A FEW FAVORITES OF OUR AFRICAN DOG

Born in the fall of 2001, this "super dog" lived for about seven years.

He went everywhere with us and loved to "ride shotgun" in the truck.

Notice how his feet are crossed.

He is memorialized in the "Tales of an African Dog" series.

CORONA DEL MAR, CA - 1963

It's a long, long road trip from Iowa to the Pacific Ocean. Our little girls were two and four years old. We house-sat for friends. This was our first time at a beach. We chose Corona Del Mar.

We were amazed at the palm trees - seeming to grow everywhere. You don't see palm trees in Iowa.

This view of the beach and parking area shows off both sailboats and old cars. Of course, they weren't old then!

 

There must have been a place above the beach where these pictures were taken.

 

My husband had the camera and took most of these photos, but I have no idea how he got this one.

 

But he was surprised at this skimpy bathing suit. (We had never seen a bikini before.) He told me that he had "shot from the hip" to remain nonchalant. That's the reason for the blurring, I'm sure.

 

I took this shot, but I cropped out their father who was sitting beside them, shirtless and burning. It was on this day that he developed sun poisoning and since has had to be very careful in the sun.

Wait! Who in the world would go to the beach in a long dress with rollers in her hair!?!

THE ALASKA HIGHWAY - 1970

It was the adventure of a lifetime! Our little family of five headed for Alaska. Over 3600 miles of highway, 1200 miles of it gravel.

The gravel roads were fine - some of the way, but full of potholes and mud the rest of the way.

We saw mile after mile of wilderness filled valleys and snow tipped mountains.

So beautiful! We had a 35 mm camera back then and little money, so pictures were a rare thing - a thing to be rationed.

The children, ages 5, 9 and 11, were tired and restless.The back seat of our two-door LTD was getting smaller and smaller.  Hey! A great idea up ahead!

 From below the foot-bridge we got this shot of the kids walking off their boredom.

The Miles Canyon footbridge is a few miles outside of Whitehorse, Yukon.

These pictures should jog our memories and plant the seeds of anticipation as we prepare to make our 46th trip along the same route this summer.

MARINER OF THE SEAS AND A MYSTERIOUS NIGHT PASSAGE

The Mariner of the Seas was just leaving the harbor when we were on our way to the ferry landing. This is the same size ship as the Costa Concordia that overturned in Italy.

THE MYSTERY

Three barge pushers were attached to a huge four-level, lighted mystery

that included three barges up front.

We saw it heading up the Intercoastal Canal last week at about one mile per hour

so we jumped in the car to take pictures - in the dark.

After asking around, this ship still remains a mystery to us.