Some Odds and The End of Gulfapalooza 2011

 All good things must come to an end, and here's the last of our Gulfapalooza 2011 lighthouse-hunting trip.  The odds and ends and um, The End.  Above, a mushroom cloud (oh, if ONLY) rises above Houston and a southbound intermodal train.

 I don't know.  Palms and sky.  Pretty.

 Swampy grass near Lake Pontchartrain.  Sawgrass?  Sugar cane?  Whatever - it's neat!

 Tourist trap!  Tourist trap at Port Isabel!  Hide your wallet!

 This is what Texas looks like.  Okay, that's not fair.  This is what Texas looks like when it's about to rain.

The Orion nebula is the birthplace of stars and worlds.  This part of Texas gives birth to oil rigs.

 Train!  Well, a semi-restored museum piece, but still.  A nice example of an old SW1 switcher.

 ...and an even better caboose.

 Pensacola Light Station's only pelican.  He's very disciplined, though - stood still until completely painted!

We finished shooting lighthouses with a couple of days to spare, but we were nowhere near ready to go home, so we made haste to Kill Devil Hills, and our favorite beach-side balcony.  Best.  Trip.  Ever.

Thanks for visiting.  With any luck, we'll have more pictures to post soon.

McKayla Maroney Is Not Impressed With My Photo Blog

 Not impressed with hanging off the American Shoals lighthouse.

 Not impressed by Cape Lookout lighthouse.

 Not impressed by Camaro convertibles.

 Not impressed with Fort Jefferson OR its lighthouse OR its cannons.

 SO not impressed with Texas.

 Another lighthouse.  Not impressed.

Mile Zero in Key West.  Not impressed.

 McKayla is not impressed by big, billowy clouds with faces in them.

 Not impressed by trains.

 

Joe and [Maris] got married.  Not impressed.

And one bonus shot (not at all mine)...

McKayla Maroney is not impressed by Mars.

Thanks for playing along.  And before anyone gets all toe-y on us, we LOVE McKayla Maroney.  We hope she's deeply proud of her gold and silver medals from London, and we hope to see her in Rio.

Running Out Of Texas

Continuing on our frenzied race to shoot Texas' lighthouses and get out before anyone saw us, we stopped at Port Lavaca. This is Halfmoon Reef Lighthouse, which has been relocated to the local seniors center parking lot. It's a cute little light, though. Oh, I've done it now - went and called something in Texas "little." Check out the star on top of the cupola, by the way. Don't you dare forget you're in Texas!

Car. Still not thrilled about being in Texas, but nonetheless acquiesced to having her picture taken with the lighthouse and a glorious Texas flag. You didn't forget we were in Texas, did you? Texas!

In Texas, you are required to obey warning signs, and you are reminded about a quarter-mile before each and every warning sign. So, two things: 1) Does that mean that in all other states, warning signs are merely suggestions? 2) Buy stock in Texas highway sign manufacturers!

Okay - last picture of the car for a while. This is down near Port Arthur, next to the Sabine River. I like the endless desolation beyond the car.

Sabine Pass Lighthouse. Like a rocket, with its supporting brick fins. Needs a bit of restoration work, but it's still really cool. If you look closely, you can see the Coast Guard SUV to the left of the tower. These guys will later stop us on our way onto the swampy lighthouse property, decide that we're harmless, take a long look at our car and say "Yeah, you should be okay in that."

And back to digital...

These guys didn't seem to like where we were, either. They stopped and took a long look at us and our zoom lenses. I'm guessing we were too close to the oil-rig factory.

The pilot boat didn't care. He had work to do.

Couldn't resist shooting this. A picture doesn't begin to do justice to the sheer scale of this kind of construction. Massive stuff. Texas.

Anyone know what this huge claw thing is? 'Cause we don't!

Having braved the swamp in a Camaro, bottoming out more than once and getting marsh grass stuck in her undercarriage, we arrived at the Sabine Pass Lighthouse, on the Louisiana side of the river. It is an incredibly cool site, and actually very spooky, even in daylight. We were repeatedly buzzed by a Coast Guard helicopter, so we figured if we had gotten stuck, help would have been along promptly.

More to come. Thanks for stopping by!

Texas Isn't All Bad...

Okay. So. We went to Texas. In October 2011, we loaded our cameras and Mountain Dew into the new baby car and drove it like we stole it from Maryland to Texas in less than two days. The goal, as usual, was to photograph lighthouses and whatever else we found. Above, the car refuses to set foot in Texas. She relented. Eventually. Texas.

Heading southwest from the brief nightmare that was Houston, this Kansas City Southern train paced us for a while along US Rt. 59. We were quickly losing daylight, so it's not my best railfan work, but it is my first train shot in Texas. Texas.

Car. Growling at the Texas cotton fields. Texas.

Thunderheads are bigger in Texas. Texas.

Cow with horns! Texas.

This one's mostly for Mom, who dearly misses Rehoboth Beach's Purple Parrot. We're in Port Isabel, not far from the Texas-Mexico border on the Gulf. Texas.

Boom. Our first light. Point/Port Isabel. Not easy to shoot with all the people climbing all over it, and we could do without the streamers and signage advertising some town festival-y thing, but it is beautifully-restored and kept. Texas.

Still shooting film, too! Black & White, even. Texas.

Gulf-bound oil tanker passing Port Isabel. Texas.

The Queen Isabel Causeway, linking Port Isabel with the southern end of South Padre Island. Texas.

Much more to come. We followed the Gulf Coast north and east through Texas (Texas.), Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. Come with us! Texas.