Demolition Derby

Hello, everyone, today I will be talking about one of my favorite things about county fairs. Not only do I look forward to it during the fairs but also thoughout the year. Who would have thought that there are so many fans that love to come watch people driving around in a mud pit wrecking into each other? Figured out what I’m talking about yet? I’m talking about Demolition Derbies

Every year I follow my cousin around from county to county, from fair to fair, for miles and miles to go take pictures of him and his gang. I love to go watch them. I couldn’t even explain how many I’ve went to and watched or how many pictures I’ve taken. Tons of people get caught up and bad mouth people and talk crap that their person is better than that person; sometimes there are fights. I find myself to be in this category sometimes. There are four types of demos that I have watched; truck, car, mowers, and grocery cart. There are different classes in each one. My favorite thing to watch are the little cars or compact cars. Every derby has a set of rules the driver has to follow or they can’t run. It takes a lot of time and effort to build a car.

Facts about Demos:

·         Rules vary on location (so look them up ahead of time).

o   Glass is taken out to make it safer.

o   Hitting the driver’s door is not allowed (sometimes people are thrown out for doing so).

·         Whoever’s car is left running at the end is the winner.

·         Derbies can be quite dangerous so each driver signs a waiver.

·         Most driver’s try to hit with the back of their car to protect their engine.

·         They are normally held on dirt tracks that are sprayed down with water.

·         Many cars are used over and over again.

·         The driver must wear a helmet.

For more facts or rules about derbies please feel free to click here. For some derby dates please click here. For some pictures taken at this years Athens County Fair please click here.

(Pictures Self Taken)

Seals and Sea Turtles

Hello, everyone today I will be telling about my adventures at the aquarium. I loved taking pictures here because I absolutely love all sorts of animals. No one knows how much I love animals: I saved an opossum at my house once and when I went to the beach I saved a jellyfish (I know it's crazy). As soon as we got to the aquarium, there were seals outside showing off and swimming around. This is where we come to my first picture.  I tried and tried to get a picture of this seal about a million times but it kept swimming away and jumping in and out of the water. I was really happy when I got such a great picture.

Facts about Harbor Seals:

·         Harbor Seals live up to 30 years old.

·         They can swim up to 12 mph and dive up to 500 feet.

·         When on land, they move their bodies like inchworms.

·         They are mammals that are “fin footed” or pinnipeds.

·         They live along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts.

·         They can hold their breath for about 30 minuets.  

For more facts about the seals or the seal exhibit click here.

Throughout the aquarium, we visited many animals. We visited anything and everything in between. There were sharks, turtles, frogs, stingrays, jellyfish, crabs, scorpions, starfish, snakes, lizards, and many more. When one gets through the whole aquarium, and think it cannot get any better, stop at this random pool in the middle of a room. I looked in and it is full of baby stingrays. This is called a touch pool. It was such a amazing experience to touch a stingray. They are very soft and their heads feel like sand paper. One of my favorite animals to look at is the sea turtles. The aquarium has a nursery for baby sea turtles. The turtles I looked at in Virginia are called Loggerhead Sea Turtles. While looking at these sea turtles, I captured this amazing picture

Facts about Sea Turtles:

·         Loggerhead Sea Turtles are the most common sea turtles in Virginia.

·         Sea turtles can weigh anywhere between 250 and 500 lbs.

·         Humans are one of sea turtles biggest threat.

·         It takes about 60 days for baby sea turtles to hatch.

·         Baby turtles are called hatchlings.

·         Turtles can lay up to 90 eggs in the sand.

For more facts about sea turtles, click here. For more facts about the exhibit, click here.

If someone is ever in Virginia Beach, Virginia, I would definitely recommend going to the Aquarium and Marine Science Center for a terrific time. Click here for the Aquarium's homepage.   

(Pictures Self Taken) 

Washington D.C. Pictures

Hi, everyone today I am writing about two pictures I took in Washington D.C. In 8^th grade I went on the trip. The first picture is of the Washington Monument. This is my favorite picture I took in D.C. I can remember when we were walking around the reflection pool I almost fell in because someone told me not to trip on a pebble. I actually looked and got scared. I was so glad to go on this trip; everybody should get the chance to go at least once in their life to see our wonderful capital. Someone can learn many things going there.  To get a wonderful picture I had to wait for a bunch of students to move out of the way and when they did I took multiple shots.



Here are some facts about the Washington Monument:

·         The monument is a tribute to George Washington for his leadership in the Revolutionary War

·         The monument was built between the years of 1848 and 1884

·         It took so long to build it because lack of funds

·         It stands 555 ft. 5-1/8 inches tall and weighs 81,120 tons

·         The walls range from 15 ft.  to 18 inches

·         The wall is mostly made of white marble

·         In 1996 at least 5 million dollars was donated to restore it and it was finished in 2000

Want more facts about the Washington Monument? Click here to read more.

The second picture I am going to talk about is the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall. When I was in D.C. they told us to look closely at the wall to see the reflection of the soldiers. I fortunately got a really good picture of it. I was so proud.

Here are some facts about the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall:

·         The wall is a tribute to the United States Armed Forces that served in the Korean War

·         There are many different soldiers etched into the wall

·         The wall is made of black granite

·         The wall is 164 ft. long

·         The 19 statues of soldiers that are surrounded by different terrain that was in Korea

·         The soldiers are in a pattern like they were going into battle

For a picture of how that statues are positioned and for more information about the wall click here. For more information on D.C. please click here.

 (Pictures self taken)

Photography

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