Vancouver from Granville Island

Wow, it's been a long, long, long time since I've posted anything. Nearly exactly a year since my last post. In any case, last year, we went to visit Martha's brother in Vancouver and coincidentally, it was one year minus 1 day that we went again. This time, I took a picture of what I suppose is southern Vancouver from Granville Island.

Deserted Marina

Went out a bit today to enjoy the light snow we got. The Kirkland Marina was surprisingly deserted.

Kirkland Marina

Getting snowballed by Martha

Vancouver Kite Surfing

Went to visit Martha's brother Roberto that lives in Vancouver. After visiting her brother in UBC, we stopped at a beach to walk around and got this view of water kite surfers (is that what it's called?) and downtown in the background.

Kite surfers in the Burrard Inlet.

Waterside

Went for a walk at Discovery Park with Martha. It's been maybe a year since I was last there, so it was nice to visit again.

Balboa Park

We spent most of the day at Balboa Park walking around. Enjoyed the Botanical Garden and the Air and Space Museum.

San Diego Red Bull Air Race

The main purpose of our trip was to go to the Red Bull Air Race. It was incredibly fun watching the planes fly at low altitues at 200+ mph.

Joshua Tree National Park

There were so many cool pictures that I didn't know which one to choose. Instead, have a look through this viewer, or go directly to my Picasa Web Album.

Floaters

Bunched up water floaters. Not sure what they are really called, but they are used to block boat access to docs and other areas.

ISO 400 | 55 mm | f/6.3 | 1/160s sec

Lenin in Seattle

A few months ago I was in the Freemont area of Seattle for the Red Bull Soap Box derby. After the derby and walking around the neighborhood, I was surprised to see this tall statue of Lenin right smack in the middle of a US city. I took a picture and forgot about it. So as Martha and I walked around Freemont today, I shot another picture. If you are wondering why and how this sculpture made it's way to Seattle, you can find out more about it in Wikipedia.

Surfs Up!

I took this series of pictures while I was in my honeymoon in Hawaii. I needed to adjust the lighting on the pictures so they would all match, but I'm tired and need to go to bed. Maybe some other day.

Jumping a wave.

The Last Sunset

Today is Ili's last day in Seattle with us. It's been fun having her here for the past several months, so we are sad to see her leave. When Ili arrived back in May, we went to the Kirkland Marina to watch the sunset. So, we thought it appropriate to go there today and enjoy the sunset with her one last time. We wish you the best in all of your travels Ili!

Sunset reflection on Lake Washington

Where am I?

This cool welcome mat is at the entrance of a neat little map store in downtown Seattle. Quite appropriate for the store.

Now I know exactly where I am...

Year of the Rat

February 7th was Chinese New Year. But part of the celebrations were done today. My beautiful wife Martha and I went to Chinatown to see as a Lion dance group went around evicting evil spirits and bringing in the New Year.

Pair of Lions dancing in front of a business

Balancing Act

Martha, Ili and I went for an afternoon walk to Kirkland before Thanksgiving dinner. This funny seagull kept trying to balance on buoy.

City Fish Market

Ah... Good old Pike's Market. I know, I know, another picture of a place I've taken several pictures of, but it's been a while since all the neon lights work. See this location in Live Maps.

ISO 500 | 26 mm | f/4.0 | 1/60 sec

Stormy

Storm clouds over the Puget Sound.

ISO 250 | 31 mm | f/4.5 | 1/13 sec

Jack-o-lantern Wannabes

A mountain of pumpkins outside a small grocery store in east Seattle.

ISO 500 | 22 mm | f/9.0 | 1/320 sec

A Proposal

Today was a very special day. On the pretext of simply a nice walk in a garden, I took my girlfriend Martha to the Japanese garden in Seattle. After walking around and taking some pictures, I proposed to her while we were enjoying the view in a small hut. After a few moments of total surprise, I was relieved and so happy when she said yes!

Neither of us are much for the big and fancy, so I thought the quiet and peaceful Japanese garden would be perfect for the occasion. While the spring flowers have long gone, the autumn colors were fantastic.

Afternoon Shadows

Chairs at the Olympic Sculpture Park in Seattle.

ISO 400 | 20 mm | f/10 | 1/400 sec

Space and Rocket Center

I spent the long Labor Day weekend in Huntsville, Alabama with my girlfriend Martha. About the only interesting thing to do in this town is visit NASA's Space and Rocket Center. It has a fairly good museum about NASA and in particular the Apollo missions. In the first picture, I'm standing bellow the thrusters of a Saturn I rocket replica.

Dwarfed by the Saturn I rocket

In this picture, Martha touches the tip of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird spy plane. See this location in Live Maps.

Touching a point of history