in Acadia.
While we are travelers, we rarely visit the same place twice. But in early November we flew to Phoenix and drove to the Red Rocks area of Sedona, AZ, a destination we had visited 50+ years ago, when Sedona was nothing but a sleepy little town.
We wanted to see the area again with our older eyes and a better camera. Our memory served us well: the area did not disappoint.
Sedona is a desert city that sits nearly a mile high in mid- Arizona. Some millions of years ago the volcanic activity and erosion created the oxidized red rocks and Oak Creek Canyon. There is a State Park to protect one area, but it’s only small portion of what you can see.
The Red Rocks are everywhere and daily life in the town happens around them. The town itself has become a tourist haven. Think lots of good restaurants, hotels, and guided hiking activities:
Our favorite excursion was a sunrise Hot Air Balloon ride. (I’m not sure we told our daughters about that!).
But you don’t have to get out far out of the town to enjoy the scenery on your own: the town is literally built around the rocks. The color of the rocks was sensational, the clear dry skies were dazzling (even though the sun wasn’t always in the right place for great photography!), and the trails were much harder to climb than on our last visit.
We undertook no major hiking on this trip, but our long drives were delightful. The photos here and the dozen others are Ellen’s favorites of just the Red Rocks themselves.
(PS – Because we did a lot of driving in other areas through ghost towns and areas of old mining communities, there are other pictures that Ellen will has now added to the 14 photos above: See Arizona Country and Small Towns add in a few weeks.)
Following my bike trip from Belgium to the Netherlands, Ellen met me in Amsterdam where we spent four days in that vibrant city and several days in the northern part of the Netherlands. We had last been in Amsterdam more than 20 years ago.
We stayed in the Jordaan neighborhood wandering along the canals, by the cafes, restaurants, small shops and markets, and dodging the bicycles. We joined a demonstration in Dam Square in support of the people of Ukraine and visited the (former) Jewish Quarter and the stunning Holocaust Memorial.
Mostly we drank coffee (and had apple pie and scones) in various cafes and just enjoyed observing the exuberant activity in this part of Amsterdam. We did have two memorable meals (Restaurant Daalder and the Pesca Vis Seafood Restaurant).
We ventured by rented car out of the city, getting lost on numerous occasions but visited some of the small fishing villages and towns to the north. We also took a train one day to The Hague, specifically to revisit the three Vermeer’s and the Rembrandt’s at Mauritshuis.
Below you will see ten of Ellen’s favorite photos from this trip, and if you want to see more, check out the link below to her slide show.
Central Railway StationBoats, Bikes, & CanalsPigeons in Dam SquareThe Jewish Quarter, Then & NowA Peaceful CanalUkrainian Demonstration, Dam Square
Amsterdam Reflection on a Door
Some Old Ones Still RemainHague ReflectionVillage Curtains
If you want to see more of Ellen’s photos of Amsterdam and the northern part of the Netherlands, use this link to Ellen’s slide show:Thru Ellen’s Lens: Amsterdam
See all the photos in the largest size possible (use a laptop or desktop computer if you have access to either). They are much sharper, and the larger format presents them in much more detail than the ones above, or if you only look at the opening page of the slide show.
Hopefully you’ve seen Ellen’s superb photos from our recent trip to the Slot Canyons of Arizona. (If not, stop now and go to that post and those photos. They capture an unusual and not well known site in the US Southwest. Plus, they are some of the best photos she’s ever done of any of our trips)
On that same trip, we spent some time in Monument Valley (on the Arizona/Utah border) and a week in Santa Fe. While this post is also from that same trip, Ellen has a different focus here (so to speak).
Ellen in Monument Valley
In Ellen’s words:
“Though we were “over the moon” about what we experienced at the Slot Canyons on our Spring trip to Arizona, we headed a bit east afterwards to “recover” in the very different, but also spectacularly beautiful Monument Valley area.
“We had been briefly in Monument Valley years ago when we traveled with our children to various national parks in the area, but we both felt that we wanted our feet on the ground, at different times of the day to better capture its majesty. We rented a small cabin at The View, hired local guide who could take us off the beaten paths at sunrise, and picked up that tripod again, and headed out.
“On our arrival in the late afternoon, we knew we had a treat before us. View after view, as we drove the public road through the national park, was stunning; the sunset was spectacular. Our sunrise/morning guide was very knowledgeable both about the geology and the cultural (movie making) history. With him, we traveled off-road and captured photos in many places most visitors don’t get to see. We felt very lucky. And yes, it was easy to recall those movies that we grew up on featuring the “good guys” and “bad guys” (not saying here which is which) in hot pursuit of one another. The photos you see here are my forte: landscapes.
“After a couple of days we moved on to Santa Fe, New Mexico, one of our most frequently visited US spots. (We’ve been in and out of the area since the 1960’s, with visits as often as every four or five years.) I have taken many a photograph throughout New Mexico – largely landscapes – and on this trip I wanted to do something different. While landscapes capture the broad overview, I wanted to focus on the details of Santa Fe, some of the things I believe make Santa Fe unique and make that destination what it is. So the pictures you will see below and in the slide show (with an exception or two) are just that. Something different. I hope you enjoy this more detailed look at our travels.
“As usual, Richard has included below a few photos from both Monument Valley and Santa Fe. You can click on the link at the end of these nine to see the full slide show.”
For the best viewing, click on the little arrow at the top right of the first page of the link to start the slide show. If the slide show appears to start in the middle, scroll to the top of the page where you’ll see the little arrow in a box. Click on it.
See all the photos in the largest size possible (use a laptop or desktop computer if you have access to either). They are much sharper and the larger format blows away the 12 that you have seen above.
Soon Richard and I will formally celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. (Gasp!) But actually we’ve been celebrating it for a month, starting with a two week trip to Spain where we explored Valencia for a few days, stayed at a beautiful restored farmhouse near Fuentespalda (northwest of Barcelona), and rented a home on the Costa Brava between Tamariu and Begur. We ended with three days in Barcelona, a city we love returning to and have done so a number of times. It was a tough trip. Wine, fine food, friends, and (mostly) fine weather, medieval villages to explore, art, architecture, and exquisite, picture perfect views.
So here’s my usual post-trip visual report. Below you’ll find five of my favorite pictures from the trip. And if you follow the link at the end of these five photos, you’ll find another 65 or so.
2. For the best viewing, click on the tiny, tiny arrow in the very small rectangular box at the top right of the opening page of the link to start the slide show.
3. See all the photos in the largest size possible format (i.e., use a laptop or desktop computer if you have access to either).
Movies Movies Movies: Mini-reviews of Spy, When Marnie Was There, Me, Earl & the Dying Girl, and Love & Mercy. Plus, links to eight other films we saw in various film festivals over the past year that have now been released to the public.
