what about the plastic animals?

Zion Canyon National Park

Because of highway construction I drove through a lot more of Las Vegas than I cared to on my way to Zion Canyon National Park.  The delay meant I didn't get to Springdale until nearly sunset.  Too late to go into the park but just in time to take in Coraline in 3-D at the giant screen movie theater next to the park entrance.  

The next day I drove up the canyon and back, stopping several times to go on a hike.  Late March was an excellent time to visit.  There weren't many people in the park, the trees were just getting leaves, the daytime temperature was comfortable (it did get below freezing and snow at higher elevations one night) and it was the last weekend of winter that cars are allowed to drive up the canyon.  Once the high season begins cars are banned and you have to take a bus, bike or walk.

I took about a zillion photos in the park.  Every few minutes I'd stop, say "That's so beautiful" or "Wow, look at that" and take a picture.  When you boil it down though, I probably took a dozen pictures a hundred times each.

World's Largest Firecracker

The world's largest firecracker is about the most exciting sight on the 100-mile drive from Beatty to Las Vegas.  Lucky for me it didn't explode.

 

Palisades Berry Report

The weather was too nice this afternoon to stare at a computer inside so I took a walk.  Blackberries weren't nearly ready.  A couple of blueberries were almost blue but most were not.  The Hudson was very brown from all the rain.

Chalk Couples

The pleasant weather on Sunday forced me to go outside.  Among other things I found a bench in Theodore Roosevelt park behind the Museum of Natural History and read the paper.  Just out of range of this picture is a monument to American Nobel Prize laureates.  The monument is a big pink granite thing that lists awardees by year, and in which category they were awarded.  It is the sort of thing I wouldn't give a second glance to, hence the lack of a photo, but a lot of people who walked by stopped for a minute or two to read the names.

Two Dollars

This two dollar note from the Somerset and Worcester Savings Bank of Salisbury, Maryland has been in my family for a long, long time.  The bank issued $1, $2, $3 and $5 notes during the Civil War.  They were printed by the American Bank Note Co. of New York.  From what I gather most of the notes had either green or red overprinting on the front and an elaborate geometric pattern on the back.  I don't know why this note has neither.