Sunset 1 

 Sunset 2  

 One Last Post on my trip from St. Louis to Oakland.

Co-Pilots Log: day 7; Bakersfield, CA, we’re nearly there. Inside a Motel Six that, apparently doubles as a drugstore, (if you know what I mean). We’ve a little liquor left from the bottle of Patron we opened in Vegas. We had told our selves we were saving it for our arrival at our new home. But Vegas called for it. The Hotel we found was amazingly cheap and amazingly decked out. The pool was much needed and things seem to be looking up. I’m getting ahead of myself though. The Grand Canyon came first and it was beyond words. There is nothing like it. Movies and pictures do not do it justice. The complete vastness of it would take years to explore. We saw only a small portion of the southern Rim but snapped about eight rolls of film. We woke up from our bed of rocks at what we supposed was seven A.M. It turned out to be six but we didn’t find that out till later. It was good that we woke up early and beat much of the tourist rush. The area where the fancy hotels and cabins are located was disappointing and lame, but the throngs of foreign tourist and ignorant American brats running about was pushed aside for the majesty of the canyon. I’ve never stared so long at a hole in the ground. I wish we could have spent more time, but Vegas were calling and it was a few hundred miles away. After brunch at a Flintstones themed restaurant/gift shop/dilapidated theme park, we sped through the remainder of Arizona. I actually got to take the wheel for only the second time on the trip. I drove as fast as I could without alarming the Capitan the stretch was long, straight, and flat. That was until we reached the winding down hill road of the Hoover Dam. That was after we survived a police check point that reminded me of the old WWII films. “Where are your papers”, were the only thing they didn’t say. I angered everyone behind us as I took the turns through the Dam slowly. Had we not been hauling everything we owned I would have loved to stop and get a few pics. I relied instead on the Captain hanging out the passenger window. The ride out was equally as winding only uphill instead. Then it was onward into Vegas. After we got into some heavy traffic the Captain demanded the wheel back and we pulled into the hotel. Terrible's Hotel and Casino, $39 bucks a night and you get a giant ass flat screen TV, a phat ass pool surrounded by Palm Trees and all the towels you can steal. The place was guarded by a Giant neon and steal Mexican Sherriff. We were so giddy. The power of the Canyon had reinvigorated us and we were prepared to take on Vegas. I of course was pre occupied with hopes of getting hitched by the King of Rock’n’Roll. This caused some friction, but not as much as the lights and gaudy shtick on the main strip. We had more fun the next morning in the Hotel casino. I recommend Terrible’s to one and all. There service was impeccable and there steak was delicious. They were the only ones who actually paid attention to our empty hands and glasses. About $60 was lost overall, not bad. After our Steak and Nachos breakfast/lunch, the Captain gave in to my desire to be married by Elvis. Only there wasn’t enough time to get the license and the wedding without staying another night. The whole deal would have run us another four hundred easy and we simply couldn’t afford it. So we’ll have to come back.  Beyond Vegas lied Death Valley and 111Ëštemperatures. “Out in the Dessert”, John sang, “There would be no worries.” No worries Other than the van overheating, and not making it to any camp grounds before dark, forcing us into another motel. And any motel would be a letdown after the luxury of Las Vegas. And we weren’t any where special hidden three blocks off the strip. But dreams of penny slots will have to comfort me tonight as I drift off to reruns of Ghost in the Shell and crystal meth is bought and sold outside the door. I’m not sure how Cali is going to receive either of us, but we are here now. The heat is starting to subside. I think we may do alright.

 New_Mexico44  Kansas12  New_Mexico3  Flinstones2  Kansas7  Kansas6  Dodge_City5  Grand_Canyon42

 My first shot at the festival  This is the first thing I saw when we walked in.

Feathered head gear  I loved this shop

Feathers  Beyond my price range.  But I could make these....

Statue?  I never did get to go up close and get a better shot...dang it

Everyone comes out  

Musicians  

Ded Bob with zombie #1  As he was getting ready to "bonk" her.  Which he followed up with saying "I could bonk you all night long."  It was the only show that said "PG-13" on the program.

Not much here  No really....  (notice he is pushing a stroler.  Should wear more then a loin cloth and you won't have babies"

Leather and feathers   For the guys

One hot knight..... ;0)   For the girls

Have been admiring the Grunge images posted so thought I'd give it a try.

Being a newby - not sure if these qualify.

 Drooping Daisies 

 Netted Salmon 

The normal routine after a surgery like mine is to give the patient a rest, wake him with drugs, remove the respirator, and put him on a CPAP mask. You have to breathe on the CPAP mask for 24 hours before they remove it. So the normal patient takes the surgery time plus 24 hours to get on his own. This process took 5 days for me.

My routine was more like this... drugs to wake up, take out the respirator, apply CPAP, start freaking out, blood pressure goes crazy, drugs for blood pressure, quit breathing, more drugs to knock you out, back on respirator. This went on for four days after the surgery. I almost made the 24 hours once. They tried different concoctions of drugs to try and help the transition. Barb said at one time they had 15 IV bags hanging off me. The only time they feared losing me was in one of the blood pressure/freaking out times my diastolic pressure was reading about 300 and the systolic number wouldn't show on their machine. They freaked out and Barb said when the doctor ran in his mouth dropped and his eyes bugged out and he started yelling to inject this and inject that and finally got me down again. She said she could tell he was scared and so was she. I would have liked to see that. Finally, they gave up and I went back into surgery to get a tracheotomy which would allow them to put me on and off the respirator easier but after it was installed I didn't have any other problems. I think I fought the CPAP cause it has a positive pressure you have to breathe against and it's like someone squeezing your chest while you're trying to breathe and I've always had a phobia about being smothered or drowned. I think that's why I fought it so hard.

Because you can't talk during this whole procedure they have you write notes. Of course, in the up/down drugged state you're in the notes sometimes don't make sense plus you can't see the notepad so it's like writing blind. Some did, like "Wet my lips with h2o" or "Where's Barb at?" Then there's "I keep jumping dimensions". They must have asked me what I wrote cause I repeated it bigger "Jumping Dimensions". They kept all the notes for us but some still don't make sense.

They give you drugs to erase your short term memory and they work good cause I have very few memories of the 5 days. Only two visual memories, even though the whole family and some friends were there and in and out, I only remember seeing Barb once holding my hand and crying and I remember seeing Jaryd twice. He couldn't come into my glass house in ICU but they'd bring him to the glass and he'd say "Wuv you poppa" looking scared and slightly overwhelmed by it all. I can remember some pieces of the writing episodes but not much and don't remember any other people whether family, doctors, or nurses those first 5 days.

The times I was awake the treatment and care I received was super! Everyone from the doctors, the nurses, all the way up to the janitorial staff were very professional but also very compassionate and caring. I felt as if I was among friends. Also, since I sleep very little normally and almost never during the hospital stay, the doctors, nurses and janitors were all stopping by my room at all hours of the night to catch up on the Olympics.

 Dimensions

 Oar not ...

Here's a little grunge to keep things interesting!

 boat

 butterfly

 apples

 gourd

 Clouds 1  

 Clouds 2 

Hey all!! I have been watching, but not posting, so here is my official end of summer post :-(

I hope everyone is well! My family and I go to Sunset Beach N.C. every August, although it has been a couple of years since our last visit. This is a different look at the defining piece of architecture on the island, and a few different shots of the dunes, etc...  piereeds1  stairs1  beachchair1  tracks1  boat1   shells1 

A week ago Tuesday my kids and I went for a drive to a nice park next To Lake Ontario named Golden Hills State Park.

I use to camp there with friends and my family when I was younger and even if I do not go there to camp anymore it is a nice place to hike and visit.

We take the hiking trails from the Boat launch area  to the Camping area that has a wonderful Light House that has been put on a postage stamp some years ago. Golden_Hills  We did go up to the light which was a bit tricky with my 2 year old(she has no fear) She tried to climb the railing while I tried to get pictures. This is all that came out of that trip.  top_view 

This slide show set is some of the things we found on our hike to the other side.  wild_morning_glory tiny_pink_flowers  blue  assassin_bug  butterfly_At_Golden  monarch_butterfly

 very_tiny_toad  very_small_frog   

(this was suppose to be a slide show but it did not want to come up, sorry)

Its such a Quiet place to be (I really should take the kids there for a weekend)

Enjoy and all comments welcome. ;)

I failed at this little mini challenge.  I had all day saturday to shoot but just couldn't get inpsired.  And then Sunday, I shot four of them, had my favorite model Bailey to use for portraits and then came down with a stomach bug and ended up spending most of Sunday and all of Monday in bed.

But, like I said... I did get four of them shot.

Inside

Macro

Work

Flower

Thanks for the fun Mr. Q.  Sorry I didn't get them all.

 waiting... for a photo worthy shot made by kodak ,sweet lil imp all alone ,for many years  in the corner is not where i belong I B closeup  ,just a quick shot open wide ,so I can take a few ... just a glimpse ,of this amazing camera.

 handle with care ,Today, I decided to drag out the six-20 Brownie D and take a few shots of it.This is my very favorite camera.

 pink dianthis

 drop

 crepe myrtle

 grungy dahlia

 Thumb..... Abbi my granddaughter and her first pony ride!

Some photos as I walked around the zoo this past Saturday . . .  Who gives a hoot?

I think this is my favorite . . . On Guard . . . 

Wish I could have gotten a little more in focus but I think it looks a little like a drawing out of a Harry Potter movie  Looking for dead meat . . . 

Colors . . .  I'm Watching . . . 

My favorite act of the day.  If anyone has the chance to see them don't miss it! 

 Daphne begging for beer from the pub thats roof she is on. 

  The Stage  

Everyone LOL  

Daphne loves Guinness  

They LOVE beer  

Winnies trick. She was so proud.  

Funny  

Winnies hair makes a great handle  

Licking someones glass  

Measuring up  

Winnie takes....  ...control of...  ...her MAN!  

Sorry so long it was supposed to be a slideshow that wouldn't work.

 The Flight of Souls

I had been wanting to take this picture for some time and finally got it last summer.

It is the focal point of Wade Chapel in Lakeview Cemetary in Cleveland, OH, which was decorated by Louis Comfort Tiffany. I'm not much for Christian superstition, but it is a gorgeous piece of art near where I live.

I was there with some out of town friends and without a tripod. I just sat on the floor with my camera wedged on my camera bag. I couldn't view through the lens, so I just did several slow exposures and checked the alignment until I got the whole window nearly filling the frame and reasonably centered.

Of course the perspective left a little to be desired, so I later corrected it with a linear transformation in Gimp -- kind of a poor man's shift lens.

1..2..3?

This is the 23095134574845th time I've tried to post this...

 Golden. 

So, is the watermark too distracting?