Just finished processing a bunch more pictures. They’re big, but.. get over it.

Rather than fighting with the uploader, I’ll just throw some links at ya.  Enjoy!

some odd sandstone formation in far western Kansas

Depth Of Field with moss

Walla Walla Gwapevines

Poor image quality, but a neat sight.

I’ll call it a banana flower. Dunno what it really is.

I really like this one. SF Botanical Gardens

Foxglove. This stuff is seriously poisonous.

Right on the side of US 50. I think I was going about 70mph at the time.

This appears elsewhere on the blog, but I like it anyway.

Don’t know why I like this one, but I find it striking. Capitol Reef.

Hello there!

What do you call that? A Duolith?

Looks like a flower that some kid would give a date in The Far Side.

Far Side Cropped.

warped crust at Capitol Reef. It’s an ancient Rift Valley. Ergo…

Utah. My car runs poorly at that altitude. That’s colorado on the horizon.

I walked up from that road at the bottom. It’s far.

belongs on the wall of Rock Bottom

Took a little trip last week — added some new photos too.  I got 2 new cameras — a digital and a film one.  The film is off getting developed, but the keepers of the digital camera are here.

Enjoy!

Well, I really slacked off the last few days of the trip.  Once you decide  you’re done and heading home, it’s kinda hard to think of much else.

I have LOTS and LOTS of photos to post.  I just want to sift through them and do some cleanup on them (cropping, color manipulation etc) and I’m a little busy right now catching up on things like mail.

Thanks all you guys who’ve emailed/IMed/facebooked – it’s been a blast.

-kev

Ya know, I know it’s the right thing to do to usually let people go in front of you. It’s a random act of kindness, etc.

But twice today, I’ve let people go in front of me who were REALLY slow. I mean, fine. But ugh!

Just sharing. I have my coffee now; things will improve.

Off to the Air Combat Museum. I’m closin’ that bitch.

Today, I climbed Mt. Sunflower, the highest spot in Kansas.   I decided that the challenge wouldn’t be the same if I used Oxygen bottles, so I went without.

I crossed the Great Basin yesterday.  It’s pretty cool.  Basically, that’s all of Nevada, far western Utah, and a few bits of Idaho.

The “loneliest road in America”, US 50, goes through there.  It was pretty quiet, and drop-dead gorgeous.  Here are a few of the things I saw en route:

Drove through Capitol Reef National Park today.  Neat stuff.  Did a pretty hard hike, too.

Photos:

It’s been a delightful break in the road trip. I’ve stayed in the same bed for 3 nights in a row, and more importantly, it was at a family reunion.  I got to see all 9 of my cousins on my Dad’s side, 5 aunts & uncles, and 12 kids.

So, I’m not a tremendous soccer fan, but we played this 2-hour-plus soccer match yesterday.  Man, that was fun.  The players ranged from 4 to 76 or so, and everyone had a great time.  No significant injuries (a little sunburn and maybe a bruise or two), 3 goals, and lots and lots of fun.  I have no foot accuracy, but I think I might have a future as a defenseman.  Maybe I should go hang out at the neighborhood soccer pitch sometime.   Sadly, there’s no video of this, but my oldest cousin Mike and I were trying for the ball at one point and had this fantastic synchronized fall.  Of course, I didn’t really see it, but it was apparently good.  It was the talk of the evening.

A few hours later, I’m sitting by the pool and one of those 6-pack abs (they’re carefully protected by a 12-pack of budweiser) cramped on me.  Man, that hurts!   Anyway, all good.  Fat tire helps.

My uncle Neal has apparently successfully tracked my family’s ancestry back to some guy named N. RÜSCH in the early 1500’s in Switzerland.  Kinda neat.

Next stop: Reno.

I’ve been remiss on posting the last few days – other than Mount St. Helens and the good times in Walla Walla (I dig that town!) there’s not been much to report. I’ve been fighting my way southward on I-5. Oregon really didn’t show me her best — it was dreary and cool (it’s July, dammit!) and the road is in awful shape. Plus, for all their presumed awesomeness, Oregonians aren’t very good drivers. They love to hang out in the left lane and go about 3 mph under the speed limit. By the time I got to CA, I could just assume a Prius doting along in the left lane would have Oregon plates. They didn’t let me down.
And another thing — truckers, don’t you guys drive that road all the time? There’s big hills. Get used to it. And really, passing a truck that’s going 45 by going 47 around him uphill isn’t going to make you many friends. Especially when I have to read your annoying pro-life banners for 2 miles while you chug your way up that mountain. Whatever junk is in that trailer, I ain’t buyin’ it.

I will say – I am delighted beyond description that Starbucks has given up trying to charge for wifi. It makes it much easier to plan my day. Since I am usually making lodging arrangements online, usually that day, it’s great to be able to stop in somewhere, get my buzz on, pee, and book a room at the same time.

*hic* the gracious wine people in Walla Walla are cool. It’s a remarkably small community – much more tightly-knit than the one in VA.

Here are a few photos I took. There’s a huge wind farm just to the south of town.

[caption id="attachment_90" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Another shot of vines. it\'s pretty there."][/caption]