Jewell Cave National Monument...

..the ceiling is full of Calite Crystals..

...South Dakota, I thought we'd go in and look around,
to see what things are like, we you go underground;
it's a large cave 152.8 miles long,
but we won't venture, where we don't belong.

Calite Crystals are nice to look at, but ahem...
hard as a fingernail, to soft for a gem,
I think they look best in their enviornment here,
but I don't like underground stuff, get me outa here!


..no need to paint the walls..




...more crystals..



John Day Fossil Beds National Monument....

The Painted Hills of Eastern Oregon, click to enlarge

...Oregon, not quite what most people think about Oregon,
the state has two very distinct halves, most like the other one;
this area is named for the John Day River, with wanders through,
but the hiking trail is great, with many other things to do.

The view is "different" but the colors are nice,
and of course there are fossils, that nature put on ice,
there are people here that come to dig up old things,
and those hills have texture, kind of like tree rings.


A trail side interpretive station at Clarno Palisades




More of the Painted Hills



Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore....

Among the dunes...

...Indiana, another surprise, who would have thought,
the the South Shore of Lake Michigan has wrought...
..magnificent dunes of colossal height,
boy, the wind must have blown with all its might.

It must have taken thousands of years,
to make dunes so tall, that they bring cheers,
from fans and families, those who come here,
have memories to keep, and oh so dear.


see, how tall they are




Works of the wind



Ice Age National Scenic Trail....



Map of the trail

...Wisconsin, the trail follows the edge of the North American Glacier...
..of 15,000 years ago.  1200 miles it wanders about, without so much as a spacer.
It would be a long walk, but people come and go,
there are portals along the way, so they can do so.

Terrific scenery along the way,
so many things to see, in just one day;
it's too bad we all can't just up and go,
so we'll use the computer to do so.

The dells in Eau Claire, nice trail here



Chippewa Moraine segment



The Chequamegoan Natioal Forest segment

NOTE:  All of the photos can be "clicked to enlarge"

Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve....

A section of the dunes, backed up by the Rockies

...Colorado, just in case you missed it, something I saw on TV,
I thought I'd write about it, and gave you stuff to see;
it's about what I captioned, and write about below,
something that's amazing, in summer or in snow.

The Great Sand Dunes National Park, here in Colorado,
well, it's just spectacular, puts on quite a show;
so many thing to see or do, some beyond our reach,
this is one of Earths biggest, sand built in beach.



lots of sand




Kids at the "beach" on Medano Creek



Hawaii Volcanoes National Park....

Some like it hot!

....Hawaii, on the big island, it's a "hell" of a place,
one of the scarey things, for us the human race;
full of steam, smoke and fire, be careful where you walk,
just hang out with the Rangers, and listen when they talk.

The molten lava rolls along on it's way to the sea,
and when all of this is over, how big will Hawaii be?
This volcano has been going on "forever", we don't know if it will end,
I wonder if we stuck some iron in, well, you know, would it bend?

Full moon over the lava field



Lots of steam as the molten lava hits the water



Haleakala National Park....

Colors added by the sun, nice.

...Hawaii, over in Maui there's a volcanic place,
where the lava fields are bright, but seem out of place;
the volcano is dormant, but this is left behind,
remnants of the past, ode to a former time.

But, the is also green space, with a boardwalk through it all,
a rain forest type of place, where the rains continue to fall;
it's bright and it's green, lush vegetation all around,
but you should come and see, this varied place and ground.


Lava fields a-plenty



Some of the "green space"



Ohleo Stream, from the waterfall above, empties into the ocean.