Yellowstone Midway Geyser Basin and Grand prismatic spring

Yellowstone 170927-171005

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Firehole river at Midway Geyser Basin,

 Excelcior geyser

Grand prismatic spring

Opal Pool

Turquoise Pool

Boardwalk alongside  Firehole River
 © NF Photos 170930

Yellowstone  Midway Geyser Basin and Grand prismatic spring

Dark skies this day!

Linking up with:    Sky Watch Friday   



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Yellowstone 170929 Mormon Row Historic District

Yellowstone 170927-171005

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The place mostly visited by tourists above

 A village on the other side of the road

And I found some nice frosted grass to capture

© NF Photos 170929

This post is dedicated to our visit to:
Mormon Row Historic District

More images fom that day on my diary post HERE


Linking up with: Sky Watch Friday   Barns Collective



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Yellowstone 171005-06 Going home

Yellowstone 170927-171005

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© NF Photos 171005-06

Today was the first morning I could sleep to 8.30. Some of the group are already gone. We are 6 people going home today. The others are going to other palces in the US.

Our taxi for the airport picked us up at 11.30. Did not take long to get there. Just about 30 min.

Waiting at the GATE, Bozeman Airport, Montana
One of the best views I have seen from a GATE I think.

We are going from Bozeman to Minneapolis
Minneapolis to Amsterdam and
Amsterdam to Arlanda Stockholm.

We leave Bozeman 13,30 Oct 5th local time. Comes to Minneapolis 16,47 local time
Leave Minneapolis 19,33 and arrive at Amsterdam 10,30 next day, Oct 6th

For a while we had company, another plane travelling alongside us.

Leave Amsterdam at 14,45 and arrives at Arlanda 16,45

And finally, closing in to Arlanda for landing.

A looong day! But as we go against the Earth rotation it seems longer then it was. Still, it was long enough. 13 h in the air and lots of waiting hours.

After that comes the bus to Stockholm and train to Katrineholm. And Taxi home. I was home 21.30. Tired!

Linking up with: WATW   Our World Tuesday   



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Yellowstone 170928 2 Oxbow Bend, lunch and afternoon

Yellowstone 170927-171005

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© NF Photos 170928

LUNCH, everybody was hungry as we had no meal since 6 a´clock in the morning.
But before we got to Jenny Lake and picnic lunch,  we visited Oxbow Bend.
Oxbow Bend has a spectacular view over Cascade Canyon and Teton range. A must for every visitor to the area.

Our first picnic lunch was in a gorgeous sunshine setting overlooking Jenny Lake. With tablecloth and everything we enjoyed our lunch. The only thing I missed was a hot cup of coffee. But I managed. While the guides set the tables the rest of us explored the area. A great beach and view over Cascade Canyon competed with noisy grasshoppers and birds, Grey Jay, stealing whatever they could eat. Not to mention the squirrels family, chipmunks.

Me and fellow travellers.

 After the quite late lunch we headed for Jackson Lake and the dam.

Jackson Lake above the dam

We met a beautiful Mule deer and some people looking for a moose.

After a long day we arrived at the Jackson Lake Colter Bay Village and got our rooms in small cabins. Then dinner at 20.00 in the restaurant.

A cold shower, uploading my shots and then.....sleep.

Just to wake up again at 5.45 for breakfast.



Linking up with: Sky Watch Friday



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Yellowstone 170927 A loooooong day

Yellowstone 170927-171005

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© NF Photos 170927

This was a really looong day as I travelled from Arlanda, Sweden to Jackson Hole in Wyoming, USA. Going there is following the rotation of the Earth so it was a loong day even if your watch told you otherwise.
We took off at Arlanda at 06.30 and landed in Jackson at 14,55.  Seems like a bit more then 8h 25 min.  Not much really.

 BUT,  
ARN -  AMS was 2h 10 min
going through procedures 1h 50 min
AMS-SLC said to be 2h 46 min. In real time it was 10h 46 min Due to time difference.
going through costume in SLC a little more then an 1h
SLC to Jackson 1h 5 min
Mostly on time except for Arlanda when we were delayed due to fog in Amsterdam.

So, from ARN at 6.30 to Jackson at 14.55, both local times, 8h 25 min. In reality it was approx
17h, flight time was 14h

And it was still afternoon so we did take a walk in Jackson before dinner and, finally some sleep.

Most of the trip was cloudy so despite having a windowseat I did not see much of the Atlantic or the USA mainland. But closing in to Salt Lake City the sun appeared. And Jackson welcomed us with a sunny afternoon. We visited the central park with an antler entry in every corner and I also visited an Art Gallery by an artist named JD Challenger. WOW, that was something I could have bought if I had a LOT of money.

Sitting in the sky looking down on Wyoming.

Entry to the park in Jackson Hole.  Made of deer and elk antlers

 View from my room at Jackson Ranch Inn.  A Ski slope.

A native artist

We gathered for dinner at 20.00h and went to a restaurang. Food was great and they had a bison in there. We was supposed to have a session where we presented each other but the place was too busy to do that.  Dinner took 2h so we were to tired to do it at the motell.

Being up for probably more then 24h it was good to finally go to sleep.

Linking up with: Sky Watch Friday  (not much sky today but there are skies and I was in the sky as well)



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Japan 160204 Long way home

Japan 160122-160204
Bird Photography trip

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© NF Photos 160204

This was the first morning we could sleep as we pleased. We only had to be finished breakfast and packing until 9.45 when we should take the shuttle to the airport, Tokyo Intl Haneda. Our plane was due to departure at 12,50.

I was surprised at how beautiful the place was. Lots of  trees made of lamps. Looks like Christmas all day long. After checking in and I said goodbye to Ms Harumi Yamanaka I went to see if I could buy some hat but did not find any I wanted. But I did find a T-shirt with cherry blossom on it so now I have seen them in Japan. And I bought one.

This the Haneda Airport in Tokyo. I There is planes that has to land before we can tax out. This is goodby Tokyo and Japan.

The plane for the first part to Munich was a large one. When I had to go to the toilet I had to go down one floor. That was the first time I had to do that. Apart from that is was as usual. Food OK. Entertainment, worked, Flight INFO, worked. Window seat, YES. The trip took roughly 12 hours. 

I think this was the Russian river Lena. 

One thing that surprised me was that the flight path took us all the way up to The Arctic Ocean. 

Here is where we were closing in to Norway from the north direction. Then we had to go over Skandinavia all the way down to Munich. 

In Munich we had 3 hours to spare at that airport before the last flight, back up north, to Sweden. We arrived at ARN 22:40 and I was lucky, my daughter showed up. So I did not have to sleep at the airport. I got a nice bet at my daughters house. Then I took a train back home the next day. 

Here is a map of the places I visited in Japan during the trip. And the only Cherry blossom I saw and purchased.

Linking up with:  Sky Watch Friday

Japan on NF Photo  NF Birds around the world   

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Japan 160126 Arasaki Crane Center - Tokyo

Japan 160122-160204
Bird Photography trip

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© NF Photos 160126, Arasaki Crane Center to Tokyo, Japan

Early morning as usual,hoping for a gorgeous sunrise at the same bridge as yesterday. And we were not disappointed. It was even better. It is such a perfect setting with the mountain range in the distance where the sun rises and the cranes all over the sky. And the ocean at the side. 

Everyone was very pleased when we headed back to the hotel for breakfast and to get ready to leave the hotel. 

One thing with Japanese customs is that when you leave a hotel the staff comes out to wave you off. Saying goodbye. and welcome back. And you are not supposed to leave until they are there. That would be very rude.

Now we headed back to the Arasaki Crane Center. Stopping for a while at a snowy and wet field where many cranes were feeding. It was a beautiful sight.  Today the Center was open and so the shops and roof deck. No climbing today.  :)  I walked around the area looking at cranes and other birds. And took a quick look in the shop. At lunch time we left the area to find a shop where we could buy lunch and then we were off to the Kagoshima´s airport. We had to do a little detour as they did not yet clean the entire highway. But we get to the airport in time for our tour to Tokyo.  The plane took off at 16,30. We stayed at the same airport hotel as last time. 

We heard at the news that 3000 schools had been closed due to the storm and it was 113 years since last time they had this amount of  snow. No wonder the center was closed yesterday.

We landed in Tokyo at 18,35 and had dinner at 20,30. The same kind of small dishes as all other meals. Took a shower and uploaded all images to the computer.

Tomorrow it is Monkey business! And breakfast at 6.45. Departure  by bus at 7.45. Going to see the snow monkeys. 

Linking up with:  Our World Tuesday   WATW

Japan on NF Photo  NF Birds around the world   

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26/1: Morgon vid Arasaki Crane Center. Buss till Kagoshima och flyg därifrån till Tokyo. Natt i Tokyo.

26 januari

Idag fortsatte vi med att fotografera tranor och andra fåglar vid Arasaki. Morgonen bjöd på en riktigt fin soluppgång, där de stora tranflockarna bildade snygga silhuetter mot den röda morgonhimmeln. Ytterligare några tusen bilder matades in i våra minneskort! Även idag såg vi fyra tranarter, då vi lyckades rota fram både trana (1) och prärietrana (4). Flera amurtrastar fanns runt vårt hotell, liksom svartryggad rödstjärt.

Efter lunch bröt vi upp och körde den några timmar långa bussresan till Kagoshimas flygplats, som nu hade öppnats igen då den mesta snön töat bort. Under eftermiddagen flög vi sedan tillbaka till Tokyo, där vi tog in på flygplatshotellet för en natt. 

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Japan 160121-22 Katrineholm to Arlanda airport - an adventure in itself

Japan 160122-160204
Bird Photography trip day one!

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© NF Photos 160121 and 160122

Katrineholm to Arlanda airport - an adventure in itself

I had tickets for a train in the afternoon. As usual I took an earlier bus downtown. As usual I had my little camera in the pocket and took some photos of the, still up, Christmas decorations. In the tunnel I checked up the timetable of the trains. Crap, my train was cancelled! What am I supposed to do now? The ticket office was still open so I went there. The woman told me there had been an incident with  smoke detected in a train. And that effected the entire region. Lots of trains cancelled or very late.

In a way I was lucky being early to the station. An earlier train, that was 1,5h late, was arriving a bit later so I could jump on that one. A tall man helped me with my suitcase. It turned out he was from Syria and could not speak English. But he was accompanied by a Somalian man who helped him out. The three of us communicated with hands and feet :)  That went well.

When I arrived to the station in Södertälje where my daughter lives the escalator was out of order. I went for the lift and found it all dead! Back at the escalator I had to carry the luggage down 2 floors. Not fun, but in the end it turned out I got to my daughter 15 min ahead of schedule. Despite everything. So I could spend the evening with her and her husband to be.

In the morning she drew me to Arlanda where I met the rest of the group that would start the trip from there.

On the highway through Stockholm I spotted a beautiful sun halo and managed to get some shots through the car window. 

And also a shot of the beautiful skyscraper north of Stockholm. Victoria Tower, the highest building in Stockholm. 

It is really great to be a passenger, take a look! I could even talk to my granddaughter that is studying in Honolulu. 

Linking up with:   Skywatch Friday

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22/1: Resdag. Flyg från Stockholm/Köpenhamn via Frankfurt

23/1: Ankomst Tokyo, natt där

22-23 januari

Idag väntar en lång resdag, som tar oss via Frankfurt där gruppen sammanstrålar och sedan vidare över många tidszoner österut, innan vi landar i Tokyo på lördag lunchtid lokal tid (tidig morgon svensk tid). I Tokyo tar vi in på hotell i väntan på vidare flyg söderut till ön Kyushu på söndag, då fotograferingen äntligen kan påbörjas.

Japan on NF Photo  NF Birds around the world   

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