David Howell Travel Photography and Map Blog

In a quiet glacial canyon in Les Pyrénées Parc National the tallest waterfall in Europe pounds onto the jumble of rocks at the base of Cirque de Gavarnie.

The Cirque de Gavarnie retains a few remnants of the glaciers that carved the sheer wall. The cirque wall is up to 1,500 meters (~4,900 feet) in height and 3,000 meters (almost two miles) wide. The small glaciers hang in the ledges high above the canyon floor and their melt water feeds the waterfall which is called la Grande Cascade….

A human-pedaled giant silver lobster, a fire truck with a fire-belching hookah, a taco truck with a band, and dozens of outlandish, welded monstrosities, all of which had to navigate 42 miles of roadway, sand dunes, water crossings, and fiendish rules in front of inglorious officials and thousands of spectators….

Three days of human-powered, all terrain, endurance silliness.

There are a few so-called Kinetic Sculpture Races around the world. But the original one was held in Humboldt County, California, USA in 1969. It is now called The Kinetic Grand Championship.

It is a three day 42 mile (67 km) race on roads, beaches, sand dunes (Deadman’s Drop), bay and river crossings, and slippery slopes….

Each spring hundreds of people migrate to the northern coast of California. They come to see migrating and resident birds. They also gather for camaraderie, art, education, and fun.

When I went for my morning walk today the traffic and honking was hard to ignore. The geese are heading north along the Pacific coast!

The coastal overcast provided a neutral gray background for low-flying flocks of geese. They were very low and very loud….

I gave myself an assignment to cover the local county fair.

A fair is a very visual event. The workers at the carnival trying to entice customers onto rides or into games; the livestock auction; the vendors; the performers; the people; and the horse races, are all interesting.

I had never stood at trackside at a horse race before….