Sunday, July 3, 2016

America the Beautiful


Happy Fourth of July, my dear readers!

I hope you're having a lovely Independence Day. I thought for this special holiday in our country I show you some of my favorite places in the US that I have visited so far. More than words these pictures show why and how I love this country - for its beauty and wildness.

This is a very photo-heavy post, so I won't say anymore and leave you with these impressions. Enjoy.

Mount Denali, Alaska

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Arches National Park, Utah

Badlands National Park, South Dakota

Boulder, Colorado

Bryce National Park, Utah

Our stunning California coast

Canyonlands National Park, the Needles District, Utah

Eastern Sierra, California

Grand Canyon North Rim, Arizona

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

Maine


Mendocino, California

Mesa Verde, Colorado

Mono Lake, California

Monument Valley, Arizona

Oregon Coast

The prairie, South Dakota

Saguaro National Park, Arizona

San Francisco, California

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Sedona and the Red Rock Country, Arizona

Highway 12 from Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon, Utah

Valley of Fire, Nevada

Valley of the Gods, Utah

White Sand National Monument, New Mexico

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Yosemite National Park, California

Zion National Park, Utah

What are some of your favorite places?






13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carola, I think you have traveled to and photographed more notable places in this country than I have. But you did bring back memories of some of my favorite places: the Valley of Fire (close to Las Vegas, where I grew up), San Francisco (where I was born), several places along the California and Oregon coasts, Bryce Canyon, and of course Maine, where I live now, home of my heart. Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos and reminding us of the depth and breadth of this amazing land.

Marie Smith said...

Glad you found me so I could find your blog too.

Such a beautiful pictoral essay of your adopted homeland. It is indeed a beautiful place. You did an amazing job. Happy Independence Day.

We have visited a few places in the US, but we love the excitement of New york the best.

I will be back!

Elephant's Child said...

Oh my.
Thank you for sharing the beauty and the wonder.
I think it is the photos of Utah which speak loudest to me today, but they are all beautiful.

Barb said...

Such beautiful photos showing the diversity of landscapes in the US, Carola! I was surprised to see Lancaster County, PA - that's where we grew up and raised our children. Happy 4th!

Laurie said...

You have truly captured some of our country's most beautiful places. And I'm sad to say I have not seen most of them, yet.

GreenComotion said...

Hi Carola-
Your photos are superb.
Happy 4th to you also.
I enjoyed Seattle, Boston and Chicago for big cities.
I haven't been to Oregon and California and I plan to go.
Have a Happy Week ahead!
Peace :)

Nathalie said...

You are such a talented photographer, oh my! Worthy of National Geographic, I think! Thanks for sharing those with us.

I visited the Grand Canyon close to 30 years ago and watching the sun rise over it when I had gotten there at night and didn't have a sense of how huge it actually was, is still one of my best memories. I'd love to go back with my daughter, we've talked about taking a driving tour of America but she's so busy that I don't know when that will be.

Driving from Florida to Quebec a few years back, I really loved Upstate New York. Maine is gorgeous as well.

My favorite drive is the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Virginia is one of my favorite states.

I've never been to Zion National Park but I hold a special place in my heart for it because my husband's grandmother was involved in the early advertisement campaign for the park. She was a young teen and somehow got involved with a group of young women who were brought in to pause for the first brochures and ad campaigns and interviewed for newspaper articles. We didn't know that until a couple of years ago when I found out about it while doing genealogy research so Greg and our son did go visit it during their 7-week camping trip 2 years ago and they said it was indeed very beautiful.

Right now I'm finding beauty in the birds who visit my backyard, as well as the local county and state parks we have all around us. It's not the flashy beauty of a Colorado mountain or a North Carolina waterfall, but it's the quiet and unassuming beauty of our local flora and fauna that goes unnoticed, many times, because of the dang heat and humidity that we Floridians suffer through almost every month of the year, lol.

I look forward to reading more of your blog, Carola!

Linda Starr said...

I have been to many of those places and hope to do more traveling in the future, we really do have a wonderful country

Magic Love Crow said...

I hope you had a great 4th of July! Wow! The pictures are gorgeous! You have been to many places around the United States! Lucky you!

GlorV1 said...

Oh my Carola. Stunning photos of places you have been. Santa Fe is my favorite. I would love to live there. Hope you enjoyed the 4Th. USA, what a place!!

Alexia said...

What wonderful photos! Thank you so much for sharing. I lived in the US for a year, and was lucky enough to visit quite a few of these places - but you have shown me many more.

Friko said...

These are absolutely breathtaking landscapes and landscape pictures from a lady with Reisefieber.

But then you have a huge country to explore. Not like little old Europe.

Cheri said...

You've gotten around! Mostly west coast... but if you ever make it to the east coast again, be sure to look me up! I'm only 2 hours from Lancaster.