On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Good Morning All,
This weekday feature is for Juicers who are are on the road, traveling, or just want to share a little bit of their world via stories and pictures. So many of us rise each morning, eager for something beautiful, inspiring, amazing, subtle, of note, and our community delivers – a view into their world, whether they’re far away or close to home – pictures with a story, with context, with meaning, sometimes just beauty. By concentrating travel updates and tips here, it’s easier for all of us to keep up or find them later.
So please, speak up and share some of your adventures and travel news here, and submit your pictures using our speedy, secure form. You can submit up to 7 pictures at a time, with an overall description and one for each picture.
You can, of course, send an email with pictures if the form gives you trouble, or if you are trying to submit something special, like a zipped archive or a movie. If your pictures are already hosted online, then please email the links with your descriptions.
For each picture, it’s best to provide your commenter screenname, description, where it was taken, and date. It’s tough to keep everyone’s email address and screenname straight, so don’t assume that I remember it “from last time”. More and more, the first photo before the fold will be from a commenter, so making it easy to locate the screenname when I’ve found a compelling photo is crucial.
Have a wonderful day, and enjoy the pictures!
On a personal note, it was 10 years ago this morning that I awoke in a hospital in Santa Fe, having had an emergency appendectomy for a burst appendix the night before. I turned on my cell phone to call my mom and tell her I was awake, and was surprised to see that I had a voicemail from a unfamiliar Maryland phone number. It turned out that, during the night a lightning bolt had hit the family house, going through the roof and hitting her bed and catching the house on fire. The house was burned, though not completely, but luckily, she was with me in Santa Fe.
And to show you that life’s timing is mysterious, she is undergoing surgery today and can use all the help she can get, so should you have some good thoughts or a kind prayer, I know she’ll appreciate it!
Finally a pro-tip: if you have a pain in your right front/side/abdomen, run – don’t walk -to seek some medical advice. I thought I had food poisoning, and was in loads of pain afternoon and all night. I remember when, in the middle of the night, my right interior felt like someone had heated a bundle of metal wires with a torch and plunged them into my insides. I was sure it was food related, and was so focused on seeing my mom the next day that I ignored all of this until I arrived in Santa Fe and she asked why I was using a cane, and then insisted we go straight to the hospital.
Good thing, another 6-8 hours and I’d’ve been a goner. The surgeon asked me a few diagnostic questions; the final one was when he asked me what I’d do if he poked me hard in that area. I calmly explained that I would hurt him – stop him in any way that I could from causing me any more pain. 10 minutes later, I was wheeled down the hall for scans and pre-op prep.
Today some glory of nature –
Hey Alain,
Long time lurker and occasional – very occasional – commenter. Love your
“On the Road” feature.Here’s some photos from today’s – 2 July 2017 – walk through the redwoods.
All cell phone pictures, so apologies for quality issues.Location: A little north of Albion, California. This is off an old logging
road, that is used now as a driveway for a few properties. The area was
logged starting in 1851, so there are no old-growth redwoods left except as
stumps.AbaloneTree – Abalone shells are a pretty common decoration in Mendocino
County.
That is so neat! I’ve seen similar things with horseshoes, guns, and other iron items, but never a shell.
SkidTrail – This is on a steep slope, and long out of use. Loggers – well,
animals, not humans – would drag the trees down the skid trail to a landing
off the road.
LoggingRoad – There’s a vacation home at the top of the hill, so the road
gets some use.
Looks lovely. As a confirmed mushroom lover and hunter, I wonder if there are some wonderful finds around these parts when the season and conditions are right!
FairyRing – A cluster of baby redwoods around a parent redwood. The entire
hillside is filled with fairy rings around stumps that were logged. The
opportunistic shrub growing out of the top of the stump is typical, as
well. The stumps were cut about six feet off the ground.
Of course I was wondering about the presence of the other kind of fairy ring!
LookingUp – A ubiquitous photo for redwood country.
BananaSlug – Another ubiquitous photo for redwood country. This guy is a
decent size; I’ve seen bigger, but not by much. The mascot for the UC
Santa Cruz sports teams.
Groovy! I especially appreciate the keys for scale! I spent a wonderful afternoon a day or two before New Year’s Eve 1991 wandering around a redwood/eucalyptus forest in that general area and it was magical. If only I hadn’t been solely into fine art b&w photography back then, I’d likely have some nice slides of the flora and fauna I saw. Like so many, that part of California is just beautiful – thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much SoupCatcher, do send us more when you can.
Travel safely everybody, and do share some stories in the comments, even if you’re joining the conversation late. Many folks confide that they go back and read old threads, one reason these are available on the Quick Links menu.
One again, to submit pictures: Use the Form or Send an Email
OzarkHillbilly
Ooooooopps… That would be me, the OzarkHillbilly. The BWCA pics I sent you yesterday. I’m resending them, this time with my nom de guerre attached.
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Sorry….
p.a.
Best wishes to your mom Alain.
soooooo… banana slugs don’t infest bananas… I’d be even stupiderer without this blog.
OzarkHillbilly
Good thoughts? Me? Geez Alain, you sure ask a lot of a guy.
Here’s hoping all goes well.
satby
Alain, best wishes to your mom for an uneventful surgery and fast recovery!
Soupcatcher, no need to apologize for the cell phone photos, they’re great views of an area I doubt I will ever see in person. It’s why this is such an enjoyable part of the blog!
bystander
Fun pics and thanks also to Alain for the daily post.
?BillinGlendaleCA
One of my neighbors is a slug(aka UCSC grad), she’s got the license plate frame. Nice pics of the redwoods, reminds me of the camping vacations with my parents up north.
Best of thoughts for your mom, Alain.
JPL
Alain, Positive thoughts for your mom.
The redwoods are beautiful, and thank you for sending the photos so we could all enjoy.
rikyrah
Nature shots are appreciated ??
debbie
Awesome redwoods!
Alain, glad they “fixed” you and hope your mom recovers quickly.
Argiope
Alain, as another appendicitis vet, all I can say is that your mom must be an extraordinary lady if you were so focused on getting to see her that you didn’t seek medical attention in the agonizing hours before! I do think a few PSAs about appendix pain often starting in the central abdomen before it localizes to the right lower quadrant wouldn’t go amiss; I’m a clinician and thought I probably had a gallbladder problem until a few hours into the episode, when my gallbladder imaging and labs came back normal. Still kept hoping it was gastroenteritis until my temp spiked. Sending good wishes to your mom for a smooth surgery and recovery. May all be well.
Immanentize
Alain — very healthful thoughts to your Mom.
And I second you “Go to the hospital!”. I had diverticulitis about 16 years ago, thought it was food poisoning. But once my temp spiked, and I started shivering, I thought maybe it was something more. My wife took me to the emergency room and the pain was so wide spread they thought it was a burst appendix, but thankfully a scan put off that surgery. But I did spend 6 days in the hospital on a morphine drip.
If you have abdomen pain of any kind plus a fever — Hospital!!
PS. Days ago I saw you comment about a new cancer challenge in you family. Thinking of you for that as well.
Waratah
Alain good thoughts for your mother and for you.
Waratah
SoupCatcher I enjoyed your photos. I am far from an expert on photography I just know what I like and you have some interesting shots from your phone.
My daughter has a Samsung and her photos and the color are so much better than the ones I take on my IPhone.
Laura
@Immanentize: I hope that you are finding comfort and solace in the face of your immeasurable loss. (((((Hug))))))
J R in WV
Alain,
Thanks for all you do for us, here on the web, and in the world too.
We’ll all be pulling for you and your Mom, today and in the future!
GO FIGHTING BANANA SLUGS! Just trying that on for size… ;-)
gbbalto
Alain – Best wishes for your mother
stinger
Best wishes to your mother, Alain!
stinger
@Immanentize: Immanentize, it is good to see you here today. I’ve been thinking of you and your family. So very sorry for your loss.
The Moar You Know
I am a Slug alumnus, from way back when. It was a great and very interesting experience. Miss living there, I stayed far longer than normal after graduation, long enough that the locals started talking to me and eventually inviting me to their parties and get-togethers. It’s not the liberal, hippie fillied town most of the students think it is. I sometimes still think leaving was the biggest mistake of my life. I also think it was the smartest thing I ever did. Still conflicted.
My appendicitis never caused me any pain at all. I’d been feeling kind of sick to my stomach for a couple days – but was mostly playing hooky from work. I was fine, so I thought.
Went to my doc. I did not like my doc. His goal was to get in and out of an exam in a minute thirty seconds. Not kidding (Kaiser sucks!). He poked and prodded and looked concerned and I just sat there and asked “can I have my ‘go back to work’ note now?” He said no, he was referring me to the ER.
I was stunned. Mr. “I don’t give a shit about anything you come in here with” wanted me to go to the hospital? I thought he was insane, but shit, now I had to go. So I called my mom, drove over to get her. We both laughed, thinking my poor, crazy doctor had finally lost it. I drove us to the ER.
They poked and prodded me some more. I did not like having my right foot punched. It didn’t hurt, but I didn’t like it. So they said “we’re going to operate.” Now, at this point I was pretty freaked out because I felt pretty much OK, but they seemed extremely sure I wasn’t.
My appendix had ruptured at some point over the weekend, as it turned out. I was in the hospital for four days. I did not drive home.
MomSense
Sending good thoughts andkind prayers to your mom. Hope the surgery goes well.
Thank you SoupCatcher for the photos. I’m a tree person so these photos are heaven for me.
MomSense
@Immanentize:
Sending big hugs to you, Imm. We are all keeping you and immp in our thoughts.
Alain the site fixer
@Immanentize: yeah, that’s the reason for mom’s surgery. Hopefully that will be all that is needed, but I’m preparing for the alternatives. You and your family are in my thoughts morning, noon, and night.
Tazj
Alain, wishing your mom a smooth and quick recovery.
I know what you mean about needing to go to the ER ASAP if you have severe abdominal pain. A few years ago, when returning form vacation, I developed abdominal pain and vomiting. I thought I had eaten something funny while away. It turned out I had a small bowel obstruction (from endometriosis) and needed emergency surgery. Few people want to believe that they’re really sick.
I love the pictures of the trees but, I have to say the banana slug, ewwwww! I too, thought they were found on bananas.
Tazj
@Immanentize: I’m so sorry for you and your son on the loss of your wife(Much too soon). I don’t comment much but I’m usually reading everyday and have enjoyed reading your thoughts on politics.
Alain the site fixer
@Immanentize: I just saw the news. My gods. Five months? A million hugs to you and the kid. I guess I needed a trigger to cry out some anxiety, because upon reading your post, I came apart. Good thing I’m alone right now! If there’s anything I or we can do, just reach out to your online family. We gots youz!
Alain the site fixer
Thanks to all for the well-wishes for me and mom. She’s now in surgery, so it’s the hardest part. Time to play some ancient Xbox games on my old console until mid-pm call-in to check status.
SoupCatcher
Neat! A nice surprise after work.
Alain, I hope your mom’s surgery went well. Healing thoughts towards her.