I love zoos. They are so fun to be able to see animals you would never see regularly and it is even more fun when you have a camera with a big zoom. The last time I was at a zoo was almost 3 years ago when I went with my Dad and his wife to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. I didn't have my big 70-300 zoom yet (I think I got it the next week). Now I want to go to more. Hopefully I'll be able to go over to Seattle to go to Woodland Park sometime.
After we got done at Garden of the Gods we drove up to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It is a very unique zoo that is built into the mountain side. You kind of meander your way up the hillside. I'm still loving the zoo in South Carolina though. The nice thing about that one is there are ditches between you and the animals instead of fences, makes for better pictures which is of course all I care about :0)
Here's a sample of some of the pictures I took. Have some fun and make a caption for that silly giraffe and leave it in the comments. Might be fun to see what some other people are thinking when they look a that photo.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Start the Touristy Day
After Estes we relaxed for a day. We went down and saw my SIL's art at a coffee shop in Longmont. It was very fun to see her great art on the walls of a business all displayed fancy like. It was on display along with a photography art show that closed main street in Longmont. We wandered up and down the street, listening to music and looking at inspiring photos in various businesses.
We were up early the next morning for an adventure for Jason and I. Up at 5am to drive down to his place (Shawn slept), load into his car (Shawn slept) and drive out east to catch the old steam train heading up to Cheyenne for Cheyenne Frontier Days (once again Shawn slept).
While Jason and I waited outside in the nice crisp, morning air (Shawn was sleeping still) I snapped a couple of photos around the spot Jason had scoped out. I got a couple of birds with one being fed. I haven't researched any of the species yet, so feel free to add some input on that.
The weeds growing along the track. You see the bright red all over the place. I really like the perspective.
Then came the main show. Here's an excerpt from the Union Pacific website about this engine:
We were up early the next morning for an adventure for Jason and I. Up at 5am to drive down to his place (Shawn slept), load into his car (Shawn slept) and drive out east to catch the old steam train heading up to Cheyenne for Cheyenne Frontier Days (once again Shawn slept).
While Jason and I waited outside in the nice crisp, morning air (Shawn was sleeping still) I snapped a couple of photos around the spot Jason had scoped out. I got a couple of birds with one being fed. I haven't researched any of the species yet, so feel free to add some input on that.
The weeds growing along the track. You see the bright red all over the place. I really like the perspective.
Then came the main show. Here's an excerpt from the Union Pacific website about this engine:"Steam Locomotive No. 844 is the last steam locomotive built for Union Pacific Railroad. It was delivered in 1944. A high-speed passenger engine, it pulled such widely known trains as the Overland Limited, Los Angeles Limited, Portland Rose and Challenger.
Many people know the engine as the No. 8444, since an extra '4' was added to its number in 1962 to distinguish it from a diesel numbered in the 800 series. The steam engine regained its rightful number in June 1989, after the diesel was retired.
When diesels took over all of the passenger train duties, No. 844 was placed in freight service in Nebraska between 1957 and 1959. It was saved from being scrapped in 1960 and held for special service.
The engine has run hundreds of thousands of miles as Union Pacific's ambassador of goodwill. It has made appearances at Expo '74 in Spokane, the 1981 opening of the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento, the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans and the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Los Angeles Union Station in 1989.
Hailed as Union Pacific's "Living Legend," the engine is widely known among railroad enthusiasts for its excursion runs, especially over Union Pacific's fabled crossing of Sherman Hill between Cheyenne and Laramie, Wyoming."
After checking out the train, which blew by very quickly. We headed back to the highway and down to Colorado Springs to the Garden of the Gods and the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. By the way, Shawn slept the whole way.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Estes Park
After Devil's Backbone we cruised up to Estes Park in my mom's Miata. No pictures, Shawn was a bit embarrassed of the little car. I guess I can't blame him, it is an odd little car. We geocached our whole way up and around the town for a total of 16 caches in the day.
Estes Park is the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park. I actually bought my truck up there when I was living in Colorado. You just have to watch out for the elk. When you drive through the large herds you just go really slow and don't honk your horn or they may attack your vehicle. I was all excited for Shawn to see the elk, but alas they had all moved up to higher pastures. We did see plenty of prarie dogs, a mama duck teaching her babies how to dive and lots of swallows (see bird sanctuary pic below). Also had a huge buzzard flying over us that I was too intrigued by to take a picture.
At Estes Lake, similar to Lake Chelan, but much warmer.
Estes Park is the gateway to the Rocky Mountain National Park. I actually bought my truck up there when I was living in Colorado. You just have to watch out for the elk. When you drive through the large herds you just go really slow and don't honk your horn or they may attack your vehicle. I was all excited for Shawn to see the elk, but alas they had all moved up to higher pastures. We did see plenty of prarie dogs, a mama duck teaching her babies how to dive and lots of swallows (see bird sanctuary pic below). Also had a huge buzzard flying over us that I was too intrigued by to take a picture.
At Estes Lake, similar to Lake Chelan, but much warmer.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Hiking the Backbone
We started off our Thursday by heading up Devil's Backbone outside of Loveland. We grabbed our first cache in Colorado, a virtual up at the keyhole.
L_E_DSC_3239
L_E_DSC_3239
Originally uploaded by Kendal Jean Photos
Let me know if you know they type of bird. I'm wavering on a couple of species, but it was sure noisy.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Fun in the Sculpture Park
Not even in Colorado for 24 hours and we had to go play. Loveland is well known for all its art in the form of sculptures. We headed down to the park with the intention of geocaching, but I had a lot of fun with my camera. I ran around taking all sorts of pictures and made my mom take some of me and Shawn. I even got one of her. By the way, we didn't find the cache that night. We'll be heading out before we leave to grab it though.
Now on to a few more sculptures, just a bit more serious about these ones.
Now on to a few more sculptures, just a bit more serious about these ones.
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