Today was the Festival Virgin del Mar, and they celebrated in Playa Sámara with a procession of ox carts on the beach.

James, Jack and I ventured out on a three day backpacking trip in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area last week. It was kind of the Four Seasons trip, starting out on Wednesday with temps in near 80 and ending up on Friday morning a bit below freezing. It was an awesome trip. I’ve mountain biked a lot on the northeastern side but I had never been to Mount Rogers on the southwestern exposure. I was truly amazed at the beauty, especially this time of the year before much had leafed out. It really doesn’t seem like Virginia at all. An added bonus were the ponies which seemed to be several places as we progressed through the trip.

It was Jack’s first time backpacking and he got a new pack just for the occasion. They say a large dog and carry 30% of their weight in a pack. We didn’t load him up that heavy, but it was pretty clear he had no problem with a mostly full pack. He plotted along a few feet ahead of us for most of the trip, turning around every twenty yards or so to make sure we were still coming. It’s pretty nice having a dog that you don’t have to worry about running off or getting lost. There is no way Jack would ever let us out of his sight long enough for that to happen. He is a joy, especially outdoors.

Here’s just a few pics from the trip. I don’t take any of my professional equipment on backpacking trips because of the weight, so these were shot with my little pocket Olympus that I hate so much. I guess I will get around to replacing it this summer. I kind of would like to get another Canon G series. I had a G1 about 10 years ago that I really liked. Now they are up to the G11. It’s a little big, but still portable, and much more adapted to manual shooting which is what I prefer. I think this trip convinced my I need a better knock around camera.

Going through some old images that I overlooked. I always liked this image but never really paid it much attention. It’s a group of Hmong women near the village of Sapa in north Vietnam. They love color and so do I.  Today is its day.

I just got back from a quick trip down to Florida this weekend and I tried out a new pocket camera while I was down there. I bought the Olympus Stylus 850SW to mostly take on paddling trips so I wouldn’t have to worry about a wet bag. The camera is supposedly waterproof to 10 feet, but I haven’t tested that yet. I was at a party Saturday night while there and someone there told me they had one and it took on water within three months.Maybe mine will last a little longer than that!

Aside from any water bonus, this is really the worst pocket camera I have ever had. I read a review AFTER I had bought it and I would have to agree with about everything they said. Throw in the fact that it requires a special memory card from Olympus and I wonder how they ever sell them. Must be the waterproof feature which is what attracted me. If you have just the right lighting conditions, the camera will produce an acceptable photo. Flash??? Forget it, the worst I’ve ever seen despite the review saying that indoor flash was its only strong point. I had to use exposure comensation on almost every lighting condition and focus is hit and miss for sure. Battery life? Pathetic.

Here were a few that I thought made the grade. Otherwise, Olympus Stylus 850 SW gets a BIG FAT “F”.

Incidentally, I can say that I give the Casio cameras a good grade. I’ve had two, both of which bit the dust by accident, and they had pretty stellar performance. The battery charge on one lasted  an entire three week trip to Asia and that was even after using it as a flashlight one night.  I also hear that the new little Nikons are pretty sweet.

As I predicted several blogs ago, despite the dry weather this summer this fall has been spectacular, not to mention the longest on record I would expect! I mean we have had almost a month of great fall colors and it hasn’t stopped yet. This is November for crying out loud. Thanksgiving is next week!

I really don’t spend much time in Tidewater during the fall, but I was there for Shannon and Kurt’s wedding on the 27th. As I was driving down the Colonial Parkway towards Yorktown, I spotted this splash of color on a bridge as I was crossing a tributary near the Chesapeake Bay. I stopped and captured this panorama of fall color which is not done justice on a little computer screen. Ever since I read James Michener’s Chesapeake I have this very romantic view of the bay’s natural areas. I would be willing to bet that, standing on the edge of this river bank or one like it 400 years ago, things looked just about the same.

Here’s to a very beautiful lack of progress. Save the Bay!

What is summer without a trip to camp!? When I was just a pup it was the highlight of my summer to go off to camp. That meant a week of semi-independent freedom and plenty of new friends and some old ones, too. Of course water was always a big part of any camp experience whether it was the pool at church camp or the lake at 4-H camp.

Fortunately for me, I still get to go to camp every summer. It’s just not exactly filled with activities like making beaded Indian headbands or the Womanless Beauty Contest (second runner up in the 4th grade). But it still has plenty of water and lots of old friends, and every year a few new ones make it up there, too.

So for the past few weeks I have been at Camp, which for the uninitiated southerner is the Yankee term for a shack, cottage, or house at the lake. You see, they would never say anything like “We’re going to the lake house for the weekend” but rather “We’re going up to Camp”. Means the same thing, but I suppose it takes some of the pretentiousness out of the former. Ours happens to be right on the lake, but a camp doesn’t have to be and lots are built behind the main lake front camps, and those are called “backlotters”. It all makes for a laid back and relaxing atmosphere that seems uniquely Adirondack life.

Camp is located in South Broadalbin, New York and it is right at the southern tip of the Adirondacks. It is on The Great Sacandaga Lake which just happens to be one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. Camp is located at the widest part of the lake so it is around 5 miles from shore to shore at that point. The Adirondack mountain range makes for a scenic back drop to our beach, and there is also a small island appropriately named Sand Island about a half mile off shore which lends itself to the recreational charm and beauty of Camp as well. Here’s a shot from the beach…

Camp was built in 1932 and is nothing short of perfectly charming and homey. It is vintage and authentic, inside and out. The large wrap around porch filled with rocking chairs, games, card tables, and an icy cold 1930’s GE fridge are almost all you need. Add to that a huge lawn, private beach and gorgeous view….you just can’t go wrong. Anyone interested in exploring beautiful New York state couldn’t go wrong with a stay at Camp, and it is available for rental all but the two weeks we have in July. Check it out here if interested.

Well, getting back to our stay this year, it seems everyone had a great time. The weather was a little crazy (seems to be a New York thing this year….snowstorm in the middle of April should have been a warning) as I don’t think it got up past 65 on July 4th, but there were some awesome summer sun-filled days as well.

Didn’t get out to other locales around Camp for exploring as much as I would have liked but there was plenty going on around Camp for entertainment. Around the Fourth, lot’s of friends and family started showing up to spend the holiday with us and we had a spectacular fireworks show that thrilled the kids and scared the dogs as usual.

So now I’m back and actually enjoying all that is going on in Roanoke, too. Great friends and a great city make for a great Life. Lot’s of nice clients and potential clients are making for a busy end of summer, but I suppose I will get in a short trip or two before fall rolls around.

Life is good…..but does it ever fly by. So make the best of it and don’t wait for retirement to enjoy it all and get out! Here are just a few shots from my trip. My family, my friends, the places and things that make my Life great.

Hope you’re enjoying your summer!

Tripped up to Assateague last Saturday for what was to be a week of camping at the beautiful Assateague Island National Seashore. Arrived to find the camping area full of happy families with children riding their bicycles up and down the road. Everyone’s happy as a clam in a salt marsh….which they have by the way.

Well….within 24 hours there was a massive invasion of salt marsh mosquitoes that chased away almost every camper in the bayside area. A few of us toughed it out over the next several days, but it was pretty challenging.

The incredible thing about this particular mosquito is its unrelenting activity throughout the day. Most mosquitoes are pretty active in the early morning and particularly late evenings for about an hour or so. At least that has been my experience. Well, not the salt marsh mosquito. This little bugger stays up all day long. And I’m not talking about the occasional unit landing on your leg with a behind the calf surprise attack. I’m talking 30-40 beasts swarming you as soon as you exit a tent or screen house. Deep Woods Off helped a lot, but quickly became ineffective.

It was no question why most of the campers left as most had no screen house. But as a frequenter of buggy coastal National Parks, where there is no insect control spraying, I’m pretty up on the necessity of the screen house and it is a staple of the car camping venture now. Am I ever glad I had one on this trip.

All in all the trip was great, even though a bit shorter than expected. The horses were everywhere but the beach so I didn’t shoot them this trip. Did take a well led canoe tour of the bay (also surprisingly skeeterless) and that was pretty cool. The guide was an Assateague veteran and I had a lot of fun on that…

So all in all, got a lot of sun and a little more car trippin’ up the coast of Delaware and MD to Bethany and Rehobeth which are pretty cool little costal towns. I really liked Bethany which has a small village appeal and that northern east coast charm.

Cheers

Tripped up to DC last weekend to see Dale and Caroline who are back in the States from Jakarta. They’re here for about two months  where they can catch up with their peeps and show off their cute as a button, brand spankin’ new baby Allison.

It was great to see them as the last time was at their wedding there more than two years ago. We hung out with them Saturday and Sunday in between their visits to  other family and friends.  We strolled around Sunday with them, went to the Sunday market in Dupont Circle and then took the Metro down to Pennsylvania Ave and the Mall.

This is one of the coolest new building facades I have seen in DC and there is building everywhere there now. The pic doesn’t do it justice but I tried. A little too overcast to show off the brilliant colors of limestone, but the carving is pretty clear…

Capital Pride was having their parade and festival on Penn Ave this weekend so we all walked around through that (some bitchin antique cars on display there)….

and then over to the National Mueum of the American Indian which had been on the must see list for some time.  This museum is spectacular in design inside and out. Just a real joy to hang out there and look at all the detail. Crowds are nowhere near where they were when it first opened. I think back then you had to stand in line for about 2 hours just to get in. Here are a few shots inside and out…

It was an awesome weekend. Stayed at The Brickskeller Inn. While not exactly fancy, it’s in a great DC location, reasonable,  and has the famous Brickskeller bar on the first floor. The Brickskeller has the world’s largest beer list with over 4000 beers. Just about any beer you could possibly want. Great atmosphere in a premier DC neighborhood.

Saturday was kind of an unexpected treat with the Capital Pride Parade starting right outside our hotel. No question there was a lot of pride in that parade and the crowd was huge. It looked like everyone in DC came out for it, and just about anyone with local name recognition was in it. I’ll close this with a few shots of the parade….it was hard to contain myself with all that COLOR !!

NY was freakin’ COLD!

Got to Brooklyn late Friday night and hung out there until Monday.

Saturday we walked around the nabe and over the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan for a little shopping. The wind on the bridge was bodacious!

Went to the new Home Depot in midtown and that was pretty cool. Not like the Home Depot in the nabe here….no big aisles with sheetrock and lumber, but a nice assortment of things every Gotham resident could possible want to fix up their $3 million dollar one bedroom condo.

Chip made an awesome (as usual) Swedish Easter dinner. He even did the whole Easter Egg thing with contest (my egg didn’t even come in the money) which was a blast from the past. Remember the PAAS kits????

Jim’s Hokie Egg…….

My Charlie Brown Easter Egg…..figures with that theme it would be a loser…

James finally uses his horticulture degree to repot Chip’s plants….

My only shots of the city (incl view of the Empire State Building out Chip’s back window) as I boycotted due to the cold….just had my heart set on going to Central Park for a few hours…oh well…

We left the city Monday to head to Chris and Joey’s house where I continued my camera boycot and just kicked back. Great new house they built with their own bare hands. I’ll get some pix next time I’m there. The diorama with the bobcat Joey killed makes a great backdrop for the bar and excellent photo potential.

The Empire State museum in Albany was really worth the trip. They have an excellent WTC exhibit with many many artifacts from 9/11 including pieces of structural steel salvaged from the WTC.

Went to see Rent at the renovated Proctor’s Theater. They have done an AWESOME job with downtownn Schenectedy and the folk there have a lot to be proud of. The theater is beautiful and a living monument to times when theaters were truly grand pieces of architecture.

The brewery visit was great. Ommegang make D-licious Belgian Ales and the tour was D-licious, too. Especially the sampling at the end! We tooled around and had lunch in Cooperstown but didn’t make it to the Hall of Fame or the museum as planned. Just ran out of time. Will have to go back as Cooperstown is cool as all get out. Lots to do there and beautiful.

Actually had a snowstorm the next day and made it up to camp to check things out. The lake was still down for the winter and high snow drifts up against the woods. Really was sorry I didn’t bring my camera as the place was beautiful with all the new snow.

Left the day after that while it was still snowing. Got out just in time as a Noreaster was heading up the coast and promising even worse weather. No Thanks! It was sunny and beautiful when we got back to Roanoke late Friday. Yipppeee! Spring really IS here.

A GREAT trip and lots of good times with friends and family.