This years summer vacation
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@LuFins-Dad said in This years summer vacation:
@Jolly said in This years summer vacation:
Don't know how I missed this. Great pictures!
And yeah, that's a rattler. They ain't bad fried.
Nahhh, I’m with Renauda. That’s a gopher snake. Rattler’s heads are particularly arrow shaped. The teeth and venom glands are exaggerated more than most other vipers.. And are diamonds more than striped in patterns..
Isn't that a dozen rattles on the tail?
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Really nice pics. Please post more!
Oh, and definitely a rattlesnake. It has a rattle. And that’s the 1st defining feature with your pic. Gopher snakes (aka bull snakes) don’t have rattles on their tails. Their tails taper to a point. I’m more familiar with prairie rattlers. They aren’t as pretty as the ones down south. -
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Great photos, Mr. B.
There's nothing like the US for just jaw-dropping canyons and what-not. We went to the Grand Canyon and Sedona a couple of years ago, and I was really just struck dumb by the experience. I'm hoping it's reversible.
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My contact in Calgary got back to me and said that it was a beautiful example of a Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus helleri )
What really impressed him was the perfect condition of his tail for a snake that has undergone twelve sheddings.
Good call blondie.
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So, currently in Grand Island Nebraska.
As I said going fast over the plains. Here there be…basically just cornfields.
Some catch up
The south west deserts are just beyond spectacular. Every turn was a new canyon, a new mesa, colors unbelievable.
But fraught with danger.
Four corners
Joshua trees
Ouray Colorado
Scottsbluff Nebraska.
Tomorrow booked a hotel overlooking the Mississippi in Iowa.
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No sorry. Swinging fast in abit more southerly route across Indiana and ultimately toward Pennsylvania and New York, I’d like to visit the hallowed ground of Gettysburg. And maybe Amish Pennsylvania.
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Gettysburg is fantastic. Enjoy!
And again, take Route 40 if you can, though 30’s nice as well and will take you past the Flight 93 monument.
Me/rry/Christmas
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@LuFins-Dad I see 30 running through Gettysburg towards Lancaster but I don’t see 40, what towns does it run through?
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New update from Muscatine Iowa on the Mississippi.
First some thoughts on Nebraska vs Iowa.
Western Nebraska was very much like Colorado east of the Rockies, lots of prairie grass, and grazing herds of cattle. Eastern Nebraska was just plain boring and not particularly beautiful.
On the other hand, crossing into Iowa I was struck on how simply beautiful the landscape was. Sure, lots of corn fields but just stunningly green, verdant. Also not flat pancake like Nebraska but rolling hills.
This doesn’t do it justice but really a very relaxing drive. Stayed off the interstate and drove the small country roads through the fields. Also Mennonite country.
Eventually ended up at Iowa border on the Mississippi.
Signs of recent flooding.
Ol’ man river
Huge barge being pushed upstream
Another huge barge just sitting askew I guess waiting to be also moved.
(For those with long memories, barges will now always remind me of an unpleasant exchange about “the barge” with a certain former forumite. )
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For those with long memories, barges will now always remind me of an unpleasant exchange about “the barge” with a certain former forumite.
I see too many, as my apartment overlooks the hudson. When I see the word written out, though, it’s another story.
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Cool photos and trip.
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The barge crews make a decent living, but you're away from home a good bit. It's interesting to watch them work the barges in a tight turn.
