Walking in the dark.

I had an interesting experience this morning.  I got up early for my daily 4 mile walk.  I shaved and got cleaned up, took the dog for a walk and got Lynn's coffee ready for when she gets up in a few hours.  I downloaded all of the photography apps that I listen to when I walk. I let Lynn know that I was heading out.  As I left the house I looked at the clock for the cable tv...and realized that the time was 6:00 AM...not the 7:00 AM when I normally leave.  So, here I am more than 19 hours later trying to get this blog together before you wake up this morning!

Walking through the park at 6:00 AM is a little bit creepy.  The park doesn't open until 7 AM, but the walking gates are open at each end of the park earlier.  But, walking at this time in the morning does have its advantages since some of the most beautiful sunrises happen before sunrise.  The sky goes from pink to red and it really sets off the darkness of the trees.  You can see the lights marking the sides of the causeway to Tampa.  It is really a pretty scene.

I returned home to see this beautiful male cardinal in our Crepe Myrtle tree behind the house.  What a great start to the day!

Weekending in Sebring

Lynn and I spent the weekend in Sebring, Florida at the Sebring Regional Airport.  We visited the hangar of Bob Tulius, a famous 12 Hours of Sebring winning driver and owner of his own racing team.  He is also an avid aviator and owns a small collection of very unique airplanes.  Following our visit to his hangar museum we drove about 20 minutes south of Sebring to Lake Placid.  This central Florida town is famous for its huge caladium farms, citrus and it's many interesting wall murals.  I took a few photos of some of the murals.  I used the photo stitch assistant in the Canon G1X to build panoramas on a few of the huge murals.  The murals signify  important historical events and features of this attractive community.  They are really quite good and usually have hidden features that one needs to study to find.  Here are a couple of my photos of  this art:

If you are in the central Florida area you owe it to yourself to take some time in Lake Placid to enjoy this interesting art.  

I spent the day with Lynn getting ready to host a party for a group of 14 people that may be interested in traveling to Poland this summer or early fall for a culinary vacation similar to the one that we did in September.  What a great time we had.  I have put together a You Tube video which outlines the culinary portion of our trip with photos from great sites, great cooking lessons and wonderful accommodations and restaurants.  If you would like to see it, please e-mail me at CrazyAboutTravel@gmail.com

The traditional soup of Poland.

 

I just noticed that Gosia, our incredible guide in the Pomerania Region of Poland is my first subscriber to this new blog.  We were so fortunate to be able to spend a week with Gosia this past September on a Culinary tour of this intriguing area of Poland along the Baltic Sea.  She showed us villages, history and sand dunes. Yes, that's right.  Some of the most beautiful giant sand dunes are in Poland's North.

We were introduced to Westerplatte, the site where the first shots were fired in World War II.  We visited a produce market.  We learned to cook the Polish way...both in the homes of Kashubian ladies and at a famous Culinary school.  We ate.  Boy, did we eat.  We were served some of the finest meals that we have ever had.  We dined in the Gothic Restaurant in the World's largest castle, Malbork Castle.  The castle is also the largest brick building in Europe. We also dined at Pod Lososiem, an elegant small restaurant.  Gosia also took us on a tour of Stuthoff, a large intact concentration camp.  Stuthoff was the first concentration camp opened by the Nazis as well as the last camp closed at the end of the War.  A moving experience indeed.

Gosia at an outdoor War museum that we visited.

 

 

You can see many of my photos from our incredible Poland experience by visiting my website, www.CrazyAboutTravel.com

 

Lynn and I are putting together some travel opportunities to Poland in the coming months.  If you would like to hear more about them please e-mail us at CrazyAboutTravel@gmail.com

 





 

It is a new year...2013.  I have just come to the realization that this blog has not been updated in a couple of years.  Oh joy!  And, now with my regular presence on Google+ I find that Blogger (another Google product) is only a tap away.  So, I have decided to make a constant effort to do a better job to keep this blog up to date.  So, please keep score.  Leave comments.  I can use all of the encouragement that I can get.  On with the show....

My Favorite Nature Photos from Africa

Click here to take a look at my 100 favorite wildlife and nature photographs that I have taken in southern Africa.  These pictures were taken during safaris in South Africa, Botswana, Kenya and Zimbabwe.  I like to watch these in the Slideshow mode.  I will be interested to hear your thoughts.

We are back in Colorado.

We arrived again in Colorado a few days ago to spend Halloween and our granddaughter's 1st Birthday.  We arrived in Denver during the October blizzard tht you probably heard about.  There was as much as 28 inches of snow near Heather's house.  Colorado is amazing.. Thursday it was snowing and cold.  Today, the temperature reached into the 60s. 

I should have photos of Savannah's 1st Birthday on-line soon.  In the meantime, please check out my main site, www.CrazyAboutTravel.com for new photos and comment from National Parks of the Southwest.