^{WOW, what an impressive set of structures, the government buildings are the centerpiece of Victoria. During the night time hours the British Columbia Parliament buildings light up the downtown skyline with over 3,000 bulbs. The lights cast a ray of magical light throughout the inner harbour area of Victoria BC. The capital city of Victoria is where the British Columbia Provicial Government assembles to make the laws of the province. These buildings are not as old as you may think, they were built in 1904.}

Suguaro Cactus is native to the Senoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California, and an extremely small area of California.

The saguaro blossom is the state flower of Arizona. The common name of the cactus, saguaro, is a Spanish-language adaptation of a word used by a local aboriginal American nation, the Tohono O'odham, for the plant.

Saguaros have a relatively long life span. They take up to 75 years to develop a side arm. The arms themselves are grown to increase the plants reproductive capacity. The growth rate of saguaros is strongly dependent on local precipitation patterns, and saguaros in drier western Arizona grow only half as fast as those in and around Tucson, Arizona (Drezner, 2003). Some specimens may live for more than 150 years. Harming one in any manner (including cactus plugging is illegal by state law in Arizona, and when houses or highways are built, special permits must be obtained to move or destroy any saguaro affected.

The night blooming flowers appear April-May and the sweet, ruby-colored fruit matures by late June. Each fruit can contain up to 2,000 seeds. Saguaro flowers are self incompatible and require a pollenizer to supply viable pollen. A well-pollinated fruit will contain several thousand tiny seeds, and large quantities of pollen are required for pollination. The major pollinators are bats, primarily the Lesser Long-nosed Bat, feeding on the nectar from the night-blooming flowers, which often remain open in the morning. The characteristics of the flower are geared toward pollination by the bats: the nocturnal opening of the flowers, maturation of pollen, and the nectar.

I came across this image the other day and it brought back thoughts from a fateful time in Louisiana history. This image was captured just 10 days before hurricane Katrina started barreling down on southern Louisiana. The port was completely devastated, very little remained except the lighthouse and a few very lucky fishing camps. Two persons who rode out the storm there have yet to be heard from and are presumed dead.

The Port Eades lighthouse is located at the southern tip of the Missippi River, also known as South Pass in Plaquemines Parish, the southern most point in Louisiana. At the Head of Passes, the river separates into three main fingers. Port Eads is found at the bottom of the center branch. This lighthouse serves ocean going ships. It is accessible only by boat and helicopter. We pulled in that day for some fuel.

It is used primarily by offshore fishermen who begin their journey in Venice, LA, 20.3 miles to the north. Port Eads offers docking and refueling premises, primitive rooms for rent, weigh station, and a small restaurant. Because of its location, offshore fishermen from around the country flock to Port Eads. It is the closest port to the continental shelf, the 100 fathom curve, in the entire Gulf of Mexico. The shelf is five miles from the port. Each June, the New Orleans Invitational Billfish Tournament is held there. There have been two one-thousand pound Blue Marlin caught by boats using Port Eads, representing the only two "granders" caught on record in the Gulf of Mexico.

James Buchanan Eads

The Mississippi River in the 100-mile-plus stretch between the port of New Orleans, Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico frequently suffered from silting up of its outlets, stranding ships or making parts of the river unnavigable for a period of time. James Buchanan Eads (1820-1887) solved the problem with a wooden jetty system that narrowed the main outlet of the river, which caused the river to speed up and cut its channel deeper, so allowing year-round navigation. He was thus honored by having the port at South Pass named after him.

Yes, right here in Idaho. The City of Rocks or more formally, Silent City of Rocks State Park lying two miles north of the south central border of Idaho with Utah. It is widely known for its excellent sport climbing.The rock formations in the area are granitic batholith. Some of the rock is over 2.5 billion years old. The Twin Sisters is a prominent rock grouping in the reserve. A number of sport climbs have also been set. In the 1980s, it was home to some of the most difficult routes in the USA, mostly developed by Idaho climber Tony Yaniro. Sport climbers in the region refer to the area as simply 'The City'. or, more formally, the is a U.S. National Reserve and

The California Trail passed through what is now the City of Rocks. Wagons trains of the 1840s and 1850s left the Raft River valley and traveled through the area and over Granite Pass into Nevada. The names or initials of emigrants written in axle grease are still visible on Register Rock. Ruts from wagon wheels also can be seen in some of the rocks. "We encamped at the city of the rocks, a noted place from the granite rocks rising abruptly out of the ground," wrote James Wilkins in 1849. "They are in a romantic valley clustered together, which gives them the appearance of a city." Wilkins was among the first wagon travelers to fix the name City of Rocks to what looked like "a dismantled, rock-built city of the Stone Age."