Twentieth Wedding Anniversary ... a trip to the Grampians!

We had excellent cause to celebrate ... how often do you reach your twentieth wedding anniversary? Once in a lifetime, right? We wanted to do something to mark the occasion. A trip? Yes, a trip! So Dave and I took three days out, packed the cameras and drove to the Grampians, the amazing mountains east of the border...

We took several thousand pictures, and I'm just beginning to look through them. Whoa! Some of them are so amazing, they straddle the line between photography and art (and none of these you see here today have been into Photoshop. I cropped some, and gave the values a tweak, in Irfanview...)

We were only in Hall's Gap for two days ... I wish it could have been two years. I'd like to photograph the Grampians in all four seasons (apparently the native Aboriginal people recognize six seasons in this region, which they know as Gariwerd. It took an incoming Scotsman to realize how much these mountains reminded him of homeland and promptly rename them), and every time of day -- and also in both telephoto and macro ...

The truth is, I could go entirely nuts with the cameras in this place and not come home for years. I could also jump in the car and go back there every other week: it was magic! The only downside is that from Adelaide it's a 5.5 hour drive to get to Hall's Gap, even if you don't stop ... and if you don't stop, you will kill yourself with fatigue. The Duke's Highway is incredibly long, and the trucks on it are incredibly big, so...

Above: outbound via the Tailem Bend region. Middle: follow the train tracks due east, while listening to Freddie Mercury, K.D. Lang, Johnny Cash, Hobo Jim, Slim Dusty ... ABBA, Guardians of the Galaxy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Puss in Boots, anything, everything, and keep 'em coming, because they keep you awake! Then finally you cross the border, keep on going for another eon ... at last, hang a right at Horsham and run south into the Wartook Valley, and (bottom) ... there ... they ... are. The mountains rise right out of the Victorian pancake landscape (which doubled for Texas in the Ghostrider movie, incidentally).  Wooooo...

What can I say? Dave agrees with me that this is the best trip we ever did, and we'll do it again. It was "time of your life" stuff. He caught this shot of me, below, while I captured today's last image. I checked the time indexes on the photos, and they coincide:

Is that cool, or what?! That was dawn on March 27, just yesterday. Hall's Gap is down there, under the mist, which ran like a glacial river through the "Gap," which is a narrow pass through the mountain range.

I'll go through the photos gradually and get some posts together for the travel blog. I won't post them here, because this page is dedicated to art, but I will give you the links for the posts on the other blog, in case you're interested in Aus, or the Grampians, or photography, too...

So it's Happy Twentieth Wedding Anniversary to us!

Happy Valentine's, 2019!

Terre, in Willunga, for Vantine's Day lunch. 

Actually, one of our favorite places...

Great food and coffee as always at Terre, in Willunga

Happy Valentine's, Dave Downes ... Twenty Years and counting! 

Self. The guy who invented selfies should be shot at dawn. Urk. It's not the years, it's the mileage...

The captions to the pictures tell all: Happy Valentine's Day to my husband of twenty years, Dave Downes! Looking forward to celebrating the anniversary itself in just five weeks. Where have twenty years gone?!

Happy Birthday, Your Majesty: Now we are Five!

It's a puddy tat's life ... really! Zolie has had a great year: some dental problems that were soon sorted, leaving her as rambunctious as ever, and fast: zooming at the same speeds as she did years ago, running up trees, pouncing, climbing everything in sight. Oh yes, it's a cat's life. In fact --

Life is an adventure:

Helping to clean the a/c filter

Helping to make sure the roof is still in the same place

Helping to find a certain carton in the shed

Helping to change the sheets

Helping to make sure there's enough whipped cream on Dave's dessert

Then, it's time for an exciting episode of Action Cat!!

Going to be Indiana Jones's stuntman...

Soon to be seen in Queen of the Jungle

Phew. After all that running and jumping, it's time for a nap. Good thing that "life is a cat bed" too...

Yaaawn. Stetch. Purr. Yawn again. Revitalized after the nap, it's time to let those humans (hereafter known as "the staff") know that what a real, red-blooded cat needs it OUT!!!

Mmmm ... that's enough of being Queen of the Jungle for one day. Life is also about kicking back and taking it easy, perhaps indulging in a manicure or a bath...

And then again, when you're entirely done soaking up the sun and recharging those solar batteries (upon which feline types are well known to run), life can be a window...

Her evil twin appears in ghost-mirror form

Any chance of a cuppa?

Making sure the cars are still there

Outside the widow on the second kitchen back there

Inside the blind, outside the window. Outside looking in -- don't wanna come in, of course. Miao.

Pretending to be an Egyptian statue ... waiting for those pesky humans to get home!

Queen of the Jungle, Episode 47: Stripes Apocalypse!

That's Tarzan, making all that racket. Must need my help. Again. Sheesh. Third time this week. 

Shall I go help Tarzan, or let him figure out for himself how to tie a boot lace?

Where did she go?! The art of CATOUFLAGE

Nah. Figure it out yourself, Tarz. Me and Simba's taking naps.

Which just about covers Zolie's year! She's had a grand time, been into everything, and didn't even seem to mind the extreme heat, when the state set a new record at 117 degree F. She knows where the cool places are, as soon as the a/c turns on. And --

That's all, folks!