The View From Above

When I saw this scene from the air, it took me a while to believe what I was seeing. After taking the picture, bringing it home and comparing it to what I saw on Google Earth, I was sure of what I saw. On the flight back from LA, via Kansas City, we passed right over Lake Mead, and if you look closely near the center of the picture, that's Hoover Dam, the same site I brought you after my trip to Las Vegas back in June. What are the chances we'd fly right over this? I only wish the picture could be better. What you see above is after I spent half an hour in Photoshop cleaning and tinting, and as you can see, it still looks pretty poor.

Flying Rocks From Outer Space

Hooray, I'm back from LA! What a hectic two days. The best part of the trip turned out not to be the time I spent on the ground, but the time I spent in the air. It's a beautiful country from seven miles in the air. The most amazing thing I saw was totally unexpected. I was sure I would see mountains and valleys, rivers, streams and canyons, but I had not expected to see a meteor crater. But that's exactly what it was. That's the Barringer Meteor Crater, located just off I-40 near Flagstaff, Arizona. I spotted it just before the pilot came on the intercom to mention it. He mentioned the 50,000 year old crater, and noted that it had barely missed the neighboring I-40. Ha, that's funny stuff. Anyhow, it's not the best picture in the world, since I shot it through three levels of plastic in the airplane window. (Would it hurt them to clean those windows once in a while? Honestly...) Stay tuned for more shots from Air Ernie!

It's A Plane!

Hey, hey, I'm in LA. This photo brought to you by Southwest.com!

Goin' Back To Cali

Tomorrow morning I have to get up at 3 am to catch a flight to Los Angeles, California. Yep, I'm headed for the City of Angels. I'll be there for 24 hours and 15 minutes. It's a business trip, and that's all the time I could get. I don't know if I'm going to be able to squeeze in any picture taking, but I hope so. I went to California three years ago for a wedding in Berkeley, which I turned into a sort of mini-vacation. That's when I spent most of a day driving through the Marin Headlands, and where I got the shot of the Golden Gate above. I still have friends in the area, and I hope to get back someday. Looking at the pictures I took back then, I wonder what I could do now, with more experience and a better camera. Someday...

November Marches On

The page for this week is a rather nervous-looking box turtle. I found this guy at Joan Durant Park on Longboat Key here in Florida. He was minding his own business until I grabbed him and took his picture for about 10 minutes, which I'm sure just ruined his day. I saw something on TV the other day about how to tell male and female box turtles apart, but I don't remember the way it went. Something about the color of their eyes...

1 x 10^5

Well, I finally made it. I got my 100,000th hit today. It's taken about a year and a half, with a full 40,000 of them coming during last December's Share-a-thon. Thanks to everybody who has helped me get here, and here's to 1,000,000 more!