My Soul Reflections

Tasty Spring Salad.....

2011-04-18T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of spring for those of us who just can't stand it anymore!!!!
Toss the following:

fresh greens - spinach or baby spring mix
sliced strawberries
crumbled feta
glazed pecans
fresh strawberry balsamic vinaigrette

To make the dressing, just put several fresh strawberries in a food processor with balsamic vinegar to taste and blend it up. You can sweeten it to taste as well. When I made it I also threw in a bit of Paul Newman's balsamic vin dressing as a base and a splash of blush wine. It was amazing!!!!

Do not be anxious......

2011-04-09T10:05:00.000-07:00

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4: 6-7.

It sounds so simple......doesn't it? Why do I make is so difficult? Lately, I have allowed the stressors in life to overtake me again. Most of it stems from my job. I go through phases of this, eventually bringing myself to the brink of physical, mental and emotional exhaustion and meltdown. Why do I do this? Why don't I trust the God of all things to handle the little things that I allow to build? Do I really think I can fix them myself? Such pride...... And furthermore, why do I allow these things to even matter? In the grand scheme, those things that I allow to cause me anxiety are so insignificant. Why do I do that? What is it that I think I can do about it? Am I that delusional? (Don't answer that!)

God is so good and so patient with me. He constantly brings me back around to re-focus on what's really important. I don't want to lose sight of what really matters. I don't want to allow these distractions to tear my eyes from Him. I want to be an example of His love. I want people to see a difference in the way I live my life. How can you do that when you're not putting your trust fully in Him? I don't want people to look at the state of my life and think, "Man, why would I want what she has?". I want them to see Jesus. I want them to see joy.

The Lord has blessed my life in so many ways. I am clothed. I am fed. I am housed. My family has health. God has provided me with a good job when so many others are without. I live in a country where I can openly declare my love for my Lord without fear of persecution. And best of all......I am loved and I am forgiven.

So again, do not be anxious...... I think I'm going to have that tattooed. Yep, I just decided. Philippians 4:6-7 will be my next tattoo. And yes, I think it's perfectly acceptable for Christians to have tattoos. :)

Thank God for patience and forgiveness.

Glacier National Park

2009-07-05T09:31:00.001-07:00

Overall, our Glacier trip was a great time. We had a few disappointments due to the season. Early July is a bit premature for many of the hiking destinations. We had planned to visit Iceberg Lake, but it was still mostly frozen over. We planned to visit Hidden Lake, but the trail was still all snow. We planned to hike the Highline, but it just opened the day we were there and they said there was still a lot of snow and ice on the trail.......hike at your own risk and don't forget your ice axe. Huh????? Ok, we'll come back in August and try again. We did a few of the trails at the lower elevations. The Swiftcurrent Loop trail was nice and we visited Lake Josephine as a mini side trip. We contemplated Grinnell, but decided against it this trip. We also visited Hidden Meadow which is accessed through the Polebridge entrance. Frankly, it's a long drive for little reward. The meadow was supposed to be loaded with wildflowers. There were a few flowers along the trail, but none at all in the meadow. It was an ok hike, but the meadow was a bit of a bummer. I wouldn't bother again. Last July we did Avalanche Lake. It's a more rewarding hike. I would suggest it if you're looking for a hike at the lower elevations.

I think we'll plan to return in either mid August or early September this year to do the Highline Trail. Iceberg Lake may have to wait until next year because I doubt I'll be able to get enough time off to do both.

We caught this sunset on Thursday night. There wasn't a ton of color, but it was still pretty.

Marsh-mallow

2009-06-27T23:57:00.000-07:00

His Auntie Jocelyn has loving bestowed "MarshMallow" upon him. I can't believe he's almost a year old already.

More from the archives.....

2009-02-07T10:27:00.000-08:00

I've never been especially drawn to "abstract" images, but as I was sifting through the files this one drew me in. I don't know what it is about it that I especially like.... Perhaps it's the warmth it exudes or the fact that it's from one of my favorite locations. I don't know, but maybe I'll have to revisit some of my more abstract images.....

Random Images

2009-02-01T20:57:00.000-08:00

St. John's Cathedral by moonlight. - Spokane, Washington

Lighthouse on Alcatraz - San Francisco, California

Bushong schoolhouse - Bushong, Kansas

Digging Through Old Images.....

2009-02-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

Golden Gate Bridge

2009-01-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

I'm finally getting around to reviewing some of my images from our trip to San Francisco. First, I have to say....we had an AWESOME time! Thanks to Darla and Rebecca for NOT SUCKING! :) The four of us had a good laugh about "friends who don't suck". Vacationing with other people can be.....let's say, tedious. We're pretty selective about who we'll vacation with. Generally, we fly solo. We love our friends and family, but an entire week or more sharing a vacation with them can be a whole new experience. I wouldn't say that I'm difficult to get along with (others may disagree with that statement!), but I have my ways and they don't always mesh with others. I like to get there, see it and move to the next thing. I don't like to waste my time lingering around the hotel or spend too much time at one location. You might miss something! :) The 4 of us had a fabulous time and no one even hinted at the desire to kill each other. It was a perfect trip. We really enjoyed it. We're now talking about Boston in 2010!

So, that being said, let's talk about our outing to "the bridge". Now, we had never been to San Francisco, but prior to our trip I had done a little surfing online for cool places to shoot. I knew I wouldn't have a ton of time to shoot and that our locations would be limited because we decided to use public transportation instead of renting a car. So, the rest of the group was gracious enough to humor me and make a trip out to the Golden Gate Bridge long after dark. I wanted to shoot the bridge at night because I thought it would offer a cool subject. We weren't sure what the best way to get there would be so we asked the concierge at the girl's hotel if he could assist us in finding the best bus route to the bridge. He looked at us and said, "Now??? You want to go to the bridge, now???". :) I'm sure he thought we were a little nuts. He told us which bus to take and where to transfer. The bus ride took about half an hour I'd say. We waited for our transfer for about 10 minutes so maybe as much as 45 minutes total. When we arrived at the bridge we didn't even get off the bus. It was pitch black out there!!!! There didn't appear to be any lights at all on the bridge. It totally ruined my plan. I was majorly bummed. We just rode the bus back around, transferred again and called it a night. I couldn't believe it!!! Where had all of these beautiful pictures of the bridge lit up at night come from???? Is this the right bridge? Have I completely lost my mind????? I thought it had lights? I felt like a total moron having drug them all out there for a 2 hour bus excursion, in the dark, with the weirdos and for what????

The next day it dawned on me. I didn't just feel like a moron, I WAS a moron!!!! When you're on the bus, the lights are on inside. I'm on the brightly lit bus looking out into the blackness for some monstrously huge bridge that I'm expecting to be brightly lit. The reality of it is that the actual bridge itself isn't lit at all. There are no lights on the uprights of the bridge itself. The bridge is "lit" by huge spotlight style lighting at the base of the uprights. When you're inside a brightly lit "room" (or a bus!) your eyes can't adjust to the darkness outside enough to see the uprights of the bridge. DUH!!! The gang was extremely gracious about the whole episode. We laughed about it the rest of the trip. We also made another 2 hour round trip on the bus back to the bridge and captured this shot. It was cold, it was foggy, it was late.......you were patient. Thank you for not sucking! :)

Heading out.....

2008-12-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

Well we're off again! I'm supposed to be packing but since I HATE packing...... I'm procrastinating instead. :)
We're gettting ready to leave for San Francisco this weekend. Neither one of us has ever been there before so it should be fun and exciting. I generally tend toward the wild and unspoiled places, but Rodd was supposed to be attending a seminar so I thought I'd tag along. His seminar got canceled so now we're free to spend all week just goofing off.
I'm looking forward to doing some street photography. The places we generally go don't offer much opportunity for such things. I have to say, if I had been planning a "vacation" just for the sake of it, San Francisco wouldn't have even made the top 5 list. However, we're meeting friends from Michigan that we don't get to see but once every few years so that makes it extra special even if the city sucks.
We don't really have an agenda. Our typical MO is to play it by ear. That seems to be working well so we'll stick with it. We do have a few "must see" places on the list. We want to tour Alcatraz, visit Golden Gate Park and of course the bridge. I'm hoping to catch the bridge with dense fog at sunrise, but I'm probably not going to get that lucky. We also plan to see Chinatown and maybe Pacific Heights for the architectural appeal. We're booked to see "The Phantom of the Opera" at the Orpheum while we're in town. One of our friends is an avid actor and an amazing vocalist so we thought a show would be fun.
So, while we're looking forward to a packed week there are still the parts of traveling that really suck.....packing, flying, unpacking, flying, dirty public transportation, flying, bad hotel beds, flying......did I mention I don't care for flying? It's just such a hassle. It's especially inconvenient with all of my equipment. I bought a smaller camera bag for the trip and I'm going to see what I can scale back (yeah, right!!!). That's one of the reasons I love road tripping. You can bring as much stuff as you can cram in the car and then when it's full, you can start on the SkyBox!!! :)
Well, I suppose......I'd better finish packing and see what I'm going to have to weed out of my camera bag.
I'll try to get something posted shortly after we get home next weekend. I'm being lazy and leaving the laptop at home because I don't feel like lugging it around. It will be the first time in over 5 years that I've not traveled with a laptop. I may regret my decision, but it's just not worth the extra luggage.

More from the latest road trip.......

2008-11-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

I'm slowly, but surely getting our latest road trip (b)logged here. It's spotty at best, but hey, who wants to read 21 sequential posts about our road trip?
So, one cool thing that we discovered on this last was that antiques are CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP on the route we traveled. I threatened several times to rent a Uhaul trailer and fill it up with antiques. I'm seriously considering a future road trip where we make a similar loop and rent a trailer when we get back there, fill it up and haul it home.
Some of the things we found back there were just amazing to me! I've been searching for an old fashioned panel door for a few years now. I come across them every now and then, but I simply refuse to pay $50+ dollars for one. We stopped at one antique store in S. Dakota and they must have had a half dozen of them for $5 a piece!!!! FIVE DOLLARS!!!! I wanted one so bad I could hardly stand it. Unfortunately, they had windows in them (which made them even more perfect for my purpose) and I was afraid I'd never get them home without breaking the glass. This was on the 3rd day of our trip and I threatened to strap it to the roof rack on the Yukon, but I was afraid I'd break the glass on some of the rough roads we planned to travel in Colorado. I still should have done it. I should have at least tried.....if I broke the glass, oh well. It was FIVE DOLLARS!!!! What was I thinking leaving it there!!!! I've been kicking myself ever since I got home.
I did find an antique tricycle (probably from the 50's) on the way home in Kansas. I bought it for $25. It's absolutely adorable and will make a great prop. I also bought 2 dolls, a hat box, a few dishes, an antique leather suitcase (for $10) and a few more odds and ends in S. Dakota. Oh yeah, I also finally found the antique tractor seat I've been looking for. I've found many of these here in the Northwest, but again, you're looking at anywhere from $50 - $100. I picked this gem up for $5!!!!! I almost felt dishonest!!!
So, if you love antiques and you're traveling east, take I-90 across S. Dakota and I-80 back through Kansas. Don't forget your trailer!!!!! We are seriously considering doing such a thing on our next trip out to see family. We had a great time in these antique stores and the prices were absolutely unbelievable!!!!

Just for Fun.....

2008-11-20T21:22:00.000-08:00

My friend Denise and I got together over the weekend for a "just for fun" photo day. Her daughter and daughter's friend were gracious enough to model for us. They're such good sports. :) We had a great time. It's always fun to shoot with a friend. Here are a few from our "just for fun" photo excursion..... :)

Tagged!

2008-11-20T20:29:00.001-08:00

I was tagged by Heather...... Gee thanks.... :) So.... 6 "unspectacular" things about myself.......
Here we go!

1. I always mush the pulp out of my tomotoes because otherwise it gags me. It's kind of snotty, really.

2. I have 2 tattoos and 11 piercings. Tattoos are actually kind of addictive and I've had to restrain myself from getting more.

3. I hate holidays. Yes, all of them.

4. I hate being the passenger in an automobile. I get bored and restless.

5. I love the Lord, but I hate religion. It's about the relationship, not the religionship.

6. When I shop, I always get a push cart instead of a little hand basket....even if I'm only getting one or two things. My theory is that if someone sees you barreling toward them with a big ol' push cart, they're more likely to get the h-e-double hockey sticks out of your way. A hand basket just isn't very intimidating......

So, there you have it!
Now, I don't have 6 people to tag so I'll just add a couple.... I tag Phil, Jen and Rodd.

Smile....... It's contagious.

2008-11-17T19:20:00.000-08:00

The Big Butts

2008-11-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

On our recent trip we thought we'd stop in at Devil's Tower in Wyoming. It sounded like an interesting place. I thought maybe it would be photo worthy. I was wrong....... :) While somewhat interesting from a geological standpoint, it was a little drab photographically.

So, instead we took some pictures of these little prairie dog things. I think that's what they were..... There were literally hundreds of them on the drive up to the tower. They have these enormous rear ends and we affectionately dubbed them "the Big Butts". None of the images are works of art, but they're cute..... :)

Ashcroft, Colorado

2008-11-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

If I remember correctly, this is the window of the saloon in Ashcroft, Colorado. Ashcroft is a little ghost town easily accessible from Aspen. It has probably a dozen old buildings and cute little wooden boardwalks. If you're in the area, it's a fun stop.

Montana Relic

2008-11-08T15:29:00.000-08:00

I love this old car....... We discovered it a few years ago on our way home from Yellowstone NP. It's on Hwy 287 around Harrison, MT. I have to stop and shoot it now every time we get into the area. I'm hoping to someday do a series with it, but I have several years worth of images to gather of it first. My luck, someone will move it next year..... :) It's one of my favorite "roadside finds".

Chapel of Transfiguration - Grand Teton NP

2008-11-08T09:47:00.000-08:00

This tiny little chapel is found just about a mile from Moose, Wy. It's not a spectacular photo..... I just liked the way the cross was silhouetted in the window......

Solo....

2008-11-07T21:40:00.000-08:00

Bushong Piano

2008-11-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

This old schoolhouse is found in Bushong, Kansas. There's isn't much left of the auditorium but this old stage. The coolest thing about the place was the old piano left there. The keys are frozen in place, the ceiling has crumbled down upon it, the foot pedals are rusty and broken, the strings are now silent......... Honestly, the place was a little bit eerie, but very cool nonetheless.

One of the Many Reasons I Love Colorado

2008-11-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

This is one of the many reasons I love Colorado. This was probably the most awesome display of color we have seen on treks through the Rockies. It was just phenomenal and we were so fortunate to catch it at peak this year. It was such a perfect mix of color....... I couldn't have asked for better. This was taken at Kebler Pass.......one of my favorite places in Colorado.

Home at Last....

2008-11-06T14:26:00.000-08:00

My, my...... Has it really been over a month since I've posted anything? I'm such a slacker! I've now been sufficiently chastised by friends and family for my slackerdom......(I don't think that's a word....). I've also been shamed by my older sister who is a wife and mother of 5 and she manages a small novelette on her blog nearly every day. I guess I'd better share a bit about our 3 1/2 week long road trip!!!

Let me just start by saying that 3 1/2 weeks is waaaaaaaaaaaay too long to be stuck in a car, on the road, sleeping in saggy hotel beds and eating swill from fast food joints and restaurants that charge a small fortune for some artery clogging, blood pressure jacking, flavorless lump of sawdust. Have I told you I'm glad to be home???? It really wasn't JUST the vacation, but after a week at home I had to go to San Antonio for a conference.

So anyway, we won't be taking anymore near month long journeys. We had an awesome time and got to visit friends and family (which we normally don't get a chance to see) so that was a bonus.

The route took us through Montana, South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and back through Montana and Idaho. Rodd had never seen South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri or much of Iowa. We saw the Badlands in South Dakota but didn't shoot anything while there. I guess it just wasn't that impressive. I suppose it was interesting, just not really photo worthy. We skipped Mt. Rushmore. I've seen it a couple of times and Rodd wasn't dying to see it so we passed. Due to time it really came down to a choice between the Badlands and that. We'd always rather see some natural as manmade. We did stay at this completely disgusting camp ground at the east entrance to Badlands NP. It was called the Circle 10 Campground and Motel. It was one of those instances where it's pouring buckets with plenty of lightning, it's dark, it's late, you're tired and you tell yourself "How bad can it be?" Well, it can be that bad!!! We pulled in and saw that it was a "Good Sam" park. Now, I have no idea what that means, but I see it on lots of fancy RV bumpers, so I figured it might be safe. WRONG!!!! The trick here is that those huge, fancy RV's have their own bathroom facilities. In that case, it might have been ok. However, the "bath-house" at this place had enough mildew to keep Lysol in business for at least the next 5 years. And that was just what was on the shower curtain!!! Locks of Love should stop by this place and scoop up the hair that was on the floor of the shower stalls. I'm serious, they could have made at least 2 or 3 full wigs with this stuff. Ew!

Here are some choice images from the Circle 10. Perhaps over the weekend I'll post something more interesting and less disgusting! :)

Headed South.....

2008-09-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

Today we're departing Columbia and heading south. Last night we got to have dinner with our friends Phil and Vicki. I bumped into Phil a few years ago online while doing some research on the Maroon Bells area of Colorado. We discovered that we had been there during the same week in 2006 and we've been chatting since. It was so much fun to finally get to meet these guys in person!!!! We had an awesome dinner at a place called Murry's. The food was FABULOUS and the company even better. We shared travel stories and photo tips. When we got back to their house after dinner Phil shared some of his work with us. He gave me some great ideas for places to see out in Colorado, too! Thanks a million you guys!!! We really enjoyed our visit!!

Before heading down to Columbia we spent some time in Moberly with my Aunt Marcia and Uncle Tom (my mom's brother and his wife). It was such a treat to see them. We so rarely see our family....especially those on Mom's side. We had a wonderful visit and ran around Moberly for the afternoon with Marcia. We got to have dinner with them as well and we really enjoyed the day. It really was a treat to get to see them. I think we figured it had been 14 years since we'd seen each other last.

While in Moberly we had a few "coincidental" meetings with people who knew my family. I don't really believe in "coincidence". I know it was arranged.... :) One of the ladies who was running the front desk turned out to be my cousin's aunt. Her sister was married to my uncle. That was an interesting conversation! She was extremely helpful and we enjoyed chatting with her. We also met a guy who was surprised to hear that I was a Wessel. He said he lives in the "Wessel" subdivision and when he was recently remodeling his kitchen, he found Dad and John's signatures in pencil on the wood!!!! Small world!!!

When we left Moberly we drove over to Glasgow where my mom lived as a girl. We also wanted to visit my grandmother's grave there. We found out just what a small town Glasgow is!!!! Tom (my uncle) had given us a general idea of where Granny was buried and said that if we needed any help finding it to go to the funeral home and they would be able to help. They also said just to mention that I was Tony Komer's niece to anyone in town and I'd get all of the help I needed. :) When we got to town we stopped at a little floral shop and bought a bouquet of flowers to take with us. Then we wandered all through the cemetery with no luck and headed over to the funeral home (which is right across from the floral shop). We went in asked if they could help us and they were able to tell us when she had passed away, but wasn't sure where "exactly" she was buried. She suggested that we try across the street at the monument maker's place. So, we walked over and asked him if he could help us find Elizabeth Komer's plot and he sort of did a double take and then asked if I was related to Tony Komer. :) It turns out he was a good friend of Tony's and he actually not only told us where she was buried but took the time to drive us right to the spot!!! He asked if we were driving a suburban (Yukon's look about the same) and said that he'd already talked to his wife about us....... She owns the floral shop!!!! We hadn't been in town 30 minutes and already we'd been spotted and tagged as "the out of staters". :) I don't guess Glasgow, Missouri gets a ton of out of state visitors. :) I have lots more details and musings about this leg of the trip that I want to share, but right now we need to get down the road........ I'll catch back up later with pictures and details........
We're off!!!!

On the Road Again.....

2008-09-21T18:05:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update.......

Our first night out ( 9/17) we stayed at the KOA in Billings, MT. It was a long but uneventful day.

Our second night we thought we'd drive all the way to Mitchell, SD but ended up only making it to the Badlands. It was dark and we had to decide if we wanted to see the Badlands or not. We stayed at some dump called the Circle 10 Campground at the east entrance to the Badlands. What a divola!!! It was a "Good Sam" campground and so we figured "How bad can it be?". Bad..... We'll leave it at that for now.

We rolled in to Des Moines, IA late on Friday night. Saturday morning we drove out to Tom and Terri's house (my uncle and aunt). Unfortunately, they weren't home. They were down in the Ozarks but we're hoping to meet up with them later this week. From there we went to my grandparent's house and had a very nice visit with my grandparents. We also got to see my cousin Ryan. On our way out of town that night we went over to see Ryan's house and meet his girlfriend Ashley. We really enjoyed our visit with them as well.

Last night we drove on as far as Moberly, Missouri. We figured we'd have no trouble getting a room. WRONG...... I guess Missourian's take their football seriously because there was apparently a college game (in Columbia I'm assuming) because Macon, Moberly and Columbia were all booked because of this game. So, we spent the night in the car in the parking lot at the Holiday Inn. :) Oh well. We saved a few bucks! We want to rent an ATV while in Colorado and it's about a $250 rental. We figured if we spent a few nights camping instead of in hotels we could rent the ATV and not add any $$ to the vacation budget. We're over half way there!

So, tonight we're staying INSIDE the Holiday Inn in Moberly and tomorrow we'll do a bit of looking around in this area. Today we drove out to the house my grandparents used to live in and saw the A-Frame that Dad built in that same area. After we're done up here we'll head south to Columbia.

I tried to add a few photos, but for some reason it's not working..... I'll try to figure it out tomorrow.....

More later!

A Double Blessing.....

2008-09-10T22:27:00.001-07:00

These are 2 people I have such love and respect for.....yes, they are my parents, but they are also my friends. I probably don't have closer. I feel extremely blessed to have these 2 people in my life. You know, when you're a kid you never really appreciate your parents or even see them as "people". They're your parents...... As I've grown older, I've come to know them as people. I wish I'd not wasted so many years. They are 2 of the most beautiful people I know. They inspire me to seek the Lord in all things, to love others even when I don't like them, to treat my husband with love and respect, to forgive, to be honest and upright...... They have such an impact on my life. I am so thankful that God blessed me with such amazing people for parents. Mom and Dad....I love you and I thank you for being who you are........

This life is short....cherish every day with those you love.

On the Way to Monument Valley

2008-09-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

I was just digging through some old shots that I've never spent any time on. I wasn't especially thrilled with them so I just stuck them away in a file. I pulled this one out and had a second look tonight. I wish I'd had a longer lens at the time. I think if I could have zoomed up on the moon some it could have been a much more pleasing shot. Next time..... :)

The dust storms they were having ended up driving us out of the area early, but they did make for nice sunrises and sunsets.....

11 Days and Counting......

2008-09-06T18:09:00.000-07:00

Only 11 days left! I have a ton of stuff I should be doing rather than sitting here on the puter, but oh well. They'll be there tomorrow. :)

I was playing with a new brush I got...... I'm not sure I like what I did. I think the colored leaves are way too "whimsical" or something for the image. I don't think I like it..... The brush is cool...it just doesn't work here. And the back ground was supposed to be white...not pink. Egad! What was I doing????
This one is a pre-dawn shot at the Maroon Bells. We got up at the butt-crack of dawn for this shot. It was necessary. If you could see what was behind and beside me, you'd see why. This is an extremely popular spot for obvious reasons. It's aslo a great place to catch alpenglow. It was 27 degrees and there was ice around the edge of the lake. Our fingers and toes were totally numb, but we didn't care. I'll be going back.... :)

Countdown to Colorado

2008-09-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

As of tomorrow, we're only 2 weeks away from leaving on our fall roadtrip!!! With my mammoth project at the office (mostly) behind me, I'm really looking forward to the break. It will be weird not being at the office for almost a month, but I think I can hack it!!! :)

True to form I haven't made a single reservation. When you are relying on the autumn color it's hard to know where you should be and when. We like to stay flexible (which sometimes translates to "we like sleeping in our car because we didn't make a reservation and there's a soccer hell convention in every town across America that we need to stay in...."). We've actually had such things happen....often, in fact. One year we stopped at a Wal-Mart in Rock Springs, Wyoming and bought sleeping bags because the ENTIRE STATE of Wyoming was booked because of the pipeline work. I'm not making it up......the whole state really was booked. We drove the entire state stopping in every town that had hotels. We ended up driving almost 18 hours that day to Steamboat Spring, Colorado. I guess that's just the risk you take.

We plan to hit Montana, Wyoming, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, maybe Oklahoma and Arkansas, Colorado and Utah on this trip. We'll be gone almost a month. Unless of course we just can't stand hotel beds anymore and come home early. We haven't taken a trip like this in a year and a half and we're really looking forward to it. We try to do it every 6 months, but we've just been too busy. Hopefully we'll hit awesome color and the snow will hold off. Last time we went Colorado had a very early winter and we got robbed. Oh, we still had fun, but we pretty much missed the color. We're praying for better weather this time.

Only 2 weeks left!!! WHOOHOO!

the Way.......

2008-08-25T22:42:00.000-07:00

I've been avoiding going to bed because Rodd is in California on business and I HATE being home by myself. I've been sitting here reflecting on my life a bit and marveling at the many blessings and became somewhat overwhelmed. It's one of those moments where you find tears rolling down your face and you didn't even realize you were crying. You're not sad but you're overwhelmed with gratitude for all that you've been blessed with. That's where I am tonight. I'm overwhelmed by my blessings. God has blessed my life so richly and I don't deserve any of it. Thank God for grace....... Thank God we don't get what we deserve, but His endless grace instead. Who am I that He would sacrifice so much.........?

the Window......

2008-08-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to do this with a door, but that will come later. I haven't found just the right door yet. So, I settled for a window. :) Thanks Denise for sharing your field of flowers....

Grand Haven, Michigan Lighthouse

2008-08-04T19:51:00.000-07:00

Oh my! Has it really been a month since I've posted anything here? I should be ashamed of myself!!!!

This is another work of HDR. At the east end of our infamous Amtrak trip we had the great joy of visiting with 2 wonderful friends....Darla and Rebecca. They took us out to Grand Haven for dinner and a sunset. We were blessed with a beautiful sunset and we arrived none too soon. We scurried across the beach and tried to get everything set up before the show was over. It was fading fast when I shot this. Darla was so gracious to lug my ridiculously huge camera bag so that I could run down the beach and set up. What a gem she is!!! We had a lovely evening with a beautiful sunset and great friends. Who could ask for more than that???? Thank you Darla and Rebecca for your love and generosity. We're SO looking forward to our trip to San Fran in December!!!! :)

For this, I'm thankful.....

2008-07-07T09:54:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is Rodd's 36th birthday. I have been blessed to have him as "mine" for the last 14 years. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect man for me. God knew exactly what I needed, and sent me Rodd......
These are a few of my favorite things about Rodd......

He loves the Lord
He LOVES to laugh
He's extremely generous
He accepts me as I am (if you know me well, you know that's a HUGE sacrifice on his part!)
He loves my family
He has breakfast every Saturday morning with my parents because he loves hanging out with them.
He loves taking "photo excursions" with me and is always extremely patient when I get immersed in a shot and forget that anyone else is around.
He loves hiking and is always patient with me lagging behind.
He adores kids and is a child magnet! Kids love Rodd.....he just has a way with them.
He's very laid back and doesn't get uptight about things. He keeps me grounded as I tend to freak out. He's calming for me......
He loves his mother and treats her with respect
His favorite food is spaghetti
He loves drinking homemade wine at Mom & Dad's
He loves gardening and making things grow
He mows around my baby bird nests in the yard so he won't scare them. :)
He loves to sew and he's awesome at it!!!! (he gets embarrassed when I tell people that)
He appreciates nature and the beauty God has created in the world around us.
He makes me laugh
He is probably the most selfless person I have ever met (my mother is the only one I know who might give him a run for that title....)
He inspires me to be a better a person
He is my true love.....the one created just for me

Happy Birthday Rodd!!! I love you......

Hiking at Pyramid Lake

Shooting in Rocky Mountain National Park

Shooting at Fish Creek Falls, Colorado

Sledding up Smith Creek

Exploring at the Hoodoos in Southern Utah

Fish Creek Falls, Colorado

Fly fishing the Firehole River in Yellowstone with his brother-in-law

Catching a sunrise nap at the Grand Canyon. We had been up and on the road since 1:30am to make it there for the sunrise. He's so good to me......

Hiking at Snow Falls

With his mom at Cape Flattery, Washington

A New Nephew!!!!

2008-07-01T22:23:00.001-07:00

Marshall Morgan Jinright made his appearance yesterday at 3:45pm. He weighed 7lbs 13oz and is 20.5" long. He's cute as a button, don't ya think? :) Congratulations Jim & Kourtney!

HDR Photography

2008-06-26T21:39:00.000-07:00

I was just looking over my last several posts and realized I've not posted any images in some time. What kind of photography blog is this anyway?????

So, here's one of my more recent pieces. I'm just getting into HDR (high dynamic range) photography. It's pretty cool actually. I'm currently using a program called Photomatix to merge the images.

I shot these down on some backroad (don't ask me to remember the name) on the Palouse. We happened to be shooting an old harvester from the road when the property owner happened by. We could see that there were several old cars and trucks out in the field beyond and asked if he'd mind if we walked out and shot them. He was very gracious and told us to stay as long as we liked.

Here's one from that afternoon......

It's here!!!!!

2008-06-26T21:07:00.000-07:00

The lens is here!!! Finally! It was better than Christmas to come home and find that it had arrived.
The honest truth though...... I was going to cancel the order on Tuesday because we bought a 4-wheeler. I started to freak out about spending the money and had decided to wait on the lens. I figured that since the lens was on serious back order anyway, it wouldn't kill me to wait a bit. When I came home and got online to cancel the backorder I had an email stating that the lens had shipped that morning. Oh well..... I wanted it anyway. :)
After work tomorrow a friend and I are going to do some shooting so it'll be fun to test it out. Hopefully I'll have something worthy of sharing........
Happy weekend!

Compensation.....

2008-06-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on the "Amtrak Experience". I was FINALLY (after 3 hours on hold .... not making this up!) able to connect with Amtrak customer relations. They ended up giving us $150 credit for future travel to compensate for the bus experience. I thought that was more sufficient being as the train ticket from Chicago to Grand Rapids was only $25. I guess the rest was for pain and suffering...... :)
Now we'll have to see where else we might want to brave via train.......

In Closing........

2008-06-14T14:34:00.000-07:00

Well, I can now put my RitzCamera ordeal to bed. The pending charges on my credit card dropped. Whew! I will now be MUCH more careful with "unknown" companies. It was a good lesson in patience for me. Those of you who know me know that patience is not my strong suit.
So, I guess now it's just hurry up and wait for OneCall to get theirs in again....."sigh".

The "Real" Me......

2008-06-11T23:06:00.001-07:00

Ok, I'm honored to be included guys, but this is SO out of character for me..... :) Very few people know the "real" me.
10 things you don't know about me. Hhhhmmm.... Ok, here we go!

1. I sleep with a teddy bear. I always have. I know, FREAK!

2. I can't STAND poor table manners. People who make "noise" while they eat make me crazy. PS. Not only do I not want to hear your food, I don't want to see it either.

3. I didn't see the ocean until I was 19.

4. I don't eat at buffets. Yes, Lyle already knows this. That's just nasty though..... Hello! Some people are shorter than that sneeze guard thing!

5. I have 3 sisters. I'm the "responsible, solid, dependable" one.

6. I have a nice voice, but I'm too self conscious to use it in public.

7. One of my biggest fears in life was always disappointing my father.

8. I was a published photographer at 16. ( I did some product photography and in addition to my wage I got photo credit in a national magazine. No biggie, but at 16 it was pretty exciting.)

9. When I was 7 years old I had a stuffed Cookie Monster that I loved. He got really ratty and lost a "googly eye" and my dad finally made me throw him away. I would go out to visit him in the garbage can outside every day until Dad took the trash to the dump. I can identify with Jude and his "Baba". It's traumatic! :)

10. I am extremely shy and don't like crowds or social gatherings that require petty "small talk".

So, there you have it. Some things you didn't know about me! :)
I think I'll tag Shebly. I know they're out of town, but she can catch up when they get back. :)

"The Lens" continued.......

2008-06-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, the saga continues.
When I got home a few minutes ago I checked my email and found another message from Ritz Camera to call and confirm my order. In case you missed yesterday's episode, we've already been through this. So, I called them back and got some guy with an incredibly thick accent who said his name was "John". Last night I got "Daniel". Come on Punjab, you're not fooling anyone here...... I'm not racist by any means but I hate it when companies outsource and then their CS reps tell you, in incredibly broken English, that their name is something like "Matthew" "Brenda" or "Christopher". Like that's going to fool you into thinking that you haven't just gotten some mass call center in India. Yeah, ok....I'm fooled. Whatever. Why can't they just say "My name is Rajib" or whatever it is? Is that a mandate from their company? I kind of feel sorry for them, actually. Anyway, I got "John" and he said that we needed to go through this little song and dance again. I asked if my order had been processed yet and he said "No, it ship tomorrow." This is what "Daniel" told me yesterday. At this point I'm getting a little cranky. I told him that I had been told the same thing yesterday. He just repeated "No, it ship tomorrow." I asked to cancel the order and he said ok. I also requested a cancellation number and he said he didn't have one. Something about just checking the order status on the web site in a few hours. I'm not totally confident that "John" and I communicated, but I'm praying he at least understood "CANCEL" and got it done. I plan to watch that credit card and if I see a charge I'll have to put a stop payment on it I guess. At this point I really don't have any other options.
So, feeling a little better about the whole thing I hopped over to OneCall to buy my lens. Guess what........ON ORDER!!!! AAAAHHHH!!!! NO NO NO!!!! I have to believe it was an error last night on the site that said it was in stock. I'm on their list to receive an email when it comes in and I never heard a peep and now the status is on order again. This sucks!
In the mean time, I checked my credit card online and I see there is a pending transaction for $1800. I called them to stop it and they said I can't do anything until the transaction is processed by the vendor. They said if I canceled the order I should see the pending trans disappear in 2 to 3 days. You can bet I'll be watching that one!!!
I'm going to go cry myself to sleep now........ :(

I think I'm going to vomit.........

2008-06-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Ok. I can't decide if I'm going vomit, cry, scream or just slit my wrists right now and have it over with!!! What led me to this place? A bit of history.......
I've been chasing the Nikon 70-200mm VR 2.8 for 2 weeks now. It's been out of stock EVERYWHERE!!!! I've tried OneCall (my first choice), Adorama, B&H Photo, and The Camera Corral in CDA. On order, on order, on order...... When asking when they would be in stock again, the same answer. "We don't know. They're flying out of here like nothing we've seen." Ok fine. I'll wait and just keep checking. I have checked for them daily for 2 weeks and they're still "on order". I even tried to buy the demo lens at Huppin's but they wouldn't budge. I even offered to buy a D300 body at the same time (seriously, I would have). They still wouldn't budge. This lens is a sweet lens. I mean, I have never seen such a nice lens. The clarity and bokeh are BEAUTIFUL! Not to mention the solid construction. I MUST have this lens. It's not an option anymore. It's become an obsession.
So, last night I was reading some reviews on Ken Rockwell's site. He has a link on his site to Ritz Camera, Adorama and Amazon for this lens. Of course, I already know that Amazon and Adorama don't have one. I clicked on the link for Ritz Camera.........drum roll please! (insert light from heaven and the Hallelujah chorus here).......THEY HAVE IT!!!! It's even the same price as it was at Huppin's. Fantabulous!!!! I'll take one! Usually, I have to agonize over a purchase like this ($1800.00) for days, sometimes weeks before committing. BUT I've done my homework, I know the value and this is the lens for me. So, I bought it. Here's where it starts to slide. This morning I checked my email and I have one from Ritz saying that I need to call their 800 number to confirm my order. Huh??? Didn't I just do that last night? You know, that little button that says "CONFIRM". The one you push after you give them your billing address, your shipping address, your mother's address, your credit card number and 4 or 5 secret codes relating to your credit card, your home phone, work phone, cell phone, neighbor's phone....and on we go. I thought we'd been through this already. So anyway, I called the 800 to see what the deal was. The deal is that they don't speak English. No, I'm sorry, that's not English. If English speaking Americans can't understand you, it doesn't count. So, I muddled through that conversation. What they want is the customer service phone number off the back of your credit card. I've never been asked for this before. So before giving them the number I called my CC company and asked them if that was "normal". They said that for large purchases online some companies call to verify the funds and such. Ok, that's fine. However, in the mean time I'm surfing the web looking for consumer reviews on RitzCamera. Bad idea. Why do I torment myself like this???? It's about 50/50 good and bad, but the bad is pretty bad. But, no one else has this lens and I'm dying for it. So, I press on. I called back to confirm, gave them the cust serv number for my card and checked yet again to be sure it was in stock. Yes, it will ship tomorrow.
So, by the time I got home from work today I had really been stewing about it. What if they're a scammy kind of outfit? What if the lens is damaged? What if it ends up to be a big ordeal? What if what if what if.....? My only saving grace in the whole thing is that no one else has the lens in stock. If I just keep telling myself this it will be ok. Right? WRONG!!!! I came home today and checked OneCall, just to torment myself I guess....... IT'S BACK IN STOCK!!!! I checked last night and it wasn't there. AAAAHHH!!!! What was I thinking????? I should have just waited. So now, I'm hooked up with some unknown, sketchy place with customer service in India. I could have ordered it today from OneCall. I even could have gone down to the store (Huppin's) and talked to Doug, my favorite sales rep, and taken one home tomorrow. WHY? WHY? WHYYYYYYYYYYY?
I'm crossing my fingers and praying that it arrives with no further issue. This is all so out of character for me. I NEVER buy from places I'm not familiar with. Usually, I'll make a small purchase or two to check them out. If all goes well, I'll buy something more significant. I don't know what I was thinking.............just shoot me!!!!
I'll keep you posted.

The Amtrak Experience - Part 2

2008-05-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

I must say that the trip home was pretty peaceful with the exception of a few minor issues. Let's get started.......

The commuter train from Grand Rapids to Chicago was quite uneventful. We actually had a few hours to wander around Union Station before boarding in Chicago. The first issue came just outside of Chicago. When we got going we realized that we had trouble. We had a lower berth this time. We THOUGHT that was ok. That is, until the banging began. These closets (see Part 1) have a 2 chairs that face each other that fold down into a bed and then an upper bunk that flips down from the ceiling. The upper bunk is the entire length of the closet. This means that it touches both ends. This also means that if things aren't snug, they bang on the wall by your HEAD!! The bunk in the room behind us was doing just that. If that wasn't annoying enough the door to the end room (on the other side of us) didn't stay closed properly. The occupants didn't latch it and so it would constantly open just enough to rattle against our other wall. Now we have banging on one side and rattling on another. But wait! There's more! There are 2 drunk, obnoxious guys across the hall who are quite loud and in the rattling door room there is someone playing some sort of wind instrument. Remember when you (or a sibling) were in 4th grade and you had those dumb recorder, tonette blowy things for "music class"????? Yeah, you know the ones! You could stand out on your porch (because no parent let their child blow these obnoxious things in the house!) at 6:30pm on a week night in any suburb in America and hear them tweeting away. It was like that. The odd thing was that the people in that room were all over 40 years old. Huh? But no, we're not quite finished yet because someone else in that same room had joined in with a stringed instrument of some variety. Yep, we have a regular gypsy band wailing away now!!!! This just isn't working for me!!!! Pull the call button!

When the car attendant came we asked him if there were any empty rooms above so that we could switch to an upper berth. Of course, we already knew that there were because you should never ask such a question without knowing the answer in advance. I explained the nature of the issue to him and he just glared at me and said, "Ma'am, this is a train. Trains make noise. That's just the way it is. I have nothing else." Excuse me? I'm not a TOTAL cretin! I didn't just fall off the turnip truck! I wanted to look at him and say, "What???? This is a train??? OH NO! OH MY GOSH! I was suppose to be on a plane! How did this happen??????!!!!!!! STOP! STOP!" PLEASE! So, after his incredibly rude outburst he DID make the banging bunk stop. At least that was something.

Now, if you know me at all, you know that I'm very easily annoyed.....sounds, smells...little things that most people would probably be ok with. Not, me. I'm thinking....praying really, "Dear God, whatever I did to deserve this, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it.....whatever it was....please, I beg You, have mercy on me!!!!" Moments later the attendant appeared at our door with a whole new attitude. AND AN UPPER BERTH! Hallelujah! We're saved! Once we moved rooms, things got much happier. Until supper...............

They called our reservation so we mosey'd on down to the dining car. I know, you can't really "mosey" on a train. It's really more like stumbling, staggering and careening. At any rate, we arrived. This time, we were seated at a table with a young woman and her brother. Ok, what I THOUGHT was a young woman and her brother. The boy was 11 and the young woman, who I assumed was a sister, looked to be about 15 at first glance. As we sat there it became clear that this was a mother and son. She could have been as much as 30 when you really looked at her. Oh man, I'm getting OLD. People look younger and younger to me every day! So, let me just set the stage..... The mom/sister has limp brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, is wearing a polo shirt and a pair of mens jeans. The boy is 11 with short cropped "summer hair", large ears, a mass of freckles and the hugest bucked teeth you have ever seen. I see major orthodonics in this poor kid's future. Big old Chiklet bucked teeth. We're not talking about a year of braces, we're talkin' the full meal deal here.....4 years of braces, the headgear thing, the massive rubber band treatment........ I know I probably sound like I'm horribly mean, but I'm just trying to give you the full picture here. You know how it is at that age......a kid's features get all weird on their faces and their teeth seem enormous and out of place. My sisters and I affectionately refer to it as the "ugly stage". Some kids have to stay there longer than others. They hit it at about 9 and start normalizing again around 14. Most kids completely grow out of it as they mature. I'm pretty sure this kid will not. If this kid had dirty, bare feet and overalls with no shirt he'd be right at home in Arkansas or the mountains of Tennessee. No offense to those from the south, but you all know the stereo type. We, in Idaho, have been dubbed with shaved heads, no indoor plumbing and swastikas and you have moonshine, overalls and bucked teeth. It's only fair. I'm sorry, that's just the way of it. I didn't create the stereo type, I'm just utilizing it to make a point. :) So, we're sitting at the table with Billy Mack and Ruby Sue and I'm not kidding you, this kid looked at his mom and said, "Mama, do ya think they gots chicken and taters? I want some taters Maw!". Oh Henry!!! These people were fresh off the porch! We're talkin' chicken eatin', banjo pickin', porch sittin' genuine hill folk! Unfortunately, they didn't have "chicken and taters" on the menu. The closest they had was an herb roasted 1/2 game hen with a baked potato and steamed veggie mix. The meals come with a salad which they bring out first. This kid sticks his hand in his bowl and picks out the 2 cherry tomatoes and shoves them in his mouth and just devours them. Then he ate the ones in his mom's/sister's salad. Rodd is allergic to tomatoes so he picked his up with his fork and asked me if I would like it. Billy Mack practically jumped over the table and said, "Aw wunt it!!!". Oh heavens! Has this child NO manners at all? As we soon found out, that was just the case. No manners whatsoever. He then picked up his half a game hen and proceeded to gnaw on it like some sort of mongrel on a bone. It was absolutely disgusting. I have certainly seen my share of ill mannered children in my day, but this kid tops it all. Dear me......is dinner over yet? Get me out of here!!!!

The next day was pretty quiet. We just lounged around, read and hung out in the closet. Things were hum-drum until after dinner that night. Enter, "the aroma". "The aroma" was akin to something you would smell wafting up from an outhouse. Now, I'm not talking about a nice, clean April/May sort of outhouse. Not the kind when the weather is cool and they've been freshly pumped and all is well. No, no....not that kind of outhouse. I'm talking about the OTHER kind of outhouse. Those of us who travel know it well. It's the July/August Forest Service/National Park Service outhouse that's been used all summer and has been baking in the 95 degree heat for the last 2 months. Yep.......the one that's so full it's mounding up out of the hole. I'm not making this up.......... I've actually seen them. It's not a good thing. I've found I can hold it for a REALLY LONG TIME!!!!! The human body is an amazing thing. Anyway, back to "the aroma". It's now filling our entire car..... Where is it coming from? It's not coming directly from the bathrooms because I wandered down there to check it out. Is it seeping from some holding tank? Did someone have a bean and cabbage burrito for supper???? Are the people in the next closet storing dirty diapers in there???? What the????? BUT never fear, we came prepared! Before leaving home we soaked cotton balls with essential oils and put them in plastic bags to haul out on just such an occassion. We also brought a travel sized bottle of Febreeze. Generally I can't stand the stuff, but if the choice is between flowery smelling poop as opposed to just regular poop, I guess the floral kind is slightly less offensive. At first it helped considerably. We had to "fling them" around a bit to release the scent but you do what you have to. After about a half hour the poopy smell had completely overpowered our scented oils. Oh my, how much farther???? All of a sudden this is the never ending ride home! For the rest of the ride home the smell lessened but then would return in full force. We tried to nap off an on by placing the cotton ball on the bed right next to our noses. This was somewhat effective, but not entirely. At least that didn't happen until the last half of the last day.

The moral of the story.......... If you think you might like to take the train, do it. I really enjoyed it and would do it again in spite of the minor disturbances. It was fun and fairly comfortable. Get the closet. It's worth the extra money. Don't go coach. There isn't enough deoderant in the entire world to combat what we encountered there. DO NOT get a lower berth. If you are assigned a lower berth when you receive your tickets, call Amtrak. Request a change. The lower berth rooms on a Superliner are 11-15. DO NOT get the rooms with the private bathroom right in your closet. A.) The can is right by your head when you lay down. I guess if you get the flu and need to both lie down and vomit at the same time, you're in business. Unless you plan on that, skip the private toilet. B.) That area of the car smells like poop ALL the time.... Not just at the end of the trip. ALL THE TIME. Bring something to repel the smell....just in case. You never know. It might not stink at all. Our trip east didn't. It might smell like that August Forest Service outhouse. If it does, you'll thank me while you're inhaling through your orange and clove soaked cotton ball.

So, take the train and enjoy your Amtrak Experience!

The Amtrak Experience - Part 1

2008-05-28T17:45:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything........ Life just gets away from you sometimes.

Rodd and I just got back from our first "Amtrak Experience". I had to travel to Michigan on business and we decided it might be fun to take the train. I know, we have warped ideas of fun. Our trip was about 40 hours each way, boarding in Sandpoint, Idaho at 2:30am on Sunday the 18th and ending the eastbound trip in Grand Rapids, Michigan at 10:30pm on Monday night. The eastbound trip was relatively uneventful. We originally had a lower berth but when we boarded they told us that they had needed to move us upstairs. Fine. Whatever. We don't care.
The food was pretty decent although I can't say as much for the service. We had breakfast while skirting Glacier National Park. That was pretty cool, but the waitress was horrifying. She was completely demeaning to the other members of the staff and she was less than friendly to the patrons. Other than her, the dining experience was fine. You share a table with 2 other people, which being the recluse that I am, was not fabulous, but hey......it's the Amtrak Experience.
The "roomette", which will henceforth be referred to as "the closet", is about 3 ft wide and 6 ft long. I was a little concerned about claustrophobia, but it really wasn't bad. The bottom bunk is much less offensive than the top. Remember when you were a kid and you took that summer vacation in the 1960's camper? And you sat up one too many times in that "over the cab" bed? And you thumped a knot on your melon the size of a large lemon????? It's not unlike that..... HOWEVER, I have slept in worse places so I'm not complaining. It was MUCH better than being stuck in coach. What IS that smell........? We'll get to that in a bit.
The route from Idaho to Michigan is a very northern route and much of it is Montana and North Dakota. It's a little brown and drab, but I must say they have some fabulous "junk" photo opps. Of course you can't take advantage of them because you're stuck in the closet flying by at 70mph. There really were literally 100's of old rusty cars from the 20's - 50's along the edges of the fields by the tracks. There was also an oddly large number of appliances....... Appliances??? Hhhhhm. I don't just mean 2 or 3 old stoves. I'm talking, like, a LOT of them.....stoves, fridges, hot water heaters..... Not any houses or towns for miles around but appliances...... I don't get it. How did that happen? I can only imagine..... It must have gone something like this, "Well Henry, it's too bad about that appliance warehouse goin' belly up and all. What do you think we should do with all of these left over appliances? There sure are a lot of em'. I know, maybe we could just haul them out to the back 40,000 and scatter them along the railroad tracks. Nah, that ain't litterin'. No one will even notice if we spread them out a little bit. Yeah, from here to Minnesota would be good." Huh???
When we finally got clear of the plains and into Minnesota a bit we decided it might be fun to check out the observation car. We were traveling along the Mississippi at this point but it was on the opposite side of the car from our closet. The observation car was about 6 cars back from us. On the way back we had to pass through 2 coach cars. I wasn't prepared for the sensory assault that met us there! WHOA!!!! I suppose you have to keep in mind that this train originates in Portland. By the time you hit Minnesota these people have been almost 3 days without a shower.......and these cars must seat at least 50-80 people. AND the windows don't open. You do the math! Wow....hurry through those cars. After braving the stench we didn't even get to see the river anyway because the only available seats in the observation car were on the same side as our closet. Oh well.....back through the stench!
At LaCrosse, Wisconsin we were delayed for track work for about an hour. By the time we reached Chicago for our transfer we were an hour and a half behind schedule. Guess how much time we had to catch our next train? .........that would be negative 10 minutes. Yep, just missed it. BUT never fear, they're calling Greyhound!!!! Oh horrors! Now I've been on a Greyhound bus and have earned the right to say that. If you've "gone Greyhound" you can sympathize. So, they shuffled us off to a little room to wait while they "make arrangements". Whoohoo!! The bus is waiting on the curb! Let's go see what we've got! You know those nice big fancy tour buses that take the elderly tour group to the casino to lose all of their social security check? Yeah? Well.....it wasn't one of those. This one was more like the old hotel shuttle bus that is so dilapidated that the hotel simply can't duct tape it back together anymore. However, they didn't want to pay to have it towed away so they donated it to the inner city youth program because "it's for a good cause". "Oh yeah, you can HAVE it...Yep, for FREE. Just come and get her!!!". This thing made Greyhound look like a luxury line! We're talking black smoke rollin', fenders flappin', windows rattling, funky smelling, steaming pile. AND the driver was missing more teeth than is acceptable. I know, I'm awful, but I'm just trying to paint the picture for you here.
We all (there were probably 18 of us) piled into the "charter bus" where we proceeded to wait for another half hour before we could leave. I haven't a clue what the hold up was. When we got on and sat down I made the mistake of not paying close attention to my seat selection. If I had been paying attention I certainly would not have chosen this particular location. Yes, it had what may have seemed like a redeeming quality at the time. It was next to an emergency window exit so that when this rolling dung heap spontaneously combusted we'd have a means of escape. However, what I didn't realize was that a.) this exit window was loose in the frame and was going to rattle, bang and leak cold air for the next 3 1/2 hours and b.) I picked the hump over the wheel well!!!! AAHHH! How could I have been so careless? I'm a seasoned traveler and generally speaking I'm very cognizant of such things. What an IDIOT!!! So, here I sit...riding "the hump" from Chicago to Grand Rapids...... holding the emergency window closed for fear it might fall out, freezing my patootie off with my knees wrapped up around my ears. Oh God, please make it go by quickly!!!
There was some poor older woman (she said she was 70) sitting in front of us who was also freezing and had to go to the bathroom since leaving Chicago. Rodd graciously loaned her his jacket, but there wasn't much we could do for her on the other "issue". When we finally arrived in Holland, Michigan she mentioned again that she really needed to use the restroom. Rodd had gotten off the bus to stretch his legs a bit while the "Holland" passengers disembarked. He walked away from the bus a few steps and found our semi-toothless driver urinating in the flower beds!!!! How gross!!! What's up with that??? He can't stop so that Granny can use the restroom but he's taking care of business in the tulip bed at the train station!!!!! Amtrak will be hearing from me....... After the driver got back on the bus I asked him if we could make a restroom stop at a gas station for a few minutes. Poor Granny was honestly going to wet herself. He grudgingly conceded, but the lady sitting across the aisle from me absolutely blew a gasket!!! Now, I understand, we're all tired, we're hungry, we're sick of the bus, we're pissed because we missed the train etc. But come on, this poor 70 year old lady needed to use the restroom!!!! It'll take all of about 5 minutes! Anyway, we stopped and the few who were going to take advantage of the restroom went inside. Granny went first and headed back to the bus. Next there was a lady traveling with 2 little boys around 5 and 6 who needed to go. I stayed in the gas station to watch her kids so that she could use the restroom. Back at the bus I'm missing all of the fun. "Blew a Gasket" is growing increasingly pissed off. Granny told Rodd, "If she even says ONE THING I don't like, I'm going to tell her she can mark off a spot and kiss my you know what!!!!" Rodd said that the "blew a gasket" lady started yelling about how long it was taking and hollering for everyone to get their butts back on the bus and blah blah blah. She came off of the bus and headed for the gas station to herd everyone back. Granny was close on her heels telling her she can't talk to people like that. "Blew a gasket" told her, "I'm not even talking to YOU!!!!". Granny said, "No, you're talking to my friends!!!!" (Meaning Rodd and me). They continued to argue until I put my arm around Granny's shoulder and gently steered her back to the bus. She looked up at me and grinned and said, "Isn't that funny how we just became fast friends????" I was laughing my butt off. The rest of the ride to Grand Rapids was fairly uneventful, but Granny hinted that she'd like someone to wait with her while her ride came to pick her up. She was a little scared of "Blew a Gasket" now. Of course, we wouldnt have left her standing at the bus station in the dark / cold at midnight anyway.
We finally settled in to our hotel room at around 2:30am Tuesday morning. Whew! What a day!!!!
Stay tuned for Part 2!

The Backroad to Hell...(an escape from Chaco Canyon)

2008-04-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

Today, we'll dip into the archives and revisit a trip from the past.....

We have visited Chaco Culture National Historic Park twice now. If you're into cultures of the past, American history and Anasazi ruins Chaco is certainly a place you don't want to miss. From Farmington, NM take Hwy 64 east to 550 and head south. Travel 550 for approximately 40 miles or so. The turn on CR 7900 is well marked for the park. You'll then travel another 21 miles to the park entrance. A very short part of the 21 miles is paved. The rest bears a strong resemblance to your great-grandmother's washboard. In fact, it is SO bad that we actually saw a bicycle that had vibrated right off of someones bike rack!

The park offers a one way tour through acres of carefully excavated ruins. The excavation is still in progress and it was fun to see what they'd accomplished between visits. These sites are huge, and unlike most sites, you can wander through them unattended at your leisure. This is the site of the ever photographically popular "infinity doors". The doors are located in the Pueblo Bonito site. On our first visit I didn't know which of the sites the doors were located in and so it was kind of a fun little "hunt" for them when we arrived. If you visit during a busy time it can be difficult to get a shot of all 4 doors without someone wandering through your shot. A little patience is all you need. It's worth the wait.

This particular trip was sort of an impromptu visit. We were planning to stay in Farmington but decided it was early in the day and we had more than plenty of time to visit Chaco while in the area. We cancelled our reservations and decided we'd camp at the park. We realized this was a risk, but figured if worse came to worse we'd just drive on to the next town for lodging. To our dismay, all of the campsites at the park were already taken and so we figured we'd just push on when we were done.

While out wandering the sites, the wind picked up and the sky darkened. It never really "rained" but there was a scattering of huge drops and we knew it was coming. We didn't want to backtrack all the way back to the highway we came in on so we decided to take the "back road" out of the canyon. Now, this "back road" is actually Hwy 57. Where they got the audacity to call it a highway is beyond me. It's not paved....it's not even gravel. It's what I would call something of a clay substance perhaps. The surface was somewhere between Elmer's paste and Mary Kay face masque. Before embarking, we stopped in at park headquarters and asked about exiting the canyon by that route....... "No problem!!!" they said. They also indicated that there was a family who lived about halfway between the park and Hwy 371 who rent campsites. We figured we'd check it out.
When we first started down the road everything was fine. It was a dirt road, but we weren't worried because we had 4 wheel drive and plenty of clearance should things get "iffy". We had driven for maybe a 1/2 a mile and found ourselves behind a little Toyota Avalon from Maryland I believe it was. I honestly have no idea how this couple made it out of there in that car. He had it wound up in first gear and there were times I was sure he was going to blow the engine! It spoke well of Toyota though! He offered to let us go by but we figured we'd better stay behind them in case they got stuck. At least they wouldn't be stranded (alone).
As we continued down the road, the surface became increasingly sticky. Before long, all of our tires were completely caked with this foul, sticky horrifying mud substance. I hesitate to even call it mud. Being a N. Idaho native I'm VERY familiar with mud and this stuff was like nothing I'd ever seen before. We had the Yukon in 4whl-low and were still spinning in this stuff. It was the scariest driving experience I've ever had in my entire life. The name of the game was "keep it between the ditches". I had no idea "mud" could be like this. Give me snow, give me ice, give me flood but please Lord, don't ever make me drive in this crap again!!!! I finally stopped on a cattle guard to try to scrape the tires off a bit. I couldn't stop on the road because walking in this stuff was impossible without falling down. It was useless. The stuff wouldn't even budge! It took us over 2 hours to drive the 20 some miles back to the main road. It was absolutely horrific. Crossing the cattle guard back onto the main highway was like crossing the finish line at the Boston Marathon! We all got out of our cars and ran around cheering! We had a bond with these people now. We had all survied the "Escape from Chaco" together.

We ended up continuing on to stay the night in Gallup, but that's another story for another day. Today, let me just say....If you're contemplating a stay in Gallup, just don't. And if you do, don't say I didn't warn you.
What is the moral of the story, you ask? Visit Chaco. It's a fascinating place. There are ruins and rock art galore. Don't miss it. Bring your camera, tripod and prepare to spend half the day here at least. But, whatever you do, DO NOT go out the back way if it is raining, has been raining, could start raining...... Even if it doesn't LOOK like rain, stay away. Whatever the cost, go back. You'll be glad you did.

Bonners Ferry to Sun Valley....

2008-04-07T18:33:00.000-07:00

We spent the week after Easter in Sun Valley / Ketchum, ID. I’d always wanted to make the drive from Bonners Ferry to Ketchum, but never could really justify it. Rodd had a conference to attend so I tagged along. It’s nice being able (and allowed) to work out of the office at a remote location. When it works, technology is marvelous! Because flying into Sun Valley is so ridiculously expensive we opted to drive down. We took Hwy 200 out of Sandpoint toward Clark Fork to Missoula. At Missoula you hook I90 for just a few miles and then jump off on the Reserve St. exit. Follow Reserve to Hwy 93. Once on 93, you follow this south through Hamilton, Salmon and Challis. At Challis, leave Hwy 93 for Hwy 75 and head for Stanley. Following 75 west and then south, you’ll drop right into the Valley. It’s about a 9-10 hour drive from Sandpoint, depending on the weather. If you’re of a mind to stay at a mid point, the Super 8 in Hamilton, MT is an extremely “doable” lodging situation. I’m not huge on Super 8 as it’s generally a lower end motel, but this one was really very nice and the staff was fabulous. It sure beat the H-E-double hockey sticks out of the Best Western we stayed at in Ketchum! (We’ll get to that shortly!) The price was right, too! I think we paid all of about $58.00.
The drive has a lot to offer. We saw coyote, deer, bighorn sheep, mountain goats and unfathomable quantities of elk. You also drive by Sunbeam Hot Springs before Stanley. We didn’t have time to stop, but maybe on a future trip.
One thing I found odd on the drive is that the home carrier route mail delivery people must not go down many of the county roads in that area. We saw bank after bank of mailboxes at the end of county roads along side the highway. They really grabbed my attention just because it was odd. I stopped to shoot this particular bank because I liked the fact that only one had its flag up. I decided to isolate it using a very shallow DOF with my 50mm 1.4. I think in retrospect I should have shot it from the other side. I did a few from the “flag side” but I didn’t isolate the box as well as I could have. This one was shot at 50mm at 1.6.
The cabin is found as you’re just entering Stanley. It might offer a nice opportunity in the summer. The day we passed by it was snowing and blowing and a bit frigid, really. I took a few shots of it anyway. Mostly to remind myself that I’d like to go back when the weather is nicer.
We ran into a bit of weather and I was a little concerned because the car has some ridiculous “high performance” street tires. (I think this is a fancy way of saying that they cost a small fortune but have almost literally no tread design.) I’m not sure why anyone living up in this country would want these tires, but they were new on the car when we bought it and winter was almost over. We’ll be investing in new tires before next winter. We got about 4-5 inches of snow our last day in Sun Valley and had to take the long way around to get home to avoid Galena Summit. If you make this trip when there’s still potential for snow, I recommend decent all season tires at the very least. Four-wheel drive is optimal. We contemplated taking the gas guzzling Yukon, but just couldn’t stand the thought of burning twice the gas.
If you visit Sun Valley, I personally, would forego most of the restaurants there and in Ketchum. There are 2 that we would recommend, but many more that we would not. The Sawtooth Club and the Smokey Mountain Pizza Co. are both quite good. The Sawtooth was totally slammed when we were there. The atmosphere was cramped and noisy and the service was mediocre, but the food was quite good. The pizza place had a decent, casual atmosphere and good food to boot. If you want a really good meal with excellent service, I recommend driving the 11 miles to Hailey and checking out the Red Elephant Saloon. We loved it.
I DON’T, however, recommend staying at the Best Western Tyrolean Lodge. What a total dumpola! It’s old, they have no in room fridge or microwave and they lock the “breakfast area” after breakfast so you have no access to a microwave. We stayed on the 2nd floor and they were doing refurbishing on the first floor (which was long overdue throughout the entire hotel) so we were greeted each day by saws, drills, hammers, barking dogs…… Yeah, that’s right DOGS! The construction guys had a dog that they brought into the hotel and it was in the hall outside the rooms where they were working. The walls at this place were paper-thin so a good night’s sleep was out of the question. Oh, and one day they slid notes under all of our doors to tell us that they were shutting off the water to the hotel for 4 hours. Needless to say, we won’t be returning. This place was unreal. All in all, when we return to the area in the summer we’ll probably seek lodging in Hailey or head up to the mountains to camp. Hailey is less expensive and much less crowded. It’s worth a trip down into this area. The Sawtooth range really is beautiful and we’re looking forward to returning when we can access the back roads.

Copper Falls....a bust!

2008-04-06T21:12:00.000-07:00

Well, our outing to Copper Falls yesterday was a bust. As soon as we left the highway we encountered snow. We PROBABLY could have gotten a bit further than we tried, but we really weren't in the mood to shovel ourselves out should we get stuck.

We opted to take the "scenic route" home and make our way down Meadow Creek Road. We stopped off at what's left of the old Addie townsite and did a bit of shooting there. It certainly wasn't what we had planned for the day, but we had a very nice time and didn't have to return home empty handed.

If you've visited my website ( http://www.soulreflections.us/ ) you probably recognize that I like working with black and white and I love old abandoned "stuff". I also enjoy shooting interesting perspectives. Yesterday, I got to do a bit of both.

To reach the old townsite: Heading southbound on Hwy 95 from the Canadian border, take a left at Good Grief on Meadow Creek Road and then take another immediate left on the road across from the old Good Grief Tavern (I think it may be a cafe now). Drive this road until it makes a 90 degree turn to the left. You'll come to a railroad crossing and a bridge across the Moyie River. You can park before the crossing and do a bit of exploring. I honestly must say that I have no idea if this is RR land, public land, private land....???? There are no signs posted, but I should probably check into it.

These images were shot in Raw in color and then converted to black and white via the PS channel mixer. They were then converted to a grayscale image and yet again to a duotone.

A Day Trip to Copper Falls

2008-04-05T08:39:00.000-07:00

Today we're supposed to be going on a little day hike to Copper Falls to do some shooting with my sister and brother-in-law. We were hoping for a little sunshine, but I guess that's not to be. At the moment it's actually trying to snow. I'm sure there will be no accumulation, but it's still a little disheartening. As long as it doesn't begin pouring buckets of rain, we still plan to go.

Copper Falls is just southeast of the Canadian border off of Hwy 95. To get there:

From US-95 northbound from Bonners Ferry continue on US-95 toward Eastport and the Canadian border. Watch for Good Grief (on your right). The turn is about 2.5 miles from Good Grief. You'll cross the UP railroad track and then continue on about a 1/2 mile more until you cross the Moyie River. On your right is Copper Creek Road (#2517). Make a hard right and follow Copper Creek Road for about 2.2 miles to the campground and trail head. The base of Copper Falls is marked and is an easy 1/2 mile trail hike from the parking area.

This is a great hike if you have kids along. It's a short, gentle climb to the falls. You can either return the way you came or there is a loop trail that runs down by the creek you can follow.

PHOTO TIPS:

Copper Falls is also a nice photographic opportunity. Its 225 foot drop to the pool below requires a wide angle lens to really get it all in there. If you don't have a wide angle, just be sure that you bring a standard 18-XX. Don't show up with only your 70-300 zoom or some such or you'll be sorely disappointed.

The best time of day to shoot the falls (in my opinion) is either in the earlier to mid morning or late late afternoon to early evening. The area is heavily treed and during these times you don't have harsh, direct sunlight. Midday shooting at the falls with the sun high overhead can make proper exposure very difficult. Honestly, my favorite time to shoot the falls is on an overcast day.
You'll want to be sure to bring a tripod and neutral density filter if you plan to shoot longer exposures for that "silky water" effect. It's also a good idea to bring a lens cloth or lens tissue as the mist from the fall will quickly coat your lens and filters.

Hopefully I'll return with a little something to share!