In the evening we were invited to Dale Nish's home to see his magnificent collection of turnings.
You can also link to a blog post by Andi Wolfe of the pics that she took on the same day
Birding up Provo Canyon
Folds!
A deer! (White tailed deer I believe)
White water - lots of it in the NW USA!
More
More birding
Bridal Veil Falls, Provo Canyon
Old cableway
The tree line - looks pretty bleak up there
Trout in the streams
My grandparents would have 'done their nut'
It reminded me very strongly of trout fishing up at Inyanga in my youth
US Fish and Wildlife Information 'Center' at Uinta
Gigi and Andi birding
Swallows nesting under the bridge
Strawberry Reservoir in the distance
Beaver dam - first time I've seen one in real life!
Slide where the beaver's move in and out of the water.
I'm more used to larger 'slides' made by hippos in Africa!
The bluebird of happiness!
These are some or other very rare blue birds for which the Fish and Wildlife Service staff have erected nesting boxes - which are clearly welcomed by the birds
A variety of habitats which were quite new to us
The grey sagebrush looked very similar to our Renosterbos in the Western Cape
Birding ...
at Strawberry reservoir
Fantastic RV (recreational vehicle) camp sites
A pity that these carefree environments are now almost absent from South Africa as crime has become so prevalent here
A Prairie dog - cute
We came to know these well as they occurred widely in the NW states
Swallows collecting mud in the marina for their nests
Whew, the 'bakkies' in the states are big!
These types of vehicles reminded me of South African 'bakkies' of 30 years ago.
The Americans have yet to realize, despite increasing fuel prices, that the time of such huge vehicles is past - long past
They still seem to be living in a fools paradise
Carbon emissions!!!
Having seen the sheer number and size of vehicles that the Americans drive I've suddenly become far less critical of the South African vehicle situation
But here is a good idea that South Africa may emulate to reduce road carnage
In general American road manners are WAY better than found here in SA
They all drive at the same speed (110kph on freeways) and I only noticed one idiot driver in the entire three weeks we were there
Sundance ski resort on the Alpine Loop above Provo - Robert Redford's I believe
A couple of views from the loop
Snow on the mountains in the background
More snow
Beautiful scenery
Trees flattened by avalanche
Amazing how much snow there was still in mid-summer
Gigi and Andi enjoying the views
Lots of people of all ages on Harleys enjoying the fantastic summer weather and the beautiful scenery
The Aspen trees up on the loop road absolutely blew me away
I couldn't stop taking pics
But luckily for you I'm not going to blog them all
But seriously beautiful nevertheless
More 'Harleys'
Very cool
All the Harley riders and drivers we came across in the States are so laid back and well behaved it's unbelievable
Nothing like the aggressive morons that drive on the roads here in South Africa
A grouse chick that got separated from its ma!
Andi and I had great fun photographing the miserable chick
Aspen leaves
Beautiful beautiful Aspens
Birding in the Aspens
Gigi and Andi
Gigi saw her first humming bird near here
And when we returned to Provo and went off to register at the symposium venue we were invited to Dale Nish's home
Stuart Mortimer, Andi Wolfe and Mark Baker the editor of Woodturning
Dale Nish in his study
Andi looking at part of Dale's collection
Andi Wolfe, Dale Nish and Stuart Mortimer
Miniatures by Paul Thode
You can see more pics of this visit to Dale's home on Andi's blog
