Casting an eye over the photos from our recent road trip, I realized that almost every picture was as much about the sky as it was about the immediate reason it was taken. What a spacious country we live in! Join me over the fold for some skyscapes. All of them are lightboxed, so you can get their full resolution by clicking on them.
The sky floating on an office building.
This office building is across the street from my daughter's apartment in Emeryville. When I shared the picture with her, I discovered that she and our son both love watching the sky floating on it, changing every day.
Sunset at Gualala Regional County Park
From Emeryville we headed to Sacramento to pick up a teardrop camper for a few days along the California coastline. This sunset across the Pacific graces the Gualala Regional County Park, a joint endeavor of two counties that share the Gualala River. The camping sites are sheltered under redwoods, and the showers are delightful.
The previous night, at Wright's beach, had a stellar skyscape - the dry air and distance from cities made the stars brilliant and the Milky Way splashed across the sky. That image though was only captured by our hearts.
The Founder's tree - 190 feet to the first branch!
From Gualala we moved on to Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which preserves a glorious collection of coast redwoods. The Founder's Tree is just one of several giants here, but it shows how in the redwoods it is always twilight. This is as much skyscape as you get in the redwoods! Do click on it to get the full effect.
One part of this trip was trying out the teardrop camper as a possibility for the future. It was a joy - a true queen sized mattress in the cabin, so Tall Papa was comfy, and a handy gallery that make camp cooking pleasant. We are still mulling whether to get one, but it is very seductive.
Our teardrop camper sheltered under the redwoods.
A teardrop camper galley - all you really need.
The cozy cabin of a teardrop camper.
After the camping, we returned the teardrop to the rental company (a mom-and-pop outfit that did a splendid job and was very flexible). After another weekend with our daughter and son in the bay area, we headed east to get home.
The wee turbines on the horizon are dwarfed by the sky itself.
Coming from Iowa, I am always happy to see others building wind capacity. I took this snap of the turbines in Nevada, and realized that the sky had sat for its portrait.
A double trailer floating above the Wendover salt flats.
Salt flats are flat! A white ruler dividing the earth and sky. We saw many, many double and triple trailers in the intermountain west. Triples of FedEx, UPS, Walmart, ConWay, and doubles of ore carriers, gas tanks, liquids, and even what looked like concrete mixers.
Some Utah rest stops aren't very restful!
A somewhat startling sign. Most of the western skies were wide open, but this day we traveled under cloud cover.
Geological strata, Green River, WY
Bluffs in Green River, Wyoming.
The Green River was enticing - we hope to return and spend more time among its dramatic formations.
Sometimes all you can do is stand and say, "Thank you."
In Laramie, We watched this rainbow grow from a third of an arc to its full width. If you click on it, you will also see the ghost of a second one above it.
May you have fair skies, wherever you are!