Palmer Lake Hike

I'm finally processing and organizing the roughly 2500 photos I took between September and December last year. Expect a few posts from the archives over the next few weeks. October started my whirlwind of travelling and photographing following my escape from the Air Force in September. I started the month of October in Colorado Springs as I headed back to the United States Air Force Academy to watch the women's soccer team play a match and catch up with old friends.

There is something magical about Colorado in October. Bright blue skies, yellow aspens, and crisp autumn afternoons in the sun are down right intoxicating. Fall was always my favorite time of year when we lived there, but I rarely got to enjoy it because I was either playing or coaching soccer, and October is the peak of the college soccer season.

After a great weekend of soccer games, catching up with friends, and an awesome college football game that saw Air Force sink Navy for the first time in 7 years, I was ready for a hike. So Coach Friend, his daughter, the sweetest great dane, and I headed out to hike from Monument up to Palmer Lake late Sunday afternoon. We were treated to one of those beautiful Colorado afternoons that make one happy to be alive. It was one of those days when I kept saying over and over in my head "Colorado does not suck!"

Enjoy a few photos.

Kitchen Adventures

A few weeks ago we decided to start having a fresh box of fruits and vegetables delivered from a local farm, otherwise known as the CSA box. Each Wednesday, a brand new box of garden fresh organic goodness shows up on our door from J&P Organics.  Each box is a surprise...we get a little information about what might be in the box each week, but really we don't know exactly what we'll find until we open that magical box. The best part of the CSA box is trying new stuff we've never had before, like chard and kale, as well as trying new recipes, like a yummy cauliflower cabbage potato soup and the most amazing sweet potato and chard gratin. I've also tried a few other kitchen experiments like homemade bread and parsnip fries. So far everything has turned out well (Dad, don't look so surprised!).

Here are a few photos from the last couple weeks of kitchen adventures. More to come I'm sure. I might start doing a weekly recipe post here just for fun.

Old Ord

A couple weeks ago my cyclocross-racer-weatherman-photographer friend invited me out to shoot a few places in Ft Ord when I hadn't been before. He's been going out there for several years and has documented the changing landscape there. I'm always happy to go shoot some desserted and decaying buildings. First we went to the old stockade. I'd never been in a jail. Very interesting. Slightly depressing.

A mystery of the abandoned Ft Ord is all the chairs. Lone chairs were left all over the place.

From the stockade we headed over to the old Engineering building. We decided it would be a great place for a dance club. Plenty of space for a stage for live music, a space upstairs for a VIP room, sweet industrial feel...just need to replace a few windows. I found the graffiti fascinating (there are some talented artists out there, in spite of their choice of canvas).

I have a thing for electrical boxes I guess...

Broken view...

A Photo A Day...DONE!

I've never done the whole new year's resolution because I couldn't really think of anything that did seem trite on January 1st. I should eat healthy anyway, I should work out anyway, I should be nicer to people anyway, and I should floss my teeth every day anyway. But last new year, Terry and I decided that we would take at least 1 photo every single day for the entire year of 2010. We were actually living 2 time zones apart due to my military assignment at the time, so we figured it would be a fun way to stay in each other's business throughout the year. Fortunately we only ended up being apart for about 8 months of the year, so that was a bonus (yet there are no photos of us together...guess that's the problem with both of us having a camera in hand!). Terry did the POTD project, too, and hopefully he'll be posting his top pics later this week. I've alluded to my thoughts on the project in a previous blog post. I've definitely grown as a photographer this year, but so many days found both of us taking a picture of something without substance just to get an image. Not ideal for building a portfolio, but we still had a good time. Glad we did it, glad it's over.

I went back and picked my favorites for the last year. I wanted to do one a month, but some months I sucked and some months I did well, so it isn't exact. There are photos here from Louisiana, Alabama, Texas, Colorado, Iowa, Arizona, and California. The entire year also saw photos from Mississippi, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New Mexico. Funny, my very first image last year remains one of my favorites from the whole year.

I did a mountain bike race on New Year's Day. A muddy mountain bike race.

Then I had to go to a military training course in Alabama that required me to bring both pairs of combat boots.

Our sweet little Brittany Spaniel was very excited to see me when I came home.

I don't know why I like this tree, but I do. The bare branches and the clouds just worked. This was immediately after finishing a super fun off-road duathlon at a state park in Tyler, TX.

Massey have a nap after one of our adventures in the brambly wilds of the Louisiana backwoods.

The view from my parent's yard as an evening thunderstorm rolls across the Iowa corn fields.

Terry shooting the sunset at Point Lobos State Preserve in Carmel over the 4th of July weekend.

Rabbit brush and an old cabin south of Leadville, CO.

While our families were all together in Colorado, we headed out to take some photos at the beautiful Clinton Reservoir.

I love this photo of my parent's sleeping dog. Everyone was worn out after my Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race attempt.

Zinnias growing at my parent's house. I liked the colors. It was easy to sneak up to Iowa for a long weekend when I lived in Louisiana.

In September I was finally free of the Air Force. Terry came out to load up me and the dog and we drove 4 days out of the Dirty South and straight to freedom! We stopped along the way at Grand Canyon National Park, where Terry decided to test how high he could get my heart rate without a workout while he strolled out to the edge of the 1,000,000,000,000,000' drop off into the Canyon.

I went up to shoot a few days in the Eastern Sierra during the peak of fall color. This cottonwood wasn't too far from Bishop.

An evening of street shooting near the Embarcadero in San Francisco.

We took the dog for a hike through Fort Ord after a storm cleared out. I love the golden California hills in late fall.

This is one of my favorite images this year. Its probably one of my favorite photos I've ever taken. I was at Joshua Tree National Park with some other photographers, so I had to wait patiently not only for the light but also for my fellow shooters to move around, leaving a spot to set my tripod. I was happy to wait.

Terry surprised me with an unbelievable weekend in San Francisco for my birthday. On Sunday we were driving through Presidio when we came across this scene in the National Cemetery. Somber.

For Christmas Eve we cut the grass...and dyed our puppy's paws green in the process.

So that's it. I'm not taking a photo all day today. I have no resolution for this year either. I want to ride my mountain bike a lot and I want to get out and take more photos in the beautiful scenic spots around California. But I'm not tying myself to anything measured. Go out, have fun, live. That's what 2011 is about.

Happy New Year!

Last Light

So, I'm not exactly sure where to begin.  This actually happened back in October, but it still stings...and, thus, I've been putting off writing this blog.  Unfortunately, it needs to be told (if only to pay respects).  I've gone through many titles in my head... "Good Memories", "Tears", "Thank You Insurance", "Put the Thing in the Bag", "Don't Climb Tired".  I decided on "Last Light", because that's what it was.  It's ironical that the "last light" happened when attempting to capture "first light".  Okay, enough of the intro, time to move on. Back in October, Beth went to a photography workshop in Mammoth, CA (absolutely beautiful by the way) for about a week. Since she was taking her terminal leave from the military this was easy for her.  Unfortunately, for me, I had to work during the week.  The rough plan was for me to drive out to meet her Friday night.  Unfortunately (yes I'm using that again), I was unable to get off work early to drive out there.  I ended up leaving Monterey around 7PMish.  Now, I don't really remember how long the drive was (or actually is), but it's long.  To make matters worse, I don't prefer to drive at night...or for that matter, long distances.  But everything was going well despite being tired and making a few u-turns.  That is, until I reached Yosemite.

Now, driving at night on the highway is doable, but driving through Yosemite in the dead of night...well, for me, not so much (mistake one).  Nothing terrible happened except that it took forever.  It's dark there–really dark.  I somehow arrived safely to Mammoth after seeing several deer that looked like they thought playing chicken would be fun (making me drive slower) and learning that "speeding kills bears" (I was no where near speeding).  I think it was around 1AM or 2AMish (you'll have to confirm with Beth) when I finally got there.

Beth was outside to meet me and guide me (or carry me) to the hotel room/bed.  I don't remember much about this, so again, Beth may have to confirm.  All I really remember was being tired and knowing that Beth was going to wake me up in a couple of hours to go shoot the sunrise.  I think when my head hit the pillow, I was asleep.  I'm pretty sure it was almost instantaneous...zzzzzzz.

Not being a morning person, the morning came way too early or maybe the later still early morning came too soon.  I thought I had just drifted off to sleep when Beth was waking me up to go out and shoot.  I dragged my feet out of bed and then down to the car–somewhere along the way I met some of the other photographers we were shooting with.  Again, I think I tried to catch some sleep on the way to sunrise location (which was good).

When we finally arrived at the "first light" location, I was tired (mistake two) but feeling okay.  We met up with the other photographers and then started to hike out.  We followed a trail for a good distance and then, of course, because I'm me, I decided that the shot of the mountains and the valley would be better from higher up.  So, off-trailing I went (mistake three).  I'm somewhat of a minimalist when it comes to caring camera gear, so I have my camera slung over my shoulder and I'm carrying my tripod (mistake four).  Up I continued.

I stopped a few times and then finally decided on a spot.  I setup my tripod, mounted the camera and snapped a few photos.  Most if not all of these shots were test shots.  I was trying to get the composition the way I wanted it and mucking with long exposures.  The sun was just starting to peak above the horizon when (for some dumb reason) I decided that the current spot I was at was not high enough (mistake five).  Being tired and thinking that I only needed to climb about 20 more yards was my mistake.  I thought, "No problem, I'll just hike a bit more up there and I'll be good."  Since the sun was beginning to rise, I suppose I felt rushed (mistake six).

In a tired haste, I started climbing.  However, I didn't take the camera off of the tripod like I normally do when I'm hiking (mistake seven...and perhaps the big one).  I was almost to the spot I wanted to be in when it happened.  I stepped on a big rock that I thought was stable...and it was...but only for a moment.  Now, I've fallen before with my camera...even with the big 100-400mm on.  I've always been able to keep the camera out of danger.  But this time, the camera was on the tripod when the rock gave out.

Fortunately, I was okay.  The photographer behind me asked if I was okay...he thought I broke my leg or something.  Unfortunately, I knew immediately when I caught myself that something broke.  The camera mounted on the tripod had hit the rock as I caught myself from falling...and it snapped in half.  Yes, that's right, I said it snapped in half.  My favorite lens of late, the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8 L USM lens was done.  Cut down in her prime...by a dumb mistake.  Somehow, the glass in the lens was unscathed--but the lens was in two.  My camera mind you, the cheapest part of the whole system was perfectly fine (save some dust on the sensor probably).

Of all the things to break, I would have rather it have been the camera and not the lens.  Bummer.  So, distraught, I hike over to Beth cradling the remains of her and explained to Beth what happened and that I was going back to the car to have a nap.  My morning of shooting was done.  I was tired and mad at myself for being so careless...oh well.  In memory of my favorite lens, here is the last photograph, the test photograph from about 15 yards from the accident, the last light.

Moment of silence...

Cut Down in Her Prime...

Fortunately, we insure our lenses and we were reimbursed for all but about $20 of the price and a filter or two.

Big Shoes to Fill...

So, I suppose, nothing was really lost in the end...only a few bucks.  But it still hurts to look at her in pieces.  I'm hopeful that perhaps she'll be able to be repaired someday.

Lessons Learned:

- Maybe I should put the camera in a bag.

- Don't leave the camera on the tripod and hike up a mountain.

- Don't hike and carry a camera up a mountain tired.

- Don't hike on less than three hours of sleep.

- Don't be rushed.

- Don't always try to get higher.

- ALWAYS insure your lenses.

- Make every shot count as it may be the last one.

Creekside

Free time. Its a double-edged sword. When I quit the job I'd been doing for 8 years back in September, I was overjoyed at the prospect of days upon days of free time. I made a mental list of adventures and fun projects and little tasks I wanted to spend all my awesome free time doing. It was going to be great. Then things get in the way because there's time to let them get in the way...looking for a house, buying a house, moving into a house, getting all that stuff done to make that new house a home, looking for a job, interviewing for jobs, taking the dog for a run, tracking down all of our stuff that the military seems to have misplaced somewhere between here and Lousyana, going to the laundromat because our washer and dryer are with all of that misplaced stuff, waiting for a handyman who shows up 3 hours late to install something, wine tasting, dinner with friends, etc. (I'm not complaining about the last 2, by the way, nor the dog running).

Despite all of that, the one thing I can count on nearly every day is an hour or two of solitude in Ft Ord. Our new house is a mere 3 miles from the Creekside Terrace trailhead. While the trails aren't the primo singletrack that you'll see gracing the pages some glossy mountain bike magazine, there is nearly an endless supply of dirt and open space. Some days I trail run with the dog, some days I run with Terry and the dog, other days we hike, and every now and then I get to take the mountain bike out for a good chunk of therapeutic me time. And sometimes the camera comes along.

In January I'll start a new job. My days of freedom are coming to an end. I need finish that to-do list in the next month. And I hope that my daily romps in Ft Ord don't get lost in the busy shuffle.

Bodie

A few years ago I went to the Bodie State Historic Park hidden in the hills north of Mono Lake as part of a photography workshop. Bodie is an old mining town better known today as one of the best-preserved ghost towns anywhere. When I learned that this photo workshop was going to Bodie, I wasn't happy...I was in the Eastern Sierra for the first time ever and you're taking me to a ghost town?! But as soon as I got there, I loved it. So many cool old buildings and abandoned bits and pieces of an by-gone era. I was a little sad when I had to leave that afternoon. I still have some of those Bodie photos posted on our Flickr page. Fast forward to October of this year. I was up in the Sierra doing another photo workshop (I highly recommend the Mountain High Workshops by the way), and I was very excited to hear that we were going to Bodie. But I also knew I had to challenge myself to find some unique vantage points. I had taken a lot of the obvious shots last time, and being with a group, I didn't want the exact same frames as everyone else. So I wandered around and crawled around in the grass for a bit and ultimately hiked a big hill overlooking the little town. It was tough with the harsh late-morning light, but I came away with a few I liked. Enjoy the sampling.

Special thanks to Kevin McNeal for encouraging me to find some new perspectives around town.

Market Street

Terry had the day off on Thursday, so we headed up to the Bay Area. First off was a "quick" stop at Ikea that, 4.5 hours and a full tummy of meatballs later, sufficiently filled the back of my Honda Element. Then we continued north to San Francisco. I had seen some cool night photos of the San Francisco street cars on Flickr, so the goal was to make our own cool night photos of the San Francisco street cars. It was a whole lot harder than we expected.

Here's a few I got...

And a couple from Terry...

Next time we'll be there later at night when there's less traffic, both human and gas-powered. We'll also find a better place to park that doesn't close at 7 and that doesn't charge by the minute (that's right, I said minute).

Day 313.

Today is the 313th day of 2010. As our Flickr follows have figured out, we have been doing a Photo of the Day project for 2010, and so far, we've each posted 312 photos (that's through yesterday) to our respective POTD sets on Flickr. 624 total for teamwelliver. That's a lot of photos, but that's only 1 photo per day. Sure, some days we've only taken 1 photo, but other days, we've each taken a bunch. Our Aperture library is overflowing, our hard drives are quickly filing, yet most days only get 1 single photo posted. I have other photos from those days that I like, but they tend to get orphaned, left to wilt and get lost in the shuffle of far too many photos. So today I share some of my favorites from the last week or so that didn't make my cut as the POTD. Doesn't mean I didn't like them--they just weren't "the one" for that day.

This collage was all taken with my Canon G10 point and shoot while I was hiking with the dog on a damp, foggy morning last week. If you're curious, this day's POTD can be found here.

This set is from a walk to the post office yesterday afternoon with the dog. The upper left photo here actually was my POTD from yesterday.

And finally some spiderwebs from that same damp morning as the first collage above. Again, captured with the G10 point and shoot.

My thoughts on the POTD project with just over a month and a half to go...its been fun, especially during the periods when I was living in Louisiana and Terry was living in Monterey. Its been tough to find something inspiring everyday. Some days its been hard just to find time to take a quick photo. Some days we've gotten some good stuff. On a few days we've even gotten great stuff. On other days we just take whatever is easy, especially when its 11 pm and its time for bed and we've forgotten to take a photo. Has it made us better photographers? I think so, but at the same time, I feel its polluted our pool of photos. We've posted some lower quality stuff on Flickr, thus sharing art that isn't our best work with the world. Does that matter? Who knows.

In the end what matters is that we've done something we love to do, everyday, for a whole year. We've documented us. We've documented life. We've documented our lives. Will we do it again next year? Probably not. The project will have run its course. But its been a fun little journey.

Highway 25

Last week I was putzing around on the interwebs looking for new bike routes when I found a road described as "lonely outback" and wanted to check it out. I convinced Terry that we needed to go on an exploratory photo outing to check out this scenic area along California Highway 25. He is on a quest to find a nicely-shaped, lone tree isolated by itself on one of those lovely golden California hills, so it was easy to get him to go along. Unfortunately the weather wasn't great when we started out--low clouds and spitting rain--but we didn't have anything else better to do, so the three of us (yep, the dog went, too), piled in the car and headed south down the 101 to King City and then east into some very lonely but lovely countryside, eventually looping up to Hollister. Below is a sampling of what we saw--some from me and some from Terry. Can't wait to see this area during wildflower season.

There was a rainbow even now and then, but she wasn't very bright.

The fall colors were still going strong in a few spots...

And then there was Terry's horse. As we drove along, this horse was perfectly framed under the tree, so I slammed on the brakes, Terry put on the big lens, and then the horse moved. So Terry waited...and waited...and then waited some more. He walked about a half mile back up the road hoping the horse would shift just enough so that had that great composition again, but the horse didn't cooperate. Terry finally got fed up and settled with this image.

A few black and white "prairie" shots...because I love prairie and I love black and white.

While we wandered through ditches and along fences, Massey had to wait in the car, which made her less than happy. She wanted to go play, too!

Terry had to take a pic of his girls waiting for him...

Sierra Macros

A couple of weeks ago I did the Mountain High Workshops Fall Color Workshop up in the Eastern Sierras. It was a great workshop with some incredibly talented pro-photographers for instructors. I learned a lot about landscape compositions and refining my eye to see better light and small nuances in the frame in order to make a stronger photograph. So there we are, in the awe-inspiring Sierras, full of colorful aspens and beautiful alpine lakes, and I kept taking macro shots. I can't get enough of the small details. It helped that I had the trusty Canon 180mm macro lens along in my bag...that lens does magical stuff.  While everyone else was shooting the amazing landscape with their wide-angles and super wide-angles, I was tinkering in the trees with my macro. Below are a few of the better results. I have a few of my landscape shots already posted on Flickr.

Thanks for reading!

Clinton Reservoir

Back in August our families got together in Colorado. I was there to do this little mountain bike race called the Leadville Trail 100, and they all were my support crew. Unfortunately the race didn't go as planned...while the legs and lungs were sufficiently ready after 6 solid months of training, my neglected core region let me down and I missed the first time cut-off 40 miles in. Disappointing for sure, but on the bright side we all got to hang out together for a bit in Colorado.

My mom is constantly wanting family pictures. Anytime anyone gets together, she wants a photo, and normally we get too busy and forget. So, on the last evening we were all together we headed out to Clinton Reservoir and posed for a few shots.

Terry and I also got distracted by the gorgeous scenery and took a few non-family photos. There were incredible "big views" complete with wildflowers...

And there were some great "smaller scenes"...Terry is getting tired of my back-lit grass photo addiction, but I like them.

I'm loving the way these asters turned out...

Terry's dad, John, got a couple of great candids...I love the way he processed them. And my sister's white-blonde curly hair is perfect for some late afternoon backlighting.

Even Mom and Dad's cutie little Welsh Terrier named Tory enjoyed the view. (For those wondering about our dog, she's somewhere chasing birds up the mountain or attempting to summit her first 14er while we photog-ed).

I remember standing there watching the sun drop behind the far peaks for the final time during our vacation that night and getting a little sad as the last daylight of our Colorado adventure faded away. The last sunset in the mountains is always a little bittersweet.

Wednesday Night Rooftop Jams

There is this hotel just down the street from the Naval Postgraduate School...towards the wharf, but not near the wharf.  Most people have probably never seen it; or if they have, they have passed it by without a second thought.  Even though it is a hotel, it is more of a local place.  The ground floor has a great little 3-4 seat bar.  The owner is always friendly.  The first time I was ever there was with my buddy Britt (class '02).  He said he saw the hotel in a magazine and wanted to check it out.  So, we ended up having a drink or two or three...or four.  This was a couple months ago.  The great part about this hotel is that you can get on the roof.  I was finally able to make it last Wednesday for some live music by Britt and a couple other fellas.  There was only about ten people up there that night...it was a beautiful day, but the fog rolled in late and we had to pull out the heaters.  So, for the rest of the evening, I sat up there with a good friend and a few I've never met before...drank wine, snacked on cheese/crackers, listened to good music, and, of course, took pictures.  A great way to spend a Wednesday night after a somewhat stressful week at work.  Here are the shots from the evening (fullscreen is better too).

Skill or Luck.....Judges?

Okay, so this may be my first blog to actually be posted.  I've started a few before this, but they've either fallen by the wayside or I simply just decided not to finish them.  Skill or luck with today's picture of the day.  After spending most of the day on iChat (my new favorite video chat program) with my dad or my mom or beth or a combination of all three, I decided I needed to get something productive done for me...and that happened to be...nothing less than going to Chipotle for a late lunch.  I take my camera everywhere these days in the hopes of capturing the picture of the day well before the late late hours of the evening.  After Chipotle, I planned my grocery shopping (the thing that I actually set out to do) while sitting in a warm car.  It was a bit chilly today here in Monterey. I set out to Safeway in Carmel after not having taken a picture yet.  I grocery [verb] (my favorite thing to do--this is laced with sarcasm) still hoping to find the picture before I get back.  But, I'm too sore (another story for another day...but I helped a friend pour his sidewalk yesterday, so I'm hurting) to think creatively...thus, no picture.  I finally am turning into my apartment complex and see the sun hitting some yellow flowers just right.  YES!, I park grab my camera and hurry to take the picture.  Unfortunately, the yellow flowers are on the ground.  If you've ever poured concrete without knee-pads, then you know how much your knees ache.  Man-up I tell myself (funny because I'm taking pictures of flowers).  I'm kneeling, taking the pain, shooting these yellow flowers.  Nothing great, but after shooting a few dozen, I'm confident that I've got the shot.  Phew!  I can relax the rest of the evening...maybe even finish watching the movie I started in the morning.

Now, all this sets the state for the next few shots.  So, now I'm carrying my groceries walking on the sidewalk to my apartment and there is now some decent light hitting these violet flowers.  A little history on these flowers.  I've tried to shoot them many times...almost every time I'm walking to my apartment with my camera I think I can shoot these and get a good shot.  And every time, I shoot them.  And every time, the results are pure suck.  Let's just say that I've shot probably over a hundred shots of these things and haven't kept one.  So, not really wanting to shoot them, I succumb to my temptations (like always) and shoot them.  I took about 10 shots (low for me).  I don't think anything of it because I know they didn't come out and I already have my picture of the day.

So, later that evening I edit the shots from the day looking for the picture of the day.  Most of the yellow flower shots are out of focus or terrible composition.  I keep thinking in my head, great, another still life tonight.  But............then............I get to the violet flowers and low and behold, I got one.  It's not brilliant and probably not great, but it was the best one from today.  And hell, I didn't even have to crop it.  So, was it skill that I was able to get this shot??....judges ruling, pure luck.  Hope you like it.

Minden, LA

Back in February Terry and I headed down the road to the little town of Minden, LA. Minden has a fascinating history. Founded in 1836, It was once a bustling town and home to one of the first public schools in Louisiana. It is also the county seat of Webster Parish. Like many of the small towns in Louisiana, the town has faded from a bustling railroad and lumber mill town to more of a sleepy berg, but the old buildings that survived fires and tornadoes remain. Its a pretty cool place to visit...I hope to get back over there again before I leave Louisiana for good in a couple months.

Terry on Main Street

Plain Dealing

I'm supposed to be writing a resume right now. Someone should pay me to be unproductive because I'm really, really, really good at it. It seems like any time I'm supposed to be focused and productive with something I end up opening Aperture and tinkering with photos. Too bad playing with photos is the fast track to us living in a van down by the river...otherwise I'd make it my job. This photo essay is from a little wandering I did a few weeks back. Plain Dealing is a small town straight north of Bossier City, LA. It happens to be on my long-ride training loop, and each Saturday morning when I ride through these empty streets and by the old auto garage I wonder about what must have been. It seems there is a lot of this "what must have been" around rural LA. Sad, but it does make for great photo subjects.

Enjoy. Leave a comment if you like. Hopefully with things getting a little lighter at work there will be more photo essays...let us know what you think--good, bad, or otherwise.

Spring Break, Part 2

I suppose if there's a Part 1, there should be a Part 2. While my parents were visiting the lovely state of Louisiana, we headed down to visit the cute little town of Natchitoches, the oldest town in LA that was made famous in the movie Steel Magnolias (which I've never seen). Natchitoches, which I've spelled wrong every time I've typed it so far and is somehow pronounced Nack-a-dish, is also famous for its meat pies. So after one of our morning rides we headed down through the always so interesting Louisiana countryside in search of a meat pie. As it turns out, Natchitoches is apparently a town of morning people. Arriving in this hamlet after about 3 pm will lead you to closed restaurants and empty streets. Perhaps they siesta, I'm not sure. Never the less, we wandered around oogling the French architecture and old buildings. We did find a local drive-in sort of place that had meat pies, so the trip was not a waste. My two cents--not bad, but meat pies in Australia were way better.

One last cute one of Mom and Dad.

I think they enjoyed the trip, and its always fun to spend time with them. It was probably their last trip down south, as I'll be moving back to Monterey in September! I'll have to take them to Yosemite the next time they come to visit.

Spring Break Part 1

Yes, still way behind on updating the bloggie, but progress is progress. I figured I should post about spring break before Memorial Day and the official start of summer. Did I take a spring break...no. But, my parents did come visit me over their spring break. As the long Iowa winter continued to dump 70-some inches of snow and they ran out of places to pile the white stuff around the house, Mom and Dad decided that a week in the mild spring climes of Lousyana was an improvement. The main reason the parents escaped Iowa was to get a few rides in without needing studded tires and lobster gloves. So we took a couple of rides around the seemingly endless fireroads of Barksdale AFB's East Reservation. The area makes for some nice, long gravel road rides--perfectly sampled on a cx bike.

And after every good, long ride you need an even better late-afternoon lunch at the best little bistro in Shreveport. And blackberry bread pudding for dessert.

Just Because...

My relatively pedestrian morning at work followed by a lovely lunch hour of playing with the dog slowly derailed into a large pile of suck once I returned to my big, bad cubicle for the afternoon. And that afternoon lasted well into the evening. So now its time to go to bed and I'm left trying to find something to distract my busy mind from the ridiculousness that will be my day tomorrow...wait a minute, I'm about 100 days behind on photo posting, so hey, how about one of those photo essays I have planned in the queue. Plus, I'm enjoying John Stewart's banter about the oil spill, so its not time for bed just yet. As for the photos, remember way back in January when I was stuck in Montgomery, AL for a month? No? Oh yeah, that's because I suck at updating this blog. Anyway, yes, I was in Montgomery for a month, and Terry was even with me. There's a base in AL that Air Force likes to send all of its officers to every few years to learn how to be better officers. And all of us officers go because we get to drink beer more than we normally do because there's nothing else to do but...drink beer.

Amazingly, in the less-than-desirable locale that is Montgomery we found this incredible burrito lounge. Yeah, those words don't really go together...big fatty burrito and swanky lounge wear doesn't really conjure up the best mental image, but I'm telling you, the El Rey Burrito Lounge in Montgomery is top 5 Mexican places we've every dined in...and trust me, I've eaten a lot of Mexican. This is an educated opinion. Plus, they have a beer list that is something like 200 brews long. Mmmm. Besides the tasty tortilla-wrapped delights, unbelievable salsa, and the cold beer, its a cool location in this neat old neighborhood in Montgomery called Old Cloverdale. So, if you're ever in Montgomery for some reason, go there. Eat there. Drink there. Its worth it. There's also a great little wood oven pizza place called Tomatino's just across the street if burritos and salsa so good you could drink it aren't your thing.

Enjoy the photos...and leave a comment if you like. Terry's been working his butt off sprucing this page up, so let him know what you think!

Random scene over the patio fence.

The first round.

Serious discussion.

Sign language.

From the patio.

Beer List (just clicked this one, but now I see I should have shifted because that brew in the glass is a North Coast Blue Star I think).

The street scene in Old Cloverdale.

Beer Fridge.

Ladies Room.

Urban Wandering

As most of our readers know, I've been living in Shreveport, LA while Terry is still in Monterey, CA. He still has the ocean, beaches, wildflowers, mountains, waterfalls, sea otters, redwoods, etc. all at his disposal. I have been trying really hard to find my groove with the outdoor scene here in Swampland USA, but I'm not going to lie...I'm terrified of swamps. I've seen alligators, water moccasins, spiders, other random snakes, fire ants, and enough poison ivy and assorted brambly plants to make me really not enjoy going out into nature ever. Its driving me crazy. On Sunday I really wanted to go take some photos. But after nearly crapping my pants following an alligator encounter earlier last week, I decided to change it up. Shreveport is an old town long past its prime. At one time is was bigger than Dallas. Part of downtown has been revitalized, with bright-light casinos and smoky jazz houses; but pockets of the old town still exist. Large brick buildings, once stately and proud, now stand abandoned and worn. And while I love to shoot a great sunset over the ocean, a beautiful waterfall, or alpenglow on a snowy mountain summit, my next favorite thing to shoot is old, decaying buildings. So I wandered around downtown Shreveport for a couple hours last week, and here's what I came away with...