Verna and Bob's Weblog

Grand Canyon Weekend Gridlock

Yavapai Point Webcam — South Rim, GCNP

There is no doubt that vistas like the one above are scenic wonders that beckon most people to come see for themselves in person. That attraction to tourists, however, often results in traffic lineups as depicted below. Both images were saved from the web on Saturday 11/19/2022 at about ten AM AZ time. Click to enlarge.

GCNP South Entrance Station Webcam

We regularly visit the website of the Yavapai Point Webcam when we look at our weather report and forecast each day. That also prompts us to look at the South Entrance Webcam that shows the lineup of vehicles waiting to pay the fee (or show their pass) for admission to the park. We see that these two images were taken when there were a lot of folks headed into the park on a weekend. In contrast, we have seen the South Entrance stations at off hours when there are NO vehicles visible.

We checked the webcams again today and note that there are a lot of cars and campers waiting; this being the Thanksgiving holiday week, that is understandable. Last Monday, the queue to get in was very light.

Verna and I have been to the Canyon many times, and these days, as beautiful and spectacular as it is, we do not wish to compete with the millions of park visitors flocking there. So, we’re content with viewing from a distance courtesy of the NPS Webcams.

November 21, 2022 by Vacation

Desiccated Cholla Remnants in 3D

A large portion of the lot here in the High Sonoran Desert is still natural desert vegetation which we chose to leave as it was before we built the house here. Some of the natural fauna will eventually wither and die as was the case for the remnants of a Buckhorn Cholla Cactus depicted in the anaglyphic photo above. I photographed a pair of images in January of 2021 to finally combine into this interesting 3D image. Click on the image to enlarge.

If you don’t happen to have a pair of red/cyan 3D glasses handy, you can view the 2D image here, although you will miss the perspective of the desiccated wood twisting and turning up out of the page.

November 14, 2022 by Arizona Bob's 3D Stuff Home & Garden

Roadrunner Catching a Bee

We saw a roadrunner behind the RV drive this afternoon when coming home from our daily walk. I took several photos of it after going into the house and coming back out with my camera. At one point on its trek on the little hill back there, it caught a bee. I guess insects are part of their daily diet.

From Wikipedia — Greater Roadrunner (Geococcys Californianus) Food and foraging habits:

The roadrunner is an opportunistic omnivore. Its diet normally consists of insects (such as grasshoppers, crickets, caterpillars, and beetles), small reptiles (such as lizards and snakes, including rattlesnakes), rodents and other small mammals, spiders (including tarantulas), scorpions, centipedes, snails, small birds (and nestlings), eggs, and fruits and seeds like those from prickly pear cactuses and sumacs. The roadrunner forages on the ground and, when hunting, usually runs after prey from under cover. It may leap to catch insects, and commonly batters certain prey against the ground. Because of its quickness, the roadrunner is one of the few animals that preys upon rattlesnakes; it is also the only real predator of tarantula hawk wasps.

Image above: Catching a bee. Image below: Greater Roadrunner. Click on either image to enlarge.

November 9, 2022 by Arizona Critters Photography

Accidental Stereoscopic Photos

We were cruising through a parking lot after dropping off some mail when Verna snapped a pair of photos of a couple of saguaro cacti with some mesquite trees and a strip mall across the highway in the background. I recognized that there was a possible 3D image in those so I combined them into the anaglyph above (click to enlarge). If you don’t have a pair of red/cyan 3D glasses, you can see the 2D version here.

There have been a number of times when Verna managed to get a 3D image unintentionally, usually by clicking a pair of images while the truck is in motion. The image above is an example of that. There are more such images we logged in our 3D Stuff category:

Click on items above to open in a new tab or window.

November 7, 2022 by Bob's 3D Stuff

Charity Car Wash

Yesterday, the 6th and 7th graders who attend the Wickenburg Christian Academy (WCA) participated in a car wash event to raise funds for a trip to Catalina Island. I spoke with one of the teachers who said they were going to learn about ocean biology when they get there. Of course, there is much else to see and do on the island.

Verna and I were married over 20 years ago in Avalon. We’ve been there many times together, and visited the island in our earlier lives as well, so that sort of makes us SMEs (Subject Matter Experts) on Catalina. We celebrated our anniversary by going back to the island for several years, but the combination of increased expenses (transportation, lodging, souvenirs and food) and an uptick in crime in the area eased us out of our annual pilgrimage.

As for the car wash, the kids and their teachers did a very good job on the truck (clickable image above); we made a reasonable donation to their cause. We support WCH and make annual contributions to their scholarship fund, which is adequate as a federal write-off and gets us out of Arizona Income Tax altogether.

October 30, 2022 by Religion Retirement Something Shiny

Avalon 1998

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