I think I may have taken this challenge from Amy too literally. When I saw the challenge title, I immediately thought of our cross country trip taken 10 years ago for our 50th wedding anniversary. I’ve tried to think of other ways to do this post, but I keep coming back to the trip across the United States and back. I’m sure I’ve posted some of these images before, but not in this context. So let’s start.

My dream trip has always been to take our trailer and tow it across the country. I didn’t want to go overseas; I wanted to see my country. Richard finally relented and we took my dream trip in 2013. I had just bought my first camera, a Nikon D3100, and was totally new at photography. In fact, that is when I started this blog as sort of a journal of the trip. I’ve picked out just a few images to share. My memories of this trip don’t need a visual.

The U.S. is big (We took three months and didn’t see it all.) and each state has its own culture and beauty. I was amazed at how flat middle America is, that we have more National Parks in the West than in the East, and the abundance of our National history is on the East Coast. But no matter how different the culture, jargon and lifestyle is, everyone we met were gracious and kind.

I have 10 pictures to share (Yes, it was tough!) and I’ll caption them.

We’ll start with the Golden Gate (not from this trip)
Painted Desert National Park, Arizona
The Mississippi River, Little Rock, Arkansas
Club in Memphis, Tennessee
Great Smokey Mountain National Park, Tennessee
Reconstructed stone wall at the Fredericksburg Battlefield, Virgina
A replica of the Liberty Bell was placed here while the real bell was hidden in Allentown, Pennsylvania
Rockefeller Center. NYC
The Niagara River at the falls, Niagara Falls
A lobster fisherman pulling out his catch at Bar Harbor Maine

So, that’s my brief look at my cross country trip of the U. S. — from “Sea to Shining Sea.”

When you post your response to this challenge, please remember to link to Amy’s post and use the Lens Artists tag. I hope you enjoyed preparing your reflections and shadows last week as much as I did looking at them. Next week Bren of Brashley Photography will be challenging us with using clarity to create softness in your photos. Look for her post.

If you would like to participate weekly in our Lens-Artists Challenge, click here for more info. 

35 thoughts on “Lens Artists Challenge #236: East Meets West”

  1. Great photos of your cross country trip of the US! I agree, each state has its own culture and beauty. Yes, it’s a beautiful country showing throught you fabulous images! Sometimes, I think each city in TX has its own culture and beauty. 🙂

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  10. Wow, I envy you this trip! We’ve done a lot of US road trips and seen a fair bit of your country but I’ve always had a hankering to drive coast to coast one day, or perhaps to drive Route 66

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  11. Anne, this was short and sweet with volumes of memories present. So often we talk with people in our travels, Europeans who speak about our countries vastness. And within the boundaries of every state or region, there is truly cultural differences. This spoke to that. I loved it. And. Also think it was a great interpretation of the theme.

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    1. Thanks Donna! What amazed me was how happy people were with where they lived. I spoke with a woman in Springfield IL. She said she had visited California but didn’t like it because it had mountains. I love our mountains and she loved her flat land.

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  12. A beautiful walk down memory lane Anne. That’s one of my favorite things about photography – it truly helps us to remember special moments. I’ve seen much of the US but you’ve seen more!!!

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  14. That must have been something, Anne! What a great trip, and I fully understand you wanted more time! Beautifully documented and lovely memories of course. Thank you for taking us who will never see it in person.

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    1. Thanks Ann-Christine! That’s the way I feel when I see your blogs. You take me to countries I will never be able to see in person. Traveling across the U.S. is like that. Each state could be a country.

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