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Massey Monday: Splash

So, there's only one picture this Monday and neither Beth nor I took it. Let me take a moment give you the background. We (i.e., the family) were out for a hike somewhere near Leadville, CO. The trail winded around a beautiful mountain lake and up the side of a mountain. Of course, the Masalicous was running up, down, and all around the trail. We hiked around the lake and up half of the mountain. On our way down, we decided to complete the hike around the other side of the trail. Massey, of course, has already gotten wet in some of the shallow parts of the lake, so she must know how cold the water is. And, then it happened. We were on a single track trail and a bird (probably a duck) flew over and she was off. . . determined to catch it. Unfortunately, for us, we lost sight of her in the tall grass. The bird, however, remained in plain sight. I think we all kind of had the same thought. . . that bird is headed for the middle of the lake. We could see the bird clear the grasses on the shore and then we heard it: SPLASH! I can only image the sight of a little brittany spaniel chasing a bird through some tall grass and leaping into the cold water in a last ditch effort catch the bird. The picture was taken by my Mom (Marie) when Massey decided to come back and let us know she hadn't caught the bird but that she had given it her all.

Happy Monday from Colorado!

Thirsty Thursday: View from the Top

Rambler: Terry Drink at Hand: Green Tea (I've had a headache for the last couple of days)

Year of the Shots: 2004

Camera of the Day: Canon EOS Rebel 300D (their first real DSLR)

Getting to the place where these pictures were taken is a story for another day and another post. But seven years ago this weekend, we were on top of Mt. Fuji, Japan. And the view (seemingly in the clouds) was simply spectacular. I think this was the first time I've ever heard cheering when the sun rises out of the clouds. Amazing.

Thirsty Thursday: Hachioji Matsuri

Rambler: Beth Drink at Hand: Horizons Organic Chocolate Milk (love it after a bike ride!)

Another Thirsty Thursday here again...time to pour something yummy and make those weekend plans. This week we jump across Pacific to share a little Japanese festival fun!

Our West Coast readers have probably noticed a few signs or community advertisements for festivals in the nearby Japanese communities here in the US, so we decided to share our experience at the real deal in Japan. Summer time in Japan is full of festivals, and you can find a matsuri, or local festival, in small towns around Japan nearly every weekend during July and August. Just a few train stops from where we lived in Japan is a town called Hachioji. We usually went to Hachioji to hit up our favorite ramen and gyoza shop, but in late July they hosted the Hachioji Matsuri.

Early in the day, teams carry small shrines called mikoshi through the streets.

Then hundreds of women clad in kimonos and yukatas line up to do a tradition folk dance. Its more like a choreographed parade than a dance, but its beautiful to watch.  

 

 

There are old women...

And young girls...

 

And lots of paper lanterns...

Hope you have a great weekend!

Thirsty Thursday: Exploring Pinnacles

Rambler: Beth Drink at Hand: Ventana Rubystone

Hey Welliver Photography fans, its Thirsty Thursday once again...time to pour something yummy and make the weekend plans.

With the central California summer coastal fog in full effect, we decided to go inland to shoot the sunset last weekend. We picked Pinnacles National Monument. We'd been there once before, but this was essentially an exploring mission to get a better feel for the layout of the park and find some good photo vantage points. Pinnacles is a really underrated and rarely explored. Its amazing how many conversations I have with folks who live right here in the Salinas Valley who've never ventured down there. It seems to be a place visited mainly by rock climbers and the condors who nest there.

Unfortunately we had a completely cloudless and uninteresting sky last weekend, so we had to find something to shoot other than the landscape. And of course, if Terry's on an "exploring mission" he takes the exploring to the extreme. This almost always means that my subject becomes Terry putting himself in crazy places. He was in fine form last Saturday, scaling rock faces and doing a little bouldering.

If you would like to visit Pinnacles, head toward Soledad, CA, then follow the signs to the hills to the east. The final approach to the park is winding and hilly, so be patient. This area gets super hot in the summer time and there aren't services in the park (at least not at the west entrance that we visit), so be sure to bring lots of water with you...or wait until fall! The secluded nature of the park make it great for night sky shooting, but make sure you arrive before 8 pm, as a gate closes to entry after 8 (you can still get out though). There are hikes in the parking ranging from 1 hour to upwards of 5 hours if you like to the other side. Many visitors bring a flashlight and head for the caves that are open for exploring after a short hike.

Should be a great weekend so get out there and enjoy it!

Thirsty Thursday: Soccer Fever

Rambler: Beth & Terry Drink at Hand: Ventana Rubystone

Thirsty Thursday are usually a little post where we come up with a suggestion for weekend activities. This week we're not making a suggestion. We're telling you. . . if you are American, you must watch the US Women's National Soccer Team as they play for the World Cup title on Sunday. Even if you aren't American, you should still watch. USA vs Japan. . . only few people could have predicted these two teams in the 2011 World Cup Finals. We will be rooting for the good old USA, but we are also so happy to see the Japanese team in the finals after everything that has happened this year. Most of you probably know that we were both soccer players at one point in time. And, at some point, we considered ourselves decent players. Our experiences playing the beautiful game pretty much ended with college. However, we were both quite lucky to play for our military national teams. Terry played with the team in 2005 in Victoria, Canada and I played in 2004 in Virginia and in 2006 in the Netherlands. We can only imagine what it must be like for the USA women. The games this year have been awesome—watching the upsets, feeling the joy, and feeling the pain. The final has the makings of a great match. Best of luck to both teams, we hope the match is as well played as the others we've seen. But make no mistake, this household is all USA. Go USA!

Thirsty Thursday: Swamp Things

Rambler: Beth Drink at Hand: North Coast Brewing Co. Pranqster Belgian Style Golden Ale

Thirsty Thursday snuck up on us this week, and what's worse, due to crazy long bike rides, a weekend bbq/party, and general busyness, we've hardly gotten out to take photos recently. Eeeek! So I had to go back in the archives today to find something to talk about this Thursday.

Over the weekend I was hanging out with a lot of my old cycling friends. We had a few discussions about my preparation for the upcoming Leadville 100 in a little over a month, and inevitably comparisons were made to training last year in flat, humid, swampy Lousyana versus this year's training in the coastal mountains of California. These discussions made me think back to those icky rides on the otherwise incredibly fun singletrack loops around Shreveport, LA. Places like Bodcau Bayou and the Monkey Trail were very well maintained and super fun to ride, but came with unique "environmental enhancements" like snakes (on the ground and in trees), gators, spiders, thick spider webs, mutant mosquitoes, and fire ants to help keep the heart rate higher than the target training zone. Throw in some poison oak for good measure, too. It was the only place I've ever been in which I swore nature hated me.

However, if you slathered on enough DEET and looked at the swamps right, there was some beauty to be found. Or at least something unique to photograph. Here are a few examples.

The lines on the trees in the photo below are high water marks. There was a major flood in this area a few months before I took this photo. Closed the mountain bike trails there, too.

This sign was in the campground where I stayed on Barksdale AFB after I sold and moved out of our house. There were gators there. The totally awesome white trash camper I stayed in for a week was about 100 yards from this sign. Massey was on a short leash during our stay.

And this little bayou was behind the above sign. I took this photo from a road that I frequented on my road bike and saw gators lurking in the water on several occasions. Luckily I always saw them in the water in this particular spot.

There were always guys out in bass boats at Bodcau Bayou fishing away when I was there, but I thought this guy took it to a new level. He's actually standing in that dark, scary, icky water. I don't even know how he got himself to this point out in the muck, but he must have very large huevos. Or he's just plain ol' southern crazy.

I'll spare our readers from the assortment of crazy spider and snake photos I have in the archives. Instead, I'll leave you with some pretty flowers. Ironically, for as unpleasant as much of Lousyana was, a surprising number of wildflowers bloomed throughout the spring and summer. The splash of color along the roads always brightened my day.

It took me most of the year and a half that I was in Lousyana to appreciate the landscape there, but I'm glad I got to experience it. It just goes to show that no matter where you are, there is so much beauty in the natural world around us. Get out there this weekend and enjoy it!

 

Massey Monday: Kisses

I feel like Massey Monday was getting a little heavy on the "sleeping" and "running" versions of Massey. Today I give you a little glimpse of what she's like when Terry comes home from work each afternoon. Its like she hasn't seen him for years. One of these days her little tail is going to waggle right off, but at least Terry gets a good face washing after a long day at work.

Thirsty Thursday: Holiday Weekend

Rambler: Beth Drink at Hand: 2006 Hahn Family Wines Cycles Falcon Zinfandel (Click to see the super cool label on this bottle)

Time for another Thirsty Thursday where we pour something yummy and make our weekend plans. With the holiday weekend ahead of us, this week's installment highlights a few patriotic scenes from Washington, DC a few years ago. I haven't spent a lot of time in DC, but being there over the 4th of July was pretty cool.

And what's the 4th of July without fireworks?! I leave you with an awesome photo that Terry took in Japan, complete with the coolest plane in the Air Force, the A-10.

Enjoy your 4th of July weekend!