Nesting Sandhill Crane by junge1
Open full image in new tab Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
For my Alaska cruise I decided to drive to Seattle (cruise was from Seattle through the Inner Passage to Skagway and back) rather than fly. I didn't waste any time driving through Nevada, blew the dust out and made it to Fallon, Nevada where I took the previous picture.
Farmers is an insurance company that prides itself on quality service. 45 years ago, when I was under 25 years of age and in the service they wouldn't give me the time of day, never mind automobile insurance. Now I don't need them, but I thought the old car in front of their office looked nice. The picture was taken in Fallon, Nevada.
Once I made it past Reno into Northern California I took my time and stopped occasionally to take pictures. I saw a big cloud of white dust blowing off the Southern end of Goose Lake which straddles California and Oregon. As soon as I stopped to take a picture of the dust cloud I saw some sort of fruit tree in bloom, and then, when I looked over my shoulder I saw what I thought was a decoy, until it moved. It was a nesting Sandhill Crane, right by the roadside.
Once I got to Washington I met Tara (auntietk). We had some really good seafood and on Saturday we drove across the Cascades to Eastern Washington. It was a nice drive and we stopped often and took pictures. Most of the time we took similar pictures, but I also had a chance to watch her in action, taken pictures of stuff I would never dream of taking. It was educational.
On the return trip across the Cascades we stopped several times and I marveled at all the snow. Tara explained to me that there had been avalanches, debris of trees and rocks could still be seen. Where the road looped up the mountain the avalanches crossed several loops of road at a time. About 15 minutes before we made it to the summit of Washington Pass an avalanche had come down and blocked the highway. Nobody got hurt, but it was estimated that it would take 8 hours to clear the highway.
I had never seen an avalanche come down and block a highway, especially in May. When I left Arizona we had a string of 13 days of 100F plus and it was 107F the day I left.
Since I wanted to make it back because my boat sailed the next day at noon we made a detour to the south and crossed Stevens Pass. In the process we went through Leavenworth. The name of that town should be changed to something German, because this town looke about as German as it could. Tara told me that she had originally planned to go to that place. Either way, it ws a really nice drive, the weather was perfect (why couldn't it have been like this when I was stationed there in the 60s? Maybe it is Global Warming)?
Tara posted some wonderful pictures from this trip and I will post some of other places I saw on my way up to Washingtom.
This picture was taken on 19 May 2009.
Thanks for viewing and commenting and any favs, and thanks for the welcome back,
Sig...

Comments (39)
Outstanding photo and nice completion to the story that Tara told us and showed us with her pictures. thank you very much for sharing this with us!
Great shot..
Great photo and story
Sounds like you had a great trip thanks for sharing, excellent shot to go with it!!!!
Pretty "swimmer" :D
Wonderful capture!!!
Hey, the wife and I did the 'Passage in September! From Vancouver BC to Skagway. Small world, eh? Farmers...erghk! We are currently suing them for flagrant breach of contract. On the positive side: fine photo!
beautiful photo nice story sig superb capture...
Excellent shot, I can feel the wind.
Fantastic image. I like very much the colors
Fantastic capture, Sig... and interesting story! :)
Someday my friend we need to share some lens time! Great shot one must always be ready! Cas
excellent shot ! Nice to see you back on Rendo :-)
wonderful shot it sounds like you had a great adventure
It sound that you had a great fun!!! Great picture!
Beautiful capture and loved the reading!
Fantastic picture Sig..well captured! Thanks for the info :)
What a wonderful capture of something most of us never get to see!
eine sehr hübsche Szene!!!!
So interesting to hear about your itinery, and a great pic as well!
leavenworth is that the military prison over there??: interesting to read the stoty of your journey,was real fun i guess.
wonderful!
Nice capture and better tales of your adventure.
Nice capture. I didn't know they made their nests in the middle of the water like this. Hope you had lots of fun taking pictures. Aloha
IT sounds like you and Tara had quite an adventure. I have seen some of the photos already. This is a great capture.
going places I see. wonderful shot here
excellent capture ...they are sooo elusive!!
Rare capture Sig and very well done. Awesome photo and great story. Dana
What a wonderful shot! It's so interesting to see such a thing. I love seeing this beautiful bird in its natural surroundings, with the grasses and reeds and whatnot. Such a peaceful scene!
Good rundown on your travels. It is a great thing to meet with others from Renderosity and share ways of doing things. Everybody has good ideas...makes you say to yourself, "Why didn't I think of that?" Bill from the first Leavenworth :-)