This week, Ann-Christine gave me a difficult challenge. She notes in her post, “Why not celebrate summer fun with some Feet and Shoes? Even science tells us about the importance of letting our feet be free…” You can read her entire challenge post here.
So, I begin with my opening image from 2012. It was February, and our first few months spent entirely in Arizona was coincident with the centennial celebration of the state of Arizona’s admission into the union. As part of that celebration, Arizona’s Centennial promoters challenged everyone to hike 100 miles in the centennial year. Our newly adopted workout center offered to lead hikes to help people achieve the goal and it was from there that my wife and I began our love affair with hiking. I called this photo “End of the Trail.” That day we hiked 6.9 miles (11.1 km), our longest hike to date by far.
If you find yourself in Cheyenne, Wyoming you will likely come across at least one of these 8-feet (2.4 m) tall boots. The city boasts 25 hand-painted boots that can be found if you spend some time walking around the downtown area.
The boots are part of a fundraiser for the Cheyenne Depot Museum Foundation that was jointly sponsored by them and the Downtown Development Authority. Each boot is painted by a local artist and visitors can use their cellphones to get an audio description of the history depicted on each boot.
Summertime and the livin’ is easy… (That might be a great line for a song.) The photo above is from a special place to me. Lake Itasca in Minnesota is in the background underneath all of that wild rice. To take this photo, I was on the shore of the Mississippi River. The girl in bare feet is walking across the Mississippi at its headwaters. From this outflow at Lake Itasca, the river is beginning its 2340-mile (3766 km) journey to the Gulf of Mexico. Yes, you can walk across the mighty Mississippi here, but you probably want to do it in bare feet. Those rocks are slippery, and you probably don’t want to get your shoes wet if you happen to slip.
That’s all I have for this week’s challenge. I searched in vain for the photos I took at the Smithsonian Museum of American History some years ago. I photographed the pair of ruby slippers worn by Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz. That photo was taken before the slippers were stolen and ultimately recovered by the FBI. Apparently, I need to ask the FBI to help find my lost photos. >grin<
John Steiner
Flare Legend Adventures
Some big shoes to fill. Thanks for the Blog. My wife at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Muesem. St. Michael’s, Maryland. Thanks again Charlie Chubbs Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
LOL for the FBI John – I’m sure they’d be happy to help 😊. Loved your hiking boots and what a great idea to celebrate the centennial. I KNEW you’d find something terrific!
Yesterday, in Austin, Minnesota, I had a chance to grab a shot of a girl sitting in a car in a parking lot, bare feet up on the dash, her car window open. Unfortunately, traffic and timing didn’t work out for me.
Bummer, don’t u just hate that?!!
Hi John. You had me laughing out loud at this: “Summertime and the livin’ is easy… (That might be a great line for a song.) ” 😊 I remember those boots in Wyoming! Have you ever been to Little Wyoming? (￦here my co-driver can-openered the roof of our UHaul rental on a move from SLC to New Hampshire) Great post! Best, Babsje
That must have been quite a surprise! I see you meant Little America. I was there as a child, but don’t remember a thing about it. I guess I need to go back, huh? 🙂
Yes, but most surprising was that at every stop for gas cross-country someone pointed to the peeled back roof and then at me and commented on “women drivers, eh.” And the biggest surprise of all? Returning the truck at Uhaul in Manchester, NH, the clerk looked at the badly damaged roor, then looked at the paperwork we signed, and then said “Looks like you brought the insurance. No charge for the damage.” Uhaul for the win. 😊
Good on you for having the insurance. I always buy insurance on rentals unless I know for sure my car insurance covers. It can save a lot of hassle for a relatively small cost.
I am probably over insured but, I sleep well at night, and that is worth a lot. 🤤
Um that would be Little America, Wyoming in my last comment. Note to self – no internet before coffee. Sheesh
Been there, forgot the coffee, myself. 🙂
😊 About going back to Little Amerixs? Worth a stop if it’s on your way from Somewhere to SomewhereElse, USA. Itl mean its a truck stop with its own Post Office, and they accept Dogs as overnight guests. 😊
We are planning a westward trip again soon. I will see if it is close to our planned route. Thanks for the heads up!
I love those boots! As soon as I saw the second picture I knew it was the headwaters of the mighty Mississippi! Yep, we walked across it barefoot. Thanks for making me smile with these images.
Thank you! I appreciate your taking the time to comment!
I love your opening shot 🙂 And I see we both featured boots from Cheyenne, but different ones!
Thanks! It was fun looking around for more of the boots of Cheyenne!
We found one in Sundance too but I have no idea if it is still there – that was back in 2006!
these are all terrific photos. My favorite is your last one with the canoe in the background. 😀
Thank you! I didn’t have many examples for this challenge.
Well, John – you rose to the challenge! And well done too! Love your hiking boots – didn’t know you were hikers as well? As always stories well told – thank you for coming along even if you thought…maybe not!
Hiking was a surprise favorite activity we discovered when we started wintering in Arizona.
And a good one!
Great hiking boots, had done lot of hiking!
We have slowed down in the last few years, but we still enjoy our walks in the desert.
Great post John! Again I had a hard time finding it, even looked in the reader! I’m trying to follow you again. Loved the boot.
I’m not sure why the post was hard to find for you. I tagged it with #Lens-Artists. Interesting.
If you weren’t able to set up a “follow”, here’s the link directly to my main page. https://photobyjohnbo.wordpress.com/
Also, http://www.fireslaegrep.lol should get you there.
Good One.