We were staying at the Bay Gardens Beach Resort in St. Lucia with some friends this past winter. One evening, the resort had four locals put on a show for guests. The highlight, at least for me, was this young man demonstrating his fire-eating skills. I don’t know what he had for dinner, but it was obviously spicy.
I spent a lot of time working in Akron, Ohio, for HP’s Digital Imaging Systems (formally known as RPS). We had a training facility on the south side of town. On trips where I had to spend the weekend, rather than staying in a hotel in Akron, I instead stayed at the Brandywine Bed & Breakfast in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. During one stay. Linda drove down from Michigan and stayed the weekend with me. We hiked here and there, and at one point, became somewhat lost in the woods.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is midway between Akron and Cleveland. You wouldn’t know this much beauty could be located so close to two large, industrial cities. It’s worth a visit if you find yourself in northern Ohio with time on your side.
I was teaching classes in Troy Michigan during the week of January 27th through 31st. My classes finished early on Tuesday. I left Troy and drove north through Lapeer County, taking back-roads through farmland. The snows started around 11:00, just as I was driving down a rural road, somewhere between Metamora and Dryden. I saw this farm and not bothering to put on my coat, I pulled my rental car off to the side of the road, walked into the middle of the two-lane road, and made this photograph.
I’ll probably never be able to find this place again. Sometimes the best shots are random.
I was in between rig trips – just off of a rig in the Gulf of Thailand, and on my back to Perth, Australia. I had three days in Songklha, Thailand, before flying back across the Indian Ocean to Perth. Looking for adventure, I hiked to the top of a hill to the Khao Tang Kuan Pagoda. The statue of Buddha overlooks the city. When I arrived a the pagoda, I took some time to reflect, rang a bell, and spoke with several locals who made the trip to observe their religion.
On the way down, I took a less direct route, hiking through forests down to the city center. On the way down, I encountered more monkeys (dozens) than I did people (three).
The deserts of Western Colorado are quite different than the mountains of the Front Range, where we live. Driving back from Palisade, we passed this butte. It is along Interstate 70, and we passed it rather quickly. My friend Gary was driving, and I made this photograph through the back window while traveling around 70 MPH.
Three years later we were driving through Grand Junction on our way to Utah. This time Linda driving west. I made this photograph of the same butte – different time of day and different weather.
The fall colors are covering the mountains of Northern Colorado. While hiking outside of Lyons this weekend, we came across this view of the mountains while on the Rabbit Mountain Trail. Linda, along with friends Bob and Bev, decided to get out of town for a few hours and enjoy the trails. This photograph is looking west toward Rocky Mountain National Park.
Sometimes you don’t have to travel far to find beauty. For this photograph, I traveled out our back door onto our patio. Our house backs up to open space and a mountain bike park, here in Erie, Colorado. While drinking a cup of coffee one morning, I looked out the back door. The hills are to the east, and this sunrise is what greeted me that morning.
Cultus Lake lies about 10 miles south of Chilliwack, BC, Canada. I was working in Chilliwack, supporting a call center for Hewlett-Packard Retail Photo Centers. My work ended early on Monday, the 21st of February. Rather than going back to my B&B and chilling (easy to do in Canada in February), I quickly donned warm clothes and drove south, crossing the Vedder River, to Cultus Lake.
I drove along the east side of the lake, stopping here and there to explore the shores. About halfway down the length of the lake, while driving on Columbia Valley Road, I found a small pull-out, complete with a beach and dock. I walked along the beach for about 30 minutes when the snow began to fall. These three photographs are taken from the beach. All were taken while holding my camera (no tripod).
Sometimes the best travel photographs can be made right outside your back door. This is literally right outside our back door – OK, about a half-mile up the trails.
We live up against the Sunset Park West mountain bile park. One-quarter mile past is the Sunset Park East mountain bike park. On the 18th of December, I rode from our backyard, up the trails in the West park, up to the East park, and rode, jumped, and flew over the trails. On my way back home, I stopped, took out my phone, and made this photograph. It is looking west over the town of Erie.
I took a trip down to Arizona in December with Linda, to visit her son in Tucson. After a short stay in Mesa with good friends, we headed to Tucson for a few days of rest and relaxation.
One day, I convinced Linda and David to explore Tombstone with me. I have a long history with Tombstone. My grandparents retired there back in the 1960s, and my family made many visits to “The town to tough to die”.
The three of us wandered the streets for a bit, and stopped in the Crystal Palace for a sasparilla. As we were leaving town, I looked down Fremont street toward the OK Corral, just as a storm was brewing in the distance.