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Canada Trip, 2016: Cape Enrage and Fundy National Park

Michael RappaLeave a comment

The photos below are from my visits to Cape Enrage and Fundy National Park on August 29, 2016.

My wife and I first drove to Cape Enrage, where we enjoyed a delicious lunch next to the lighthouse before taking a walk around the grounds. They have rappelling and ziplining at Cape Enrage, but unfortunately the zipline from the cliff down the the beach was closed due to the wind. Bummer.

After leaving Cape Enrage we drove to Hopewell and hiked out to the beach among the famous rocks at low tide (this experience will be recounted in a forthcoming post).

During our hike back from the beach at Hopewell the skies opened and drenched us, but by the time we got back to our chalet in Alma, it was sunny again, so we headed out to nearby Fundy National Park for an early evening hike along a small waterfall trail. It was beautiful, like a stroll through Middle Earth, and peaceful—we had the entire trail to ourselves.

Later that evening we enjoyed one of the best pasta meals I’ve ever had (yes, in Canada!) at a place called An Octopus’ Garden Cafe. Pasta is made fresh with sauce customized exactly how you want it (I chose a spicy red sauce). Highly recommended. I would make a trip back to Alma just to eat there again.

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Eurotrip 2014, Part 18: In Bruges (Briefly)

Michael Rappa

At long, long last, I’m sharing the final chapter of my 2014 Eurotrip, nearly three years after the previous installment. I suppose that I delayed this entry for so long because of how disappointing the day was. I had originally planned an extensive recounting of the problems encountered on this tour (which I alluded to earlier in this series), but in the end I decided it’s not worth it, especially since the company did give me a partial refund, so I’m just going to briefly summarize the events of the day.

July 13, 2014: We got a late start when we departed Amsterdam for Bruges because we had to wait roughly 30 minutes on the bus for our guide to arrive with the group from the hostel. When we finally reached Bruges, the bus driver drove around for another 20 minutes not knowing where to park. He eventually figured it out but then got into an argument with the guide about how much time we would spend there, which the bus driver apparently won. So by the time we finally departed the bus, we had already lost about an hour.

Then, after hustling to the center of the city, we were informed that we had to meet back at the bus in just over two hours. I was stunned. Two hours? What was the point of even stopping here? That was barely enough time to grab a bite to eat and run around to snap a few photos. I certainly didn’t have time to wait in line and climb to the top of the famous bell tower. To make matters worse, it was raining pretty heavily, so I decided to eat first in the hope that the rain would clear. For the most part it continued to rain, though it did finally clear during the last half-hour of my visit, so I hustled around to fit in as many rainless photos as I could.

Bruges had been the entire reason I booked this particular tour, so to barely spend any time there was a massive disappointment. Needless to say, I (and many others on the tour) felt a bit ripped off. On top of that, it was my last day in Europe before flying home the following morning, so an otherwise fantastic trip ended on a sour note, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Such is travel.

Oh well, I guess I’ll have to make a special trip to Belgium in the future so I can take my time and really experience this lovely city. In the meantime, here are a few of the photos I managed to take during my short visit. Click on any photo to open a gallery.

View more of my photos from Amsterdam and Bruges.

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California Trip, 2014: 17-Mile Drive

Michael Rappa

A few years ago I went on a business trip to San Francisco, where I decided to take a few extra days to myself to do some exploring. On my first day in San Francisco I met up with my cousin who lives nearby. He took me on a driving tour of the Pacific coast. These photos are from 17-Mile Drive, a scenic route along the Monterey peninsula, featuring rocky coastlines, large crashing waves; and islands of sea lions and birds.

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Upstate New York Trip, 2015: Letchworth Lower Falls and Bridge

Michael Rappa

These photos are from my September 2015 visit to Letchworth State Park in Upstate New York, covering my hikes of the trails leading to the stone footbridge across the Genesee River, the Lower Falls, and down to the floor of the gorge at the site of a lost town called St. Helena. Despite not being a national park, Letchworth is among the more beautiful American parks you’re likely to visit.

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American Northwest Trip, 2017: Yellowstone’s Mud Volcano Area

Michael Rappa

The Mud Volcano Area of Yellowstone National Park is filled with hot springs and boiling pools of acid and mud, as well as the unmistakable rotten-egg odor of sulfur that bombards you as soon as you exit the car. The sulfur smell is abundant throughout the geyser basins and hot spring/caldron areas of the park. Nearly all of the pools of liquid in these photos would dissolve you instantly were you unfortunate enough to stumble into them.

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Butterfly (center). Also a bee to the upper left.
Thick, boiling mud of the Grizzly Fumarole.
Sulphur Caldron Overlook
Mud Volcano
Dragon’s Mouth Spring. It actually does look like a dragon’s mouth from this angle.
Dragon’s Mouth Spring
Mud Caldron
Mud Caldron

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American Southwest Trip, 2018: National Park Wildlife

Michael Rappa

After so many consecutive Northwest trip posts, I’ve decided to start mixing in entries from my other recent trips to add some variety to my blog feed. This is the first batch of photos from my trip to the American Southwest this past summer, featuring shots of animals from Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, and the north and south rims of the Grand Canyon.

I shot a little bit of everything on this trip: mammals, birds, and reptiles. Many of the animals showed no fear of humans—one of the elk practically let me walk right up to her. I also saw bison on my way into the North Rim of the Grand Canyon but chose not to stop for photos since I already had so many bison photos from my Yellowstone trip. I believe that I heard rattlesnakes during one of my photo stops on Route 66 in the Mojave Desert, but I did not see them, and was not about to go looking.

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A philosopher pondering the larger questions in life.
Glamour shot.
One of the only signs of life I saw during my 4-mile round trip hike of the Cape Final trail.
The town square.
Do you mind? I’m trying to eat here.
In his three-point stance and ready for some football.
You talkin’ to me?

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American Northwest Trip, 2017: Lamar Valley, Yellowstone

Michael Rappa

On my first day in Yellowstone National Park I detoured to Lamar Valley to take these photos before checking in to my hotel. Lamar Valley is supposed to be another prime wildlife viewing area, but in my case it proved to be less fruitful than Hayden Valley. Nevertheless, I did see a couple of bison herds here. On my way back out of the valley I stopped for a few shots of the Yellowstone River.

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American Northwest Trip, 2017: Yellowstone Lake

Michael Rappa

These photos are from different areas of Yellowstone Lake in Yellowstone National Park. The West Thumb photos were taken near where I stayed in Grant Village and the Lake Butte Overlook photos were taken on my way out of the park on the day I drove across Wyoming into South Dakota.

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Yellowstone Lake: West Thumb
Yellowstone Lake: West Thumb
Yellowstone Lake: West Thumb
Yellowstone Lake: West Thumb
Yellowstone Lake: Lake Butte Overlook
Yellowstone Lake: Lake Butte Overlook
Yellowstone Lake: Lake Butte Overlook
Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake
Yellowstone Lake: West Thumb

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American Northwest Trip, 2017: Hayden Valley, Yellowstone

Michael Rappa

These photos are from my visits to where the buffalo roam: Hayden Valley in Yellowstone National Park. There were herds of bison everywhere I looked—it’s easy to see why Hayden Valley is sometimes referred to as the American Serengeti. On a good day you can also see many other animals passing through the valley, but I wasn’t lucky enough to spot a wolf or bear. When shooting bison (or any wildlife) it’s helpful to have a good zoom lens because you definitely don’t want to get too close to them. They look mild-mannered enough but will charge you if they feel threatened. I saw some people with smartphones getting way too close for comfort.

I went a little nuts with the photos (what can I say, I love animals)—I took so many that it was quite a task to cull them down to the smaller batch I’m sharing here. I forgot to switch over to shutter priority for the action shots, so they’re not nearly as crisp as I would have liked, but I still managed to get some decent ones. In addition to the bison photos I captured some avian wildlife (including a great blue heron) and snapped a few landscapes along the Yellowstone River.

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Buffalo don’t give a shit.
Dust like this sometimes kicks up when they’re fighting. I thought I captured a face-off on camera, but I must have missed it.
I caught this guy doing a lawn dive.
Time for a drink.
Time for a swim.
The only manly way to shoot animals.

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American Northwest Trip, 2017: Mammoth, Yellowstone

Michael Rappa

These photos are from the town of Mammoth in Northern Yellowstone, where I stopped for dinner shortly after entering the park. The main attraction here is the hot springs. I didn’t have time to visit the springs but I took a few photos of them from a distance.

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I had dinner in this restaurant.
The hot springs.
The hot springs.

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