Peeking Deer

A deer peeks through sagebrush in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area.

Other wildlife spotted on this trip included a bear crossing the road in front of us, and wild turkeys.

FDR dreaming of the Grand Coulee Dam

Franklin D. Roosevelt is pictured dreaming of the Grand Coulee Dam project in a truly excellent laser show, projected nightly on the huge surface of the dam itself.  The show is narrated by the Columbia River itself, and predictably features plenty of eagles, salmon, flags, natives, and other such imagery.

Westberg Trail

Wildflowers cover the hills southwest of Ellensburg on the Westberg Trail.  The elevation gain is surprising for what looks like gentle rolling hills.  This is probably the peak of greenness, as there will be very little rainfall for the rest of the season.

Flowering Bitterroot - Lewisia rediviva

Bitterroot flowers on the hills of the southern edge of the valley containing Ellensburg.  It's a surprising flower to see in a parched landscape, as it flowers prior to any foliage appearing for the season.

It was named Lewisia rediviva by Pursh, who documented many of the specimens Lewis and Clark brought back from their trip west.

Exit 32 Rock Climbing

Exit 32 of Interstate 90 has its own rock climbing guide!  The climbing is close to Seattle, and is quite crowded on summer weekends.

This is a climb up the seam of where western end of the rail bridge is cemented into the rock face.

Milwaukee Road - Hall Creek

The Milwaukee Road follows the South Fork Snoqualmie River through to a tunnel under Snoqualmie Pass.  It's now a rail trail across Washington State.

This is the bridge across Hall Creek, perhaps 15 miles from the pass.

First Day of Boating Season

The "first day of boating season" in Seattle is welcomed by an armada of pleasure craft that camp overnight.  They guard positions to witness the rowing races hosted by the University of Washington against invited teams.

This year, as is typical, the Huskies beat their challengers (Cornell and Dartmouth) in both the Men's and Women's races.

Stormy Georgia Straight

A container ship is dwarfed by a low cloud front in the Straight of Georgia, between Richmond and Galiano Island, backlit by late afternoon sun.

HKG Airport

Hong Kong has large, well provisioned airport.  It's neither oversized, as is the new airport in Bangkok, nor dysfunctional, like Los Angeles.  This terminal, and the entire airport, is coming up on 25 years of age this summer.

Streetside Henna

I had thought that applying henna to the hands was something only done by women in association with a wedding.

Apparently in modern India it's just something for teenage girls to do to pass the evening, like going to a photo booth or shopping for hair accessories.  This was at a row of streetside henna artists in Banjara Hills, with their customers being 12- and 14-year-old girls.

Puja with all the fixings

Visiting numerous Hindu temples, I was invited to "do puja", or participate in an offering to the various images of gods present.  Sometimes it was as simple as being offered a splash of coconut water to drink.

Here in Kulpak / Kolanupaka, there is an elaborate set of powders, incendiaries, and other ingredients to accompany what was an excellent puja.

Boys of Rural Andhra Pradesh

A windstorm had downed some trees across the road we were on in rural Andhra Pradesh, and everyone got out of their auto rickshaws, buses, cars, and bicycles to observe the proceedings.  An elderly man produced an axe, and younger men took turns attacking the timber blocking the road.  It looked to be hopeless, but was surprisingly efficient.

While we inspected the obstacle, boys gathered, pointed, and laughed.  They loved the attention of the camera.

Komrelly Mallanna Temple

Komrelly Mallanna Temple is built into a hillside, not far from Siddipet and about a 2h drive from Hyderabad. It's meant to be incredibly crowded with visitors in January and February.

It's presently administered by a government appointee, as the previous family ownership was deemed to be a bit too lucrative.

Auto Rickshaw

This auto rickshaw is a small taxi body grafted onto an inexpensive motorcycle engine.  It was interesting observing the diversity and quantity of passengers and cargo that could fit into the back of one: extended families, mountains of coconuts, and half a class of schoolgirls are some examples.

I believe there are five passengers plus the driver on this one.

Paigah Tombs

The Paigah Tombs of Hyderabad house the remains of a family that had connections to some of the Nizams, as well as extraordinary wealth. The tombs have delicate patterns in wood, marble, and stucco.  The architecture is Islamic, though there are Turkish and European hints to the design.  A hollowed ostrich egg is seen hanging in the distance over another grave.

Descendants of the family still own and maintain them, and offer an excellent tour for free.  Per the guest book, there aren't that many visitors.

Rhesus Macaque

This rhesus macaque was lurking around a temple looking to swipe offerings of coconuts from the devout.

It wasn't that pleased to have me come up to say hello, as most of the attention these monkeys get is being shooed away by the temple staff.