This week, Patti asks us to think on the edge for our responses. She writes, “This week the Lens-Artists are heading in a new direction. We’re exploring “the edges.” What have you captured “On the Edge” of buildings, cliffs, rivers, beaches, tables, shelves, your finger, or your dinner plate? Feel free to use any kind of edge you can think of. You can also take the theme sideways…veering off into another meaning of “on the edge.” Think of “unconventional” or “edgy” or “avant garde.”” You can read her entire challenge post here.

Just last week, Lynn and I, along with my niece and her husband, finished an 8,000-mile trip across the southern United States. I thought it would be fun to process a few of the images from our trip that put us “on the edge” of the places we visited.

I start with a vehicle that traveled more miles in a few days than most people travel in a lifetime. While in Florida, we visited Kennedy Space Center and enjoyed the history of the United States space program that brought astronauts to the edge of our moon. The image is of the Apollo 13 Command Module. The story of the moon launch and the mission turning into a rescue mission after an on-board explosion put the world on edge as to whether or not those three astronauts would survive. They did, and the story is the stuff of legends.

At Key West, we took a hop-on hop-off shuttle to gain some history of the city and of the Florida Keys. We drove by this marker that makes note of our achievement of reaching the southernmost point in the United States. Well, the shuttle didn’t stop for us to get off and take a photo here, so as you can see, we didn’t quite get to the southernmost point, but we were close, anyway. As the shuttle rounded the corner, we didn’t even get a chance to photograph the entire text on the marker. Maybe next time.

The first is near the edge of the day, on a sunset cruise at Naples, Florida. The second edge is marked by the rougher water in the background. We would soon cross that edge and enter the waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Whenever possible, we shunned the Interstate system and stuck instead to the U.S. highways that still carry traffic. Of course, there are places where Interstate travel is necessary, but this view is from the edge of the Natchez Trace Parkway near Kosciusko, Mississippi.

The Natchez Trace is a 444-mile scenic route that winds through three states: Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. It roughly follows the path of the Old Natchez Trace, a historic travel corridor used by American Indians, European settlers, slave traders, soldiers, and future presidents. We didn’t drive the entire length, instead opting to go southeast to Canton, Mississippi from Hot Springs Arkansas. There we picked up the Natchez Trace Parkway, as it is known today, and drove it to Tupelo, Mississippi. The three-hour drive took us about 150 miles (241 km) along this beautiful scenic byway.

We rode the Cog Train from Manitou Springs, Colorado, one of the sights we missed in a previous year when we went through Colorado. As we pulled into the station at the top of Pike’s Peak, I saw two people standing at the edge of the mountain as they gazed at the views of the Denver Metro area. I chuckled when I thought of the guy on the stairs. Apparently, the mountain wasn’t high enough, he had to climb stairs to get a better view.

As we transited Colorado on our journey, we stopped at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. There were plenty of “edgy” viewpoints that featured views of the Gunnison River far below us.

The Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska features the edges of two states, the state line in the center of the river. The image was captured near the edge of the day, as you can tell by the golden hour colors. The fourth edge marks our last night on the road. Our next day’s travel found us home again in Fargo, North Dakota. To see my collection of images in 2K HD, check out my gallery here.

Thanks to Patti for an “edgy” challenge this week. Also props to Tina for last week’s opportunity to share some of our favorite images of all time, and explain why. I am looking forward to next week when Ann-Christine hosts the challenge at noon EST on Saturday.

If you’d like to participate in the challenge responses, welcome aboard! You can find out all the details here.

John Steiner