Anyone Game? 2 Castles and a Road Trip TR! Last Day and TR Wrap Up! #2796; 10/01

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)


Outside the world rolls by






Scenery that cannot be ignored






Spectacular and grandiose – it never quite reaches






But the beauty is distinctive in its own way






The iron horse follows the Verde River






We follow along












An open caboose to experience the outdoors






We are but three of five that sit outside more than in










The conductors point out rock shapes






The dinosaur






The tortoise






A bald-headed eagle soars!
















So many animals






So many rocks






They blur and after a while







The sameness of the landscape is apparent














The wondrous outdoors brings yet more rocks






Yet more closeness to the layers of time







We look at basalt, quick cooled and solidified







And the ever present Verde River








(Continued in Next Post)

 

[PrincessInOz]

(Continued from Previous Post)



The end of the line is Perkinsville. It is some 20 miles away from Clarksdale and it took us about 2 hours to get here. Yup. This train is really chugging along at 10 miles per hour!






Where scenes of How the West was Won were filmed. (There used to be a water tower above that trestle; but it was apparently blown up during the filming)






There is such a thing as too much information. Not that I’m potty mouth or anything....







....but I thought you might be interested in the facilities. They were clean and functional.







They served Prickly Pear lemonade on the train. It was absolutely delicious. I need to find me some Prickly Pear syrup in Australia! The bar was reasonably stocked and quite a few of the passengers in our carriage just stayed inside and enjoyed their drinks (which they paid for).






Aside from the buffet, we also got an icecream bar when we started to journey back. DS really enjoyed it!







The return journey might be seen by some as a time to put the camera down and enjoy the scene. I did try to do so. But with the sun in a different position...







....the shadows and colours were different on the way back. And I couldn't help myself. But I did take less pictures on the way back; and spent more time just enjoying watching the world go by.




























The return trip was also an opportunity to capture highlights I’d missed.













The conductors told us that they thought there were heaps of Sinagua/Anasatzi cave dwellings in the cliffs. Someone did raise some money for an exploratory expedition and found some dwellings. But aside from the one or two odd expeditions, this area remains relatively untouched.










Wow! Wow! Wow!

This train ride was something that all 3 of us thoroughly enjoyed. If you have the opportunity and the inclination, 1st class is the way to go. For the extra $20, you get the buffet food....which was pretty filling; and the comfy/uncomfy seats. They leave the food out for 2 hours and then have to put it away. But they do let the passengers know before they do so and we can go grab food for our tables.

We really didn't need lunch beforehand and after we'd gotten used to the feel of the seats, it was a perfect spot to come back to every so often!

Our carriage was also pretty lucky. We were the last 1st class carriage and because of the way the train was configured, we had the open air carriage all to ourselves. There were some standard class passengers try to head into this open air area; but the conductors did send them back.



Somewhere along this train journey, my lens completely died. For those interested, I was experiencing what Canon would display onscreen as:
"Error 01, communication between camera and lens faulty. Clean lens contact"


In effect, I couldn’t take a single picture with the lens. The camera was fine with the other lenses in my bag; so it was definitely the lens.


Me? At the time, I was very upset. But there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. And with that error message, I figured I might need to clean the lens contact but didn’t have the appropriate cleaning equipment with me. It would have to wait a day.


In the meantime, I had a bunch of other lenses in the bag and I made do with them.

 

[ACDSNY]

Great shots of the train ride, it looks like a fun trip. I would be on the outside car too. Sorry about the camera lens problem, I'm sure that put a damper on your photography.

 

[jedijill]

Beautiful scenery. Very cool that you got to see the Anasazi dwellings! Reminds me that I need to take a long weekend and go to Mesa Verde again.

Sorry about the lens!

Jill in CO

 

[kmedina]

The scenery is beautiful. It sounds like first class was the way to go even though the seats were not more comfortable. It is funny how much things start to blend together. I did not even notice the man in the picture at first (until I made the picture bigger on the iPad).

 

[ejud]

Just beautiful!



Jud

 

[LegoMom3]

Beautiful scenery! Looks like an enjoyable way to spend a day.

.

 

[Pinkocto]

Let me off at those caves, I want to explore!!!

What a lovely way to spend the afternoon. I'm sorry about the lens

 

[disneyfaninaz]

You went at the perfect time of year to actually see "verde" (green) in the valley and to actually see water in the river! Gorgeous shots.

 

[tiggrbaby]

That train trip looks fab! Sorry about the lens; I know how disappointing it can be to not have the camera functioning. But what you took was lovely!

 

[dolphingirl47]

The train ride looks like a lot of fun and the scenery is beautiful. I am sorry that you had lens problems.

Corinna

 

[dhorner233]

Thank goodness you had "a bunch of other lenses" with you!!! I would be SOL! And a trip w/o a camera…..would be painful!

I love your photography! and that train is so cool! I've gotten so all I do is Disney any more and forget there is a whole country out there!

 

[franandaj]

You DID have a great position on the train, it was sure long and how cool that you got all those shots that captured the front of your train from the back end. The munchies looked pretty tasty too! I would have been all over the chicken wings! And probably a drink or two!

Such pretty scenery, I love how you stayed by the river. I'll have to keep that one in the back of my mind.

 

[declansdad]

Beautiful pictures!

 

[zanzibar138]

The train ride looks awesome! The only scenic trains I've been on are Puffing Billy and the one in Strahan, Tasmania, so the scenery is kind of different

I agree, for $20pp extra I would definitely be going first class as well. And how cool that there is an open carriage!

Too bad you had camera issues, but good that at least the other lenses worked.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Great shots of the train ride, it looks like a fun trip. I would be on the outside car too. Sorry about the camera lens problem, I'm sure that put a damper on your photography.

Thanks. In the end, I still got reasonable shots.

Beautiful scenery. Very cool that you got to see the Anasazi dwellings! Reminds me that I need to take a long weekend and go to Mesa Verde again.

Sorry about the lens!

Jill in CO

Thanks, Jill. I was more sorry when I got home to Melbourne and worked out how much it would cost to fix that lens!

I saw a couple more Anasazi dwellings on this trip.

The scenery is beautiful. It sounds like first class was the way to go even though the seats were not more comfortable. It is funny how much things start to blend together. I did not even notice the man in the picture at first (until I made the picture bigger on the iPad).

I don't even know how that man got there. There wasn't a road to be seen for the majority of this trip. I think there might be an access point on the other side of the river where that man was; but that might be about it.

The seats for couples looked fine. The side we were sitting on were designed for groups of 3 or 4. As couches go, they were probably okay. But they didn't suit DH or my body shape. We were too short for the width to be comfortable and in order for our backs to rest against the couch, we needed to shuffle ourselves all the way back; and my feet weren't comfortable in that position. A couple of extra inches and they would have been great.

Just beautiful!



Jud

Thanks!

Beautiful scenery! Looks like an enjoyable way to spend a day.

.

We really enjoyed our time that day on the train. No complaints or whines from anyone!

Let me off at those caves, I want to explore!!!

What a lovely way to spend the afternoon. I'm sorry about the lens

I actually had the big lens on the camera to get that cave. They were pretty high up the canyon wall and you would have needed to rappel some way down in order to get to that opening.

But yes, I agree....it would have been really cool to explore those caves.

You went at the perfect time of year to actually see "verde" (green) in the valley and to actually see water in the river! Gorgeous shots.

I did wonder about the greenness. But with a name of "Verde" and that river, I figured it was another one of those year-long rivers in Arizona that helps make that part of the state green.

That train trip looks fab! Sorry about the lens; I know how disappointing it can be to not have the camera functioning. But what you took was lovely!

The lens.....yes. The conclusion to this lens tale should be coming up in the next update or so.

The train ride looks like a lot of fun and the scenery is beautiful. I am sorry that you had lens problems.

Corinna

I'm glad that I had that train ride on my hit list for Sedona. It was definitely something that I'd recommend for anyone who had the afternoon to spare in this part of the world.

Thank goodness you had "a bunch of other lenses" with you!!! I would be SOL! And a trip w/o a camera…..would be painful!

I love your photography! and that train is so cool! I've gotten so all I do is Disney any more and forget there is a whole country out there!

There is absolutely a whole country, land and world outside of Disney. Sadly, all I want to do is Disney as well.

And yes, it was definitely a SOL moment for me.

You DID have a great position on the train, it was sure long and how cool that you got all those shots that captured the front of your train from the back end. The munchies looked pretty tasty too! I would have been all over the chicken wings! And probably a drink or two!

Such pretty scenery, I love how you stayed by the river. I'll have to keep that one in the back of my mind.

Those chicken wings were pretty good; especially at the start of the trip when they were pretty fresh. I grabbed some at Perkinsville before they threw them out and they were still good then. I was actually surprised to see them still around at that point. But it meant some more for me.

I thought about you and Fran on that train ride. I think you might have enjoyed it. And you didn't need to leave the seats to head outside either. The windows were very clean.

Beautiful pictures!

Thanks! Nice to see you here again.

The train ride looks awesome! The only scenic trains I've been on are Puffing Billy and the one in Strahan, Tasmania, so the scenery is kind of different

I agree, for $20pp extra I would definitely be going first class as well. And how cool that there is an open carriage!

Too bad you had camera issues, but good that at least the other lenses worked.

I thought you went on some trains when you were in Europe? They are pretty scenic in that part of the world.

 

[zanzibar138]

I thought you went on some trains when you were in Europe? They are pretty scenic in that part of the world.

I was specifically talking about trains with the sole purpose of being scenic, but it is true that the regular trains in Europe are pretty scenic anyway And different again to both temperate rainforest and desert canyons!

 

[PrincessInOz]

I was specifically talking about trains with the sole purpose of being scenic, but it is true that the regular trains in Europe are pretty scenic anyway And different again to both temperate rainforest and desert canyons!

Aaah. Okay. There's one just outside of Daylesford (to Bullarto); if you're ever up that way.

 

[PrincessInOz]

A Very Quiet Night



After the train ride, it was time to head home.

DH and I did stop off along the road that heads down to the house. There was a stop-off point along the way and the views were pretty good.











From here, you can really see that hand in prayer of God.






And given how the sunset was shaping up, we couldn't resist a final stop at Cathedral Rock. This time round, there were people on the other side of the creek.






Seems there was a moonrise wedding going on. Seems like it's quite popular to have a wedding at this time of the month. I didn't want to intrude; so this is the closest I got to shooting the bride.






I was after a little water reflection and this was about as good as I got on this trip.






One final view of Cathedral Rock. I don’t know why....but I will be drawn back here again sometime in the future because of this formation.







We were pretty tired on this night and despite the food we'd eaten, we stopped off for some Chinese takeaway at a restaurant called Szechuan. We ordered a serve of steam rice, stir fry vegetables and sweet and sour shrimp. No pictures....that lens was out of commission and I was so tired, I kinda forgot.


We ended up just staying home, doing some laundry and packing up. We had always thought we would get in the spa; but by the time we finished our chores, it was pretty late and we just went to bed.



It has been a day of mixed blessings.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Road to Grand Canyon 20 September 2013



The Best Laid Plans #7: The Great Lens Disaster




I think we've all worked out that I had been having a minor breakdown up to this point about my favourite camera lens not working.


And for those of you that know me, you'll also know that I have a tendency to look for the bright side. It’s a character flaw, I know....but I do it because I've learnt from experience that if I don't, life has a way of coming along and giving me a gentle (or not so gentle) reminder of how good I have it.

So, when I woke up this morning, Karma awoke with me. Seems like somewhere during the time I went to bed to the time I went to sleep, a little gremlin came to visit and stole a screw from the arm of my spectacles. We (or more appropriately....DH) looked on the table and on the floor near the table. No pesky little screw ANYWHERE!



And because I’m on the Dis, I will refrain from making any jokes about loose screws and all that. I may not have been able to put on my glasses this morning; but that loose screw really put everything into perspective for me.


Disaster is when you lose a screw on the spectacles arm and you cannot see anything beyond 3 feet in front of you. Inconvenience is when the camera lens you use all the time returns an error message on the camera and stops working. Afterall, the camera is just my adult toy and it doesn't stop me from having a great time when on holiday. 1st World Problems.



Yup. Those Rose-Coloured Glasses were definitely back on my nose again.



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