En Route to Dallas

Feb. 9, 2015:

We've been staying in Phoenix for the past week with our good friend Ben.  The drive down here from Seattle was amazing!  One of the things that struck me about these wide-open western states was the bigness of it all.  The picture above in Nevada illustrates it for me.  You can see someone at the far end of the valley, driving towards you, and yet not pass them for a good 10 minutes, even though you are heading 70 mph towards each other.

As we entered Arizona we saw Hoover Dam for the first time.  That feat of 1930's engineering has awed me from pictures since I was a kid.  While we've been in Phoenix, we've been working on our online class, but have had time to enjoy being here.  We've visited some sights from the old west.  Ben and I have loved the old west since we were kids, so that was a treat.  See some pics below from the ghost town Goldfield, and you can see the full set of photos on Flickr here.

Tomorrow we leave Phoenix and set out for Dallas.  We're very grateful to be renting a room there from a Christian family that Jenneka got in touch with, and are looking forward to settling down there for a while.

James in his new cowboy hat

Ben and his family

Jenneka: "Mom and Dad, look how big the cacti are out here!"

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Old Way Round motorcycle trip: Top 10 photos

Feb. 27, 2013

Here are my ten favorite photos from my 2011 Old West themed motorcycle trip with my chum Ben, in no particular order.  Ben's blog about the trip, Old Way Round, has the story.  I have the rest of the photos from the trip posted here.

It was beautiful riding in Montana.

Hole in the Wall Canyon, WY, was gorgeous.  We camped out here.  I like the shadows in this photo.

This photo from my sleeping back still chokes me up.

The focus here is far from sharp, but I don't care. It seems to add to the mood and I do love this photo of Ben.

We're riding out from Hole in the Wall. A great windy, dusty road through the bluffs.

Okay, I just get a kick out of this one (no pun intended). What happens when I bust down this door in St Elmo, CO? Ben took this pic. 

Who isn't a sucker for a ghost town in sepia tone?

Such interesting geography in Utah

The lightning, cloud edge, and campfire glow make this one of my favorites.

Ben and I at the Bullock Hotel in Deadwood, SD. I like the composition of this photo, not to mention how bad-ass we look.

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Alaska road trip: Panorama photos

Feb. 16, 2013

Here are a few stiched panoramas from the 2012 Alaska trip.  I used Microsoft ICE to combine the photos.

A 180-degree panorama of the harbor in Whittier, AK.  It is a composite of 6 images.

River valley flanked by mountains in Denali National Park, AK.  It is a composite of 5 images.

The same valley with a closer look at the range on the west side.  Composite of 5 images.

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Alaska road trip: Top 10 photos

Feb. 14, 2013

In May 2012, Nate and Gunnhild Bremer and I hit the road from Langley, BC, on a three-week trip to Alaska and back.  We camped out the whole way, including a backpacking trip in Denali National Park.  Here are my 10 favorite photos from that trip.  I posted the whole set here.

A willow in the Yukon.  I was enjoying my new Canon EF L-lens.

Some peaks in the St Elias range in the Yukon.

Some windsurfers at Turnagain Arm off the Kenai peninsula.

The willow ptarmigan is Alaska's state bird.  I like how the wings turned out in the photo.

One of our camps in Denali National Park

A shrike looking cute in hopes of getting some food.

This black bear was the best, swaying 30 feet in the air eating buds off the cedar trees.

Aww, a baby mountain goat in Jasper, Alberta.

Encountering this big-horned sheep in Alberta was a treat.

This isn't my favorite photograph, but seeing these two grizzlies playing in Jasper was an amazing experience.

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