December 2010, Lower Manhattan, a 4 hour walk through history.

The Wall Street Bull.

Looking south from our room a few blocks from the South Street Seaport Museum.

Mary Youngblood, Grammy winning flutist, was preparing for a public concert in the NYC Customs House/now a museum.

       Oustide the Customs house are 4 large statues.

Inside, above where the concert was to be held, the circular rooms domed/wall ceiling contained 10 large 20x20' paintings of NY history.

In the museum was a permanent collection representing the Indian cultures of this hemisphere.  This golden figure was from Columbia 600-1000 AD

Inside, everything was the best of the best. From floors to doors, marble and bronze or ceilings and walls and painted halls, everything was and is, equal the best palacial grandeur of the world.

"High Noon" on Broad Street.

                       Home of the Free, land of the Brave.  America.

        Lunch time in the Big Apple.

Stopped by George Washingtons favorite pub, but it was closed today..............sigh.

                     Outside the NY Federal Building.

Lower Manhattan is an eclectic mix of architecture.  Still finding streets I've never been on before.  Lovely!

Eateries almost everywhere.

Stone Carvers were NOT in any unemployment line in this city.  They must have numbered in the thousands and worked overtime.  It is a city of carved stone.

                                                                  Street Art

                                                                      Trinity Church

                                                               Hot Dog!

      Trinity Church, near Ground Zero, the stained glass above the altar.

         One of the many bronze reliefs on the entrance doors.

                                     Dad, camera, son and street sculpture across from Ground Zero.

                          ...................a NYC must do! FINGER FOOD. Try some!!

The city that never sleeps...........Gotham.

Many artifacts of NYC are stored below ground in vaults and tunnels.  Some, are kept below the roads of the land bases of the NY bridges.  The arched sections under the Brooklyn Bridge hold original material used in construction of the bridge and borings of the rock beneath it's structure and the East River itself; taken before the bridge was built.  I had the luck to view some of it 30 years ago.  The bridge is now undergoing renovation but I wonder what is stored in this section?

Glacier National Park, a shared wilderness of Montana and Canada.

The light of early morning illuminates to top of these mountains in the warm colors of sunrise.  Later in the day the scenery changes continuously until the darkest skies of night are illuminated with millions of stars.

 Glaciers are accessible and on the slopes near them are Big Horn Sheep resting in the sunlight and Marmots,constantly running, playing and grooming each other.

 Fields of snow and ice surround the mountains at this altitude all through summer.  We walked across much of this until we were quite winded and not having the proper shoes on, our feet were cold.  Wanted to get another mile in and a few hundred feet up to actual glaciers but..........it was time for warm, cozy and some soup back in the MH.

 Amazing how some things blend in up here.  Flowers and insects we have never seen before.

 Miles of views, each turn of the road had me wanting to stop and see or explore something else.  Each day up here is a blessing and a wonder.

 Fields of flowers along a road or up in a meadow are often just a bit different from the last field of blooms.

 In these colder climates moss seemed to grow on everything and most sides of it.  Ferns, fungus and well, it was a biologists wonderworld.

 Deep canyons and roaring streams and rapids were often only a few feet left or right of the road, but MAYBE A THOUSAND FEET BELOW!  Drive carefully!!!

 To access this lake we had to drive up what I would have called a cliff, but there was actually a road going UP.  We took our time and the lake was incredibly beautiful.  We were lucky with weather and often the skies would open for us and give us the gift a photo needs.

 Walking around the lake, we had to detour through some marshy areas normally in shade.  In there were pools of clear water with undeterminable age and though shallow, reflected the life above and the record of life before.

 I

It's hard to photograph large things without some perspective.  I often use the motor home to aid me here, but in this shot, .................well, it's kind of like....You had to be there!

(clicking on photos will often give you more detail,  /click on them Twice and you get still larger ones)

Glaciers.

 and waterfalls were now common and you see those trees up there?  Well, they are really BIG and that clue gives you an idea of the size of this waterfall.