98 Fences (morning walk)

A simple fence with a shy heron. Just had the little p&s with us and he wouldn't let us get too close.

59 Colored Glass
A little rowboat with lots of colored glass balls from the Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens.

259 Repeating Pattern
No sure what kind of lizard this is. Saw it at the Desert Botanical Gardens. Very attractive little guy, liked the pattern ofhis scales.

41 Canine Companions
This is Gus, he is a long haired chihuahua that my parents rescued. After a shakey start he has become their "laugh a day". My dad takes him for a long walk on the weekend up to the "farm" where Gus and the goat have become friends. On warm days Gus knows where to find the shade, and has no problem leaving the rest of baking in the sun. Since it is usually very hot in Phoenix they keep his hair clipped short.

278 Shades of Gray
The U.S.S. Alabama, we did not go on ship as DH is in a wheelchair, but we ran around the rest of the park. And we met Colonel Glenn Frazier who was signing his latest book, Hell's Guest. He was featured in Ken Burn's documentary, The War. Col. Frazier survived the Bataan Death march. A very fascinating gentleman who donates a lot of the profits from his book to the restoration and maintenance of this park.

229 Paws
This is a memorial dedicated to the dogs who work with our soldiers. The inset at the bottom is the paw and foot prints that sit at the bottom of the memorial. This is in Mobile, Alabama where the U.S.S. Alabama resides permanently.

35 Bridges or Tunnels
Or both. A group of backyard railroad enthusiasts open up their back yards and railroads a couple times a year in Phoenix. They don't charge anything but they request donations. All the donations go to Phoenix Children's Hospital. This is the Wild Eagle Railroad in the backyard of the owners of Eaglewing Iron Craft.

323 The Wild Side
My neighbor came over yesterday afternoon and told me to grab my camera, that there was a large raccoon in his tree. He got tired of us taking his picture in the tree and came down. I snapped a couple when he started heading my way and I skedaddled up the driveway. He then went across the street and back across, up my driveway and then into my backyard. He took a drink out of the bird bath, wandered around a little and then took off across the fence to the neighbors. We were cautious in case he was rabid but he showed no signs of that.

306 Stripes
A zebra long-wing at the Butterfly Pavilion at the gardens. This is Florida's state butterfly and we see them quite a bit during the summer. I have to do some replanting of host plants that have died so we see more.

50 Circle
I liked the circle formations on the top of these cacti.

85 Entrance
At the entrance of the Desert Botanical Gardens there are these Chihuly pieces. I really like the way most of the pieces complemented the landscape around them. The gardens are quite close to the Phoenix airport.

172 Lines
Part of the Chihuly exhibit at the Desert Botanical Gardens. I liked the way the glass worked with the cactus.

219 Out West
Day 4 of the road trip. I think this was a rest stop in New Mexico. Realized I need to check the time on the p&s camera. This was the last day on the road as we arrived at our destination in Arizona early afternoon.

208 On the Road
And a very scary road it was. This is day 3 in the road trip and we ran into terrible head winds that were blowing dust & dirt. Visibility for the most part was never too much worse than this. There were a couple of times we thought we might have to stop. As I do all the driving I had the spouse snap this picture (it was a two hands on the wheel for a few hours). He was learning how to use the little p&s on the ride out. We have some great shots of the headliner, mirrors and his pants.

211 Oops
This is to celebrate the Mom's who get stuck doing the icky stuff like cleaning bird poop out of their daughter's (me) hair. Cheating a little as I am not the photographer but the photographed. I had been teaching the spouse how to use the point & shoot and he didn't hesitate as he found this highly amusing. Actually my Mom & Dad after they finished making yuk faces found it rather funny too.

188 Monuments or Memorials
Day 2 of road trip; we stopped at the Camp Holloway Memoral Wall in Mineral Wells, Tx before heading over to our hotel in Eastland. We were at the dedication last November. My husband is a Vietnam Vet who was stationed there in 1962 before it was named Camp Holloway. Mr. Holloway was a helicopter pilot who was their first casualty. We found out last summer that Mr. Holloway's sisters actually live close to us and we meet one of them for occasional dinners. This is a copy of the memorial that was built in Vietnam. At the end, all of the plates with the names were removed and sent home but over time were lost. They will be dedicating a copy of the Wall the end of May and then I believe work on a museum will be next.

13 Architectural Details
On day 2 of our road trip, we went through Weatherford, Texas. The Parker County Courthouse was built in 1886 and restored not too long ago to it's original state. The Seth Thomas clock was installed in 1897. It is in the center of the traffic circle and it is a beautiful building with lots of interesting details. Did not have time to stop on this trip but hope to on the next trip through.

71 Curly
A wonderful classic Chuhily piece at the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix. My Mom got us reservations for a perfect afternoon in the gardens. It was in the low 80's and just a beautiful day to enjoy the glass and cactus. Phoenix hit their first triple digit temperatures the next week.

168 Law Enforcement
Day One of our AZ trip. Wasn't sure this would turn out at all as I just pointed my little camera and shot. But I did rather prefer to see these type of cars in front of me making sure my way was clear than behind me clocking my speed. I must say I use the cruise control on these trips to keep me out of trouble!

281 Show Us Your Bokeh
Well, I'm back home from the Arizona road trip, had to reformat the hard drive on my laptop (it crashed early in the trip), bought a new hot water heater (always nice to come to cold showers) and other assorted time-sucking events. Hoping things calm down a little so I can try to catch up a little. I have been taking a minute here and there to look at everyone's blogs. There were some wonderful photos in April!