Alaskan Grizzlies

Posted on February 14, 2012 by jimandbetsywilson

Grizzly Love

Betsy's footprint and Grizzly print

Betsy’s footprint and Grizzly print

Happy Valentine’s Day! An up-close and personal visit with Alaskan Brown Bears at Lake Clark National Park was a highlight of the Wilson family trip to Alaska a few years ago. Full of adventure, we took a white-knuckle plane ride over Cook Inlet and landed on a desolate beach – desolate of all but huge grizzly bears. We spent the day riding in an open cart attached to an ATV, and walking in tall grasses among dozens of bears.  We were almost forced to spend the night there when the fog rolled in, jeopardizing the plane from coming back for us.

We loved this adventure – the excitement and our apprehension of the bears, and the stunning beauty of such a remote part of our country.   We are happy to share more of our grizzly bear experience and photos here.

And please check out some of other Alaska photos. Enjoy!

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Chester County Balloon Festival

Posted on January 30, 2012 by jimandbetsywilson

For two days in June each summer, colorful hot air balloons take shape in Chester County.  twenty festive balloons are inflated Friday night in preparation for the “Friday Night Glow”, when the colors come alive as fire lights the balloons up from inside against the darkening twilight.  Located at the Embreeville State Complex just west of West Chester, Pennsylvania on Rt. 162, this event is fun for children of all ages.  Rounding out the fun is live music and a variety of booths selling crafts and food.  So bring a lawn chair or a blanket and sit on the hillside and enjoy watching the balloons inflate and glow!   Click here to check for this year’s dates and information.  For the photo gallery or to see other area events, click here.

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Chinese New Year

Posted on January 29, 2012 by jimandbetsywilson

Today we joined in the celebration of the Chinese New Year in Philadelphia as the Chester County Camera Club captured the celebration in photographs.

Chinese New Year Dragon

Chinese New Year Dragon

Lots of smiles and excitement as the crowds surrounded a Chinese Dragon meandering in the streets.  Then came many colorful costumed dragons who would dance to the sounds of drums and symbols.  Area businesses would hang a long string of firecrackers from an upstairs window.  The string would be lit at the bottom, and as the firecrackers went off, the string would be lowered from above by a man holding what looked to be a fishing pole.  As the firecrackers continued to explode, the colorful dragons would dance and jump amidst them.  Topping the string of firecrackers was a head of lettuce.  After escaping exploding firecrackers, the dragons appeared to fight to get the lettuce. It would disappear into one of the dragon’s huge mouths, and come back out as shredded lettuce. Apparently attached to each head of lettuce was an envelope containing money supplied by the local business.  The firecracker ceremony brings good luck to the store, and the store owner thanks the performers with a gift.  Then on to the next store where the ceremony was repeated again and again.  It seemed that each time the firecrackers went off, there were more of them, they got louder and created more smoke.  And as the day went on, the crowds got larger and more and more people enjoyed the ceremonies, although many children covered their ears to muffle the noise.

 

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Bombay Hook, Delaware

Posted on January 16, 2012 by jimandbetsywilson

Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge has a wonderful variety of birds and animals anytime of year. The refuge has large numbers of waterfowl arriving in the fall and has a nice 12 mile auto tour in addition to some nice walking trails.  A great place to spend a few hours enjoying nature. More information is available at the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge website

 Located in Smyrna, Delaware, this wildlife refuge consists of tidal salt marshes as well as freshwater pools and swampland – making it an ideal location for a diversity of wildlife.  In addition to the trails, there are three 30-foot observation towers.

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Hello world!

Posted on January 10, 2012 by jimandbetsywilson

Welcome to Jim and Betsy’s Blog.  Mostly our travel photos, but also day trips and some fun photography experiments will be updated .  We hope you pick up a few tips on where you might like to visit, such as beautiful Acadia, or just get some inspiration to go out and take some photos.

Holgate Glacier, Alaska

Holgate Glacier, Alaska

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