by Ron McGinty

The African farmer heard tales of riches found in diamond mines. He sold his farm and went out to find his future fortune, but died a pauper.

Sadly, the farm he sold and left was the wealthiest diamond field in the world. This story is an accurate tale. It teaches us to explore your possible riches where you are; you may be surprised.

I had three international trips planned for this year, Bangkok to Angkor Wat, Rio, Brazil, and Croatia. I canceled all these because of the Coronavirus.

Here I sit in my office, rethinking my options in the USA. We live in a country full of adventure and opportunities for photography.

While in Morocco recently, I met Casey McGehee from Idaho, a professional rodeo photographer. His work is remarkable, www.HayseedPhotography.com.

My new friend invited me to join him at a rodeo, and I have my flight tickets for June. I am excited to mine my acres of diamonds with three rodeos in one week.

Alaska is a remote frontier with many distinctive characteristics. It is the easternmost and westernmost points of the fifty states.

Are you surprised about the most Eastern? The Aleutian Islands extend beyond the international dateline and considered in the Far East.

The Alaskan island of Little Diomede is only about 2.5 miles from Siberia, Russia. During the winter, it freezes over so you could technically walk from the United States to Russia on this seasonal sea ice.

Alaska is recognized by most as extreme in characteristics of beauty, size, natural resources, wildlife and adventurous inhabitants.

Alaska fishing with the Deep Creek Fishing Camp team is the pinnacle of angling. The owners, Steve and Vivian Moe, told the story of their first date.

Fishing is a summer business. Steve and a few of his buddies flew to New York City to learn how to become Chippendales dancers during the offseason.

Now you know how he met Vivian in a bar.

The original fishing camp was a series of old small cabins overlooking the bay from a forty-foot bluff. The view is breathtaking and amazing with snowcapped mountains in the distance.

An incredible story started when a guest asked, “what would it take to build a new lodge”?

The gentleman left Steve with a check for the full amount of three million dollars for a guaranteed annual reservation in return. The man never returned.

Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons are worthy of a spot on my list of great places in the USA.

Covering the massiveness of these two parks takes days. You will continuously see animals: wolves, bears, elk, bison, bobcats, bighorn sheep, and many more.

It becomes fun to ride down the road looking for gatherings of people. It is the sighting spots of activity but beware of the road vehicles and fast-moving bison or bears.

The most laborious task is selecting which pictures are the best at the top five percent.

The Santa Fe Workshop is a premier school for photographers of all levels. I have participated in a variety of classes, from learning my new cameras to portrait photography. I am looking forward to their course at a dude ranch to photograph wild horses in action in the future.

This article will be my last for a while. Hopefully, the Coronavirus will end soon so I can feel free to travel safely again.