UPDATE 2: 4×5 Ortho film. It took a long time to get these, but they are film shots mid day in the hot sun. Tray developed by hand, scanned and edited on the computer. Enjoy.
UPDATE: Check out the new black and white film shots. They are near the end of the gallery on this post. Oh how I miss film.
Well, the blog is long overdue for an update. Here we are in January… a new year!
A lot has happened since the last update. If you read the title, I was in Las Vegas several times. I also spent most of November and the early part of December in the Twin cities helping my friend hang Christmas lights for his business. While I was down there my laptop got stolen out of his house. I lost some photos, some music, some money, and most of all some of my personal files. I haven’t heard anything on the recovery of it, and I doubt that I will see it again. The latter part of December I spent saving up for and purchasing a new computer and getting what I had backed up in order again. You don’t realize how much you have lost until it is gone. Make sure you make a backup. There weren’t any travels out of the state until late January…. right where we are now.
Las Vegas multiple times. I am not a huge fan of the city itself, so I am glad that we got to head out as well.
August Vegas – The Strip and Freemont Street Experience. Since I was in Vegas I had to see the Vegas sights. We walked the Strip, saw the casinos, and saw the Bellagio fountain. We also went to “old Vegas” and saw the Freemont Street Experience.
September Vegas – Mount Charleston. About an hour west of Las Vegas is Mount Charleston. We drove up the hill to about 7500 feet. The view was great, and the weather was nice (for someone coming from Minnesota.) There were pine trees and even a ski hill that gets used during the winter. On the way down, there was an amazing sunset.
January Vegas – Pinball Hall of Fame and Valley of Fire. The Pinball Hall of Fame is a great place to visit if you like pinball. There are games that were built starting in the 50s and games from today. Games start at a quarter and go up to $1.00 per game. You could spend a few hours there. The Valley of Fire State Park is about 50 miles northeast of Vegas. Looking at the photos below gives you an idea of what was there. Nice place to visit.
The Boundary Waters is a special place. I haven’t taken a trip up there in five years and it was well overdue. Though not as gung-ho as previous trips, this one provided some much needed rest and relaxation. Now, some people may think that carrying a canoe and everything you brought through a wilderness area is a lot of work, but it is worth it. Nick, Preston, Gene (Preston’s Dad) and I went up for a five night trip. We had a Missing Link Lake entry up the Gunflint Trail. Since we had such a late start the first day we decided to stay on Missing Link Lake. The next morning we packed it up and portaged to Tuscarora Lake. Tuscarora is a larger lake, and with storms and stiff winds in the forecast we opted for a campsite on the south side of the lake in a well protected area. Normally this campsite would be bug infested and wet, but because it was early September it was perfect. We stayed at this campsite the remainder of the trip.
When I mean rest and relaxation, I mean it. Our days consisted of reading, napping, eating, conversation, fishing and cutting wood for the fire. Simple right? Reading was the thing that enjoyed the most about it. It was quiet and free of distractions, and when the sun came out it was even better. We got our share of rain, wind and cold weather, but it was a great trip.
When we had to head home, we packed all of out gear, returned the canoe to the camp and drove home. All of us wanted to stay for a least a couple of more days, but the “real world” required us back. Enjoy the photos. Hope you plan a trip soon, you won’t regret it.
Martin, South Dakota. Sounds like a great place to go on vacation right? Well, it wasn’t vacation. I was asked by my home church to chaperone a youth trip to Martin for a Youthworks program. We left from church in Crystal, MN (a suburb of Minneapolis) Sunday morning and made a b-line for Martin. We arrived that evening and started the program. Our particular program consisted of three parts. The first part was a program for the youth that the Youthworks staff provided. Part two was service projects. We painted houses in the community in cooperation with an Indian community organization or painted a mural with residents in the city. The third part was to help facilitate afternoon activities for the children of the community and visit the nursing home. If you have any questions about it, please feel free to ask.
On the way home we stopped at Wind Cave National Park. We toured the cave after arriving late for our scheduled time. After the park we started driving back home. We arrived back at almost four in the morning. Great trip!
Amsterdam again? I think so. I took a three day mini vacation to Amsterdam over my birthday weekend this year. It was a great time of the year to go, and my sister is currently living there. I was down in the Twin Cities and left from the Minneapolis airport on Thursday the 19th and arrived in Amsterdam on Friday morning. I got upgraded to business class on the Airbus 330 that I rode. This was my first experience riding up front and I completely enjoyed it! When you walk into the cabin they ask you if you would like champagne, orange juice, beer, or any other beverage. What!? The meal was also phenomenal. Appetizers, a wonderful soup and salad, and a filling main dish. To top it all of, they had a variety of deserts including ice cream sundaes. Yum. In addition to the food, we got seats that leaned way back and foot rests that came up. What a great ride. I didn’t sleep a wink the whole eight hour ride, but the seat was nice.
I arrived in Amsterdam, got off the plane, walked to baggage claim, and found my box of Diet Dr. Pepper and Reese Cups my mom packed for my sister was not there. I then proceeded to feel sick to my stomach. Air travel + no sleep = sick Isaac. Luckily I know how to get over it pretty quick. Anywho, after waiting for twenty minutes to get some train tickets, I too the train to Amsterdam Centraal. I was supposed to meet my sister at a nearby hotel, but my plane was late, my box didn’t arrive, and it took me a long time to get a train ticket. She wasn’t there, but I was able to track down where the hostel was and met her there. Then I took a four hour nap. The rest of Friday was relaxing and meeting the people that my sister works with.
Saturday morning started with breakfast, the market, and World Press Photo 10 (http://www.worldpressphoto.org/), which is a compilation of the best press photography from the past year. Great stuff. After the World Press Photo exhibit my sister and I went to the Amsterdam Historical Museum. We didn’t make it very far, but what we did see was well displayed and interesting to see. After the Historical museum, my sister had to go to work and I got to hang out with some of her co-workers. We rode our bikes around town and enjoyed the day. Later that night me attempted to make some smores for the people that weren’t from the US. I did say attempted because they do not have the same kinds of food that we are used to. It turned out pretty good though.
Sunday was also a busy day. We started with church in the morning. This church was very small and was in both English and Dutch at the same time. I was tired after trying to listen to both. After church and lunch, I left with my sister’s co-workers for Muiderslot castle and gardens. It was abotu an hour bike ride outside of Amsterdam Centraal where I was staying. I couldn’t have picked a nicer day to be out and about. There were some nice sights on the ride there and the castle itself was had a very interactive display. In the gardens area there were two men suiting up with full armor and demonstrating techniques. I didn’t understand much of it because it was all in Dutch. We rode back into the city and celebrated my birthday with a large group of people. I was told we had the best apple tart in Amsterdam (someone please give me the name of the place.) There was some more late night hanging out and then it was to bed. Enjoy Jochen riding the ramp Amsterdam style!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW_pjesy4wc[/youtube]
Monday morning came quick. A little too quick. I woke up late! I wanted to pick up some items to bring back with me so I was going to wake up early and go to the store. I wasn’t able to do that anymore. I made it to the train station, back to the airport, and to the gate just in time. I again got business class, which was so great! I don’t think I could travel in coach anymore after that. Seriously…. I arrived home ready for bed. Great trip. I think that I will do it again soon. Check out the photos below. There are thirty of them so make sure that you hit that little 2 below the photos.
Well, a few and far between it seems. Not a whole lot of flying for fun these days it seems. Winter got the best of me this year.
I got the opportunity to go to Atlanta, GA for almost a week to do some training. Andy from work and I had training during the day and time to go out and play at night…. the only problem was that we were tired the whole time. The training part was interesting because we got to sit in simulators and in actual airplanes that I would never see at home. While down there we saw
Delta Hanger 1 which is the history museum of Delta. Interesting. We attended an Atlanta Braves game. It was ok. Saw downtown Atlanta and Olympic Park. The park was nice.
Not a whole lot to talk about. See the photos below the next part.
I went down to the cities and flew in my friend Preston’s plane with Liz down to Winona, MN to spend some time at a cabin. The sky was turbulent on the way down there. The flight only lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes, but it seemed like an eternity from the back of that Cessna 172. I am glad that I provided some puke bags thats for sure. On the way back we had some phenomenal scenery. We rode on the front of the storm system and took in the views that you see below. It was much better sitting in the front seat. Enjoy!
