Sunday, August 21, 2016

[Elizabeth] Handstands Across America!

[Elizabeth] I grew up doing circus arts, and I'm happiest (and most coordinated) with my feet off the ground. I'm primarily an aerialist, but handstands are a part of the trade. In 2006, on a trip to the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador, I got to see the equator (a touristy place with a giant red line painted on the ground), and the "Handstands across the World" idea was born. It started first with boundaries of some sort - the equator, the US-Canada border, four corners (one handed!). Then it started to grow - I visited the K/Pg boundary as part of my research work, and took my first Geological-boundary picture - right hand dinosaurs, left hand no dinosaurs! And I've been doing handstands in cool places ever since. Here's a compilation of handstands from this epic road trip. (It took so long because I had to rescue some pictures from my phone before Christina joined me and started taking good ones). Enjoy!



Joshua Tree National Park


Grand Canyon National Park


Mesa Verde National Park (Balcony House)

Valley of Fire, Nevada
Zion National Park, Utah
Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah
Utah 12
Capitol Reef National Park, Utah
Utah
Dinosaur National Monument, Utah
Golden Spike National Historical Site, Utah
Spiral Jetty, Utah
Missile Testing Facility, Utah
Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho
Teton Pass
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Glacier National Park, Montana
K-T Boundary, Montana
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Mount Rushmore, South Dakota
Badlands National Park, South Dakota
Mississippi River, Minnesota
Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Lake Erie, Ohio

Monday, July 4, 2016

[Christina] Day 15: HOME!

After a long trip full of adventure, it felt good to finally turn our sights to home.  We left Cleveland around 6:30 AM and arrived in the Boston area approximately twelve hours later.  We traveled across the beautiful forests and mountains of New York State and rural Massachusetts, too worn out to stop and take pictures or admire the roadcuts of thinly-bedded shale and siltstone which later gave way to schist and granite. [Elizabeth sidebar: I admired a bunch, but Christina is the Director of Photography on our adventure, and I was driving...] Maybe another time; after all, it's not too far away.  I'm sure we'll feel the thirst for adventure again before too long.  In the meantime, though, here's to an excellent year at Harvard!

[Christina] Day 14: Cleveland!

Not much to report for this day.  We had a lovely day hanging out with my friend M and a couple of his friends, which culminated in another amazing sunset on the lake.




This time, however, we decided to actually test the previous day's hypothesis:  the frames for those bench swings would be perfect for climbing!  The tiny people climbed up and sat on top of the frame, the not-tiny people figured that would be a bad idea and didn't, and a good time was had by all. [Elizabeth sidebar - it's been 3 weeks since I've had circus/aerial... it was much needed, and very very fun!]

[Christina] Day 12 and 13: Midwest Road Signs

Little did we know that we would be going through Texas:

Wisconsin:  Cheese Edition





Apparently we left and re-entered Cleveland a number of times in rapid succession.  I missed the first two signs, but caught the next three:
Time stamp:  12:49:12

Time stamp:  ‏‎12:49:18

Time stamp:  12:49:24
 And, of course, the general weirdness:
I didn't know manticores were a part of Greek mythology.  The things you learn!

????

Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem.

What about that 10th Viking?  Did he sack the travel center or something?

Jolly Green Giant

Because of course those two things go together!

Turn that frown upside down!
'Adult'?  Just 'Adult'?
Division of Redundancy Division

Choices, choices!
My grandpa didn't HAVE a cheese barn!
Well, how else would you get your new washer home with you?