TravelswithCharie

As the stay-at-home directive wearies on, I’m adjusting well to this new lifestyle. For one thing, it’s a delight to no longer have to go to the supermarket. I tried to avoid food shopping pre-quarantine days and only went once a week. Having discovered Instacart recently, it is a relief to have a personal shopper who can go grocery shopping for me and deliver the goodies to my door.  I’ve also learned so much these last three months (I have sheltered-in-place since late January) which I wouldn’t have had the time to attend to were I traveling instead. There’s a reason for everything. And this time spent in isolation has made me appreciative of the place I call home. Prague, Czech Republic The Ecumenical Art Chapel, Hirvensalo, Finland Tai O, HongKong Grand Canyon, Arizona  Puerto Rico Grand Place or Grote Markt, Brussels, Belgium California, USA “Every sunset brings the promise of a new dawn.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson   ***** Images by Travelswi

The Grand Canyon We had this unexpected treat to fly over the Grand Canyon from Atlanta to Las Vegas last week. And we were seated on the right side of the plane to boot! It was a challenge to take these images through double glass pane windows using a simple digital camera from 32,000 feet. I had to photoshop these photos for a sharper image. The results show the incredible topography of the Grand Canyon. Notice the Colorado River cutting its way along Canyon walls. The walls are about a mile deep and 18 miles wide. To get a different perspective of the Grand Canyon, try cruising down the river in a pumpboat. There is a helicopter tour from the Western Rim that goes into the Canyon (an exhilirating ride to say the least) and drops off passengers by the water's edge where the pumpboat is waiting.  For more info go to the National Park Service website: www.nps.gov/grca Lake Mead Lake Mead is the reservoir that was created by the damming of the Colorado Rive

It took millions of years to form the 227-mile long Grand Canyon, yet visitors to the site have only a few  hours to experience this handiwork of nature that can only be described in superlatives. Most visitors head to the South Rim and some go the extra distance to the North Rim when it is open from mid-May to mid-October.  Fewer still head to the West Rim, which sits at the tail end of the Canyon on the  Hualapai Indian Reservation, a short ride from Las Vegas through the 900-year old Joshua Forest. The Joshua tree is so called because its branches are outstretched like the arms of the prophet Joshua  as he pointed his people to the Promised Land. It is part of the yucca brevifolia family and has sword-shaped  leaves and may bear a white or greenish flower that looks like an enlarged cone. Rainfall in February produced low-lying yellow and pink desert flowers, giving color to the parched landscape.  And like a mirage, we spotted three wild mustangs, one of them a dazzling white.