I was granted a day of solitude, so I made my annual trek to Mt. St. Helens. It was a little different than it has been in years past. The signs all the way there said that Johnston Ridge was closed, but they meant the visitor's center, not the entire area. I did some research for a couple days before going, so I was confident that I'd get to spend some quality time there.

It was a little hazy, so my photos of the crater weren't as good as I've taken in the past. But it was a good day. I did a little hiking and a little fishing. Didn't catch one, but saw a nice trout contemplating my lure. The lake is Coldwater Lake, which wasn't there before the eruption.

The visitor's center and the parking lot were quite unlike I've ever seen them before!

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We need a love button.

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

Saturday Evening In The Country

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Another NM mystery.
Lots of weird stuff here in NM.
This is reported to be a HOUSE designed by a World Famous Architect.

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1st Picture: Do you know if this building was originally a gas station?

2nd Picture: Now we're talking; too bad the old girl wasn't kept inside. 66 Series IH, either a 966 or 1066 is my guess. Excellent tractors in their day, and often still used in pulling contests.

Thanks for posting these and the rest of the pictures, emptypockets.

Regards,
Andy

snowman, that is the old Blue Star store. There were two gas pumps in front. I take a drive through the country or the woods almost every evening....a little light in these trying times.

Last night's moon.

I'm not a fan of the moon.
My little canyon is pitch black without the moon.
With no moon there are billions of stars including the milky way galaxy which all go away when the moon's out.

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

Remains of an Oklahoma one room schoolhouse about 15 miles east of Laverne, Oklahoma.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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America First

Frank Lloyd Wright?

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Allegedly NYC.

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Reported to be John Young.
It’s located in Galisteo, NM.

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

Nice shot of the moon, what are you using for a camera?

A Canon PowerShot SX520 HS

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Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

We had these visitors on a daily basis when we stayed at an eco resort in the rain forests of Costa Rica.

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I only take a knee for God

Cancun today

This is a shot of me at Pearl Harbor. The WWII submarine behind me is the U.S.S. Bowfin, (SS-287). I was amazed at its size. It was launched exactly one year after the Japanese attack on Pearl. This boat was credited with 26,458 tons sunk in the Pacific and was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Its commander was awarded the Navy Cross.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

U.S.S. Bowfin is a fascinating museum... incredibly tight quarters aboard. It really makes you appreciate what those sailors went through.

I hope you got aboard U.S.S. Missouri while you were there... also an incredible piece of history.




'Course, I'm a little biased having spent a short time aboard back when she was working for a living...

The Badlands

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Sure you did

We need a "really like" button.
Thank you for sharing this one with us. .

__________________
Kenny
Endeavor to persevere.

Well she's not in as good shape as the USS Bowfin, nor resides in as nice a setting, but they were made within months of each other & did their parts in ending the Japanese grip on the Pacific.

Both are diesel–electric Balao-class subs, 311 ft long, displaced 1,490 tons & had a range of 11,000 nautical miles.

The USS Batfish made it's final voyage up the Arkansas River on a handful of barges to the Oklahoma Port of Muskogee in 1972.

A year later it was almost lost to heavy flooding of the river.

Then last year, 2019, heavy rains & flooding up river struck again lifting her off her mooring & she came dangerously close to breaking loose & floating down river into the Lock & Dams (which did happen to a couple of unrelated barges).

Fortunately she didn't but she still sustained measurable damage & is now in need of repairs.

I took this picture in the summer of 1989. My oldest son is on the left, along side his good neighbor friend.

My younger son recently went through the years of photos I had & scanned some of it's 35mm negatives into a collection for me. This is one of them.

.

From Wikipedia:
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Batfish's war operations spanned a period from 11 December 1943 to 26 August 1945 during which she completed seven war patrols. She is credited with having sunk nine Japanese ships totaling 10,658 tons while operating east of Japan, in the Philippine Sea, Luzon Strait, and South China Sea. Batfish received the Presidential Unit Citation for her sixth war patrol in the South China Sea during which she sank the three Japanese submarines. She was also awarded six battle stars for her World War II service.

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Waiting for the break of day

This is a shot taken from the desert near us, with storm clouds approaching our neighborhood in Arizona.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

This shot I took in honor of Wild Bill Hickock, who on August 2, 1876 was murdered at a card table in a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota holding "aces and eights." That has since been known as the "dead man's hand."

The gun pictured here should be familiar to many on this forum as a S&W Model 1, second issue.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Guilty as Charged , Your Honor!
I did shoot this scene from my Machine.
At the time, It just seemed like the right thing to do!

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Storm coming into town...

Sent from my VS835 using Tapatalk

My mutt, lounging...

We have a pair of hawks that nest in the neighborhood and hatch a few youngsters every year. I usually don't see much of them, but can hear the youngsters. This morning they were having a fine breakfast on the neighbor's roof, so I was able to get a few pics...



Momma (or Daddy?) didn't like that I was taking pictures...



She flew over me, and took up a flanking position on the other side of our yard to keep an eye on me...



Glad I finally got to see these folks after a few years of hearing them in the neighborhood.

My copilot.

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Don't You Ever Wash That Thing

The edge of the fjord at our hotel, a year ago today, Balestrand, Norway.

Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk

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Slava Ukraini!

Red Hawk is dead. Killed by some idiot who crossed the double yellow two weeks ago.

But she has been replaced by White Buffalo.



It's another 2013 Caddy CTS coupe, this one with only 28,000 miles on it. A total creampuff.

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Five screws and 3-1/2 inches.

The pond in the garden at the first stop on last years vacation, the artist Monet's home in Giverny, France.

We visited an outwardly unremarkable one-lane bridge spanning the St. Quentin Canal, in the middle of farmland, about a hundred miles north of Paris. The canal it crossed was an engineering feat, tunneling through 3.5 miles of hillside and was completed by Napoleon I in 1810.

The bridge gained importance during WWI, when on September 29, 1918, 32 Allied Divisions under a million shell artillery barrage, attacked 39 German Divisions in an attempt to break through the Hindenburg Line.

The British 46th North Midlands Division had the task of assaulting the deep canal cut leading to the tunnel. This steep sided defense was considered impregnable by the Germans. At the time the British began their advance, heavy fog obscured the battlefield, leaving only four yards visibility. The Brits used compass to swiftly progress through the fog enshrouded defenses to the canal.

When the 137th Brigade arrived at the canal embankment, they found the high bridge surprisingly still intact. The Germans had been keeping the bridge as a primary route to supply their defenses on the west side of the canal, and the fog made them unaware of the proximity of the British attackers.

Ten British engineers quickly took out the German machine guns at the west end of the bridge and were crossing the bridge as a German demolition team advanced at the opposite end of the bridge to ignite demolition charges and destroy the bridge. The Germans were stopped, and the British 137th quickly cut the charges free and finished securing the bridge approaches. The 46th Midlanders successful assault came at the cost of 800 casualties.

By nightfall the entire 46th and 32nd Divisions were across the bridge, and punching through the Hindenburg Line defenses, beginning the end of the trench warfare era and initiating continuous maneuver fighting that ended WWI five weeks later.

The Riqueval Bridge:


The St. Quentin Canal from the bridge:


The British 46th Division, quickly exploiting the bridge.


General Campbell addresses the 137th Brigade that assaulted the canal at the bridge.


After the Armistice, King George visits the bridge.


A sign near the bridge points to the 46th Division's Memorial in a farm field.


The path to the memorial.


102 years after their breakthrough, this obelisk in a farm field marks the 46th North Midland's losses during the pivotal engagement.


The new wooden bench at the 46th North Midland's memorial was donated by a great-nephew, in memory of his great-uncle's death in the battle.

I wonder what Sturgis looks like this week?

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Sure you did

Turkeys

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Yellowstone

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About 30ft away from my rental car. Yellowstone.

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The Grove Park Inn, Asheville NC

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Sure you did

I was in the process of throwing boxes away and JR said: "hold on a minute"

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Music/Sports/Beer fan

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Patriots Forever!!

The Military History of World War II. 18 Volume Set Hardcover – January 1, 1962

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PC, censorship
with a smile.

A quiet lane in Beynac France.


Raised garden bed on steroids at the Chateau de Chenonceau, France.

The Longues-sur-Mer battery in Germany's WWII "Atlantic Wall", is the only one in Normandy France to retain all its original guns in place. It was located on a 200 foot high bluff between the Allied landing beaches of Gold and Omaha, and shelled both beaches on D-Day.
On D-Day, attacks by Allied bombers severed communication cables to the fire control bunker. Then the British cruisers Ajax and Argonaut engaged the battery, followed by the French cruisers Georges Leygues and Montcalm, assisted by the WW I vintage dreadnought USS Arkansas. The Allies naval return fire silenced three of the four heavy guns, with the battery being captured on D-Day+1 by Company C of the 2nd Devonshire Regiment after firing a total of 100 150mm shells.





The damage to the cannon's protective blast shield from the naval bombardment.

My version of a tree grows in Brooklyn.....grass grows in Texas at 100 degrees.

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Hold my beer and watch this!

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Sure you did

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Sure you did

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Sure you did

Funny trivia about the 63 split window Vette.
My best buddy's father was the head/lead engineer at Chevrolet in the 60's that actually drew the designs to eliminate the split window. My buddy teases his dad that he personally made that year Vette iconic. How cool.

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Dave Ramsey Cultist

A friend of mine saw this on a golf course he manages in NY.

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Sure you did

Fly Fishing the other Evening.

Brown Trout caught on a Black Ant size 18.

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SD social distanc'n since 1889