PL8ATUDES – December 19, 2019


Plate-A-Tude

We continue our series of personalized (vanity) license plates in Arizona. To maintain individual privacy, we try to show as little information about particular cars as possible as long as we can reveal the license plate.

NOTE – License plate photos may have been archived for quite some time. The years indicated on the registration stickers DO NOT necessarily reflect the current status of any given plate!

We hope you enjoy these PL8ATUDES!

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M 2 BZ

That Is Why I Am

uzulyl8

!

 

JBRish.com originally published this post< See previous PL8ATUDES HERE

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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019


SignEdge: Unisex Bathrooms and Beyond!

Anyone who travels can appreciate the availability of a clean and orderly bathroom when one is needed. At the Old Capitol Market in Prescott, AZ we came across a very unique sign indicating the specific genders allowed to use each of their facilities.


Unisex bathroom and more

BTW – The Old Capitol Market is a fun place to visit and explore if you are in or near Prescott, Arizona

 
See previous SignEdge posts HERE
Just for SignEdge wine or beer labels HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019



Photography: My Shot – Thanksgiving Reversi

When we think of turkeys, it is quite often related to Thanksgiving when we feast upon their bounty. We don’t often see humans feeding wild turkeys for the turkey’s benefit.

The Tom turkey in this picture was proudly watching over two hens. Being very protective of them, he would puff up and turn vividly colorful if we approached too near.

They were enjoying the feed left for them by the custodians of Brown Canyon Ranch located in the foothills of the Huachuca Mountains, near Sierra Vista, Arizona.



Read more about Brown Canyon Ranch HERE

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Metadata

File Name: turkeys_tom_hens_0567.CR2
Capture time: 9:53:52 AM
Capture date: June 11, 2014
Exposure: 1/500 sec @ f/6.3
Focal Length: 17mm
ISO: 200
Camera: Canon PowerShot SX50 HS
Lens: 5.8-23.2

Edited in Lightroom

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Check out Jeff’s Instagram account for more interesting photos!

Read more photography posts HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged #please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019 JBRish.com



PL8ATUDES – November 8, 2019



Plate-A-Tude

We continue our series of personalized (vanity) license plates in Arizona. To maintain individual privacy, we try to show as little information about particular cars as possible as long as we can reveal the license plate.

NOTE – License plate photos may have been archived for quite some time. The years indicated on the registration stickers DO NOT necessarily reflect the current status of any given plate!

We hope you enjoy these PL8ATUDES!

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I like my

GRITS

as long as they are

NOT2SWT

!

 

JBRish.com originally published this post
See previous PL8ATUDES HERE

**********

 

All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019


Petroglyphs: The Writing on the Wall

Petroglyphs are images scratched into rocks using other rocks or instruments. In the desert, rocks often gather a dark patina that can be chipped away to reveal a lighter surface underneath. These are ideal surfaces for creating petroglyphs.

These drawings are found in many locations around the world. and those created by ancient peoples tend to hold a certain mystique.

NOTE: – Paintings on rocks are referred to as pictographs or petrographs.

Some Petroglyphs are relatively recent, perhaps as young as the early twentieth century while others are tens of thousands of years old.

During our many hikes across the United States, we have seen a number of established petroglyph sites.

One of the most interesting encounters was Newspaper Rock State Historic Monument in Utah which can be found along the main road leading into the Needles section of Canyonlands National Park.



The photo above was of the left-hand side of the main display. A number of the images are self-explanatory while others remain mysterious. These are estimated to be 2,000 years old according to the park’s website.



This lighter section was a less “populated” area even farther left of the area shown above. It is amazing how well the petroglyphs have stood the rigors of weather over time. Notice that some drawings such as the feet and the quartered circle are repeated in a number of areas shown in the photographs.



The last section, located on the right-hand side of the monument, is carved on very dark rock. A variety of animals and hunters can clearly be seen.

What I find almost equally astounding is that these images do not seem to have been defaced. There is only a short fence blocking off this ancient canvas which could easily be breeched. Kudos to the thousands of visitors who have admired this precious view into the past and have kept it safe for others to witness.

Read more abut Newspaper Rock HERE


Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

We were fortunate enough to have time to visit petroglyphs at the Valley of Fire State Park. Although these were not at ground level, a scaffolding was erected to enable easy viewing of the ancient artistry.



Picture courtesy of Park Ranger John website

Valley of Fire State Park

A number of the images were similar to those at other sites.


 


 

Unfortunately there was some alteration, or more accurately, violation of these ancient treasures, shown in the picture below via the circle.


 

The names Herman and Janine were carved into the face of the large rock.


Painted Desert – Another Rock, Another Newspaper

The Painted Desert also has a Newspaper Rock although it is not as easy to “read” as the Canyonland’s Edition.

The artifacts can be viewed from a fenced-off, elevated area just a short walk from the large parking lot. Don’t expect to get a good picture of the actual drawings unless you have a camera with a fairly large telephoto lens.

This is what you will see from the viewpoint above the rock formation. I have placed yellow arrows where the petroglyphs are located. On a sunny day, there is shade covering much of the surface (obviously depending on the the time of the day) making them difficult to see with the naked eye.


 

There are free viewing machines (mechanical binoculars) that assist visitors in visualizing some of the drawings. These are not always optimal as dust and dirt on the lenses and loss of definition related to location in such a harsh environment degrades the lenses.

NOTES:

I am not suggesting that people be allowed to approach these ancient treasures and, as demonstrated above, perhaps it is a good thing for their own protection.

The pictures below were not captured with a standard 35mm camera and thus the ranges given are approximately estimated for a full-frame digital camera.

With a telephoto lens ( 80mm +/-), we can get closer…





At approximately 300 mm (+/-) the drawings become quite clear:


 



Moving in a bit closer, we can see even more detail.


 

At the maximum length of the crop sensor lens on my canon HS50xs Powershot, we get a closer look, but some detail is blurred.



Once again, we see similarity to petroglyphs from other sites.

 

Tours by the Old Pueblo Archaeology Center are available for some of the petroglyph sites at the Petrified Forest.

Read more about Petroglyphs and Petroglyph National Monument in New Mexico

If you enjoyed this post, you can read more miscellaneous stories on JBRish HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019 — JBRish.com



Photography: My Shot – Nature’s Color Palette

There appears to be a little-known gem in near Winslow, Arizona. It is to be found in Navajo County. It is a beautiful natural land mass that unfortunately receives little or no care from the federal, state or local governments. There are volunteers who try to keep the sparkle on this natural wonder.

The area is known as the Little Painted Desert and it is very much as pretty as many areas of the Painted Desert National Park. We happened to stumble upon information about this natural display of formations and colors and decided to visit the property to see it for ourselves.



This is just one small area and you can see how beautiful the colorful hues of purple, grey and brown mix together for a stunning display. Nature truly is the best at providing exquisite vistas upon which we are fortunate enough to gaze.

If you are on your way to Winslow, AZ near the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert Natioinal Parks, I think you would enjoy a brief stop at the Little Painted Desert as well. Just be aware that it is easy to miss as there is no signage and the rim road is in very poor, but drivable condition if you take it slow and exercise care.

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Metadata

File Name: paint_desert_pet_forest_XT2A2810.RAF
Capture time: 2:35:45 PM
Capture date: Sep 9, 2019
Exposure: 1/50 sec @ f/16
Focal Length: 55mm
ISO: 200
Fujifilm X-T2
18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS

Edited in Lightroom

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Check out Jeff’s Instagram account for more interesting photos!

Read more photography posts HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged #please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019 JBRish.com



Caught by Fire While Hiking

In mid September we traveled to the White Mountains in northeast Arizona near Pinetop/Lakeside for some hiking. After much research, one of of the daily hikes we selected was the Los Burros Trail in the Apache Sitgreaves Forest.

“Killer hike” is how you’d describe Los Burros if you were writing a postcard. Even the historic red barn, which greets hikers at the trailhead, is alluring. Or maybe “mystical” is a better word. It’s the kind of place Django Reinhardt might have hunkered down with a bottle of Château Margaux, despite the “no trespassing” sign.

Source

While the hike was nice, it was somewhat rocky with little else to see except trees and a couple of meadows. There were no distant mountain vistas or breathtaking mountain views. Having said that, it was a typical forest hike with plenty of canopy. It was a good forest hike if that is your goal.

During our hours of hiking we passed one trio of horseback riders and a cyclist; that’s it!

Little did we know what an adventure this would ultimately become. According to our Garmin GPS device, we had hiked a bit over eleven of the 13.8 (+/-) miles and we noticed that the sky was turning dark. Initially we thought a storm was brewing.

We heard helicopters circling the area several times. We saw them and they should have seen us as there were many times they passed overhead and we were in clearings along the path.

We continued along the trail and then we saw this…


XXXXXXXX

There was a tremendous amount of smoke and haze. Part of the forest was on fire. It was nearly four o’clock on what was a sunny day.



Luckily, we were close to a rather wide service road. As we began to walk along the road to get to where the trail continued. At this point, flames were clearly visible.



see detail with flames below



detail from photograph above

We were really in a quandary regarding what would be the “best” strategy; especially when we saw exactly where our trail led…



The trail continued directly behind the sign along that path!

At this point, it was obvious we could not take the trail so we began to walk down the service road in the direction of the trailhead. We knew then and there that this had the potential to be a very long day.

We were prepared with headlamps, extra food, water, etc., but we had no firefighting mechanism and we were breathing smoke from the surrounding fires.

A fire truck came rambling along the road and after being flagged down, the driver was able to shout some vague directions to us, but it still left us guessing. We had a map and to the best of our knowledge of the area, we continued to walk.

After ten minutes or so, we caught a lucky break. A woman on an ATV was approaching along the road. She heard about the fire and wanted to see what was happening. After some conversation, she agreed to drive us back to the trailhead; apparently we were going to be spared an ordeal!

NOTE: We learned that the fire along our trail was set deliberately to prevent a lightning induced fire farther south from ravaging the area.


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The story has a happy ending, but it still leaves me with some interesting thoughts:

    1 – If the firefighters knew they were going to set a backfire, shouldn’t they have considered that there might be hikers along the Los Burros trail?

    2 – Shouldn’t the helicopters have reported that there were hikers on the trail and request help/rescue?

    3 – Wouldn’t it have been nice under the circumstances for the firemen on the truck who offered us “directions” to have given us a ride to the campground? We later saw firetrucks and firefighters at the trailhead just yards from where we parked. I can’t be sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the driver of the truck that stopped was among them.

    4 – Couldn’t the men on the truck call to get someone to help us get safely back to our car?

In the end, it all worked out and I thank that wonderful woman for giving us a ride to the trailhead. She wanted no reward, just to be remembered for a good deed. We thank you Susan! You saved us much anguish and consternation!

 

Read more Hiking and Exploration posts HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019 – JBRish.com



SignEdge: Bloody Mess in Holbrook, AZ

Many towns in the United States and probably around the world have streets with clever names. A few that come to mind quickly from my area of the globe, i.e. Cave Creek, AZ are …


Ho Hum Road

and


Lucky Land

While Ho Hum, Easy and Lucky are “cute” and unusual names for streets and roads, on a recent trip to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert National Park we witnessed something less cute, but just as interesting in Holbrook, AZ. Low and behold, there was a street just prior to crossing over the railroad tracks that had a very morbid name.

Lucky Land

ucket of Blood St. - Map
Via Apple Maps

How the Bucket of Blood St. received its name is not that clear. There are a couple of theories on the Internet. The most popular explanation perhaps, dates back to the late 1800s when Holbrook was a rough and tumble gunslinging town with gambling, prostitution and lots of violence.

Apparently Terril’s Cottage Saloon played host to a tremendous gunfight after which the floor was so covered with blood that it nearly filled a bucket. From that point forward the emporium became known as the Bucket of Blood Saloon.

The saloon survived as Route 66 became a popular thoroughfare and it eventually evolved into a roadside attraction in the 20th century. The saloon no longer exists, but the street name serves as a reminder of Holbrook’s notorious past.

Source*

 
See previous SignEdge posts HERE
Just for SignEdge wine or beer labels HERE


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All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019



PL8ATUDES – August 5, 2019



Plate-A-Tude

We continue our series of personalized (vanity) license plates in Arizona. To maintain individual privacy, we try to show as little information about particular cars as possible as long as we can reveal the license plate.

NOTE – License plate photos may have been archived for quite some time. The years indicated on the registration stickers DO NOT necessarily reflect the current status of any given plate!

We hope you enjoy these PL8ATUDES!

****************************************

POKRFAC

because I avoid heated arguments with a simple action. I just

SYRRUP
!

 

JBRish.com originally published this post< See previous PL8ATUDES HERE

**********

 

All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019


PL8ATUDES – May 27, 2019



Plate-A-Tude

We continue our series of personalized (vanity) license plates in Arizona. To maintain individual privacy, we try to show as little information about particular cars as possible as long as we can reveal the license plate.

NOTE – License plate photos may have been archived for quite some time. The years indicated on the registration stickers DO NOT necessarily reflect the current status of any given plate!

We hope you enjoy these PL8ATUDES!

****************************************

If you have

POKRFAC

pancakes for breakfast, make sure you have a flavorful

SYRRUP

!

 

JBRish.com originally published this post< See previous PL8ATUDES HERE

**********

 

All original content on this blog is copyrighted by Jeffrey B. Ross with ALL Rights Reserved. While reference links back to JBRish.com are appreciated and encouraged, please acquire approval for any reproduction of original content from this website.

©Jeffrey B. Ross 2014 – 2019