Mount Washington, New Hampshire. The cog railroad to the top, 2004.
You can also drive to the top, but unless they’ve upgraded that road in the 50+ years since I last did it, I recommend the train.
Either way, it’s a cool place to visit, especially on a clear day when you can see for hundreds of miles.
Filed under Photography, Travel
Sunset. Clear skies. A white dagger moving slowly toward the horizon.
Not a comet. A jet headed out to sea over Ventura County. High and fast.
Destination Hawaii was my first guess. Going to Asia, Tokyo or Shanghai or Seoul, they would be heading north or northwest, up the coast toward Alaska on a great circle route. Headed out to sea in this direction there’s a LOT of nothing except Hawaii unless you’re going to Singapore or Australia.
The dot is another jet, this one headed south down the coast from Asia into LAX. There’s a whole stream of them, 24/7/365.
(Image: Flightradar24)
As expected. Have fun, folks!
Filed under Flying, Photography, Travel
It’s shocking to realize that it will be twenty years in August since this trip. Niagra Falls, of course.
Like Proxmire said (more or less), “A decade here, a decade there, pretty soon it adds up to real time!”
Filed under Photography, Travel
I was in Florida. And it turns out I wrote a pretty decent account of that trip ten years ago today.
The tl;dr version – I was 17, somehow got permission to take time off school, made it from a small town in Vermont to Florida, and saw the last Saturn V launch when Skylab launched on May 14, 1973.
It was quite the adventure. You know how they say you learn to make good decisions by living through the bad decisions you make? That trip was FULL of bad decisions, and decisions made out of ignorance. But it was spectacular, definitely changed my life.
Apollo Command-Service Module (CSM) training simulator, seen on the Kennedy Space Center tour a day or two before the launch.
The Saturn IB up on stilts to use the Saturn V launch pad, with the Apollo capsule that would take the Skylab I crew up. It was supposed to launch the next day, but due to the damage the Skylab took on launch it took eleven days of desperate work to figure out how to save the mission and prepare for the rescue. The Skylab I crew launched on May 25th, but I was back in high school in Vermont by that time.
The final Saturn V, with the Skylab spacecraft on top.
In some ways for me, the most simple but amazing fact is that in 50 years I’ve never been back to KSC to see the new museums, the space shuttle Atlantis, or a launch. I’ve been to five NASA Socials (see that “search” box?), I’ve finally seen a launch out of Vandenberg, I’ve been to the National Air & Space Museum in Washington, to the associated Udvar-Hazy museum at Dulles, to a ton of air shows, flown in P-51 Mustangs and a B-25 and a B-29 and done aerobatics in an SNJ and a bunch of other planes with the CAF, and even got my own pilot’s license (gotta get current and get flying again, but that’s a different rant)… But I’ve never been back to KSC.
It can’t be that hard to see a launch these days, SpaceX is launching about once a week or more, ULA has the Vulcan coming online soon and they’re still launching the last of the Atlas missions, Blue Origin is getting ready to go orbital soon.
Gotta fix that. Soon.
Filed under Paul, Photography, Space, Travel
There are places on the planet where it is damn near impossible to take a bad picture, no matter your equipment, skill level, or whatever. I’m sure there are folks who somehow do manage to screw it up, but they’re in a different class from us mere mortals.
For example:
The Grand Canyon at sunset.
Filed under Photography, Sunsets, Travel
Hazy, hot, humid. The Mississippi River at flood stage with St. Louis in the distance.
The structure is one of two water intakes for some local municipality’s water supply. Possibly St. Louis, possibly not.
The viewpoint is from somewhere out on the Chain of Rocks Bridge, an old car bridge from the late 1920’s which was where Route 66 crossed the Mississippi River. It’s now part of a trail system along the Mississippi for hiking and biking, strictly pedestrian traffic only.
If I lived in the St. Louis area, I suspect I would be hiking and biking a lot of those trails.
Filed under Photography, Travel
Where is home? I know where I live, but that’s different.
Too late now.
I was there for an hour or two. That will have to do.
Filed under Castle Willett, Photography, Travel
Today’s adventure was a day trip up the coast to Solvang. It was my first visit.
A cute little tourist trap town based on the Danish architecture of its early founders and settlers.
Lots of interesting shops (we found and bought some neat things) and, on the Sunday of a three-day holiday weekend with gorgeous weather, way too little parking. (This is my surprised face.)
Driving up through the mountains the views were stunning and the California wildflowers were blooming. I didn’t stop to take pictures of those, but they’re worth another trip.
It was an adventure, so I was wearing my adventure hat. Hans Christian Andersen was wearing something more formal. I claimed the win based on not being bronze and not being dead.
Filed under Photography, Travel
One contrail, passing from horizon to horizon.
I didn’t see the plane, but looking at what was overhead on the FlightRadar24 app, it probably came from the south…
…and headed north. Probably a Southwest flight out of San Diego to Sacramento that passed by at 40,000 feet.
The twisty remains of an older contrail? Much more character, much more photogenic. It aged well.
Filed under Flying, Photography, Sunsets, Travel
I’m a sucker for taking pictures of statues, and god knows there were enough of them on this day. Lots of Native Americans, wilderness dudes, cowboys, and so on. But this one of the spouting seal and child was the one that tickled my fancy the most.
Denver, there for Worldcon, fifteen years ago in August, somewhere near the capitol building and US Mint.
Filed under Photography, Travel
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 