ORMOYOSF 2009

Jean came out to California and we motored up to ORegon to see some sights. We spent a day at Silver Falls State Park before heading to the Pacific Coast. 

We spent two days exploring the coast from Newport to Brookings before heading back to Sacramento. 

Then we bounced over to Lee Vining for a visit to MOno Lake. 

From there, we worked our way across Tioga Pass through YOsemite. Unfortunately, the valley was (once again) filled with the smoke of an ongoing fire. Seems to be the summer norm anymore. We revisited Taft Point and the Fissues; I navigated the rest of the Pohono Trail and saw what little was left of the Jeffrey Pine at Sentinel Dome. 

From Yosemite, we drove on to San Francisco. There we met up with Paul and Lillian Hewitt and enjoyed a lovely dinner and lively conversation. We even got a ride in their Prius!

2009 07 ORMOYOSF Photo Album

Yosemite Mono Lake Bodie Getaway 2009

My voluntary obligation as a member of the California's Assessment Review Panel impinged on my Spring Break, so I spent that week in Sacramento. 

When school let out, I motored down to Yosemite for a quick weekend. There was some drama in the skies, and of course, the guy with a birdcage (replete with bird) on his back. 

Since I got to Yosemite, Mono Lake wasn’t far away.

I also visited the ghost town of Bodie and made an homage to entropy photo shoot.

2009 06 Yosemite Mono Lake Bodie Getaway Photo Album

2009 06 Entropy in Bodie Photo Album

Galápagos Islands 2008: The Amazing Adventure 3

In August, 2008, I traveled to the Galápagos Islands as part of The Amazing Adventure 3, arranged through the James Randi Educational Foundation.

I had been attending JREF's The Amazing Meeting since 2004 (TAM2). One of the movers and shakers at JREF was big into the cruise industry. He started arranging TAM-related cruises. At TAM6 (January, 2008), The Amazing Adventure 3: Galápagos was announced. I jumped on it. James "The Amazing” Randi was on board, as were many friends from the TAMs.

We assembled in Quito (as Galápagos travelers do), then proceeded to the islands and our vessel. We cruised from island to island. Our naturalist guides shuttled us to and from the islands via a set of pangas. I felt a bit rushed as we hiked the island trails, because I was carrying a camera and looking for compositions.

We had a great time. Some weather delayed my return to Sacramento. The ever-shortening summer break meant the school year started August 18 that year. The wether delay meant I missed the first two days of school. Mind you—no teacher anywhere ever misses The First Day of School. I left two days of “emergency plans” for my guest teacher, so I anticipated a potential delayed return. 

Nevertheless, my principal at the time was not all pleased, and indicated an interest in docking my pay as my absence did not align with the (never-enforced) strictures of “Personal Necessity” leave per our contract. I was able to talk him off that ledge, in part by listing all the “beyond contract” work I donated to the school. If he wanted to go by the contract, we could certainly do that. But it would be to his considerable detriment.

In any case, here’s the documentary recollection of the voyage.

Galápagos 2008 [HTML export from Keynote]

Galápagos 2008 [Movie export from Keynote]

2008 08 Galápagos Finalists Photo Album

2008 08 Galápagos Keepers Photo Album

2008 08 Galápagos Photos of Me Photo Album

Edmonton Roadtrip: Yellowstone Glacier Banff Icefields Jasper Tetons 2008

WYoming MonTana AlBerta, aka WYMTAB

The AAPT’s summer meeting was in Edmonton this year. I decided that it would be great to drive the Nismo to Edmonton and make detours along the way, because gas was at an all-time high (for that era). I made it to Yellowstone, Glacier, the Canadian Rockies (from Banff to Jasper), and back through Glacier and the Grand Tetons. 

The meeting was great, too. And several Edmonton skeptics (folks I know from TAM and Randi’s online forum) rolled out the red carpet for me and had an impromptu meetup/dinner in my honor! Such great people.

2008 07 WYMTAB Gold Photo Album

2008 07 WYMTAB Silver Photo Album

2008 07 WYMTAB Bronze Photo Album

2008 07 AAPT Distinguished Service Citation

Spring Break Southeast Utah 2008

I traded in the Toyota Sienna (too soon) for a Nissan Frontier 4WD Nismo so that Spring Break 2008 could include navigation of some 4x4 trails in southeast Utah. 

My buddy, Rick, came out from Grand Rapids to help me christen the truck with some red rock mud. We made the run from Moab to Monument and feared-not the unsmooth tracks or river-fords along the way. 

The Nismo performed flawlessly, and I drove back to Sacramento with a solid coat of mud to show off, despite Rick’s desire to keep the new truck clean. Tomayto-tomahto, as is always the case with Rick and me. He put up with my snoring and I put up with his TV addiction. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

2008 03 Southeast Utah Photo Album
Bonus videoclip: Rick and Dean's 4WD Adventures

Crater Lake and the Canadian Rockies 2007

Crater Lake

We stopped at the Sundial Bridge in Redding on the road from Sacramento to Crater Lake. Stunning structure! Mom made reservations early enough so that we stayed at the lodge this time. 

We rolled in fairly late; I stayed up and snapped some time exposures of the clear, clear, clean sky over the lake. Caught some excellent star trails before the moon crept over the rim. The blue of the lake still defies description. Mom had been working out pretty extensively and agreed to hike down the rim to the lake for the 2-hour boat tour. The tough part is hiking back up the rim afterward. We took our time and made it without incident. On our way back from Canada, we stopped at Crater lake for the night. This time, she hiked with me to the top of Watch Tower peak. We were treated to some excellent late afternoon views. I had a close encounter with a deer on the hike back down! 

The Canadian Rockies

Jean and I drove up to Lake Louise from Sacramento. Heather and Tyler flew into Calgary and drove to Lake Louise from there. We took in Lake Louise and Moraine Lake before heading up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. 

In Jasper, Heather got to experience the Canadian health care system firsthand. Not exactly the utopia Michael Moore made it out to be. Emboldened by my aerial Arizona adventures, I booked a scenic flight above the rugged Canadian Rockies on a wee Cessna. The seat was a bit cramped, but the views were spectacular. I did what I could to capture a few keepers; the photography was, um, challenging! We stayed at a cozy hotel in the heart of the townsite. The cold water was colder and the hot water was hotter than back home. 

Jean and I had a few photo outings and got up close and personal with a pair of elk. We all took a boat tour to Spirit Island on Maligne Lake. Tyler and I trekked down the Maligne Canyon a ways. And we hiked to the top of Whistler Mountain while Jean and Heather waited at the upper terminal of the Jasper Tramway. Jean and I then stayed at the Moraine Lake Lodge. Wow. Moraine lake is the photo op of the Canadian Rockies. I hiked up to the highlands above the lake to see what I could see. Great exercise and some nice scenes. I did what I could to soak up the alpine images. We got rained on and never did get prime photo conditions for the lake shot, but you work with what you’ve got. 

2007 07 Oregon Canadian Rockies Finalists Photo Album

2007 07 Oregon Canadian Rockies Previews Photo Album

Red Rocks: Arizona 2007

This year’s sojourn to the red rocks was a solo affair. Bummer in that I didn’t get to share the scenes live with anyone, but nice in that no one had to endure my chasing of the images.

Anyway, my destinations included the Barringer Meteor Crater, Painted Desert and Petrified Forest, Canyon de Chelly, Monument Valley, and the Grand Canyon. Like 600,000 other people do each year, I flew over the big ditch. Incredible views... and I didn’t even die!

I’ve never seen Grand Canyon so overrun with people, and I didn’t get much weather to work with. With global warming on the rise, summer hits the southwest about mid-March. Still though, I got a few nice keepers.

2007 04 Arizona Photo Album