Patrick Tillett

More Desert Art From Anza-Borrego

2012-02-13T04:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately. Lots to post, just not a lot of time to do so. We've spent so much time in our RV this year, that when we get home, there is too much stuff piled up for us to do. I just don't seem to get things posted. I'm working on it though. These sculptures are in the general area of the sea serpent I posted last week. Still, they are all in the middle of nowhere. In this case, nowhere is an awesome place to be.

Wasn't expecting to see this.

From later in the day. I liked how moody it looked.

Another old dinosaur. The mastodon, is pretty old also.

Lot's of steel plating in these things. Lot's of rust also.

All of the hair in their manes and tails is steel also.

A little different view of the one above. As you can see, there isn't a lot out here.

Even steel babies gotta eat.

I totally forgot what these are. Something prehistoric.

This thing was HUGE! I thought I took another shot that better showed the scale.

Tapirs!

Wart hog, I'm thinking...

Weekend Reflections - Gulls

2012-02-10T04:00:00.000-08:00

Ever notice how birds almost always face the same way?

For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

Weekend Reflection - Street Candid

2012-02-03T04:00:00.000-08:00

She apparently wasn't calling the police on me. Oh yeah, she's one of our daughters, so I guess she couldn't... Her hat looks to be straight out of Carnaby Street.
How many of you did I lose with that reference?

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

Not Something You See Everyday

2012-01-30T04:00:00.000-08:00

...but, in the desert, you should never be surprised at what you see! (which is why I love it so much)

feel free to embiggen any of these

How about a 400 foot long Sea Serpent in the middle of nowhere?

The metal work in this thing was amazing!

My wife is standing by the head to give it some scale. It's big!

I didn't know that Sea Serpents had rattle snake tails.

Wife not needed for scale, just photo bombing...

I'm betting you can't touch this thing during the summer, when it gets up to about 115 degrees on a regular basis.

Just gotta love the textures and colors.

The artist who did this was hired to build statues all over this section of the Anza-Borrego desert. They are near the little desert town of Borrego Springs. We're camped about 40 miles from here and regularly come down the mountain to explore. Most of the art in desert areas falls into the "folk art" category, but these are big time sculptures. The same artist has done many other pieces in the area, I'll post some of them in a future post.

More New Year's Day Sunrise

2012-01-18T06:25:00.000-08:00

I was running all over that mountain ridge, freezing in my PJ's at the break of dawn. It was eerie because of the many wolves I could hear howling. I took a lot of pics, but will only burden you with these few...

please embiggen this one at least

So far, this is my favorite photo of the trip. Maybe one of my favorites ever. The little slice of reflection just below the far mountain range is the Salton Sea. It's over forty miles away. Many years ago the Colorado river burst it's banks, creating a 400 square mile lake. Because it has no outlet, it has become VERY salty over the years. It is the second largest salt water lake in the country, surpassed only by the Great Salt Lake in Utah. It is also one of the very lowest spots in the U.S. It is only 5 feet higher elevation than California's Death Valley. Other than cropping, this photo has not been enhanced in any way.

This was the second photo I took on that day, and was less than a minute after the one I posted last week.

I got so excited running around because I was witnessing nature's "art" at it's best.

When I turned and looked to the west, I was happily surprised to see this amazing cloud formation lit up by the new day's sunlight.

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

Some Odd Sights

2012-01-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

Just a few odd things I've seen in the past couple of weeks. I've had a lot going on recently and I promise, I'll get back to "real" posts very soon...

I was trying to take a photo of the two deer in the photo. They were heading up that hill and I had to shoot from the hip (not very well). I thought the yellow thing was just some kind of farm machinery, or plumbing thing. It's a small submarine! Submarines aren't all that rare, but submarines sitting on top of a mountain at over 5000 feet above sea level, is very rare...

Everybody knows what rabbits are because they are pretty much everywhere. BUT, this is not a cute little cottontail. It's also not very good to eat. It's a jack rabbit. They are more wild animal than bunny. I bet this guy was twenty pounds.

It's strange enough that these woodpeckers are making holes in this cabin. It's even more strange that they seem to be doing it in the shape of a square.

Of course there are always abandoned and/or junk cars in the desert. This one just happens to be a Plymouth Barracuda and pretty valuable.

Sorry, I just couldn't help snapping this one. Just one more reason not to smoke! The stub of a finger, was a real bonus.

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This post was just for fun, real stuff coming up next...

Free Angela Davis

2012-01-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

I just went through a pretty long period without a hair cut. It got so bushy that I wouldn't leave the house without a hat on. There is no telling what I'd do to my hair if I was a woman.

It's like steel wool and if I don't have gel in it, I look kinda like Angela Davis. If you don't know who she is, maybe you remember the free Angela poster people used to hang in their houses, or maybe this button. This was way back in the day, so most of you probably don't know who she was. I'm not black, or even a woman, but ungelled and grown out, I do sport a wickedly awesome natural Afro...

Love her or hate her, nobody can deny that this brave and brilliant woman made an impact on America. She was an outspoken political activist in the 60's and 70's and most definitely an agent of change. I didn't agree with everything she said or did, but she was willing to pay whatever price needed, to get her message out. And she did pay a heavy price. Angela Davis turns 67 this month.

If you have no idea who I'm talking about, a quick trip to google would be well worth your time.
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back to photos next post...

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Two Types of Reflections

2012-01-05T04:00:00.000-08:00

Sunrise, January 1, 2012

For me, 2011 was a year for the ages...

My wife and I bought an RV in April. Since the start of May, we've spent about 60 nights in it while away from home. We're getting reacquainted with nature.
After three years of dealing with/ignoring it, my thyroid cancer is gone.
Last, but certainly not least; a lady came out of the woodwork thinking we might be related. Three weeks and one DNA test later, I have a sister! I never knew about her and I'm happy as can be about it. We've spoken and exchanged a lot of messages and soon we'll be spending some time together.

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

I am Cured!

2011-12-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

I got the call today. Three and a half years, two surgeries.
It's gone without a trace. Cured!

Thanks to everyone for your support, prayers and positive vibes...

I'm in Isolation

2011-12-22T04:00:00.000-08:00

That's right young lady!

A little sugar for Santa goes a long ways...

For those of you who have been around here for a while, you are well aware of my bout with thyroid cancer. For those of you who don't know... I had a couple of surgeries for it about three years ago and I'm hoping to get the all clear (as in cured) in about a week.

I had a thyrogen injection on Monday that cost $1,238.00
I had a thyrogen injection on Tuesday that cost $1,238.00
I took a single horse pill of radioactive iodine Wednesday that cost $5,000.00
Wednesday, Thursday and part of Friday, I'm in isolation (cause I'm glowing)

Tomorrow, I spend about an hour under a gamma ray camera that looks for radioactive hot spots. This will be my third annual treatment and scan. If the scan doesn't unearth something (unearthly), I'll get my "cured of cancer" merit badge and be sent on my way.

The shots were easy, the pill was easy, the semi- isolation is easy. The hard part was the prep for it all.

For the last three weeks I've been on the strictest medical diet known to medicine and mankind (in my opinion anyway). It ends today. I couldn't ingest any:

Anything from the ocean
Seaweed (it's in a high percentage of foods)
Soy of any type (Soy is in more things than seaweed)
Tofu (this one and the three before it kill me. My wife is Japanese)
Sea salt
Regular salt
Restaurant food
Fast food
Water (distilled is okay, blek!)
Soft drinks
Processed food of any type
Spices
Herbs (other than fresh from my own garden, that I don't have)
Bread (home baked only is okay. Yeah right!)
ANYTHING with preservatives in it
Beef
Pork
Cured or corned meats
No snack foods like chips, etc.
Dried fruit
Chocolate
Crackers
Sweets

I can eat:

Canned peaches, pears and pineapple
Unsalted nuts
Clear soft drinks
Matzo crackers
Plain rice cakes
Redish vegtables
Small amounts of fresh chicken or turkey
Fruit

So between all this stuff, my new sister (yay!) and pre-Christmas stuff, I haven't posted in well over a week. As you know, that's a long time for me. A couple of days after Christmas, my wife and I are taking off for our favorite mountain top for a couple of weeks. I'll let you know when the good news arrives.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

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You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up!

2011-12-14T04:00:00.000-08:00

About 18 months ago I received a Facebook message from a lady who thought I might be an illegitimate member of their family. In fact, her family referred to me as "Uncle Pat." Here is my blog post relating to the incident.

A month or so ago (okay, it was October 27th to be exact), I received a comment on that post, from a person who though she was my sister. Okay, but I don't have any sisters! I didn't "approve" the comment to be published because there is too much personal information in it. I did contact her though...

Quite a few of you have been following my blog for long enough to know that I am from the most dysfunctional of families. For those of you who don't know, this post is yet another entry into my crazy family history. I have three brothers. That's all...

Okay, so Christine and I exchanged several emails on the subject.

She was adopted directly from the hospital she was born in (in my home town).
My mom had a friend with the same name as Christine's adoptive mother.
She saw what she thought was the name of her birth mother when she was a teenager.
She googled the name she saw (my mom's name) many times over the years with no hits.
My mom's first name (and our last name) is very unusual.
Two months ago she finally got a google hit on my mom's name.
It led her to this post about her.

We emailed and we spoke. This was all adding up to her maybe being right. I was fourteen the year Christine was born. You would think I would remember if my mom was pregnant at that time. I didn't. This wasn't a very good year in my life and I spent a lot of it "under the influence" of anything I could get my hands on. I even flunked 8th grade that year.

We met about three weeks ago and took a DNA test. We sent it to the lab and waited. Before they sent us the results of the test, they said they would call and let us know. After meeting her and talking to her several times, I was really hoping we were siblings. I have no negative history with her (as I do my brothers) and she is VERY nice. I like her a lot.

Today the lab called. Christine and I have the same mother!
See? You Just Can't Make This Stuff Up!

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Central California Coast - San Simeon

2011-12-12T04:03:00.000-08:00

This is last of the posts relative to our little roadie to the central coast of California. We stopped at the little bay of San Simeon. The wharf there was built by George Randolph Hearst, to make the delivery of materials easier, during the construction of Hearst Castle. Although it's on a great part of the coast, there isn't really much to see there. Lucky for us there was some practice sea rescue operations taking place.

Enlarge this one.

A pretty good panoramic shot

The victim (to be rescued) is in the water, to the right.

Here is part of what I love about this part of the coast. Farmland going right down the edge of the ocean. See the awesome old barn in the background?

This is pretty much all there is at San Simeon. The pier and one little store.

The rescue boats made a nice pose for me.

This guy was watching the helicopter also. He wasn't much for chit chat though.

High Tea

2011-12-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

Last week, one of my granddaughters asked me if there really was a Santa Claus. She said that most of her class doesn't believe in him. The kids who do believe, are made fun of. It all starts in elementary school. These things never change.

I remember sitting at the little table in my daughter's room while she served me pretend tea and food made of play dough. Too bad it all gets tarnished as they learn that life isn't perfect and then the little dishes and cups all end up in a cardboard box in the garage.

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high tea

plastic cups and plates
high tea and cookies
in a little room
full of pretend
and make believe
it's all great fun
right up until the time
that life wears them down
and beats the wonderment
and innocence
out of them

that's how
cynics are made

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Pismo Beach Pier at Sunset (sort of)

2011-11-30T03:55:00.000-08:00

Next to last Central California coast post. We had been fogged in for a few days and were so happy that we finally had some sunshine. I had planned this shot weeks before we got there and even checked the Internet to find out the exact time for sunset as I wanted to photograph it from under the pier, looking through the pilings. When I got there, this is what I saw...

There wasn't going to be any sunset! That tsunami looking thing is a HUGE bastard of a fog bank waiting to come onto shore. Why couldn't it have come in earlier? Why did it have to mock me like that?

A closer look at the size of the fog bank.

Well, here is the final product. It's the best I could do on that day (please embiggen!)

On a positive note, we discovered this skateboard collection in a surf shop by the pier. This is only about a fifth of the collection. Does anybody out there still have scars on their knees, elbows, etc., from riding a skateboard with old metal roller skate wheels? There is one on the wall in the middle of the bottom row. Those things were killers because a blade of grass on the sidewalk would stop it and send you flying. Today's coddled children ride skateboards that will roll smoothly in the street, even on light gravel! Us early skateboard riders, were a tougher breed...

Oh yeah, I bought an awesome pair of sandals there, that have a bottle opener built into each sole!

Morro Bay Quick Visit

2011-11-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

As this is our third trip through Morro Bay in the last year, this will be a short one with just a few photos. I think one more post on that trip will just about cover it. Before we're done with out current two week trip, I should have a few good photos from it as well. It's not really much of a trip, because we only drove a hundred miles to get here and we're pretty much hanging around the camp ground. Still lots to see though...

Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery

2011-11-23T06:11:00.000-08:00

This elephant seal rookery is another of the amazing places along the central California coast. Earlier in the year, there are so many elephant seals on the beach that you can barely see the sand. At this time of year, the seals are mostly young ones. These magnificent creatures migrate thousands of miles to get here twice a year.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends in the U.S.

feel free to embiggen at your leisure...

Just another slice of the heaven that is the California Coastline.

Mom? Mom? Where are you?

Picture this beach FULL of elephant seals!

Did you hear the one about the two seals that walked into a bar?

Blubber on the beach...

They remind me of our cats.

Snow Canyon - Slot Canyon

2011-11-21T04:00:00.000-08:00

This is the start of the trail to Jenny's Canyon. Not to be confused with Jenny's Overlook. Man, this Jenny (donkey or human) must have been something.

A little further up the trail.

Further still. Now it's gotten very narrow.

We're about half way in the slot canyon. The top is closer together than the bottom and is about 200 feet straight up.

Almost to the end.

The end.

My obligatory odd shot.

Coming back down the trail.

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I'm pretty sure this concludes the posts from our recent Arizona/Utah road trip. I have MANY more photos, but I don't want this to get boring. I have a few posts left to do from our latest trip to the Central California coast. Right now, we're in our RV up on our favorite mountain top. We're on a ridge line overlooking the Anza-Borrego desert. The wind has been doing it's best to blow us off that ridge line. Right now it's storming big time and we're hoping to wake up covered in snow. Fingers crossed...

Weekend Reflections - Central California Coast - Just Birds

2011-11-18T04:00:00.000-08:00

Birds + water = nice reflection

Gossip Girls checking me out

Wow! He's been working out!

Grumpy!

Lots of Guano on those rocks.

You talkin' to me?

All this guy needs is a monocle, top hat and cane.

Is this a cormorant?

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For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James. There are about a hundred folks, most of them really good photographers who participate.

Snow Canyon Utah - Jenny's Overlook

2011-11-16T04:00:00.000-08:00

I'm not really clear on exactly who Jenny was, but they named this overlook after her. While not a long trail, it was pretty steep and rough. There was apparently an easier path to the top, but of course we missed that one! Some of these pics are on the way up and some on the way down. The last photo is the "view" from the overlook. I'd enlarge that one, because it looks much better that way.

Enlarge please!

Central California Coast - Port San Luis

2011-11-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

One of the great places along the central California coast is the town of Avila Beach/Port San Luis (pop. 1600). There are so many world class destinations in the area, that most people just drive right past this turn off and never give it a second thought. The day we were there on our last roadie, it was initially so foggy that you could barely see anything. We hung around for a while and the fog thinned enough to let a little light through.

To enhance your viewing pleasure, please embiggen these photos

One of many seals hanging around under the pier.

The pier was built in 1873. There are exactly zero tourist attractions on it.

A lot of different contrasts in this scene.

There are no slips or docking places for the small fishing fleet here, so when not at sea, they anchor off the shore.

Gossips...

No marina for the few pleasure craft in the area. I was pleasantly surprised that this photo turned out okay, despite the fog. Or maybe it was because of the fog.

The Ultimate Sacrifice

2011-11-11T04:00:00.000-08:00

Rivers of Despair

Somewhere in the Kentucky hill country

Heartbreak flows through hidden valleys like a breeze

Sorrow falls from slate gray clouds in sheets

Rivers of despair cut soft stone deeply

Gentle crying lingers on the air like an echo

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An old post that had about 5 comments, two of which were mine.
The photo was from google and uncredited.

This was supposed to be a Weekend Reflections post, but I obviously did the wrong one!
Sorry about that!

I Remember the Night

2011-11-09T04:00:00.000-08:00

A small break from photos. My written posts are starting to really back up and I need to start working them in.
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I Remember the Night

When neil armstrong quipped
"That's one small step for man"
"One giant leap for mankind"
I was crouched in a muddy ditch
In a steamy jungle
In southeast asia
Trying not to get killed
By small asian men
Who didn't give a crap
About the moon
Or neil armstong

NASA photo

Snow Canyon Utah

2011-11-07T04:00:00.000-08:00

Back to Utah for a post. Snow Canyon is truly an undiscovered jewel. It's close to a few national parks and because of this, people just pass right by. If you are ever in southern Utah, it's a must see.

to enhance your viewing pleasure, please enlarge!

The road into Snow Canyon. We were awestruck when we saw this scene for the first time (a few weeks ago).

No jeep roads here, so we had to dismount and explore on foot. This trail took us to those low red rock formations. They are petrified (or solidified) sand dunes.

The dunes.

This is an odd shot. Not because of the scenery, but because I'm in it.

Just because...

The clouds really made these photos.

More sand dunes.

An amazing vista.

Very high desert, so it's not as hot as it looks. That's my wife heading towards that large, bright red formation.

I still have a couple more posts to do from this trip, so I'm going to continue alternating them with pics from our just completed roadie to the central California coast.

Central Coast - Oceano

2011-11-02T03:59:00.000-07:00

The posts relating to our last two road trips are starting to back up on me. Because the scenery and things we did on each trip was so different, I decided that I'm going to alternate posts from each one. We parked our RV outside of the little town of Oceano. There is nothing noteworthy about the town, except for the awesome area it's in.

please embiggen at your leisure...

The view from our spot. The ocean is just the other side of those sand dunes. We decided to take a stroll to the beach and take in the sunset.

Just pick a spot and lay out your towel and umbrella

Is this a beach, or the Sahara Desert?

The French Foreign Legion blazing a trail to the next oasis.

It just goes on FOREVER...

This dune was about 10 stories tall. If my wife was to fall, she would probably be hurt. Please note that she has her priorities in order; her wine cooler is much more important that her safety. You can see how high this dune is by taking a look at our shadows in the background.

Finally we got our payoff for all the hard work.

The beach was pretty awesome. Totally undeveloped.

Off in the left distance, you can see some vehicles and RV's. This beach is the only place on the west coast of the U.S. that you can drive on.

You think it was hard hiking to the beach? We had to hike back after sunset. My new favorite APP on my phone is a compass...

Halloween 2011

2011-10-28T09:50:00.000-07:00

I like scary, creepy and things on the dark side. I'm sure many of you remember some of my doll head posts from last year. If not, and you like creepy looking stuff, check them out. I have some plans for next Halloween involving those same dolls and some fiber optic lighting.

There always has to be a creepy pic of my granddaughter Tay.

Can you imagine how un-scary Halloween would be if it took place during the daytime. Scary costumes just don't work in the sunlight. Especially if it's a cheesy 19 dollar costume with a cheap plastic mask. But if you take the same costume and wear it at night under the right lighting conditions, then it's a whole different ballgame.

Voodoo? Who do? You do!

Again, a cheap wall hanging can be easily transformed into something a bit creepier than it was intended to be. This mask was hanging on a wall and brightly colored until I altered it just a tiny bit.

A 99 cent mask

My favorite scary movie of all time is the Blair Witch Project. I pick it for one reason and one reason only. It scares the crap out of me!

Click this image to see some Halloween posts by other folks

Southern Utah Jeep Trek

2011-10-26T04:00:00.000-07:00

As you know, a few weeks ago we took a roadie to Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. During our stay we took a few back road/no road treks. In my last jeep based blog post I referred to this trip and said it was a bit scarier. So, I'll just start this post with the scary part. (the best pic of this post is the last one, but I hope you look at the entire post)

The other side of the jeep is about 6 inches away from a sheer cliff wall. You can see for yourself how far this side is from the a drop off that was at least 100 feet straight down.

This is before the road got really narrow. Same drop off here, but the road was a bit wider. My wife was afraid to ride in the jeep while we passed through here, so I had her take a photo. Just kidding. She was driving. We usually split up our RV and/or jeep driving. I wasn't afraid, honest! As far as the road goes, this was actually the smoothest part. After this portion...

We got to use this "road?" next. I'm not sure I'd call it a road, but at least we didn't have to worry about falling off a cliff. We were on this one for a long time. The rough ride was worth it because it took us to a BLM (bureau of land management) road that was pretty nice.

Our goal was an awesome grove of Oak trees at the base of those mountains. Once we were almost there, we found a barricade across the road. We weren't too happy that we came all that way for nothing. Oh well, we had a good time getting there.

Okay, enough of that, now for some photos, not taken through a window...

When we got to the barricade, we were at the base of the large grayish mountains in the far background. For those of you in the Utah area, we started our trek from the small town of Hurricane.

This was my favorite photo of the day. Please ENLARGE it!

Snowbirds (of sorts)

2011-10-24T03:50:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd give you all a break from all the Red Rocks. We just returned from a roadie to the central coast of California. There is a grove of trees in Pismo Beach State Park that is the largest wintering spot for Monarch butterflies in the western U.S. We were a few weeks early, but there were plenty already arriving from their long journey from the north (Canada mostly). The migration takes so long that NONE of the butterflies who started on the journey south, are alive when they return home. Talk about nature doing amazing things... It's just one more thing that I can't really get my mind around. That's enough words for today, so here are some pics.

please enlarge the first two pics at least

The Hawk At The End Of The Road

2011-10-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

Although we are no longer on our last road trip (AZ & UT), I still have at least two blog posts to do relating to it. At this moment we are in Oceano, California, which is on the central coast. I'm happy to report that today's long drive from the southern end of the state was the easiest on record. We actually breezed through Los Angeles and the Valley. Once we got to the RV campground (is that an oxymoron?), we took a nice (not so much) long hike through coastal sand dunes that seemed more like they belonged in the Sahara Desert. At the end of the hike there was a magnificent oasis called the Pacific ocean. You don't get to see those photos yet! First, we have to do a couple more posts from the last trip.

This wasn't the roughest ride on our trip, but we "heard" it would lead us to a nice place.

And so it did.

When you are in this part of Arizona, it seems like every road leads to the Oak Creek. Back roads don't seem to be enough for us, so we started hiking along the banks of the creek.

As out of the way as it was, the rope swing over the creek (behind my wife) told us that this was somebody's swimming hole.

Oak Creek is an awesome free flowing large creek that meanders all over this part of Arizona.

I posted a sample pic of this guy a week or so ago. I wish he was sitting next to something else to give the size of this guy some scale. He was HUGE!

He was no more than 10 feet from us and had no fear what-so-ever. We have many red tail hawks where we live, but none of them are as big this guy. I'm still not sure exactly what kind of hawk he was. I wanted him to take off so I could get a photo or two of his wingspan. We waited and waited, he did nothing. We yelled, he just stared at us. I had given up when all of a sudden he took off. I didn't really have time to aim or focus my camera and had to shoot from the hip. That didn't work out too well. I got a shot of my own knee, one of the sun, one of blue sky and one of him that was too blurry to use.

No post about this part of the country is complete without some of this.

Or this...

The Pavement Ends

2011-10-14T03:50:00.000-07:00

Heading out of Sedona

We came to a fork in the road. We opted for the left. (I know it's not really a fork, but I need it for my story)

Pavement? We don't need no stinking pavement!

Hey, this isn't so bad!

It's deteriorating a bit

Getting bumpy (a cheap reflection for Weekend Reflections, but it's all I have this week)

Getting off the beaten path, but still a great view

The road is now getting, hey wait a minute, where's the road?

The road may be bad, but the view is spectacular

Another very bumpy stretch

Not much better

This is like driving up a set of stairs. The photo doesn't really reflect how steep this is.

Just about finished. A couple of kidney transplants and we will be just fine!

Just because I liked it!

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We'll be leaving on another roadie this Sunday. Going to another of our favorite areas, the Central California coast. I still have a few posts to do on this trip first. One is of an awesome place called Snow Canyon and the other is a from another jeep outing. This one was a bit scary at times.

Weekend Reflection:

For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James. There are at least a hundred folks, most of them really good photographers who participate.

Pay it Forward:

Darn it, I almost forgot about another bloghop I singed up for. This one was started by the lovely and talented Alex J. Cavanaugh. The idea is to post three blogs that we really like, to give them some exposure. I could do this for many more than three, but here they are. I love these three blogs and think they deserve a much bigger following.

The Non-Review This is one of my absolute favorite blogs. Tim is not only a great person, he is also one of the most creative and funny people I've run across. He has several running series of posts that are great.

Sleepless in Gainesville Faye is a fantastic observer, photograper and all around great person. Her blog is one of my go to places. I think you'll really appreciate her blog during the long and cold winter. It's sunny and bright and most of the photos are from a place where it never snows.

Stickup Artist: Living in the Wild Wild West Truly an amazing photography blog. I aspire to take photos as good as the ones regularly posted on this blog. Once again, not only a great talent, but run by a nice person.

I'm sorry I combined these two things together. I would never do that on purpose. It's just that I'm so darn A.D.D. that I, what was I saying?

Just Sedona

2011-10-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

Just a few shots of why everyone who comes to Sedona wants to come back.

Please enlarge these (it won't take but a minute)

these houses aren't as close to the rocks as it appears

On Friday I'll be posting some pics from a morning of exploring jeeps roads and no roads.

Page Springs and Sedona

2011-10-10T04:00:00.000-07:00

embiggen to enhace your viewing pleasure

After another long drive across even more desert, the landscape finally started to change. It seemed like we had big skies everyday.

I thought this was pretty interesting. It's a new building designed in the style of an old mission.

All of a sudden, there it is. Driving into Sedona never fails to take my breath away. The building restriction in Sedona are so strict that structures don't have much of an impact on the view.

I posted my own video of a panoramic view of Sedona, but it didn't work! So, here is one from a commercial tour company. I just wanted you all to see what it's all about. I've never been on a helicopter tour of the place (or any other) because I'm too cheap.

Although our trip was to the Sedona Az, area, our actual destination was to a VERY small place called Page Springs. It may or may not have been a part of another small town called Cornville, but we never figured it out. Anyway, it's about 10 miles or so outside of Sedona.
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As said a while back, Sedona is beautiful and we love it, but this trip was more about the exploring the back roads. On Wednesday, I'll get started on that.

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Weekend Reflection - Sedona Store Window

2011-10-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

This is why Sedona, Arizona is one of the most beautiful places in the world. There is nowhere you can go in the city and not see beautiful scenery. I took this photo last week.

For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

Crossing the Desert to California's East Coast

2011-10-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

The Colorado River divides the southern part of California from Arizona. It's a long hot trek to get there. At one point it was 118 degrees. By the time we arrived at the river to spend the night, it was down to 108. The river is large and at Parker Arizona (where we stopped) it is primarily a recreational and party area. I liked it when I was younger, but now I just think that it's too hot, there are too many drunk people, and the noise from a multitude of fast boats going up and down the "Parker Strip" is very annoying. As many of you already know, I love the desert for not only it's beauty, but for the people and odd things you see there. Most of the photos that follow are random scenes that I saw on this, the first leg of our road trip. The pretty stuff will be posted later.

The other side of the river is Arizona. This is where we spent the night. Don't let the water fool you, it was well over a hundred degrees.

Big sky and big desert. This is the primary scenery on the drive through the desert. Hours and hours of this view.

Nothing remarkable in this photo except the awesome clouds. The part on the left looks like a mushroom cloud to me.

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There are a few things that are clear indication that you are in the desert or on the fringes of a small town.

Abandoned pickup trucks with the beds removed.

The pickup beds (now trailers) and/or camper shells. Bonus points if you see an old camper shell attached to the pickup bed which has now been converted into a trailer. I have many more photos of this, but that collage tool is very time consuming for an ADD person like myself. If you haven't seen these sights, you need to get out of the city for a while.

I guess because there is very little to spray paint graffiti on, people have taken to writing names and other things along miles of railroad tracks. You may have to enlarge this to see it clearly.

Another view of the pricey real estate on the other side of the river. The properties do come with nice cloud formations and a big sky.

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The next post of our roadie will revolve around our stay at Page Springs in the awesome Verde Valley near Sedona.

Road Trip Teaser

2011-09-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

My wife and I had just finished a rough jeep drive to get to a remote part of Oak Creek, about 10 miles outside of Sedona, Arizona. We were hiking a creekside trail when this guy landed on a branch less than 10 feet from us. We think it's a Coopers Hawk. Whatever kind it was, it was HUGE! Talk about death from above! This guy was pure predator. He couldn't care less that we were so close to him. I took so many pics of him that I got tired of it. We have Internet for a couple of days, so I thought I'd post him as a teaser!

When we were in the Sedona area last year, I posted a bunch of photos of the red rock formations. This year I'm concentrating a bit more on the back road places and things like that. Of course, I'm taking some pics of the formations and will post them because I think Sedona is one of the most beautiful place I've ever seen. I'll catch up on responding to comments and commenting on your blogs (if you have one) as soon as I have a chance.

Yin and Yang in Action

2011-09-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

The overjoyed young girl in the foreground is my granddaughter Tay. The sour faced curmudgeon in the background is a friend of Tay's great grandmother.

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We're leaving on a two week roadie this Friday. We'll be hitting parts of four states (California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada). We have a lot to do, but I hope to return with some decent photos to post. I don't know when I'll have Internet access, so I'll post and comment when I can. It seems like every time I say that, I have no trouble getting on-line almost everywhere. So, "Until that time, Eustis, until that time." *

*Anybody know who said that? How about who they said it to? Movie name? If you know the answer to all three questions, you will receive absolutely nothing except my undying respect.

Worst Movies EVER

2011-09-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another one of Alex Cavanaugh's blog fests. I don't usually participate in this these, but the ones that Alex hosts, always have an interesting subject and are fun. If you don't follow his blog, you might want to check it out. It's good and he's a good guy. If you want to see the stinkers that others picked, just click on the word Alex.

Here are my top ten WORST movies in no particular order.

Battlefield Earth

Just for the record, I think this is the most stupid movie I've ever seen. There wasn't a single thing good about it. I can't even understand why it was released. It should have gone directly to the DVD bin at Big Lots and the 99 cent store.

Amityville II: The Possession

The first movie in this series was pretty scary and is said to have been groundbreaking. This stinker, was only groundbreaking in how much it sucked. It's the first movie that I ever walked out on. I gave it a good long chance, when it never got any better, I left.

Road House

Sorry ladies, there wasn't ANY part of this movie that I liked. If ever there was a person miscast in a role, it was this one. The plot was bad, the acting was bad, and this guy (rip) could NEVER be a bouncer.

Batman & Robin

I can sum this one up in two words "MAJOR LETDOWN!"

Zombies of Mora Tau

I admit to loving Zombie movies and there are a lot of them out there. This one is just plain stupid. Worst "zombie" acting ever.

Plan 9 From Outer Space

Maybe the most idiotic "special effects" ever! Add to that, the fact that is was so darn cheesy and it's on my list.

Mad Max (any of them)

Take it from me. ANYTIME a movie involves jet skis or dirt bikes, don't see it. To me, the only thing this movie (and those like it) does, is to keep stunt men gainfully employed. The fact that a major whack job was the star didn't help.

Water World

Ditto what I said about Mad Max. It's too bad, because I really do like Kevin Costner.

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I have many more that might have made my list, but you probably already stopped reading. It's okay....

Weekend Reflections - Clouds

2011-09-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

I took this photo last week. I'm so glad I noticed it.

For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

Critters We Saw This Week

2011-09-14T03:57:00.000-07:00

Ground squirrel. Not too popular because they undermine hillsides. Pretty darn cute though!

As the crow flies (or gull), we weren't that far from the ocean.

I don't know what he was. If you can spot him in this photo, maybe you know.

A shop in Julian had 5 hummingbird feeders out and all of them were being used.

A cottontail who didn't seem to mind me very much.

A crow riding the thermals. It may have been a raven, he was too high for me to really know.

A Horny Toad. They really aren't a "toad" at all, but a lizard. These guys are said to be able to squirt blood from their eyes (into yours) from five feet away. I don't know if that is fact or fable.

Red Headed Woodpeckers. These are guys who make thousands of holes in trees and then put acorns in the holes.

A covey of Quail at one of the camp sites.

Although my friend's dog is not a "wild" animal, he is one heck of a tether ball player. I've never seen a Boston Terrier jump as high as this guy can. Chuck (apocalypse now), this pic is for you!

Those woodpeckers peck on everything. We were battling one who was trying to peck a whole in the roof of our RV!

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I also saw some deer and cottontails, but couldn't get a decent shot at them!

Wild Fire Damage

2011-09-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

Several years ago there were major wildfires in the area where we are currently camped out in our RV. Even though it's been quite a while, the damage is present everywhere. I'm posting some of the things we saw while driving around.

embiggen any of these to enhance your viewing pleasure

I'm not sure what this was, but it looks like it was pretty nice.

An old volcano cone. I've tried many times to get it's reflection on Lake Cayumaca, but the water has always been too rough.

Lots of eerie looking silhouettes of dead trees.

Based on all the burnt trees and how many of these houses looked rebuilt, it must have been very scary.

Many areas are still closed to the public.

Being out of town so much, I'm really getting behind on the things I want to post. We're leaving again in a couple of weeks, so catching up is gonna take some time...

Look Who Came for Dinner

2011-09-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

We are up in the mountains again this week. A few hours ago we were sitting at a picnic table eating dinner with a couple of friends. Both ladies started pointing and ~~shrieking~~ excitingly saying things like "look at the size of that spider!" and "kill it!" This spider was walking towards us just like he was invited.

We took a few photos of it and my wife said, we need to put something by him so the photos can really show how big he was. She put a Pepsi can about ~~50 feet away~~ close to it and when it ~~strutted~~ walked over to it, we took more pics.

Here's a photo of this guy next to a Pepsi can. Can you blame them for being excited?

Weekend Reflections - Monterey Bay 2

2011-09-02T04:00:00.000-07:00

For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

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Guatay

2011-08-31T09:03:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to do on a road trip, is to look around in small rural towns. I especially like the fact that many of the people living on the edges of these towns use their property as a warehouse, junk yard, trash dump, gallery, etc. I'm not presenting the following photos as art, but as examples of what I'm talking about. I hope you find them as interesting as I do.

Based on the crank starter, this pile 'o junk must be pretty old.

Talk about "curb appeal."

Nobody is walking to their mailbox in this area.

Not something I'd have sitting in my yard, but who am I to critique this guy's "art?"

Occasionally you run across that gold nugget. This truck is one of them.

So is this Chevy panel truck.

I wanted so badly to look inside of this Quonset hut.

Some sort of a tractor that doesn't have wheels.

One of these days there will be people chasing me out of their little towns with clubs and pitchforks. Oh wait, that has already happened. A long time ago, me and some of my friends went to see a haunted house in a very small rural town. It actually did end up with angry townsfolk "escorting" us out of town. I'll post that story another day...

Last Week

2011-08-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

Embiggen to enhance your viewing pleasure

A quick right turn and we could lose 5000 feet in a big hurry. That's not why I took the photo though. It was very hot and this line of clouds appeared out of nowhere, in an otherwise pure blue sky. About three hours later, there was a fairly large thunderstorm. That's the Anza-Borrego desert in the distance. It's an amazing place with miles and miles of FWD roads, but it was about 115 degrees down there on that day (so there was no way we were going)!

A look back up the road. Once again, the clouds were really nice.

My granddaughter forgot her camera and insisted that I take this photo for her. Once I saw it enlarged, I was glad I did so, but I wish I'd gotten the whole shadow in the photo. It was about 5 feet long. My favorite time of day to take photos. If you enlarge it, you'll see what I mean.

As barren as the first two photos looked, this little lake is only about a quarter mile away. Plenty of large trout in it.

What outdoors post would be complete without at least one photo of a critter?

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I have a few more posts coming from this trip. One from in and around the town of Julian, one from a side trip to the small town of Guatay, and one through part of the mountains of San Diego County that was devastated by fire a few years ago.

Una Fria, Por Favor

2011-08-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

my old neighborhood
was once full of taverns
now it's full of vacant lots
and bars with spanish names
I don't begrudge the spanish names at all
I begrudge the fact that nobody in them
knows who I am

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I wrote this bit of gloom while in the middle of my Kauai blog post extravaganza. It didn't seen right to post it in the middle of all that happiness. It's not that I'm unhappy now either, but I'm sitting on top of a mountain, have an internet signal and can't think of a better time to post it...

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Double Reflection

2011-08-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

looks much better enlarged

The reflection in our patio door is not only of the sunset, but also of the reflection of the sunset off of the water in our swimming pool.

We'll be on the road for a week starting on Sunday. Our Internet connection is sure to be hit and miss, but I'll be checking in for sure! Have a great weekend everyone!

For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

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Death by Gift

2011-08-15T03:56:00.000-07:00

It's home canning season!
I have to admit that I'm more than a little leery of home canned foods. Especially so, when receiving them as gifts.

Do you know how to tell if there is botulism present in the home canned marmalade, pickles, kim chee, jams, or fruits and vegetables that someone gave to you? There is only one way, you die or wish you had! Seriously, unless you have a Ronco (as seen on TV) home chemistry lab, there is no way of knowing.

Why do people insist in giving this stuff away as gifts? While it's true that botulism deaths are much rarer these days, it wasn't always so. How about the home canners who ask you to return the Mason jar when it's empty? These folks get their jars back after they've sat in my cupboard for an appropriate and reasonable amount of time, that will make it seem like we've actually eaten the potentially rancid and deadly gift.

I appreciate your green thumb, kitchen skills and generosity, but I'd really rather receive something that has zero chance of killing me.

I hope I haven't offended any of my family, or any of my gardening or rural friends with this post, but it really does bother me. Am I the only one who has worries about this?

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Weekend Reflections -- Santa Ynez River

2011-08-12T04:00:00.000-07:00

The Santa Ynez river in Santa Barbara County, California.
I left the thick stuff at the left in the photo to show you what we had to battle through to get to this reflection.

For reflections by other photographers go to Weekend Reflections by James.

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Santa Ynez Mountains - Rancho Oso 2

2011-08-10T03:57:00.000-07:00

At the end of the trail was a beautiful waterfall and pool. This canyon was at east 10 degrees cooler than the rest of the trail. We liked it so much that we also hiked up there the next day.

feel free to enlarge

I figured I'd get the obligatory blurred background photo out of the way early.

The water tumbling down towards the top of the photo is probably about 100 feet up.

One of my favorites. The water, ferns and rocks all at the same angle.

It was hard to show the scale of this because the canyon was so narrow at this point, that I couldn't get very far away.

Cat tails along the Santa Ynez river. I didn't post any photos of it, because it would spoil Friday's post.

I don't know what it is, but it was the only flower we saw on another hike. A long, hot, dusty and dry hike...

The southern California version of the blue jay. It's called a Scrub Jay.

They don't make airplanes out of empty beer and soda cans, but they still have a very interesting story. This is James and Nikki. We met them at the campground. They are from New Zealand and have been living in England for several years. They quit their jobs in England and are on their way back home to New Zealand, via the U.S. They've been here for about 4 months driving around in a rented RV. They've driven it thousands of miles and have had a bunch of experiences. Some good and some bad. I was going to make this a much better post, but I'm too tired...

Santa Ynez Mountains - Rancho Oso 1

2011-08-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

My last couple of posts were from some mountains in San Diego County. Right after returning from that trip, we went on another. This time to the Santa Ynez Mountains, inland from the Beautiful town of Santa Barbara.

feel free to embiggen these

This campground was located on a working horse ranch

Where there are horses, there must be tack

Where there is tack, there must be bunk houses (rental cabins actually). No, we didn't stay in one these things. We were roughing it in our RV.

One reason we wanted to come here was the hiking trails. Here is my granddaughter looking pretty chipper at the beginning of a hike.

As you can see, the trail started to deteriorate quickly. I wasn't concerned because there was supposed to be a great payoff at the end of this hike.

embiggen for sure

This isn't the payoff, but it was still a very nice waterfall.

I'm thinking there will be only one person who sees and will know right away what it is. For those of you who don't know, this one was about 9 inches long. Okay Bossy Betty, what is it?

The hike continues on the next post...

Okay, it's a banana slug!

Cuyamaca Mountains 2

2011-08-03T04:00:00.000-07:00

One of our fellow campers.

This dirt road is part of a trail that connects with the Pacific Crest Trail. The PCT is over 2700 miles long and goes from Mexico to Canada, through California, Oregon and Washington. It takes 5 to 6 months to walk it.

Good fishing at this small lake (C and R) in the middle of the campground.

What can I say, some things just look better in black and white.

Just one of the interesting things I saw

And again

And yet again... If that little band of clouds wasn't on the horizon, I'm pretty sure we'd be seeing the ocean in this photo.

Out of sequence, but this is an example of one of the beautiful little valleys we traveled through on our way there.

Just because

I just can't get enough of those woodpecker holes stuffed with acorns

It almost looks like a pattern

Lot's of interesting folks travel around and live full time in their RVs. This is Jim. He lives in various campgrounds two weeks at a time. Jim makes bi-planes out of aluminum cans to supplement his income. They are pretty cool and very detailed.

He told us he needs more doctor pepper cans so he can make red planes. I'm not sure if others will find what this guy does interesting, but I sure do. My wife just shakes her head at me, as what would ordinarily just be a "hello, how are you doing?" turns into a major interview. I can't help it, that's what I do...

Road Trip to the Cuyamaca Mountains

2011-08-01T04:05:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we took a trip up to the Cuyamaca Mountains, up above the old mining town of Julian (I'm sure some of you are familiar with Julian and I'll post a photo tour of it soon). The camp ground is one of our favorite places. The camp sites are very spread out and some of them have views that are truly AMAZING. I'll only do a couple of blog posts on it right now because we've already gone and returned from another roadie to an awesome campground up the coast.

On the way down the coast we stopped at San Onofre State Park. It's not the best for camping but they do have miles and miles of awesome coastline. The entire place is actually part of Camp Pendleton (USMC) base (ooh-rah!). Thanks to them, the state was allowed to put a state park on their property. Beautiful waves without a surfer in sight. I was stationed at this base MANY moons ago. This is a look to the south.

This is a view to the north. If you enlarge this photo you can see where my town's electricity comes from. The two huge domes in the background that look like a giant bra, is actually the San Onofre Nuclear Power Plant.

Here's a couple of "bear with me" photos. This is yet another example of my fixation with closeups and out of focus backgrounds

A solitary (and empty) bench sitting on the cliff top. (this one's for you Faye).

I didn't want to take his pic, but he wouldn't stop begging.

Okay, finally up into the mountains and into the campground. See, I told you this place was spread out. The raised antenna is a joke, we couldn't get a single TV station. But, hey we're supposed to be roughing it. Right?

The campground has been overrun by wildfires twice in the past 10 years. Here's an example of a scorched tree that may or may not make it. I thought it was pretty cool looking either way.

Note the woodpecker hard at work. Not only are there thousands of holes "pecked" into the bark of this huge tree...

The woodpeckers come back and put a single acorn into each and every hole. Thousands and thousands. Of course this leads to a not so delicate ballet between the squirrels and the woodpeckers.

This view is from a campsight we hope to get next time. It's on the very edge of the mountain and looks down into the Anza-Borrego Desert. In the far distance you can see the Salton Sea. The day I took this, it was about 75 degrees. It was close to 110 degrees down below.

Here I am contemplating. Contemplating what I have no idea. I was probably wondering if it was too early to invoke my own personal "happy hour." Hey, this camping is tough and brutal, but somebody has to keep the pioneering spirit alive...

Skyward -- Kauai

2011-07-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

embiggen these for optimum viewing pleasure!

One more Kauai post after this one. I'm starting to get behind on other things. We got back from a little roadie to an awesome campground in the Cuyamaca mountains last week, so I have some photos from that and now we're leaving on another one in two days to the Santa Ynez Mountains. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining one little bit!

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Weekend Reflections -- The Lake

2011-07-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

Reflections by other photographers at Weekend Reflections.

"Real" Books versus E-Books - Part Two

2011-07-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

Last January, I asked a question (and gave my answer) in a blog post about E-books vs. regular books. To see that post click here.

"What's the difference between Border's and Tower Records? The answer is simple, Tower Records is history! The big box book stores are soon to follow. There is simply no need for them anymore."

In 2010, Borders closed 30% of their stores. Yesterday, they filed for bankruptcy and announced plans to close all stores by September. It would seem a valid assumption that Borders' primary competitor, Barnes and Noble would stand to greatly benefit from this news. Probably not!

Shortly before Borders announced the closing of 30% of their stores, Barnes and Noble was put up for sale. It's been almost a year and the sale has not even come close to taking place. I'm willing to bet that nobody is going to touch Barnes and Noble with a 10 foot pole.

Just one more nail in the coffin of our beloved hard copy books (unless you are willing to pay a premium). I suppose it could be said that we are already paying a premium.

What do you think about this?

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Poipu Beach -- Kauai

2011-07-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to post this using an unsecured internet signal that isn't worth a darn. I hope I can get it finished before it goes away. We're at a camp ground on top of a mountain overlooking the Anza-Borrego Desert. Just about as different from the photos below as possible.
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If you look at any list of "The World's Best Beaches," Poipu Beach is sure to be on it. In some surveys it's rated as the best all around beach anywhere. It has two crescent shaped beachs separated by a small sandbar and protected by a barrier reef. It was the most crowded place we saw on Kauai, but "crowded" is a relative term, because there really weren't very many people there. Somehow, I got there without my good camera and had to use my p&s. I think you can still see the beauty of the place.

View to the right

View to the left

View to the middle

Derelict Japanese Cemetery - Kauai

2011-07-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

Only a couple more posts from our trip to Kauai. In a couple of hours we'll be hitting the road again. This time not so far. We'll be RV camping (that may be an oxymoron) on top of a mountain about 100 miles from where we live. It's not nearly as scenic as Kauai, but I'm still hoping to get some good photos. I'm not sure if we'll have Internet or not. In the meantime, here are some photos of an old abandoned Japanese cemetery. We found it off of another old dirt road in the area of the hidden glass beach. A friend told us about both places. They aren't my best work, but I hope you'll find them interesting.

Looking back down the road that took us up to the cemetery.

Once again, we were reminded of the violent volcanic origins of Kauai.

Some of the grave stones were too buried in brush to get to.

We'll be trying to get some translations from my MIL.

Most of them seem to be from the 1800's

enlarge this one!

This one isn't Japanese, but the heart shaped tomb stone caught my eye.

Koloa -- Kauai

2011-07-11T04:00:00.000-07:00

Koloa was the town closest to where we stayed in Kauai. It's very small and there is really nothing new there. At one time a local sugar mill was the primary employer. These days, there is no sugar cane at all growing in the area and without tourists, the town would probably be gone. Of course, there are many chickens...

This is the main drag in Koloa. Almost all the businesses were on the other side of the street. I only posted this pic because I liked the tree.

Ditto for this tree. It's really pretty (enlarge to prove me right).

One of the few non-tourist related businesses in town is the Koloa Fish Market. It's been there for many years and is known as serving some of the best food in the entire state. No credit cards accepted and the doors close at 6:00 P.M.

Around the corner from the fish market, on a side street, was my favorite meal on the island. The Chalupas food truck served GREAT Mexican food. The owner, cook and only employee is a guy named Miguel. He's from Vera Cruz, Mexico, via Sacramento, California. Some day, he hopes to open his own restaurant on the island. Based on how delicious his food is, I hope his dream comes true. In case you were wondering, I know his name because most conversations I have with strangers, end up sounding like an interview. He was a good guy and I hope he makes it big.

enlarge this one for sure

Here is the sugar mill that employed most of the folks around Koloa. We were surprised to find out that this town was first settled by Japanese. This sugar mill and a good portion of the island was owned (much still is) by the McBryde family. In another of the amazing coincidences that make up my life. The receptionist at our dentist is one of the great nieces of the man who owned it all.

The mill isn't open for tourists so we had to do some snooping around. I really wish I could have gotten onto the property. We saw three of these huge sugar mills (all wrecked) on different parts of the island.

enlarge this one to see the "gardener" behind the gate.

Savage Shrimp! Although we didn't eat there, this truck is also a long time famous place to eat. It may not look too good, but there are positive reviews all over the Internet.

Sorry, but I just had to include at least one more photo of our friend "Roosty." He was such a handsome boy! Enlarge this one to fully enjoy his good looks...

I'll finish the Kauai posts up soon. We're going on a road trip this week, so new material is on it's way.

Weekend Reflections -- Monterey Bay

2011-07-08T04:00:00.000-07:00

enlarge for best viewing

Reflections by other photographers at Weekend Reflections.

Other Than The Fire, It Was A Great Day

2011-07-06T03:59:00.000-07:00

The Fourth of July is always a very long day at our house...

It starts with a parade (and/or race) at 9:00 AM. We live on a double cul-de-sac street. Kids, who have decorated their bikes, scooters, etc., start in one cul-de-sac and go to the other.

Waiting for the little kids at the other end is a home-spun carnival. Several game areas are set up for them.

My SIL (with the dual hats) and my wife volunteered to do nail painting in patriotic colors.

My wife in action on one of our neighbors. Of course, most of you recognize my smiling granddaughter, because her photos have made more appearances on my blog than anybody else. Love that girl! The carnival goes on for a couple of hours. Then it's time for...

The Water War!

The two cul-de-sacs battle it out. The far CDS fills up pickup trucks with with water (using tarps) for water cannons. They also fill up vehicles with scads of water balloons.

To get to our end, they have to run a gauntlet consisting of water hoses, showers of water balloons and even a water hydrant. When the war is over, everybody pitches in and picks up all the broken balloons. Next on the day's agenda is...

Salud!

We always have a party at our house on that day. Not so big this year, but most years it is.

After the water fight, we start preparing food. I spent a good portion of the afternoon at the grill, cooking and possibly drinking an adult beverage or two (or twenty, who knows?). They didn't all involve tequila, I promise. There doesn't seem to be any photos of the food. Pollo asada, home made spanish fried rice, etc. My wife does most of the work, I just chop and grill. Finally at 9:00, it was time for...

Fireworks!

Because of where we live, home fireworks are illegal. There is a lake at the bottom of our hill and they put on a good show there. We have a great view from our back yard. I have more photos of them, but a), I won't bore you with them and b), they all suck as bad as this one does. I don't own a tripod and it was at the end of a long day. This is where it started to get exciting...

As in six acres of brush fire exciting. This is the view from our back yard. They ended up evacuating some of the houses to be safe. The don't think the fire was caused by the show, but by some idiots ignoring the law. All in all, it was a great day! A long day, but still great. I hope everyone reading this also had a great weekend (and holiday to those of you in the U.S.)

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Grass fire breaks out during fireworks show at Laguna Niguel Regional Park

Daily News Wire Services

Posted: 07/05/2011 08:25:05 AM PDT

Updated: 07/05/2011 08:28:49 AM PDT

LAGUNA NIGUEL - It took firefighters about an hour to put out a grass fire that broke out during a fireworks show at Laguna Niguel Regional Park and scorched six acres. Sheriff's deputies evacuated some 16 homes in the area because of Monday night's fire, said Orange County sheriff's Lt. Jerry Carlsen said. Residents returned to their homes about 10:35 p.m., he said. No structures were damaged.

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The Beach at Tunnels Reef -- Kauai

2011-06-29T04:00:00.000-07:00

Although Kauai isn't the biggest of the Hawaiian Islands, it has by far, the most sand beaches. What makes it very nice is that there aren't very many people on those beaches. We didn't have time to see them all, but the beach at Tunnels Reef was one of the nicest. There was no where to park except on the side of the road.

feel free to embiggen, the photos are large

The beach at Tunnels Reef is the last area you can get to before the road ends. This portion of the road (on the way there) is called the "Tree Tunnel." No relation to Tunnels Reef, but just as beautiful.

This is an indication of how few people there are on this island. This one lane bridge is part of the main road of the island. We only had to wait about a minute.

It doesn't matter if you are at the edge of a town in the desert or on the most remote island in the world, your vehicle breaks down, you just leave it in the yard.

We drove past some Taro fields. Taro is a very valuable plant. Most people only associate it with "poi" and think it's pretty nasty. If you've ever had it, you know why. I didn't think it was bad at all, but I've been known to eat just about anything.

The view to the left

The view to the right. One of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Just amazing!

There's a house under those palm trees. I'm thinking I could live there. Only one issue, for the last twenty years all the houses have to be built on 18 foot high stilts. Yep, tsunamis...

A few more posts from Kauai and I'll be done. Thanks for hanging in there!

Kilauea Point -- Kauai

2011-06-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

Not only is Kilauea Point a beautiful place for a lighthouse, it's also a National Wildlife Refuge. The point is the northernmost piece of land in the Hawaiian Islands.

These are all large photos, so enlarge for optimum viewing

When I saw this, it was another one of those catch your breath moments.

The lighthouse was closed for repairs, but it was well worth the two bucks just to take in the views.

Red Tailed Tropic Bird (to see the tail, enlarge)

Great Frigate Birds (you gotta enlarge this one)

Hawaiian Goose

Wedge Tailed Shearwater nestlings

The view to the right.

Ditto

The view to the left (Princeville). Awesome coastline.

This little islet is just off the point.

I don't know why. I just had to. This place is so green that you can almost hear everything growing.

We ate at his fish market in the little town of Kilauea. I had Ono tacos. Oh man, they were so good. That's my wife in the white (with hat on). She's sitting with her sister and BIL.

Just me, thinking that a few wisps of grass are as awesome as the scenery.

Mahaulepu Beach -- Kauai

2011-06-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

A zip line guide (yeah, we did) told us about a beach that was located on private property. We had to drive about five miles on a dirt road to get there, but we were so happy that we did. Not only was the isolated beach amazing, we also found a trail there that led us to a huge and wildly barren landscape.

Don't take the time to enlarge all of these things, but a few of them are worth it

After driving a few miles down this road,

we arrived at the this gate. It was very nice that the owners of this giant farm let people have access to the coast, but they were very clear about the rules. From here we had to drive a few more miles on a VERY rough red dirt road (hey, we were in a rental car, no problem!). The road ended at a tree line. We parked and walked through the trees.

To the right we saw this.

To the left we saw this. We started hiking over these rocks following the coast line. Around that far point we found another beach.

Part of it was very calm and shaded by pine trees.

I'm going to shut up now and just post a few of the photos I took as we hiked.

what the heck? I can't get this to orient properly

The trail ended on a point that jutted out into this huge natural bay. As far as we could see in any direction there was not a single sign of civilization. Not a building, a boat, a car,a power line, or even another human. We saw many great sights during our time on the island. To me, this was the best thing I saw. It was like we just discovered something that nobody else had ever seen. Of course, that isn't true, but it was that desolate.

Waimea Canyon -- Kauai

2011-06-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

Waimea Canyon is also known as "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific." It's about 10 miles long and over 3000 feet deep. The center of Kauai, is one of the wettest spots on the planet. The Waimea River ("reddish water" in Hawaiian), drains that area and cuts the canyon. Because of all the rain there, the island of Kauai is the fastest eroding land mass on earth.

feel free to enlarge the photos

Even the drive to Waimea Canyon was scenic

Driving up into the mountains

I posted this only because I liked the tree

The entrance to the state owned, main observation area was closed for repairs. We had to pull off the road wherever possible to take photos. There were no guard rails and it was a little scary. To quote my wife... "Pat, don't get too close to the edge!" "Pat, watch where your stepping!" "Pat, back up!"

The Waimea River is in the upper middle of the photo. If you've been to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, it is easy to see the similarities between the two places.

"Shrimp Station"

The BEST shrimp tacos (or maybe any tacos) that I've ever eaten. On the side of the road in the small town of Waimea.

There always has to be a totally strange occurrence on our trips. After we left the canyon we stopped at the Kauai Coffee Plantation. You might have seen their coffee in stores. The guy standing next to this coffee roaster is my brother-in-law. He did the gold colored pin striping on this roaster several years ago for the company that made it in Southern California. The odds of him running into this machine, several years later and many thousands of miles from home, are pretty darn slim.

Weekend Reflections - All Attitude

2011-06-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

click to embiggen.

My granddaughter letting us know exactly how she feels about something. You can see mom's reflection in her sunglasses.

Reflections by other photographers at Weekend Reflections.