R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 175
March 9, 2015
Firearms — Television Westerns from the 1950s
Model 1892 Pistol (Wanted: Dead or Alive) and Model 1892 Rifle (The Rifleman)
American television in the 1950s were rife with thirty-minute black-and-white Westerns. Among the more famous and enduring: The Lone Ranger, Have Gun — Will Travel, The Deputy, and Gunsmoke (yep, originally only 30 minutes for the first six seasons). And that’s just some of the more successful ones. There were many, many more because they were cheap to produce, fun to watch, and in demand. Two of the more successful...
March 7, 2015
A Preview of Monday’s Special Blog Post
On Monday I’ll be posting one of the most fun blog posts I’ve done in quite some time. It was a real hoot putting it together, and it will even feature my very first YouTube video. I’m hoping to produce more YouTube videos in the future to incorporate into my blog, so please let me know if you enjoy this one. Anyway, Monday I’ll be presenting an article on some very famous Western weapons that starred in late ’50s thirty-minute black-and-white Westerns, particularly the highly modified Winche...
March 6, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — Favorite Photos of Hurricane Ridge
Drama in Rock
Today we say farewell to my series on our transpacific adventure from Sydney to Seattle aboard Holland America’s MS Oosterdam. Click on any image below to bring up today’s gallery.
By the way, if you’re reading this and other material authored by me on The Destinary website, this post was not “Posted on (fill in the date) | By destinary” as they’ve been erroneously claiming; this material was in fact reposted. The Destinary have also been claiming the right to do so, without links...
March 4, 2015
A Blizzard in the Middle of a Hurricane
Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park — Elevation 5,242 feet/1,598 meters
We found a winter wonderland awaiting us when we reached the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. A light snow had started falling even before we hit the parking lot, and things got worse from there.
Picnic Table Under Snow
Fortunately the heavy fall ended almost as abruptly as it started and after only a brief spell, replaced by a return to the lighter snowfall that preceded it.
Snow Falling on Fir
Fortunately the roads remaine...
March 2, 2015
From the Tropics to the Snow — Hurricane Ridge
Hurricane Ridge
On October 22 of last year I began this lengthy series on our transpacific cruise which originated in Sydney, Australia, after a four-day visit, and finished up in Seattle, Washington some twenty-eight days later. Our last stop prior to disembarkation in Seattle was Port Angeles, Washington. This week I will finish up this months-long series with our last sightseeing excursion before cruise end — Hurricane Ridge in Washington State’s Olympic National Park.
Snow Line
The funny thi...
February 27, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — Lake Crescent and Marymere Falls
Lake Crescent Panoramic
Today I present to you my favorite photographs from this segment of our road trip into the Olympic National Park and our visit to Lake Crescent and Marymere Falls. On Wednesday I did a lot of talking about Marymere Falls, but my photos concentrated on the hike through the old growth forest on the way there. So, what did we see when we arrived? A 90-foot/27-meter drop from Aurora Ridge to Barnes Creek.
Marymere Falls Vertical Panoramic
But the forest alone was worth the hi...
February 25, 2015
The Hike to Marymere Falls
Old Growth Alder, Cedar, Fir, and Hemlock
On Monday I gave you just a taste of some of the wonders contained with the Olympic National Park. Today we’ll take a short hike into an old growth forest there. Rounding Lake Crescent we pulled off of Route 101 and parked the rental at the Storm King Ranger Station on Barnes Point, the site of an ancient land slide that spilled into Lake Crescent.
Intrepid Hiker Ursula Wicker
From Storm King we took the pedestrian tunnel back beneath Route 101 and start...
February 23, 2015
From Port Angeles to Lake Crescent
Lake Crescent
Ursula and I picked up the rental car that she had reserved in advance. She drove and I navigated as we headed west out of Port Angeles on famed U.S. Route 101. Yes, that’s the same Route 101 that in California joins up in some areas to run concurrently with California State Route 1 — the picturesque Pacific Coast Highway. So, basically, Route 101 runs between Port Angeles in Washington all the way to where it joins up with U.S. Interstate 5 just south of Los Angeles, California,...
February 20, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — Port Angeles Favorites
Port Angeles
Today’s favorites are:
By the way, if you’re reading this and other material authored by me on The Destinary website, this post was not “Posted on (fill in the date) | By destinary” as they’ve been erroneously claiming; this material was in fact reposted. The Destinary have also been claiming the right to do so, without links back to the original and without full attribution (“by RDoug” and a nonworking link is not proper attribution) with a rather bizarre interpretation of U.S. co...
February 18, 2015
Out and About in Port Angeles
Port Angeles
Ursula and I wouldn’t be spending much time here in Port Angeles. We had places to see and people to do. Or is that . . . . Oh, well, anyway, we pretty much hiked into town for a car rental that would take us far away from Port Angeles, and you’ll be seeing those sights over the next two weeks. Until then, today and Fun Photo Friday I’ll present images of this charming sea port.
A Splash of Color
As luck would have it we docked next to a large lumber hauler with limber lumberjacks l...
