Your Most Artistic NON-DISNEY Pictures

From Letchworth State Park in western upstate NY

Cool pic, Vette!! I couldn't figure out for a while whether that was a waterfall or a bunch of clouds!

My home "stomping ground"!! Thanks Vettelover...I grew up in Brockport, NY about an hour from Letchworth. We had many family picnics at Letchworth...they have lots of great events there. The last event I attended was a weekend of Highland Games...I hope they're still holding them there...it's a great venue for them. Oh, there's a great swimming pool at the park and fantastic camping...highly recommended!!

Wow, sounds like fun, guys! Road trip to Letchworth for the WDWFG kids!

Ooooohhh...Highland Games. I'm long overdue to attend...way long, as I've never been. Shame since I'm a Celt.

Wow!

That's amazing. VL

A few more from scenic Letchworth State Park.

Are those people rafting or kayaking? That place looks awesome!

admin they are rafting here is a closer look.

That's so cool! I wonder if that's a year round thing, or if they have to shut it down in winter. Also, I wonder if novices can go, or if it's just for rafting pros...

That's on the Genesee River, the "Grand Canyon of the East"...you wouldn't want to raft there in the winter...it is REALLY COLD in upstate NY in the winter...not to mention fairly icy. The northern end of the river empties in the Lake Ontario and we used to see some fairly hefty hunks of ice float down river...all that said, the best time of year to go to Letchworth is in the Fall when the color comes to the trees...absolutely gorgeous!!

Also in the general vicinity is Genesee Country Village in Mumford, NY. A neat, restoration village. All of the buildings are actual period buildings that have been moved to the site to save them. All kinds of cool exhibits and programs are held there...including "period" baseball games in the summer. The museum also has a really nice collection of Remington bronzes.

Have you ever rafter or done anything in the water?
What about you Vettelover?

Cool off on a warm day!

Ooooh Yes! We used to have family reunions near Lechworth and I wouldn't want to be rafting in the winter!

Hey Vettelover -- where's that ice sculpture?! Do they do that every year?

Had a trip to the RAF museum at Hendon, north London today and thought of you guys when I saw this.
Can anyone identify the aircraft without googling the pilots name? (yes I know what it is). If you do get as far as google, there's a lot of info about Donald R Emerson on the 'net.

Bali the ice sculpture is from a New years eve celebration in Nashua NH a type of "first night" party held along the Main St. and it usually includes some type of ice carvings and I think they usually do a pretty nice job of it.

That plane reminds me of a cool Disney blog -- Toons at War -- which covers ways in which cartoons (and often Disney cartoons) were used during WWII and other conflicts to boost morale and provide a taste of home while overseas. Very cool pic, Tony.

That would be arguably the sexiest fighter plane there has ever been, the P-51D Mustang. At first glance I thought it might be a Spitfire (though the colors did not support that) because it's the RAF museum. Soon as I saw the US Army inventory number though, I knew it was a legendary Mustang.

It is indeed a P51.

The Spitfire is definately more sexy though (guess we'll have to agree to disagree there).

The Spitfire is a beautiful plane, but the P-51D was one of the most successful fighter planes ever. I have to give it the nod due to it being a 'game-changer'.

A game changer with a version of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine (as used in the Spit') for it's most succsessful period.

Ugliest aircraft for me is the Hawker Harrier 'Jump Jet', another very effective game changer in its day.

I bet the RAF museum is really cool. Talk about a game changer. It's hard to imagine what would have happened in WW II without the heroics of the RAF. I used to play "Battle of Britain" on my PC when I was younger too.

Right you are. I purposefully indicated P-51D instead of just P-51. The third and fourth iteration were the dominant force, not so much with the first two. Wasn't discounting the role the Spitfire or the brave men that flew them. I think the Spitfire, with its smooth lines and eliptical wing, is a much prettier plane to look at. Just pointing out there is something to be said, to me, for the brute force and anything but subtle nature of the Mustang. The A10 is, at least on the surface, a terribly ugly plane. Its durability, longevity, and extreme effectiveness though make it a very sexy craft.

Wanted to try to stay on topic, so I found these (used links instead of the images since I do not own them):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/photohound/4486819686/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xcalakattack/963703013/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/xcalakattack/963707133/in/photostream/

(apparently the last one - bottom two links - was designed by Walt himself)

OK, back to pictures, here's another from last Sunday.

Woo cars AND planes!

Ah! I've been to Nashua -- very cool! Thanks for the info!

Here we go!

I have a weird obsession with graveyards! Yes these have been edited.

Did you get your lovely outdoors shots while hiking? I bet you've got great hiking in CO.

Yep, we go out hiking and geocaching!