Staten Island - 9/11 Memorial

While visiting New York City, we took these photographs of the Staten Island 9/11 Memorial. We learned that Staten Island was hit hard by this tragedy and lost 270 people in the terrorist attacks.  This memorial is beautiful and something to see. From a distance, the sides of the monument appear to be wings. The inside consists of 9" X 11" plaques of each victim along with their names, dates of birth, and place where they worked.  Each plaque is also unique because there is a carved profile of each individual.The panoramic view from the memorial includes New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan.  It is a solemn yet majestic sight and a peaceful place to not only reflect on the lives lost that fateful day but also to think about hopes and dreams for a better tomorrow.  America is the land of the Free and the home of the Brave.     

   

                                                 

              

Amarillo Texas, Cadillac Ranch

On our way home we took a more southern route bringing us through

Amarillo Texas and past the Cadillac ranch. Very interesting to see however don't blink or you may just drive right past it.

Several myths have been perpetuated about the origin of the Cadillac Ranch, the most popular of which is the one I heard growing up in the Texas Panhandle. As the story went, an eccentric Amarillo, Texas millionaire would buy one Cadillac after another and when it was time to buy a new one, he would have the old one buried nose first on his land. However, the truth is, the Cadillac Ranch was a planned artistic endeavor.
Yes, Texas millionaire Stanley Marsh, 3 is eccentric. He is also said to be very down to earth, quickly disregarding the "III” as too pretentious and using "3" instead. In 1973, Marsh invited a San Francisco artists’ collective called the Ant Farm to help him in the creation of a unique work of art for his sprawling ranch just west of Amarillo. The group set about acquiring ten used Cadillacs, ranging in model years from 1948 to 1963. Built along the tattered remains of historic Route 66, the cars were meant to represent the "Golden Age” of American automobiles. Most of the cars were purchased from junk yards, and averaged about $200. The cars were then buried nose-down, facing west along the old highway. Those that could run, were driven into the half-burial holes, the rest were hoisted in. In 1974 the project was completed and in no time at all, visitors began to come from all over the world, leaving their mark on the ever-thickening graffiti covered cars.

Balanced Rock, Moab Utah

We took this photo on the backside of Balanced Rock while riding in Arches National Park.

"Balanced Rock is one of the most popular features of Arches National Park, situated in Grand County, Utah, United States. Balanced Rock is located next to the park's main road, at about 9 miles (14.5 km) from the park entrance.
The total height of Balanced Rock is about 128 feet (39 m), with the balancing rock rising 55 feet (16.75 m) above the base. The big rock on top is the size of three school buses. Until recently, Balanced Rock had a companion - a similar, but much smaller balanced rock named "Chip Off The Old Block", which fell during the winter of 1975/1976.
Balanced Rock can be seen from the park's main road. There is also a short loop trail leading around the base of the rock."

Desert Beauty

Nature finds a way...In the starkness of the Southwest desert, we were amazed at the beautiful flowers that find a way to thrive even in the harshest conditions. The colors and varieties that seem to emerge from stone and dry ground are truly miraculous. 

Monument Valley AZ

 Where westerns were born,"Monument Valley provides perhaps the most enduring and definitive images of the American West. The isolated red mesas and buttes surrounded by empty, sandy desert have been filmed and photographed countless times over the years for movies, adverts and holiday brochures. Because of this, the area may seem quite familiar, even on a first visit, but it is soon evident that the natural colors really are as bright and deep as those in all the pictures. The valley is not a valley in the conventional sense, but rather a wide flat, sometimes desolate landscape, interrupted by the crumbling formations rising hundreds of feet into the air, the last remnants of the sandstone layers that once covered the entire region."