These photos were taken in East Anglia around 1990 when I accompanied my husband Gil on a business trip. I took him to where he had to be for the day and then took off in the rental car to drive on the left with a stick shift car. That wasn’t the only problem, it turns out most of the roads I chose were one lane, lined with tall hedges, and the road had lots of curves and hills. I expected to die on every curve and hill… But I found some fun things…

We took this trip probably some time in 1986 in our LeSharo motorhome (see below). At the time we lived near Chicago, Illinois and this trip traveled to Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming), Devil’s Tower National Monument (Wyoming), Badlands National Park (South Dakota), Mount Rushmore National Memorial (South Dakota), Custer State Park (South Dakota), and Pipestone National Monument (Minnesota).

Gil and I took a boat tour on the Atchafalaya Swamp in May 2017 on a trip to New Orleans. Here are some of the photos I took with my infrared camera. I liked them quite a bit better than the color photographs because they had more contrast because living leaves in sunlight show up white in an infrared photograph. I photographed the alligator in color…

On our third day in Odesa we took a bus trip of almost two hours to Akkerman Fortress. Akkerman Fortress (also called Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi fortress) was built on the site of the ancient Greek city of Tyres. Construction of the fortress is believed to have begun in the 13th century. Akkerman Fortress was protected by the Black Sea (Dniester Estuary), a moat, and its walls (see birds eye view below). Like most of this region, the area has had many rulers, which you can read about in the Wikipedia article.

We toured Acoma Pueblo with Bob and Zeina Cook in late October 2018. Also known as Sky City, it is situated on a 367-foot high mesa in New Mexico. You check in for a tour at the Sky City Cultural Center and ride to the top of the mesa on a road that was blasted into the rock face in the 1950s. The original footpaths can be used for your return trip if you choose. (Click on any photo for a larger view.)

Below left is the view of the mesa from the road to the mesa. On the right is a view from the mesa.

I discovered the old feed mill in Johnson City, Texas, in 2008. It had been converted into a complex of businesses that were no longer in operation and it was already in disrepair. I took it upon myself to attempt to photograph it. Recently I came back to these photos and realized there seems to be very few photos of it on the internet, so I decided to process my photos for a story. The complex has now been turned into the Science Mill and it is from their site that I got its history.

This photo is the widest view of the complex that I have, so I decided to start with it. As you can see, someone went to a huge amount of work decorating the buildings. Stay tuned for many photos of the complex I took in 2008, 2009 and one last shot of what the street side looked like in 2018. The Science Mill was established in 2012.

Taos Pueblo is a National Historic Landmark and a World Heritage Site. According to the Taos Pueblo website “the multi-storied adobe buildings have been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years.” You can read an interesting introduction to the site on the nps.gov Taos Pueblo website.

Although it was closed to the public for a while during the covid pandemic, it is now open again. These photographs were taken in June 2009. Click on any photo for a larger view.

The Taos area is very interesting, but the Taos Plaza itself is, for me, a one-time visit place. It is an artsy community, so if you want to look at or purchase local art, and view New Mexico art in galleries, you will find it interesting. Articles about Taos after saying art, museums, shops, restaurants send you out of the square to what I agree are interesting places: the Taos Pueblo, Rancho de Taos Plaza, and the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. I’ve already done a post for Rancho de Taos and I will prepare one (or more) on the Taos Pueblo.

This is not the town of Taos itself, but an area outside of town called Ranchos de Taos. The Ranchos de Taos Plaza is easily accessible and I think very interesting. The centerpiece is San Francisco de Assisi Mission Church. The original mission church was begun in 1772 and the current building was completed in 1815. It is a National Historic Landmark.

In 1840 Matt Field ¹ wrote of Ranchos de Taos during his travels through New Mexico: “This town called the ranch lies at the base of a gigantic mountain and is watered by a swift stream that rushes from the ravine… It contains about 300 houses, and those are built completely together, forming a wall, enclosing a large square, in the center of which stands a church.”

Tucumcari is so much fun it deserves a post for itself.

According to Wikipedia, in 1901, the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad built a construction camp in the western portion of modern-day Quay County. Originally called Ragtown, the camp became known as “Six Shooter Siding”, due to numerous gunfights. It was renamed Tucumcari in 1908.

We start off with our favorite place, the Blue Swallow Motel, with a night shot and a daytime shot. Most of these photos were taken in September 2021. Click on any image to see a larger view.