Friday, June 17, 2011

A Little Time Offline


It feels like forever since I have been online. Actually, it’s only a couple of days. We went to Yosemite and between lack of a signal and being awed by the surroundings, I only used my BlackBerry to take pictures.

Thanks to newspaper articles and national TV news stories about how fabulous the water falls were this year, everybody and their uncle was there, too. But it was a nice crowd. It’s hard not to be happy in Yosemite. The air is filled with a zillion good ions from the waterfalls, the air smells of pine, and everywhere you look, there is something beautiful to see.

The top picture is me at the base of Yosemite falls. Too bad you can’t feel the bracing mist being blown over me as the falling water creates its own wind.


The second was taken from Glacier point looking down on Yosemite Valley. That tiny falls is the same one I was standing at the base of in the first picture. Glacier point is at the top of Yosemite and there was still plenty of snow up there. It feels like you are on top of the world - because I guess you are.




It was wonderful being there and I brought back a slew of mental images. All I have to do is close my eyes and I’m standing on the island in the Merced River as water rushes around me. It’s filled with energy from pouring over two waterfalls and then downhill over piles of rocks. I can see the white water rapids in the middle of the water and the see through clearness of the still water near the shore.

If I fast forward ahead, my mental picture becomes the giant redwood trees. So tall, you get dizzy leaning back to see the tops.

And then there’s the money shot from the Valley at the end of the day looking up at Half Dome still catching the sun.

That’s the cool thing about travel. You get to enjoy it while you’re somewhere and then when you come back you can relive moments of it in your mind.

What travel image do you most like to go back to in your mind?

16 comments:

Terri Thayer said...

Must be those ions. My favorite picture is of Goat Island in the Niagara River. You're right above the falls. It's so beautiful and calm, yet the brink of the falls is very close.

Ellen said...

What travel images? Perhaps all the little shrines in Bangkok. It seemed like every building had a shrine, some of them being only a foot or so in size, some of them large enough for a person to get inside (if it weren't already occupied by the god). Statues of Ganesha and Garuda everywhere.

Anonymous said...

Such gorgeous pictures. Not an area that we've visited yet, but just say mountains and waterfalls and I'm there. We went to the Oregon coast last year for a week and stayed in a beach house there. I spent the first two or three days just staring at the water and cliffs surrounding it. It was very hypnotic. Thanks for sharing!

Betty Hechtman said...

Terri, Goat Island sounds interesting and suspenseful.

Betty Hechtman said...

Ellen, thanks for sharing about the shrines in Bangkok. It definitely inspired a mental image for me.

Betty Hechtman said...

Kay, the beach house sounds wonderful. I can certainly understand getting lost in viewing the water and cliffs.

Julie said...

The utter peace of the Suffolk countryside in the long evenings in late June. Because of how far north England actually is, the sun stays up until practically 10:00, and driving through the flat, peaceful countryside, past thatched cottages and through ancient towns, I was perhaps the most relaxed I've ever been. Google "Lavenham" to see the old, half-timbered buildings.

Linda O. Johnston said...

I've got quite a few favorites, Betty, and I often use them in my writing! The upcoming Harlequin Nocturne I'm working on takes place in Bar Harbor, Maine, and nearby Acadia National Park. I enjoyed visiting both of them.

Betty Hechtman said...

Julie, what a lovely description. You sold me. I'd love to see that countryside in person.

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda, I've been to Maine, but I don't think Bar Harbor. It was a long time ago. I love New England in general. I should send Molly and the gang there, so I'd have to go there and do research.

Sarita Leone said...

Gorgeous photos!

Monica Ferris said...

I liked the snow-capped mountains and mirror-smooth lakes of East Glacier Park in Montana. It was like being inside a series of gorgeous picture post cards. There is something inspiring and yet calming about being in the presence of a high mountain whose rocky peak is capped with snow.

Betty Hechtman said...

Sarita, I was surprised how nice the photos turned out considering they were taken with my phone.

Betty Hechtman said...

Monica, I know what you mean about feeling like you are inside a picture postcard. Yosemite has so many spots like that.

Planner said...

The scenery in the first photo is so pretty, it doesn't look real!

My favorite mental image is of Tahiti. As a city girl knowing only concrete and brown dry hills, I couldn't comprehend seeing green lush plants everywhere. The tropical flowers were so unusual that I had to touch them to be sure they weren't plastic!

Betty Hechtman said...

Planner, Tahiti sounds fabulous. The flowers must have been wonderful.