UniBrain Trust » Jim

Project 52 Update

Jim — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 14:43:53 +0000

Did I make my goal of on picture a week? No. Did I have fun trying? Yes. Will I try again? Yes.

I published 26 shots over the 52 weeks with most of them before July. What happened in the second half of the year? There are a bunch of excuses, “I had other things to do” and “Work got in the way” are my favorites. But that doesn’t really explain it. I lost interest and got caught up in the mechanics of the website and publishing.

This year, no separate webpage and simple publishing are the rule. Let’s see how far I get this time.

For now, here are my favorites from 2011

Project 52 Update

Nadya getting back to High School

Jim — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 16:58:29 +0000

York

Jim — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:04:19 +0000

A Weekend in New York

Yellowstone – Day 8

Jim — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:04:15 +0000

We got up early in the morning so we could get back to town, have breakfast and make our flight. We had a perfect send off, Bison in the road

Yellowstone – Day 6

Jim — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 01:51:29 +0000

Today the goal was to visit Mammoth Hot Springs. Being the fifth day in the park we have come to expect bison somewhere along the drive. We found them at the Mud Volcano near the hot springs. The bison don’t seem to care about the smell or the pools of acid.

On the drive to the hot springs Nadya needed a bio-break so we stopped at Norris Geyser Basin. My notes for the day include “They can’t make this shit up.” The ground makes noise, it steams and things bubble. If I read about a place like this I’d think it was fiction.

Look close and you can see the rainbow in the steam.

How do we describe Mammoth Hot Springs?
Nadya: “It’s pretty isn’t it?”
Jim: “Yes, in an end of the world sort of way.”

The “stuff” around the hot springs are moving and growing. Look on the right and you can see the old trail. The trail was a trail less than 10 years ago and is now covered.

We stopped in Tower for our vacation ice cream and a waterfall, more bison, and then stopped by the
Mud Volcano to see it in the afternoon without the morning steam.

We eventually got back to the lodge and back to our favorite place on the porch with a tasty adult beverage. As we sipped, a herd of bison moved through. The herd walked through the driveway and around all the people waiting to check in. They didn’t seem to care we were here.

Mammal patrol: bison, various rodents, elk, ducklings

All the pictures from the day

Yellowstone – Day 3

Jim — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 01:49:57 +0000

We couldn’t stay in Yellowstone too long without seeing a Old Faithful. Wanting to avoid the crowds we headed out early to get there about 7 am. Sure enough,new were the first ones there

We had an hour to wait, which Nadya filled by finding the bathrooms and knitting and Jim filled by scouting camera angles.

A small crowd, including a bus of Japanese tourists were on hand for the 8 am eruption. A picture from later that day shows you why we are so glad we got there early

We breakfasted in the dining room at Yellowstone Inn, a nice change from the cafeterias we’d been eating in. The we headed out for the rest of the day’s adventure: a walk through geyser land!

While we’ve had this trip planned since December, we hadn’t done much research, referring to show up and see whatever was here to see. So Nadya was surprised the see that right next to Old Faithful is an area with dozens of geysers and other hydrothermal features. Jim, apparently, had paid more a bit more attention to our friends’stories.

A few geysers are fairly predictable to; see the others erupt depends on luck. We were lucky, we think.

First we headed out towards Daisy Geyser, which was predicted at 10:18, plus or minus 30 minutes. While waiting for Daisy, we were entertained by her neighbor Comet Geyser’s constant bubbles and gurgles. Right about 10:10 Daisy erupted.

We continued our walk past various features.

Jim got ahead of Nadya on a hill and suddenly called back on the radio, “I found a Wow!” A couple minutes later when Nadya got there the Wow had gotten even more Wow, as the gorgeous bubbling blue pool he’d found had started to erupt. We don’t know what the typical frequency is for Artemisia Geyser, but we had the good fortune to time our arrival for a spectacular dual jet eruption. Note to to eyeglass wearers: the steam from a geyser will fog your glasses right up.

We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon wandering through the geyser basin. The Beehive geyser erupted suddenly when we were nearby. We rushed to see its up close; suddenly the wind shifted and we were covered in “geyser guts!”

We returned to see the crowds, busses and shops at Old Faithful. Nadya said, “Old Faithful is the Graceland of the National Park
System.”

No related posts.

Yellowstone – Day 1

Jim — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:48:34 +0000

Get up at 3:30 in the morning, fly to West Yellowstone

Discover a liquor store open on Sunday. Wild Turkey seems appropriately rugged.

The clerk tipped us about lunch places and we agreed the Mexican Bus was great.

Drive into the park. See some Elk. We were excited to see a herd of bison near the road. A couple miles later, there was a herd of bison ON the road. When there are bison on the road, you stop. The park guide says if an animal reacts to your presence you are too close; apparently we were fine because these guys didn’t react!

We were early to checkin, so we hunted out some geothermal activity.

Get back to the hotel to checkin to our comfy room. Take an hour nap, then head tto the deck for a drink with a view, see some Marmots, go for a walk.

Back to the room and sleep for 11 hours.

First day impressions: This place is huge!

A full Gallery of the Day

Ping pong and Elk

Brunch on the Bridge

Jim — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:29:28 +0000

Brunch on the Bridge

Easter Brunch: Dead Simple Asparagus & Strawberry Salad

Cars in the Park – Muscle Car Day

Jim — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 01:15:42 +0000

One of my favorites. A 1969 Camero SS Convertible

Cars in the Park – Italian Day

Cars in the Park – Italian Day

Jim — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 21:09:56 +0000

PORTLAND, Ore. — In celebration of The Allure of the Automobile, the Portland Art Museum will welcome local car clubs to the Park Blocks. Enjoy the exhibition in the Museum galleries and then take a stroll along Park Avenue where local car enthusiasts will show off their vehicles all summer long. Cars in the Park is free and will take place Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

From http://portlandartmuseum.org/about/news/releases/Cars-in-the-Park-Celebrates-Exhibition/

I’ve entered the Elan for the British Car day.