May 262009

kettleriver1

This is the Kettle River that passes near the seasonal campground where we keep our camper. In case you don’t know around here ’seasonal campgrounds’ are places where you essentially park your camper for the entire season. It’s sorta between going to a new place every time you go camping, and having a cabin, which most keep for many years if not a life time.

It was our first trip up there for the season to get things opened up. Our main camper which we’ve had for a year now survived the winter just fine. No snow damage, all appliances worked, and no rodent infestation, always a concern when you leave a camper unattended for a long time. Also moved our pop-up camper which is used by our younger kids their friends back to the edge of the woods. It’s a lower area a hundred feet from the Horn River and spring time flooding has occurred there in the past.

Looking forward to many more trips up there, and hope to bring back some interesting photos.

May 122009

beachlogscankill
That’s what some of the signs say posted on some beaches at the Olympic National Park in Washington. At first you think it’s some sort of joke, but it only takes one close call to realize they’re not kidding. These logs are what’s left of trees that get washed out into the ocean from the many rivers emptying into the ocean. On the journeys down the rivers, they get scrubbed of branches and bark, and eventually end up piled on top of each other when storms wash them back ashore.

Many of them are quite large, and people end up walking, i.e. balancing on them. It’s seems like fun. Except some logs ocassionally roll off whatever they’re balanced on. Log rollers end up in the water when they fall. Here you may end up under the log, with potentially serious injuries, if not worse.

May 052009

steppyramid

Before the pyramids we’ve all come to know were built, the Egyptian Pharaohs practiced with step pyramids. This is the Pyramid of Djoser, built 2700 BC at Saqqara, Egypt.

Apr 222009

rustybridge

One the overhead suspension cable casings in the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati. As bad as the flaking paint looks, the underlying steel is pretty solid. Just needs a new paint job. Maybe there’ll be some stimulus painting. Till then it will present some interesting photo ops.

Apr 182009

apostles

A little break from all the train photos. This photo was taken off the southern coast of Australia, along the Great Ocean Road, with one of my first digital cameras, a Canon G3. The twelve apostles are a series of sliver islands (or rocks), some of them pointing like needles into the sky. Forgive the blown highlights, but its a near impossible shot into the sun across water.

Apr 042009

carolinajungle

Mar 282009

apartmentvsgarage

Mar 242009

cinciairport2

I went to Boston on a business trip last week, arriving St. Patrick’s day. St. Patrick’s day in Boston! Brought a bunch of photo gear for some downtown shots of the crowd. What a bust it turned out to be. Circumstances prevented me from making it downtown, so the best I have to show is yet another airport terminal photo. It was quite an early flight back home as evidenced by the empty terminal, after having had only a few hours of sleep. And that bone-in breaded veal stuffed with prosciuto I had the evening before was a fat laden undercooked disaster. Other than that it was a great trip :)

Mar 212009

bridge1

The John A. Roebling suspension bridge across the Ohio River was completed in 1866. At the time it was the longest suspension bridge in the world. Still impressive.

Mar 182009

underconstruction111

View of downtown Cincinnati from the river road.