Laughing Hills – Page 2 – "…and the little hills rejoice on every side."

Jul 02 2021

Trumpet Creeper or Trumpet Vine

Filed under Places, Things

Trumpet Creeper or Trumpet Vine [Campsis radicans] found outside the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea on 17 June 2013 and in Asheville, North Carolina on 26 June 2016 and 2 July 2021. It’s a member of the Trumpet-creeper or Bignonia (Bignoniaceae) family. Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide, pages 328-329, says that it grows in moist woods and thickets. I spotted this same plant earlier this month hanging off a Blue Ridge Parkway overpass.

USDA Plants Listing: Campsis radicans

Trumpet Creeper – 26 June 2016

Trumpet Flower at Kentucky Artisan Center – 17 June 2013

Trumpet Flower (with buds)- 17 June 2013

Trumpet Vine – 2 July 2021

Blue Ridge Parkway, Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea, Trumpet Creeper, Trumpet Vine, wildflowers

Jun 24 2021

Meadow Fritillary

Filed under Things

Meadow Fritillary [Boloria bellona] on Butterfly-Weed [Asclepias tuberosa] photos were taken in our backyard in Fletcher, North Carolina on 24 June 2021. The NWF Field Guide to Insects and Spiders of North America, page 286, says “these aptly named butterflies occupy moist meadows associated with woodlands during summer.”

Meadow Fritillary on Butterfly-Weed – 24 June 2021

butterfiles, insects, Meadow Fritillary

Jun 15 2021

World’s Only Corn Palace – Mitchell, South Dakota

Filed under Places

Images from a visit to The World’s Only Corn Palace, in Mitchell, South Dakota, on 15 June 2021.

Corn Palace – 15 June 2021

Corn Palace – 100 Years

1921 – 2021

Side Murals

Corner View

Palace Floor views

Corn Palace, Mitchell, roadside attractions, South Dakota

Jun 15 2021

Dignity: Of Earth and Sky, South Dakota

Filed under Places, Things

Dignity statue at a South Dakota rest area off Interstate 70, near Chamberlain, 15 June 2021. One of Ward Whiwam’s concrete tipis is also found there.

Dignity – 15 June 2021

Concrete Tipi [teepee] – Designed by Ward Whitwam

Visitor to Dignity

Lewis and Clark Bicentennial (1804-2004)

Description of Encampment – Camp Pleasant

Memorial Bridge

Chamberlain, Dignity, interstate, Lewis and Clark, rest area, South Dakota, statue, tipi, Ward Whitwam

Jun 14 2021

Mount Rushmore National Monument, South Dakota

Filed under Places

Images from a visit to Mount Rushmore National Monument, in the Black Hills of South Dakota, on Flag Day, 14 June 2021. Presidents (left-to-right): George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. Executed by sculptor, Gutzon Borglum, beginning in October 1927 and completed by his son, Lincoln, in October 1941.

Mount Rushmore – 14 June 2021

Up Washington’s Nose – 14 June 2021

A Better View of Presidents Jefferson and Roosevelt

Gutzon Borglum’s Model (early revision)

Record Room (never completed)

Mount Rushmore Cafeteria

Cafeteria Lamp

Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, National Park Service, NPS, South Dakota

Jun 11 2021

Ovid, Idaho

Filed under Places

We travelled through Ovid, Idaho on our way to Montpelier on U.S. Route 89, on 11 June 2021. It was a stop on the Oregon Trail.

Historical Marker at Ovid, Idaho – 11 June 2021

Old School House

Possibly an Old Filling Station

Old Store Front

Days Gone By

Idaho, Oregon Trail, Ovid, U.S. Route 89

Jun 10 2021

Thomas Canyon in the Ruby Mountains, Nevada

Filed under People, Places

Thomas Canyon in the Ruby Mountains, near Spring Creeek, Nevada on 9 and 10 June 2021. It is part of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, under the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was sunny, windy, and relatively warm when we arrived, but there were snow pellets on our tent when we woke up the following morning.

Thomas Canyon Campground – 10 June 2021

Our Camp Site – 9 June 2021

Area around Campground

Thomas Canyon Campground – 9 June 2021

Sunset on 9 June 2021

Martha on our morning hike – 10 June 2021

Fantastic Sky Colors!

Snow Still Melting on the Peaks

On the Morning Hike

Snow Pellets on Mule’s Ears

Look Up to a Summit

Signs of Melting Snow on the Rock Faces

Stickers from Other Visitors

More Stickers/Slaps

Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Martha Vining, Nevada, Ruby Mountains, Thomas Canyon, United States Forest Service

Jun 09 2021

Snowplant

Filed under Places, Things

Snowmelt [Sarcodes sanguinea] found at Emerald Bay State Park and South Lake Tahoe, California on 8 and 9 June 2021. It’s a member of the Indian Pipe (Monotropaceae) family and “is the only mycotrophic wildflower in the heath (Ericaceae) that is not a ghostly white color or various shades of reddish to purplish brown,” according to the U.S. Forest Service

USDA Plants Listing: Sarcodes sanguinea