Travelogue - Bodie Ghost Town Cemeteries 10/25/2015

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I visited Bodie Ghost Town State Historic Park!  And I haven't even finished editing all my pictures from my trip.  

But tomorrow I'll be visiting Bodie for the second time so I thought I'd better get at least some of these posted.  Tomorrow is the final Star Stories and Ghost Walk event for the year at Bodie.  I won't be going on the Ghost tours (no money, no ghostie), but I'm definitely all in for the stars!

I was already planning to try to do my first star and moon night shoot on August 27th, because it's a crescent moon which is one of my favorites.  And then I realized it was the night of the event and the sky above the high desert is simply amazing!  

So I knew I had to make it happen. 

These pictures are from October and of course this is August, so I'm hoping there won't be so many clouds tomorrow.  Clouds aren't so great for star photos.  But they make some magnificent daytime photos.

So the only pictures I have edited are from the Bodie Cemetaries.  Yes, plural.  

But that's a perfect tie in with the Ghost Walk theme, right?  

It is!!  So here we go.  

One of the sad things about historical cemeteries is how many graves there are for children.  It was a hard, hard life back then.  And losing children was a common trial of the times. 

There are a lot of "lost" graves in Bodie.  The Bodie Foundation is working hard to identify and mark these graves with a little help from four-legged friends.  The next picture  is a newly located grave with a flag for future identification.

And the next shows a grave with a "new" wooden marker.

Did I mention that the high desert under the wide open sky with a bazillion fluffy clouds is amazing?

Buried here are the mortal remains of Waterman S. Bodey...

Yes, the town name is misspelled.  A town painter messed up and it stuck.  Sad thing is, in July 1989, Mr. Bodey did find gold as he set out to do...but he died several months later by freezing to death during a supply run to Monoville.  

And yet, he lives on.  

His legacy is this amazing, preserved by nature, ghost town. 

This next grave is the site of the last remaining minor in Bodie.

The coil of wires seems to be a theme.  I don't know what it means exactly...Google has let me down.  It could just be a touch of the old west or it could be symbolic of Christ's crown of thorns (which is what some barbed wire tattoos mean).

So many graves for children. 

"Think of your child, then, not as dead, but as living.

Not as a flower that has withered, but has been transplanted.

Touched by a Divine hand,

Blooming in richer colors and sweeter shades than those of earth."

~~Richard Hooker

Breathtaking sky over Boot Hill.  

The morgue under black and white fury.

See you tomorrow Bodie!!!  I cannot wait!

xoxo

Nikon D3000

Rounding Out Yolo County - Davis Arboretum & Dixon Sunflowers 7/2/16

Continuing on my quest to see as much of Yolo County as I could in one weekend, my daughter and I headed West on I-80 for a walk in the University of California - Davis Arboretum and then a quick shopping jaunt at the Vacaville Outlets.

On the previous day, I put many miles on my car and body to check out beautiful Sunflowers, busy bees, and cool-looking farms.  I also stopped for to talk to a turkey vulture and see some graffiti before visiting safflower fields and hiking along Cache Creek.

So it was nice (for me...not so much for her) to have my daughter drive me and spare my poor, old car.  Plus, she has air-conditioning.  And it was hot. But we knew that there would be at least some shade and hopefully some cool critters to see.  

First spotted was a gorgeous Green Heron who was hoping to catch some lunch in the algae-covered water. 

  

There were some interesting spectators who didn't want to be that lunch...

But Mr. Heron kept trying anyway.

There are lovely plants and flowers at the Arboretum of course.  Such as these gorgeous white an purple blooms. 

I made a cute, scaly friend who was just hanging out on a tree trunk. 

There were a profusion of these lovely pink and yellow spotted flowers.  I tried a couple different edits...

I was fascinated by these gorgeous yellow balls growing on this tree!  They were amazing!

We crossed the Love Lock Bridge to head back to the car.  It was almost like being in Paris!  Except Paris took all their locks down.  

We made a brief stop to visit the matched-pair of black beauties in the horse paddock.  These sweet boys didn't want to move from under the shade on this hot day. 

We headed for the Outlets, but had to stop for gas.  When we did, we saw another incredible sunflower field behind the gas station on Pedrick Road.  It was perfect with the foothills in the background!

Like the other sunflower fields, there were hundreds of busy bees buzzing around.  I took advantage of this to try to take a "trendy" photo with some good success!

There were almost as many photographers and selfie-artists in the field as there were bees.  And I got photobombed by one.  haha

A lot of the flowers in this field were deformed, which was interesting.  I wonder why?

One last shot with the furrows filled with precious water.  

And then we were on our way.  

There were some spots I missed on my weekend which will have to be visited at another time, such as the lavender farm.  Which will just give me reason for another roadie!

xoxo

Nikon D3300 18-55 lens