The Sightseeing Cowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. It is nightime but lumpen grey rocks can still be seen in the moonlight that gently bathes them. Springing up out of thick green grass in front of them, red poppies and white daisies show up brightly against the dark background.

#poppies glowing in the moonlight at The Loft, for #remembrancesunday and all the fallen...

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. Two lines of laundry are strung between poles, with some trousers and shirts hung up to dry and a washing tub and soap left on a crate. The area is rural, with green pine trees overlapping their branches behind, and bright green grass below. Perched on each pole and almost glowing against the greenery is a small bird, a yellow one on the left, and red on the right.

Just two little birds providing musical accompaniment on a grey laundry day...

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. A woodland clearing is surrounded by stark black tree trunks, with just the remnants of branches sticking out of them. Tucked into the trees is an old horse-drawn wagon (although there is no horse in sight) that has a fabric awning stratched out from the side and held by two poles. The fabric is sagging, and everything in covered in a light layer of snow.

After a mild october, the temperature has suddenly dropped here! So here's a throwback to a snowy #BigValley from 2023 - my house feels like this right now...

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken within a video game. A large low cabin made of horizontal logs sits in front of a forest of tall pines. The roof is covered in grass, as is the groud in front, so the building almost blends into the background. Near the camera, a red and tan husky dog lies on the ground, his white nose pointing away to the right where a path leads towards the building door.

Back on the road, and seeing old friends again - we always stop in to greet the Huskies that wait for visitors at #ManzanitaPost!

#RedDeadOnline #rdo #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken within a video game. An old green oil lamp is sat on a table, casting a dim green glow over the rest of the room it is in. The wallpaper behind is covered in a circular pattern of flowers that look like starbursts, and long dark shadows are being cast over the wall by a brass bedstead to the side. The sheets on the bed are pulled back in a messy pile that hangs off the side.

A little under the weather this week... Luckily my own bedroom is a rather more cosy and pleasant space to nurse a cold in than the hauntingly green-lit room at #RockySeven in #RoanokeRidge

#reddeadonline #rdo #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. Tall trees with white bark rise straight up on each side of a muddy brown track, that curves away to disappear behind grass and greenery between their bases. Some of the trees nearest to us are leaning at drunken angles. Behind the green tree tops, a tall cliff of creamy-white rock rises up into a clear blue sky, where two birds, almost dots, are soaring on open wings.

Sometimes I just stop and breathe in the details for a moment: The trees, at different angles and heights... The bushes clustered underneath... The birds soaring through the sky overhead...

#reddeadonline #RDO #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from with a video game. A grassy area is littered with broken wooden crates, lumber and cart wheels. Trees rise up further back, their leaves swept by the wind, and a dark building looms up ont he right - a second one sits a little further away. Long streaks of rain are pelting down, but in the middle of the chaos, a washing line with some laundry is catching the sun.

I know we have to take every chance at drying the laundry outside at this time of year...but I don't think this lot is going to dry any time soon.

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. Looking up a gentle slope between two dark clumps of trees, towards a large two story house at the top. The walls are made up of horizontal wooden slats, painted yellow, and the windows are framed by white shutters. The sky behind is covered by fluffy clouds that are glowing warm orange, but the house and ground in front of it are shaded in a cool blue.

Climbing the hill towards the house above #VanHorn on a day when it was hidden by mist. Looks like a cold #autumn morning, when the shade is cold but the sun is warm when you find it...

#reddeadonline #rdo #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. A wide, smooth body of grey water streatches out under a sky that is heavy with grey clouds, broken by long streaks of rain. Two low islands sit on the near horizon. One on the left is covered by a huddle of trees, while the one in the centre is covered in bright green grass that glows against the dark background. Caught in the gap between the two is the dark silhouette of a cargo boat, and reaching down from the clouds to land directly on it, is the end of a brightly coloured rainbow.

Suddenly it feels like #Autumn, with rain lashing down today. But sunny spells mean we also get the occasional rainbow...and sometimes, apparently, what you find at the end of them is a boat!

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from with a video game. An open landscape of low rolling slopes in ahead, covered in dry yellow grass. Close to the camera, the grass is green, and a dirt track runs away from the camera from left to right, before it splits to turn right out of frame, or left to wind away through the hills. A rider on a red-coated horse has just appeared to the left, heading towards the split in the track.

Packed up and on the road - I wonder where this rider is headed today?

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. The right side of the frame is filled by a stack of log that make up the wall of a cabin, but we can see past it into a recess where a wooden table and chairs are set up next to a window in the wall of the next building. It is night time, and the windows glows with light, and the table and log wall are lit with a warm glow from a lantern we can't see behind us.

The last day of August... Autumn approaches and soon the nights will start drawing in. Our evening tables will be lit by lamps instead of sunlight, like this cosy corner in #FortWallace!

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. I yellow hazy fills the frame, through which dark shapes can be made out. On the left, an old covered wagon with a simple flat awning pulled out to the side. At the back, a large tent, and a pole with two flags held out to either side. And in the centre, a man wearing a hat with a gun slung on his back, is sat leaning forward over something held in his hands, that he has resting on his knees.

Long hot days lead to hot, hazy evenings. I wonder what Cripps is working on this time, I guess I'd better head in to camp and find out...

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. It is night time, and gentle rolling fields stretch out in from of us in shades of green and grey. Two barns standing out in the dark are lit from within by warm lyellow lamp light, while the sky overhead is dusted with scattered pinpricks of stars and the great stream of the Milky Way glows across the deep blue night.

Hot summer nights, and a sky full of stars overhead. My favourite time of year 🥰

#reddeadonline #rdo #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. It is dark, and the camera is looking down the length of a long wooden porch. Lanterns places at intervals cast a warm yellow glow onto the wooden slat walls of the building it is attached to. In the foreground, two people wearing long skirts and frilled shirts are facing each other; one is standing and waving a fan in front of her face, the other is seated and looking at some handwork they are holding. In the background, seen between them, another group are gathered together under a lamp.

After the sun goes down, a moment to relax and catch up after a hot and dusty day of work.

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. The shot is low, with a muddy shoreline filling the lower half of frame. A hazy blue sky filled with broken clouds fills the upper half, while a line of shadowy trees splits the two. The bright disc of the sun is just rising over the treeline, and a low outcrop in front of us is cast into dark relief by the light.

Long, hot, lazy summer days...captured in a frame.

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. We are inside a wooden building, looking into a corner where the slatted walls meet and a worktop and shelf have been fitted. An oil lantern on the counter burns brightly, casting a warm glow over the items around it - a large flask, some baskets and dishes, and a collection of herbs hung from the shelf above. The lamp light through the leaves is casting broken patterns of shadow on the wall beyond.

Poking around in our moonshine shack, I think this is Maggies kitchen. Simple, but sometimes that's all you need.

#reddeadonline #RDO #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. It's a hazy yallow afternoon out in the countryside. A dirt track stratches out ahead of us on the right. Trees and bushes line the sides, their shapes cast into dark shadow by the sun light. Directly in front of us to the left is a broken down wooden wagon, with a twisted frame and wheels, and a collcetion of barrels and flasks scattered on the ground behind.

The crops are really ripening now, which means it's time to start making fruit wine!

No drinking and driving though, unlike like the owner of this wagon who staggered off down the road...

#RedDeadOnline #rdo #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. A wide open landscape stretches out in front of us. To the right, white cliffs rise in two layer from the ground below. To the left, a path cuts through low grass and scrub, along which a cart pulled by two horses is approaching up the slope towards us. The sky is a hazy blue, and clouds in shades of grey and yellow are piled up in big fluffy mounds all along the horizon

Summer has arrived with a vengeance! The heat may be hanging heavy over the dry earth, but life goes on - there's work to do and (in this picture) goods to be moved...

#reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #reddeadonline #rdo #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. We are standing in the middle of a dirt track, that leads straight ahead until it disppears over a crest just ahead. It's dark with shadows from tall trees that rise on each side, but up ahead the forrest is bright and green in the sun, and we can just see the bright white of a tumbling waterfall through the branches.

A few days of rain after a hot week, and everything feels fresh again.

#reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #reddeadonline #RDO #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. A wide open landscape stretches out in front of us, under a hazy blue sky scattered with clouds. It's dry and dusty and coloured in shades of yellow and brown, but green plants and cactii dot the ground. In the middle-distance dark cliffs rise from the plain, and a railway line curves through the centre from left to right.

A hiatus on posts for the last two weeks, as we've been out exploring the real world for a change! It wasn't far off something like this, but on the smaller scale found in Europe...

#RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #RedDeadOnline #rdo #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

Here's the map view for anyone looking to explore this gulley themselves. You can work your way around the shoreline, but eventually have to go in the water which is where I was stopped from further explorations by sudden watery peril...

A picture taken from within a video game. A low-sided gully winds out ahead of us, cutting through yellow rock towards a small glimpse of water. Small scrubby bushes with occasionaly tall cacti cover the floor, and poke out above the edges of the rocky walls. The sky is heavy and grey with cloud, and in the distance a tall cliff rises from the opposite side of the water.

Even the extent of the #rdr2 map can feel small some days, so I end up exploring the edges. I've managed to get this far outside the map down by the #SeaofCoronado... anyone found a longer route out in this area?

#RedDeadOnline #RDO #RedDeadRedemption2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograh taken from within a video game. A view looking down from a rocky outcrop to a wide river that is winding towards a flat lake in the distance. The sun is setting through clouds, casting a yellow light over everything it touches, and the trees that are rising from the ground below are cast into dark shadows. In the middle of frame is the dark shape of a bird, caught with it's wings raised as it floats through the air.

The feeling of a hot summer afternoon, when even the bird was flapping pretty lazily through the sky!

#RedDeadOnline #rdo #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. It is night time, and a clear, dark sky hangs over a vista of trees and mountains. Cutting through the grassy ground below, a railway track runs from left to right, and marching along and across it are utility poles connected by wires. The one closest to us is silhouetted from behind by a bright cloud of stars in the sky behind.

Poles (telegraph or electrical?) marching their way towards #Valentine. Which means we'll soon be able to pick up our post and some more supplies...

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. A bright sunlit scene with a tree trunk rising through the left of the frame, and a yellow painted wooden building filling the right. A haze of dust hangs in the air beyond, while two workmen lean against the shaded side of the building, enoying a moment of rest.

On a hot, dusty day, the best place to be is in the shade!

#reddeadonline #rdo #reddeadredemption2 #rdr2 #virtualphotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. Two trees with long weeping fronds of leaves stand on each side of a dirt track that passes between. Tucked in behind the left tree is a small shack, while a wide river spreads out to the right. The whole scene is hazy with a soft yellow sunlight filtering through a light mist.

Preparing the head to the big city, but first, a moment to pause in the soft sunlight and perhaps catch the sound of #MantecaFalls in the distance....

#RedDeadOnline #RDO #RedDeadRedemption2 #RDR2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph take from within a video game. We are crouched low, looking along a railroad track that comes into the frame on the left and stretches away in a in a gentle curve. On the left side a rocky outcrop rises up, with bright red poppies growing at the base. On the right, tall pine trees stretch up into the sky with green grases and rocks clustered aroud them. The sun is low, and casting alternating patches of soft warm light and dark shadow across the frame.

The feeling of a warm morning, when the air is calm and full of birdsong...

#RedDeadOnline #RDO #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

A photograph taken from within a video game. A dry desert in front of us looks hazy through a cloud of dust. Rocks and cactii rise up from the pale dirt, and a blue sky stretches out overhead. We must be standing by a road, as there are dark tracks from a recently passed cart running right to left in the dirt. On the other side of a the tracks is a horse in full tack, with a person stod behind - we can only see them from the waist down, and a glimpse of their hat!

A weekend with friends is never wasted, even if you achieve nothing but time spent in each other's company...

#RedDeadOnline #RDO #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy

Twice in one month, you are spoiling me 🥰

A photograph taken from within a video game. A wooden shack fills the frane, lifted up from the surrounding swamp on wooden posts, with a bowed and rusty tin roof roof that's covered in green algae. The porch overhangs the front of the house to create a shady porch, while perched on one of the supporting posts is a pale brown chicken, it's white wing feathers shining in the sun.

#EasterSunday. No chocolate here, but we did find a chicken so perhaps there's the opportunity for an egg.....

#RedDeadOnline #rdo #RedDeadRedemption2 #rdr2 #VirtualPhotography #thesightseeingcowboy