Jin and Seri are sisters, 2 of a litter of 3, born 21 months ago at the San Diego Zoo. Their brother is now living in Florida. Click here to see some shots of the 3 of them playing together on March 21st of 2009 .
Click here to see more from today.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Happy Chinese New Year
Today marks the start of the Year of the Tiger, so I thought it only too appropriate to go to the San Diego Zoo to see if I could get a few shots of the Malayan tigers. I spent about an hour at Tiger River, watching Jin and Seri chase some food, chase each other, and generally just lounge around acting like any other cat (any other cat that weighs close to 200 lbs that is).
Jin and Seri are sisters, 2 of a litter of 3, born 21 months ago at the San Diego Zoo. Their brother is now living in Florida. Click here to see some shots of the 3 of them playing together on March 21st of 2009 .
Click here to see more from today.
Jin and Seri are sisters, 2 of a litter of 3, born 21 months ago at the San Diego Zoo. Their brother is now living in Florida. Click here to see some shots of the 3 of them playing together on March 21st of 2009 .
Click here to see more from today.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve
Heather and I decided to take the scenic route home after the Group Shoot lunch today, in this case that meant Rancho Sante Fe Road to San Elijo Road to Elfin Forest and eventually Harmony Grove Road. Lots to see along that route, including the Elfin Forest Recreational Reserve, which is a rather large complex of hiking trails up to and around the Olivenhain Dam & Reservoir. I knew the reservoir was there, but had never figured out how to get up there. The trail starts at an interpretive center just off of Harmony Grove Road, at 492' elevation. We went about 1.5 miles up to a picnic area overlooking the reservoir at 1,140'.
On the way back down we came to a sign that showed 0.4 mile back to the start if we went the way we came up, or 0.6 mile if we took an alternate trail.
It was not a tough decision to decide on the alternate, since it would be new. Then we saw this sign, just a few yards down the trail.
This is Southern California, it's basically a desert, how hard could the "unimproved creek crossing" be? After about 0.5 mile, almost all down a pretty steep hill, we found out. Maybe if Heather and I didn't both have such short legs we could have made it across the last group of rocks, but we could tell it would not have ended well.
So, back up the hill to the junction, and back down the way we came.
Click here to see more from our little (and a mile longer than we expected) hike this afternoon.
On the way back down we came to a sign that showed 0.4 mile back to the start if we went the way we came up, or 0.6 mile if we took an alternate trail.
It was not a tough decision to decide on the alternate, since it would be new. Then we saw this sign, just a few yards down the trail.
This is Southern California, it's basically a desert, how hard could the "unimproved creek crossing" be? After about 0.5 mile, almost all down a pretty steep hill, we found out. Maybe if Heather and I didn't both have such short legs we could have made it across the last group of rocks, but we could tell it would not have ended well.
So, back up the hill to the junction, and back down the way we came.
Click here to see more from our little (and a mile longer than we expected) hike this afternoon.
Leo Carrillo Ranch - Carlsbad, CA - SD-DSLR February Group Shoot
Heather and I joined the San Diego DSLR Photo Group for its monthly Group Shoot at the Leo Carrillo Ranch Historic Park in Carlsbad this morning. The weather was perfect for wandering around this 27-acre complex of buildings that were constructed between 1937 and 1940 by the actor and conservationist Leo Carrillo. The ranch was the site of an 1880 adode.
One of the more interesting things at the ranch is the large collection of peafowl that roam the property. There is even an all-white one that really seems to like attention from people.
There is quite a bit to see here, this is certainly someplace we'll go back to again.
Click here to see more images from today.
Click here to see the SD-DSLR Group Shoot gallery with shots from all of the photographers who attended.
One of the more interesting things at the ranch is the large collection of peafowl that roam the property. There is even an all-white one that really seems to like attention from people.
There is quite a bit to see here, this is certainly someplace we'll go back to again.
Click here to see more images from today.
Click here to see the SD-DSLR Group Shoot gallery with shots from all of the photographers who attended.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Desert Road Trip - Day 6 - Still Taking the Long Way Home
I spent Thursday night in 29 Palms, then on Friday morning I met up with my friend Mitch at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, in Morongo Valley, for a hike and some photos. Before leaving 29 Palms I got some shots of the murals, which are the other thing that the town is known for (the first being the Marine Corps base). Many of the buildings are painted with elaborate murals depicting the history and nature of the area.
Heading west from 29 Palms on Hwy 62 I had a great view of the snow covered San Bernardino Mountains. (And, just in case anyone was wondering, I was actually on the phone with Jodi and Bruce, working, when I shot this picture. So, I wasn't totally goofing off on Friday.)
Parked next to Mitch's Xterra at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. Note the matching yellow skid plates.
Part of the Preserve has an accessible walkway, other parts are hiking and horse trails.
Much of the Preserve was burned in a fire in June of 2005, but the trails have all been restored, and the vegetation is coming back (slowly).
From Morongo Valley we headed for Indio via Dillon Road. We wandered for a bit around Sky Valley, and drove by the sites of the 2 cabins that my father had out there when I was young. We spent many summers in those little cabins. It was hot. After lunch with Mitch I took Hwy 74, the Palms to Pines Highway, up over the mountains and eventually to Hwy 79, then followed that to Santa Ysabel. If you look closely you can see the roadway winding its way up from Palm Desert below.
I made one last stop at the Julian Pie Company's main bakery in Santa Ysabel, then took the old Julian Hwy (the predecessor to, and a lot more windy and narrow than, Hwy 78) towards Ramona and home at 6:00PM.
Click here to see more pictures from the road.
(Note that the link in this post and the 2 previous ones from the road all take you to the same SmugMug gallery, which has images from Sunday 1/31, Thursday 2/4 and Friday 2/5. The pictures are in the gallery in the order taken.)
Heading west from 29 Palms on Hwy 62 I had a great view of the snow covered San Bernardino Mountains. (And, just in case anyone was wondering, I was actually on the phone with Jodi and Bruce, working, when I shot this picture. So, I wasn't totally goofing off on Friday.)
Parked next to Mitch's Xterra at the Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. Note the matching yellow skid plates.
Part of the Preserve has an accessible walkway, other parts are hiking and horse trails.
Much of the Preserve was burned in a fire in June of 2005, but the trails have all been restored, and the vegetation is coming back (slowly).
From Morongo Valley we headed for Indio via Dillon Road. We wandered for a bit around Sky Valley, and drove by the sites of the 2 cabins that my father had out there when I was young. We spent many summers in those little cabins. It was hot. After lunch with Mitch I took Hwy 74, the Palms to Pines Highway, up over the mountains and eventually to Hwy 79, then followed that to Santa Ysabel. If you look closely you can see the roadway winding its way up from Palm Desert below.
I made one last stop at the Julian Pie Company's main bakery in Santa Ysabel, then took the old Julian Hwy (the predecessor to, and a lot more windy and narrow than, Hwy 78) towards Ramona and home at 6:00PM.
Click here to see more pictures from the road.
(Note that the link in this post and the 2 previous ones from the road all take you to the same SmugMug gallery, which has images from Sunday 1/31, Thursday 2/4 and Friday 2/5. The pictures are in the gallery in the order taken.)
Desert Road Trip - Day 5 - Taking the Long Way Home
We finished up the conference in Las Vegas on Wednesday night, and I started for home on Thursday morning. The plan was to take at least 2 days, and avoid the Interstate highways completely. (I live just east of I-15, so all I really had to do was get on the freeway and drive for 320 miles, but that sounded boring.) When I left Las Vegas I had a rough idea of where I would spend Thursday night (29 Palms or Joshua Tree), but since I had the Xterra packed with the usual 3-day supply of provisions and gear, it really didn't matter where I wound up.
I followed surface streets across the southern portion of the city until I hit US 95, and followed that south through Searchlight until I hit Goffs Road, a little 2-lane road that was once part of old US Route 66.
There is a dry lakebed just south of Las Vegas on US 95. It's not so dry right now.
Old US Route 66 followed the rail line for much of its way. Not long after I turned on to Goffs Road this freight train came rolling by.
Other than the town of Goffs (pop. 23) there is not much on Goffs Road these days.
A few minutes later another train came by.
There looks to be a nice little museum in Goffs, but it was closed.
From Goffs I continued west on Old Route 66 until I got to Amboy, where I turned south towards 29 Palms.
This was the view looking north once I got to the bottom of the hill in the shot above.
Bristol Dry Lake straddles the road south from Amboy. It had rained recently and the shoulder looked really soft, so I didn't stop for a picture. There is a large salt evaporation complex here.
I drove up into Joshua Tree National Park just as the sun was setting. It was pretty cold at the Indian Cove campground, so I decided I would be much more comfortable camped at the Fairfield Suites in 29 Palms.
Click here for more images from the road.
I followed surface streets across the southern portion of the city until I hit US 95, and followed that south through Searchlight until I hit Goffs Road, a little 2-lane road that was once part of old US Route 66.
There is a dry lakebed just south of Las Vegas on US 95. It's not so dry right now.
Old US Route 66 followed the rail line for much of its way. Not long after I turned on to Goffs Road this freight train came rolling by.
Other than the town of Goffs (pop. 23) there is not much on Goffs Road these days.
A few minutes later another train came by.
There looks to be a nice little museum in Goffs, but it was closed.
From Goffs I continued west on Old Route 66 until I got to Amboy, where I turned south towards 29 Palms.
This was the view looking north once I got to the bottom of the hill in the shot above.
Bristol Dry Lake straddles the road south from Amboy. It had rained recently and the shoulder looked really soft, so I didn't stop for a picture. There is a large salt evaporation complex here.
I drove up into Joshua Tree National Park just as the sun was setting. It was pretty cold at the Indian Cove campground, so I decided I would be much more comfortable camped at the Fairfield Suites in 29 Palms.
Click here for more images from the road.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Las Vegas - City Center
The new City Center complex in Las Vegas is now open. It's an amazing place, but then I guess it should be, since it cost $8.5 billion to build it. We checked out the new Aria Hotel (4,004 rooms), the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and the Crystals shopping mall. The Veer Towers (the 2 residential towers, the gold colored ones in the pic below), are built so that each appears to be leaning 5 degrees off vertical, in opposing directions.
The lobby of the Mandarin Oriental is on the 23rd floor of the 47-floor tower. Here's what you see when you step off the elevator.
We had dinner at American Fish, one of the 16 restaurants in the Aria Hotel.
The whole complex is one big collection of art.
Crystals, the retail center, was huge. The fisheye lens seemed quite appropriate here.
After wandering around the City Center, I can see why MGM/Mirage says it costs $3 million a day in expenses to run the place.
Click here to see more images from the Las Vegas City Center.
The lobby of the Mandarin Oriental is on the 23rd floor of the 47-floor tower. Here's what you see when you step off the elevator.
We had dinner at American Fish, one of the 16 restaurants in the Aria Hotel.
The whole complex is one big collection of art.
Crystals, the retail center, was huge. The fisheye lens seemed quite appropriate here.
After wandering around the City Center, I can see why MGM/Mirage says it costs $3 million a day in expenses to run the place.
Click here to see more images from the Las Vegas City Center.
Las Vegas - Jan 31-Feb 3
(For those who pay attention to details, and who might be reading these blog posts in chronological order, yes, the shot above could not have been taken on my arrival in Las Vegas. In fact, I snapped it on my way out of town, and had to make 2 u-turns to get into the parking lot by the sign, since I was on the phone (working) when I spotted it in my rearview mirror. That big gold building in the background is the Mandalay Bay.)
The view from my room was not bad (and everything in Las Vegas really does look better after the sun goes down).
Before the conference started John and I went over the to Siena Deli for lunch on Monday to listen to my old family friend Joe Vento play the accordion. To learn more about Joe you can check out his website by clicking here. The food and selection of Italian specialty items at the Siena Deli is great.
John took this picture of me in the Shark Reef aquarium at the Mandalay Bay. The fisheye lens just seemed so appropriate here.
We also went over to see the new City Center Complex, which just opened. I'll put that into a separate post.
Click here to see more pictures from my stay in Las Vegas.
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About Me
- Frank B. Baiamonte
- San Diego, California, United States
- About me . . . When I'm not working I like to be out exploring and photographing. I do this blog just for fun, and to be able to share these images with friends. I hope you enjoy viewing these images as much as I enjoyed creating them.
