Vacation

A couple of years ago, we took a trip to visit Alaska. We flew to Anchorage and spent a day exploring around. The next day, we took the train to Denali National Park, where we stayed overnight before going to Fairbanks the next afternoon.

I took this picture of our Alaskan Railroad Locomotive as it pulled into Denali Station as we prepared to depart to Fairbanks. It looks like it’s raining like crazy, because it was. We were prepared for it, however, since we know that the weather in Denali is extremely variable — changes in weather occur without warning and you can expect sun, wind, rain, and clouds — all on the same day.

And we loved the train rides – we highly recommend taking the train through the Alaskan interior. As usual, click on the small image to see it full-sized.

As most people working for corporations know, there aren’t any work holidays between New Year’s Day and Memorial Day – a span of over 20 weeks. That’s when the wanderlust settles in. So to provide a visual aid for our collective wanderlust, I present you with this magnificent sky over the red rocks of Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. Click the image for a larger view.

If you read the post from last September, then you’ve seen how it looks to go from the Mainland to Avalon Heliport from inside the helicopter as it lands at the Avalon Heliport. This is the same helicopter on final approach as it arrives from the Mainland. Verna took this picture with her camera — the shutter speed is so fast that it stopped the rotor blades dead!

When Verna took this picture, we were waiting at the heliport to go back to the Mainland. Click on the image to see a larger version of the helicopter.

Stealth Air Force One? I took this photo from behind the famous aircraft on the 3rd mezzanine level of the Air Force One Pavilion in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library when I noticed the unusual reflection pattern on the glossy surface of the rudder and vertical stabilizer. I knew immediately that I had a great shot! The lighting angles and the highly-polished surface of the airfoil made this interesting optical illusion. The vertical tail looks like you can see through it!

We traveled to the San Diego area to attend the spectacular airshow at the Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar. We saw a variety of incredible aerial demonstrations including several civilian acrobatic and precision flight demonstrations. The best stuff, however, was the military demonstrations, including the Golden Knights Parachute team, the AV8 Harrier demonstration, a fly-by of the Osprey compound lift aircraft, a U.S. Marine assault demonstration and the highlight was the Navy Blue Angels.

As promised, we made the trip to Avalon on our anniversary. We stayed in the same hotel suite where we spent our wedding night. This time, we went on an excursion to seal rocks, a habitat for seals and sea lions by the east end of the island. We took an open air vessel from Avalon along the island coastline to the habitat. Later in the day, we went to the Botanical Gardens and the Wrigley Memorial. We had a very good trip this year, and enjoyed it very much.