Island Adventure: Day 2

Ohio is flat.

Well, mostly flat.

From the kitchen of our house in Clark County, I could see the sun rise.

From the front porch, we would admire each and every sunset.

Acres of corn, soybean, and winter wheat stretch on for miles and miles around us.

Maybe that's why I am so fascinated by mountains, or perhaps my finite puny mind just can't seem to comprehend their beauty.

Driving through these mountain in a car is fine, but from the seat of a scooter, every sense is invoked to be part of the experience.

I wish I could somehow add the quietness and peacefulness, along with the cool fresh air that accompanied these pictures

(Warning: Many mountains pictures ahead. Proceed at your own risk.) 

This is most definitely one of my favorite places to be!

This part of the trip required extra clothing. At over 10,000 feet, the temperature dropped significantly. Carl's rain pants, while not very stylish, did a great job keeping the cold wind at bay!

Getting to the best views, however,  requires a short upward hike.

The high altitude slowed me down quite a bit!

While not the highest peak of the mountain, it offers a 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounding peaks and nearby mountains. The reward at the top is well worth the extra effort to reach it!

Watch your step! There's nothing separating you from the rocky top and the steep plunge down.

 Sadly, we couldn't linger too long. The next couple hours were needed to drive down the other side of the mountain.

A coffee break is always appreciated!

Taiwan is very found of their sacred trees. A tree usually has to be very large and very old to be considered sacred.

Day 2 involved another one of my favorite places- Taroko Gorge.

Day 2 was probably one of my favorite days because I got to visit two of my favorite places AND spend time with two of my favorite people- Don and Marla Bettinger. They took time away from their busy schedules to eat dinner with us and introduce us to a new bing flavor. This enticing dessert involved frozen shaved ice and hardened caramel.

While I appreciate my Ohio sunrises and sunsets, I equally adore Taiwan mountains. 

So the life lesson for the day? 

You can truly love more than one place at a time.