One of the people I follow on Instagram is a bicyclist. The photography he posts is of what he sees when riding. He often rides on Vermont country roads which provide him with beautiful camera shots. Folks posting on Instagram tend to use catchy names, rather than their own. I'm not quite sure why, but it does make identifying people on Instagram interesting. Once discovered, the names chosen seem totally "them". The cyclist I follow posts under the name, thingsagsees. It's the perfect name for him and one that I hope he won't mind my borrowing for this particular post.
Passing through Buffalo, NY, these road signs caught my eye. No, HC.....now what could that mean, no handicapped children, no homeless citizens or as Bucky surmised, no hair conditioners. I gave him a questioning look upon hearing this. Had he subconsciously put into words his opinion of my hair's condition after several nights of RV sleeping? It was only a few minutes later that we passed a sign stating that HM was not allowed. No heavy metals or more likely no hazardous materials, or could it just possibly be no head massages to complement no hair conditioner? And why would no HC and no HM both be needed? It remains a mystery of the road. One of the few, "I wonder moments" that wasn't answered by Google.
This pink building lept from a block of plainly painted older establishments on the outskirts of Buffalo. What's your guess? Defunk nightclub, with upstairs rooms for rent? Antiques and collectibles? The golden goddesses, standing watch on the roof, could imply former Greek restaurant. One of many roadside mysteries.
Churches appear in every town. Some are majestic with steeples scraping the sky, crafted of stone and adorned with magnificent stained glass windows. Others are more humble. I liked those I saw outside the prairie towns of Calgary and Edmonton. They seemed honest and unassuming in their plainness.
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| This church......now seems more like a schoolhouse. After several looks, what I first thought was a steeple, is probably a bell tower. No cross is obvious. |
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| This private sanctuary was in the dooryard of a large farm quite removed from any town. I loved how it personalized this farm family's lifestyle and commitment to their faith. |
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| Seeing this church with Spanish like stucco and coloring was a surprise on the prairie. The wooden tower behind had me baffled, but mimicked in my mind an old oil derrick. Oil is very important in this part of Canada. |
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| I loved how this last minute shot had the building slipping behind an approaching hill with the roof top crosses standing strong. |
By far, my favorite section of the Alaska Highway is the final 300 plus miles between Whitehorse in the Yukon and the first town reached when entering Alaska,Tok. No matter what the weather, the scenery astounds. On a cloudy day the snow covered, ragged mountain peaks weave in and out of the clouds appearing to have no apex. Countering this beauty is ongoing road construction, creating dust so thick that it's difficult to see oncoming traffic. Like passing from heaven into hell.
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and out of the dust appeared two male runners with their Tshirts over their mouths, followed by a support vehicle. I felt badly for them knowing they were just at the start of 30 plus miles of suffocating dust.
Everything being transported by road into Alaska must at some point travel this route. For that reason there is no telling what will be seen.
We followed three Canadian tanks being hauled into the US. If only Google could unlock this mystery! Pipes of all diameter and length moved along with us.
I could crowd the remainder of this post with shots of magnificent scenery, but I'll let you dig into this blog's archive for these. However, despite having seen these mountains many times before, their beauty remains a temptress luring my lively shutter finger. I conclude with some random sights that stood out for me.
There certainly will be more of the "things I see" as our time in Alaska continues. |
