Travel and Photography go together

I have had a passion for photography since my brother-in-law, Ric, gave me an Argus C3 35mm camera back in 1953.   Starting in 1957 life circumstances afforded me the opportunity to travel around the world which also grew into a most enjoyable passion.  So, for years I’ve been traveling with a camera and have developed an appreciation for the benefits derived from photography.  Of course the obvious  benefit of taking pictures is memories of family, friends, vacations and places but if you just add another reason for taking pictures it can reward you with greater appreciation of nature and the beauty around us.  If I did not enjoy the art of photography I wonder how I would view the world around me as I journey through Mexico, Canada and the U.S. ? I simply can’t imagine.

I remember driving with different people and saying  “did you see that beautiful old barn?” or “did you notice those neat ducks in the water back there?”  with the usual answer  “no, I didn’t see it.”   When you make photography your hobby and read, study and practice it you will start to look at the beauty around  artistically and it’s amazing the detail you start seeing.

I love the sunsets on Buffalo lake and took this photo working on a postcard project for them.  Did not pick this one..

July 1st is Canada Day and Ol’ MacDonald’s has fireworks on the beach. This shows the reflections.

While driving along through the prairies I noticed that the light was a very beautiful on the hayfields.  Once again seeing the world around us as art really gives us great appreciation.

And of course, my favorite subjects are the birds.  Including this Rosette Spoonbill.

Even if you are just traveling on vacation and get a chance to go to a first nations pow-wow you’ll look at the performers differently.

And, by the way, along North America’s highways you will quite often run into wildlife such as this friendly fox..

This has only been a small sampling of what you see when photography is a hobby of yours.  Think of the coffee table books you can make and the stories behind each and every photo.  I meet hundreds of people traveling in RV’s, lot’s of whom are losing out on the real beauty and culture around them.

Please visit our galleries and website for more travel photography

Time for Travel,Work, Play, Family and more travel…….

Unbelievable…..Spring arrives and we leave Mexico for Ajo, Arizona to drop our the 5th wheel off at the house and head for Boston for a quick visit with our son, Craig,  some friends, and to pick up  the items we left in storage back in our 2002 move from New England to the road.  After a  long 6,000 mile round trip and $5,000 in repairs, we unpack the U-Haul and load up the 5th wheel for the trek to Vancouver, B.C.

We had an enjoyable three week visit with the Klassen’s during which time our niece Kris and her husband Craig had a new baby girl, Gabrielle, a beautiful little sister for Grace.   Highlights of this trip included Shasta and Jamie’s sports and dancing  and outside family portraits.

Grace and her sister, Gabrielle

.                      Jami’s Dance                                            Shasta at Rugby

After a trap and skeet shooting excursion with old friend, Mike, the Canadian customs and immigration gave me a very hard time coming back into Canada but I did find out that I still am a legal resident.

Due to slight mishap with our 5th wheel at our nieces house we had to spend a week in Washington state getting the 5th wheel repaired, then off to the Crowsnest pass and Alberta where we once again worked at Ol’MacDonald’s resort for the May long weekend.   Two more weeks of work then off to Yellowknife, Northwest Territories compliments of our daughter, Deidre.  We flew over Great Slave Lake coming into Yellowknife and as you can see there was still lots of ice on our anniversary, June 4th.

.                                Great Slave Lake    -   Yellowknife, NWT

Yellowknife is a real mining town that has gone from gold mines to diamond mines and has traces of many other precious minerals in the area.   It’s very close to the arctic circle and can get quite brisk in the winter.  Another oddity that takes some getting use to is the sun setting around 1 am and rising about 2 am however just the opposite in the winter with almost no daylight.  Wendee and find sleeping takes a while to get use to.

Our granddaughters, Kathleen and Kirstyn are involved in both music and dance so we fortunately were able to attend both the dance and piano recital for them.  Very nice.

.                     Job well done cake with edible performance pictures

.                  Kathleen                                                                 Kirstyn

It’s been a great break from our usual travel agenda and we still have 10 days to go until we go back to work at Ol’MacDonalds.  When we leave around mid September we will head for Swan River,MB to visit Mom and Winnipeg before going back to Ajo.

I’ll leave you with a few NWT shots…… We also are adding new galleries to our gallery site.

.                An Arctic Fox relaxing but keeping a suspicious eye on me..

.               There are many herds of buffalo on the road to Yellowknife

.                                   Tree Swallows wanting chicks

.                     Spring in the bush -  Northwest Territories Canada

Feeding very large Raven babies Yellowknife, NWT

Ravens are very large in the NWT and are notorious for stealing golf balls and garbage.

.                   The ever present Inuit Inukchuks throughout the NWT

Visit our website    www.completepicture.com

“What’s next after the best in Mexico ?”

The main square in Alamos, Sonora – Mexico

Of course we think of that fabulous music festival in Alamos, Sonora as the best of Mexican experiences and even spent a month there enjoying the people, the restaurants and the scenic countryside. What could be next?
Following the recommendation of a birder friend,  Steve, whom we met in Mexico, we drove south from Navajoa into the state of Sinaloa and through the city of Gusave to the beach of Las Glorias and Mr. Moro’s hotel and RV park.   Our RV was parked right on the sandy beach by the ocean with  incredible view  Just like boon-docking but with power, water and wifi. We fell asleep to the sound of waves rolling in and woke to the glorious sunrises over the Sea of Cortez, add a few jumbo barbecued shrimp and a margarita at sunset and what could be better that?

This is our rig on the beach at Las Glorias in Sinaloa.

Early on the second day here Horacio, an RV park employee, has suggested a panga (fishing boat) tour of Bird Island.  Three panga’s head out for a two hour ride through the estuary and maze of small islands until running ashore at Bird Island where we disembark and are amazed by what we see.

Baby Cormorants looking for food.

Thousands of various birds are sitting on eggs and some even hatching before our eyes.  It’s incredible but because this island has no predators these birds are not afraid of us and allow us to walk up to their nests and observe their babies.

Newly hatched Pelicans

Just some of the species we photographed were Cara Cara’s, Cormorants, Frigate Birds, Ospreys, Herons and Pelicans.  Please click on “the Complete Picture Website” and choose Las Glorias Birds… The best way to view these galleries is with the slide show option.

Three kilometers from the beaches of Las Glorias is the quaint fishing village of Boca del Rio (mouth of the river) where the river joins the Sea of Cortez.  Another fabulous and friendly village where the food is great and the birds flock around the photographer,(me)..   Between Boca del Rio and Las Glorias are quite a few restaurants that are on the beach and one time, as we drove our Suzuki down the beach we saw about 15 caballeros riding their horses on the edge of the water.  A Mariachi band playing in one of the restaurants saw them and came out to play on the beach for these horsemen and wow ! they were dancing horses.  The cowboys wanted their pictures taken and rewarded us by allowing us to ride and dance.. What an experience.

Dancing horses with a Mariachi band on the beach at Las Glorias

A couple weeks later we were at Enrique and Marta’s RV park on the beach at Huatabampito enjoying the beach and their great restaurant when they asked us if we would photograph their nieces wedding scheduled for the next Sunday.  This included getting ready at the brides home in Huatabampo and the church service there with the reception being held at the restaurant on the beach.

Elizabeth and Enrique’s wedding in Huatabampo

We certainly enjoyed that assignment and are rewarded by a free month of RV camping next year with a few of their gourmet meals…”Can hardly wait.”

Another lonely beach for our Suzuki to ride on…

On the way to Kino Bay we stopped in Guaymas at a very old colonial hotel and RV park on the ocean and spent time at the famous pearl farm “Las Perlas” .  An impressive operation with thousands of oysters being cultivated each year (and no free samples).

We enjoyed a week in Kino Bay visiting friends and Jorge’s (from Jorge’s Restaurante) 50th birthday.  It’s so neat to see how family orientated these people are.

Two magnificent frigate birds in an arial fight over fresh food

Now home in Ajo Arizona to relieve Bruzz and Judy of their  household duties and get ready for new 2009 adventures in Canada starting with the birth of a new baby girl to our niece Kris and husband Craig.

Remember our websites and galleries…..  See you at the next blog…

René and Wendee

Our First Travel Blog in 2009

And what a great place to just veg out and think about our 2008 travels. Here we are relaxing in the old Spanish Colonial city of Alamos, Mexico which, by the way, you can visit online at www.alamosmexico.com. In another week their world class music festival begins boasting every genre of music from classical to mariachi. Folkloric dancing to big bands and Jazz to flamenco guitar. Many countries from around the world are represented here and even the indiginous peoples of south America like the Yaqui, the Myan and the Seri perform. Yes, eight days of constant music throughout the city’s romantic sites like the Cathedral, the Palacio, the Alameda, the Mercado along with many other clubs and restaurants in this 15th century city, known as the city of arches.

Here are a few more images of the town and just some of the performers from 2008.

This Cafe Sol is a great place for breakfast and is owned by an American who takes bird tours to South America while his wife operates this very ambient restaurant.

Next is a typical scene in Alamos.  This street is on the way to our RV park, Rancho Acosta, which provides us with a quiet treed full hookup site with wifi and a swimming pool.  They also have a beautiful motel for any guests that may join us and a restaurant.  Luckily a short walk to downtown and the performances.

Prior to the Gala Noche classical performance at the Palacio, parades and street performers entertain around the town square.

Classical performers from around the world include operatic vocals, chamber music and individual classical instruments.  You can also experience big bands, jazz, mariachi’s and dancers from all over South and North America.  Your choices are unlimited although I have not seen any rap or heavy metal.

After each classical performance at the Palacio students from Tuna University, dressed in 17th century Spanish costumes, greet the exiting audience with very happy Mariachi music while two gentlemen and their burro distribute free wine.  When everyone has their glass full of wine the entire audience follows the playing troubadour’s through the tiled streets of Alamos.

The burro with the festival wine.

Festival dancers perform in the second town square, La Alameda.  Many different types of performers use this outdoor stage.

One of the really great experiences is browsing  the hundreds of street vendors from all over South America.  They show off their unique crafts for sale and with no pressure to buy.

One of the Yaqui deer dancers performing at the Mercado.  A market place for the indigenous tribes of Mexico to show off and sell their crafts, perform, and cook Seri, Mayan and Yaqui food for you to try.

We left Ajo, Arizona and followed the route through Caborca and Santa Anna heading south to Hermosillo and Guaymas and on to Obergon and Navahoa where we took a left to head east to Alamos.  All these cities are clean and offer many great choices of hotels and restaurants.  Alamos is in the foothills of the Sierra Madra mountains and enjoys cooler weather then on the Sonoran desert or even the Sea of Cortez.

We will spend a month here resting after 8 days of world class music then off for the solitude and photography opportunities on the Sea of Cortez at Huatabampito and the beautiful RV park of El Mirador and the incredible hospitality of Enrique and Marta.  I hope you will join us for our next blog which will include many photos of fishing villages, birds, sunsets and the people of this area.  Here are two samples of Huatabampito sunrises.

Hey,  Make sure to see more of our photography at   http//completepicture.zenfolio.com

See you at our next Blog

Wendee and René