Have those of you in the ‘northern’ states tried to see any aurora borealis from the sun flares (specifically Sunspot AR1429) happening lately? Northern Lights were spotted in the United States as far south as the Dakotas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Oregon, Wyoming, Illinois, Montana, and Kansas. Goddard Space Weather Lab is sharing some very interesting interactive information on What’s up in Space?? There are photos there from each of the states mentioned. The Oregon one is from Beaverton, Cyndi!
For ‘solar’ music and super photos, check out AuroraBorealisPage. The main page is here and it is well worth your time to checkout the totally awesome photos and videos available. Several webcams are here. Awesome video if you have a Facebook account is at ArticLightPhoto which I ‘liked’ separately for its awesome display!
Ole Salomonsen also has the video and more beautiful aurora borealis photos posted on Flicker here where there are also many more contributors to the Northern Lights group. LoneStarNorth posted recent Minnesota Northern Light photos there as well.
The Grunion Run of 2012 has started! – If you can make it, it would be fun to attend the 8 pm Program at Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, CA, for their Meet the Grunion Program followed by a visit to the beach to see these little fish for yourself! Here is more information about the program at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium.
What is a Grunion Run????? Grunions are little fish only found along the Southern California Coast and northern Baja California. There are all kinds of jokes about going to see the Grunion Run along various CA beaches because it happens late at night.
Tomorrow, Feb 5, 2012 at 10 AM, the Portland Children’s Museum‘s newest traveling exhibit, The Wonder of Learning: The Hundred Languages of Children Exhibit from Reggio Emilia, Italy, will be open to the public. Those of you who know me well also know that I’m big on education and languages. This exhibit captured my interest immediately! Do click on the link to explore the thought behind the new, more museum-traditional (hands-off) type of exhibit, along with concepts, questions and answers.
“Exploring education through multi-media galleries that speak to how young children imagine, invent and create, this exhibit expands the potential to support creative thinking and collaboration in our schools and communities.”
Viewing The Wonder of Learning exhibit is included in your Museum admission price as well as all membership levels. Guests who ONLY wish to view The Wonder of Learning exhibit may do so free of charge by checking in with Guest Services. Guests who wish to visit The Wonder of Learning exhibit AND the rest of the Museum must purchase admission.
The Portland Children’s Museum newsletter also mentioned that they have partnered with Red Tricycle Portland to feature local giveaways, news, and family fun! Red Tricycle Portland is a great resource for those of you in the Portland, Oregon, area for fun activities to do with your children or grandchildren! Red Tricycle provides Portland parents with five fresh picks a week for fun things to see, eat, and do with your kids in your neighborhood. On the website you can sign up for a free email newsletter.
Our favorite road between Los Angeles and Reno is 395. We never tire of the beauty. White-out blizzard conditions we’ll attempt to bypass but the dazzling white snowy landscapes are so beautiful afterwards! This last October we experienced beautiful colors! Most of all I love the first section of the road between Bridgeport and Mono Lake (Conway Summit) that I’m sharing with you – especially in the Fall. I hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do!
This is so cool! Watch this video of a kayaker getting an up close and personal view of a curious blue whale! Link – You may have seen this already as I think it went viral, but the whale really seems to be checking out the kayaker!
Grandpa Ron and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary all weekend long by revisiting places we went just before our wedding. On Sunday, 10/09/11, we went through the Aquarium of the Pacific. My favorite exhibit is the one containing the Leafy Seadragons. Here are a few photos:
After we finished touring the aquarium we boarded one of their Blue Whale Watching Tours. It was great! We saw many whales – mainly blues but a few others. The trip was great! The aquarium docent was excellent and I think everyone had a great time trying to spot whales first! Here are a few of our photos!
The Los Angeles Zoo will open their new Tom Mankiewicz Conservation Carousel to the pubic on October 27, 2011. Jerry Moss (A&M Records cofounder) and his wife Ann Moss are the carousel’s major donors. Here are some LA Times Carousel Photos. There are some common animals as well as the endangered ones – and a unicorn! All the animals have friendly faces on purpose. Some have funny stories about their inclusion – like the skunk because there are so many of them “freeloading” at the zoo. If you are looking for something-not-so-scary for the family to enjoy around this Halloween or any time, check out the new carousel from Oct 27 on!
Grandpa Ron and I have been traveling every weekend for almost two months! I hope it won’t be so long between posts from now on, but I’m not sure if the traveling is going to settle down soon or not! We experienced first-hand a wonderful family place for those of you in the Madison, Wisconsin area.
We discovered a fun and FREE zoo when we were in Madison two weekends ago for my niece’s wedding. It is called the Henry Vilas Zoo. We got some great pictures!
For the 5k/10k runners and walkers reading this – on Sunday, September 25th at 10 am, the 6th annual Zoo Run Run (a 5k/10k walk and run) will take place past the zoo and through the beautiful Vilas neighborhood.
Here are some videos on the zoo website. The first one is a tour of the zoo.
I’ll post some more photos below.
Seems like the polar bear is saying, ” I forget… Do I even like carrots?”
The promise of another train ride is what prompted us to visit the zoo. However, in our usual fashion, by the time we meandered around the zoo and found the train, the train was already being put to bed for the night. Oh, well, maybe we’ll get another chance some other day! This is a beautiful zoo and a wonderful outing for the famly!
Six brand new, quail-egg-sized baby quail huddled very close together under the bush last weekend. These individual babies are almost impossible to distinguish from the bark shavings and dirt and each other. Do you see them? Once you see the heads in the one picture, if you go back to the other pictures, you can tell head markings from wings and backs. Have some fun! Then there are a few pictures of older babies and their parents.
The Marble Bluff Fish Passage Facility is located near Nixon, NV at Marble Bluff Dam, on the delta of the Truckee River where it ends at Pyramid Lake. The Cui-ui are spawning in large numbers this year. This endangered sucker fish is found only in Pyramid Lake in Nevada. There is a series of locks, ladders and bypasses to help the fish get up the Truckee River to lay their eggs. Jeff Delong of the Reno Gazette-Journal has a front page article With cui-ui thriving, the whole river teems with several great photos – one with a whole flock of white pelicans waiting for the fish to fly out of the water right into their mouths…well, almost! This year may be a record run thanks to all the winter snow we had.
There are several you-tube videos of the fish ladders from last year’s run. Here’s one. When it is done it will show you more choices as well.
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MyGrandmaSue 