The Andrelix

New online Photo Magazine, go check it out...

2011-12-22T07:56:00.001-08:00

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December 2011

Place I plan on hiking Summer 2012

2011-11-22T20:45:00.001-08:00

Test for John

2010-02-04T17:44:00.001-08:00

Check out this site

2009-04-09T21:28:00.000-07:00

That's right, check this site out:

Photofocus

It is a good photo site, quality run...

SNL Take on Michael Phelps

2009-02-22T12:01:00.000-08:00

Good stuff:

Shasta Snowboarding

2009-02-20T20:58:00.000-08:00

Well this has been a lousy year for snow in Northern California and Southern Oregon but out of the blue, Mt. Shasta Ski Park gets 3'+ of powder. Adam and I went snowboarding and for the first time in my life I thought to myself that there was actually too much powder!!! After a few long dig outs I decided to do some of the packed powder runs, which were mighty fine! I had a Canon Digital Elf SD400 point and shot camera along for the ride and took this video. Not impressive but it was fun...

2009

2009-01-31T10:56:00.000-08:00

Wow, it is January 31st of 2009 already! I need to spend some time updating this site but have been too busy chasing kids between Water Polo, Swimming, Volleyball, Soccer and the rest of life...

Happy Holidays Eveyrone

2008-12-22T20:35:00.001-08:00

Happy holidays everyone, I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and a great, changing, New Year!

Nitro Circus Thrillbillies, Castaic, CA

2008-11-11T18:50:00.000-08:00

Damn Travis is crazy...

Will Ferrell Back As Bush With Tina Fey's Palin On Thursday's "Saturday Night Live" (VIDEO)

2008-10-23T21:52:00.001-07:00

iTunes 8 quick review

2008-09-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

I downloaded iTunes 8 today and installed it. It quickly went through my 70 gigabye music library and then asked me if I wanted to start the Genius tool. It took a little while though I have heard complaints that it could take quite sometime to go through a library of my size. My system is a rather speedy XPS 720 (3.7Ghz, 4 Gigs, 2x1TB RAID 0) and it only took about 15 minutes to get though the entire library.

I tried out the Genius playlist tool. It is FAST! I selected 25 songs and reminds me of Pandora. Unfortunately it does not analyze the music to determine the songs to select after you have made your song selection. It relies on user input and eventually will get better as users begin to use it. It did a fairly good job with locating songs that made a nice playlist. I will definetly use this tool in the future.

Apple needs to be real careful where it is heading with iTunes. It is nearing bloatware as they continue to add features. It is no longer a music player but an entertainment center. Your games, podcasts, movies, tv shows, music, and now your education center (thanks to schools like UC Berkely, Stanford, MIT, etc). It is struggeling with my 70 gig library and in the recent past I have had the xml file it uses to index the library get corrupted. I am happy to use the program and have to say it works just as well on my Vista machine as it does on my iMac. I am sure there are many features waiting to be discovered...

Family Trip to the Big Island of Hawaii

2008-09-03T22:25:00.001-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a beautiful place and we have a great time. We stayed in the Kona area and enjoyed adverturing around the island. Unfortunately when they say big island, they mean BIG island. A week is nowhere near enough time to even see the good tourist spots much less the not-so-traveled areas. I will get more pictures up soon, just too busy with school starting for the kids...

Our new car

2008-06-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

We bought a new Honda Civic. It wasn't quite what we wanted (no hybrid, wrong color) but we are happy. We bought it in Eugene and on our drive down along with some running around town today we averaged almost 34 MPG. Not bad but I think we might be able to get 40 out of it...

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2008-05-04T22:26:00.000-07:00

It is cinco de mayo again, enjoy your fifth day in May...

Spring Break Cruise to Mexico Pictures

2008-04-27T23:32:00.001-07:00

Here is a slideshow of pictures from our Spring Break cruise to Mexico. We went on Princess Cruises on the Golden Princess. It is a nice ship, but I will disucss that more later...

So what is up with big oil profits

2008-04-02T19:25:00.001-07:00

Okay, I am not a conspiracy theory person, mainly because I don't think there is enough intelligence to pull off a conspiracy on a grand scale. But, how can gasoline skyrocket in price and oil companies all of a sudden make huge profits? And more importantly, why? I started to think that there may be more to this than just big dollars for "good friends" and others. What if this is all part of a big plan? We have enraged the public at large, making it difficult to go to work, recreate, and stressed us to the point of breaking with gas prices. The common theme I hear, it is a supply shortage. So if there is such a huge shortage then how do you make record profits?

My thoughts on this, scare the American public into near pandemonium, then swoop in with a saviour. Sounds good, right? So, where is the saviour? Alaska! 400 billions barrels of oil just going to waste and the only thing getting in the way, the environment. We know at least 40%, maybe 49% of the country seems to support drilling for oil in Alaska (completely anecdotal). Now that we have strangled the economy, the middle class, and even the poor, how many of us are ready to say screw the risks, start drilling?

So once again, what are the chances of a consipiracy of this size? I use to think it was too complex but I can only wonder now. I would predict that before the end of the year we will be drilling in ANWR. The oil companies are primed to spend a fortune on research and it is "good" for the economy. It sure sounds like a win-win but unfortunately we will be blinded by economic rage to think clearly and away we go. If we could just put half the effort into finding alterative solutions we would be considerably better off in the long run. I guess only time will tell...

Welcome to our newest member of the Family, Calvin

2007-12-30T22:06:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

2007-12-24T20:06:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been quite sometime since my last post. I just wanted to say Merry Christmas to everyone! More pictures to come soon...

Lightning Pictures 7-10-07

2007-07-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

Green Gorillaz Soccer Highlights

2007-06-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Here are some highlights from the end of the year tournament for the Green Gorillaz.

Mothers Day Poem

2007-05-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Happy Mothers Day! Forrest, our 13 year old son wanted to write a poem for his mom this morning. He once again wrote a very touching poem and I wanted to share it, so here it is:

MOM by Forrest G. (c 2007)

It doesn't seem easy,

being a mom,

'cause you got to be every where at once,

and everything got to be jus' right,

with little time to relax,

having so much to do,

with too short of a deadline,

which make me wonder...

Why do we have only one day for moms?

I hope you liked it as much as we did...

Cinco de Mayo is coming

2007-04-29T11:18:00.000-07:00

OK, it has been quite awhile since I have had a chance to post anything, so I just wanted to remind everyone that Cinco de Mayo is coming up in a week and want to make sure that everyone is taking this as serious as my dog! More to come shortly....

This Show Socks

2007-01-01T22:14:00.000-08:00

Pretty funny!

Dell Outlet changes checkout. Is it for the better?

2006-12-29T22:14:00.000-08:00

Dell Outlet has recently introduced a new screen to the selection of a system for purchase and checkout. This means that every time you want to purchase a system (or multiple systems) then you need to enter a verification code on what they call the "Add to Card Validation". Here is what Dell says about the page:

"Why do I need to type characters from a picture before I add a product to the cart? Typing the characters from a picture helps ensure that an individual, and not an automated program, is adding a product to their cart.

This is important because hackers use harmful programs to try to reserve large amounts of inventory, which then means inventory is unavailable to our customers. To protect the integrity of your purchase, we ask you to take this step. In most cases, an automated registration program can't recognize the characters in the picture."

You are then prompted to enter an eight digit alpha code. For all those "retailers" using scripts to grab large amounts of inventory and then sort through them while in your cart this will hopefully level the playing field for the rest of the regular users. In general this seems like a step in the right direction as I have purchased many systems off of their web site and have been frustrated more than once to see a system, selected it to add to cart to find out that it and all the rest of the items are all of a sudden gone. I only wonder if you are too slow on typing in the verification code if someone else can grab the system out from under you.

All in all I think this is a good step for Dell and I applaud them on this effort. Now if they can work on their support side I will be one happy camper!

Very Cool Stop Motion Movie

2006-12-17T14:36:00.000-08:00

Ok, this was just too cool not to post! These guys have some real talent! Enjoy...

Another Aerial Photo

2006-12-14T22:05:00.000-08:00

This one is for all the golf fans out there. This is an aerial shot of the Rogue Valley Country Club in Medford, Oregon. I wonder if anyone ever thinks about this stuff in advance. And for what its worth, this is not a doctored picture, it is right off of an aerial photograph used by the City...

Google Earth Image and others

2006-12-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

My son was asking me about Africa and we were using google earth to look at the area. We came across this cloud and I thought it was pretty cool. What do you think?

Sunrise in Ashland

2006-12-08T22:28:00.000-08:00

I just got my early Christmas present (Canon EOS 30D) a few days ago and then this morning this is what I saw outside my window. I decided I better get a few quick snaps before it changed. Sure enough, within minutes of capturing the shots, everything went very grey and dark as the sun rose above the clouds. It was quite spectacular to see in person, hopefully these pictures represent just a little of what the eye saw. These pictures were taken from my backyard at approximately 7:15 AM. The lens used was a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L lens. The particulars of each shot are slightly different but for the most part I shot around an f/5.0 with an ISO of 400. Unfortunately I was in such a hurry that I did not get to shoot at an ISO 100 with an f/2.8. So far I am really impressed with the camera and the lens, thought the lens is quite heavy. I am now in search of a good prime lens, maybe a 14-70mm f/2.8 or faster. Might have to save a little and wait until after Christmas for that one, but it will be nice.

Ronaldinho!

2006-11-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

Damn this guy is good! The U.S. misses out on some pretty good soccer throughout the year...

A Ride up the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway

2006-10-27T19:29:00.000-07:00

If you have ever been to Palm Springs you will notice that it is usually warm, if not down right HOT! But high above the desert oasis are the San Jacinto Mountains and an aerial tram that will take you to the top. But don't be fooled, even in the middle of summer it can be quite a bit cooler at the top. Spring is an amazing time to go there though; the mountain has snow and clear skies but the valley is quite warm. Here are some pictures from the top. There are a few nice hikes at the top along with snow camping if one desires.

The first two pictures are looking back down the aerial lines as we climbed up the mountain. In this second picture, you can see a little bit of snow beginning to show up as we are past the halfway point. This shots are taken through the tramways plexiglass windows, so clarity is not quite what you would see at the top.

Once at the top, we found plenty of snow. Luckily we came prepared with sweatshirts and closed shoes (it was sandals for the rest of the week in the valley). The next few shots are from the top as we hiked around.

All shots are taken with the Canon EOS Digital Rebel. The lens used was either the stock lens or an EF 75-300 that is quite econmical but does not have quite the glass that one would need to really capture some of the finer details. Also, shooting in the snow is always challenging for white balance. Most of the shots are at an f/8.0 which gave a nice balance of depth of field and plenty of light.

This last pictures reminds me of why we have a timer on cameras. There are a lot of good uses for a timer, especially when there is no one else around to snap a picture. I also find timers to be very handy for long exposure shots on a tripod. Typically when I reach up and push down to release the shutter and then let go, I seem to create some movement that creates blur. So whenever I have a long exposure, I just set the timer, push the button and move away. This is of course a lot more difficult than a remote shutter release, but it works.

Well, that is it for now. I have to start to dial in my new mountain bike, maybe some pictures of that soon. The bike is starting to feel like it will be a sweet ride....

A day at Home

2006-10-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

Here is a video of a day at my house, shot once every 60 seconds.

Olbermann blasts Bush and Fox News

2006-09-26T20:52:00.000-07:00

Ouch!!!

Microsoft Windows Live Drive

2006-08-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

So I have read some speculation on Microsoft's upcoming program that is a tagged to be called Windows Live Drive. It appears that this will be an extension of the Windows Live services that Microsoft has currently in beta. The speculation is that Microsoft is creating an online storage system that will be available anywhere on the internet. It will also compete with Google's rumored product, GDrive.

This is somewhat old news (Wikipedia and Fortune both have articles on it) but it has got new attention since a developer posted a blog about it on MSDN Blogs. It was then abrutly pulled. Here is a link if anyone wants to read it.

So the speculation starts up again that Redmond is going to have this ready soon and that it will be just online storage. But I think there is something else besides online storage. I think that Microsoft is going to tie this into the XBOX360 and the livingroom that they so badly want to be a part of in the world. Sure it could be a great way to store and share files on the internet, but think about being able to share your picture slideshow or video of you kids first step with your grandparents across the country. Ofcourse this would mean that your grandparents would need an XBOX360, and thus why I think it could easily expand to something more.

There are also rumors around that Microsoft is planning to expand the offerings of the XBOX360 and this could also tie into those rumors. This is just my $0.02, but tell me what you think...

Something from the Archives ~ Hangtown 1999 Nationals

2006-08-11T21:21:00.000-07:00

Well I thought this would be interesting to post since 1999 was a good year for Ricky Carmichael, on 125's. He won this race at Hangtown along with Kevin Windham in the 250 class (beating the King, Jeremy McGrath). I wonder if Kevin is going to call it quits soon as well...

More of the Ricky and Bubba Show ~ Washougal

2006-08-11T20:50:00.000-07:00

Well if anyone read the interview with Ricky and Bubba about the Washougal race, this may explain why Ricky was getting so frustrated. I have a feeling Bubba's roost taste a whole lot worst than others...

Washougal Lites

2006-08-10T22:59:00.000-07:00

A great day for the Lites as well at Washougal as Short goes 1-1. He made it look way too easy and Alessi was nowhere to be seen (for the most part). Tough break for Villopoto on the first moto but he looked good in moto #2. More pics to come, plus some cropping and adjustments. I am just trying to get these out as quick as I can to start with....

More Washougal Pictures

2006-08-09T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here are some more Washougal pictures, I hope you enjoy them. I will post more later...

Washougal MX 2006 Nationals

2006-08-08T07:07:00.001-07:00

WOW! What a race! Not only was the motocross class an increadible race, but the Lites even had a great day. The weather was near perfect, though conditions were tough for photography. I did not have enough light for my telephoto shots and many came out blurred. But who cares about the photography, it was all about racing at Washougal this year. Ricky and Bubba made this one of the best races of all times, and from listening to others, probably one of the best races of all times.

Unfortunately you can not be everywhere on the track at once. Apparently Ricky was working on his Clark Kent skills as he tried to fly. With little success off the bike, he quickly jumped back on to take a tough second, and second overall for the day. I would say better luck next time, but this was probably the last appearance for Ricky at Washougal. Next year will be the Bubba show.

Speaking of next year, it must be frustrating for Chad Reed. He was on fire in practice and looked good all day. Besides his little mishap, he was far ahead of the 4th place riders. Unfortunately for Chad, Ricky and Bubba had to be in front with no chance catch up.

Well, enjoy the pics, I have more that I will upload soon, include some of the lites....

Clouds over Mount Bachelor

2006-07-12T23:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of some cloud formations around Mount Bachelor in central Oregon. This was taken in late September (the 30th to be exact) before a late evening hike up the mountain. It was a beautiful evening and the clouds helped to offer a magnificent sunset. If you are ever interested in hiking Mt. Bachelor, there is a great trail system that leaves from the parking lot and goes all the way to the top of the mountain. It offers some great views of eastern Oregon as well as the Cascade mountain range.

These particular shots were taken with my Nikon Coolpix 5000. I really like this camera and it was one of my first nice cameras before I went DSLR. It is great for packing because of its small size but offers wonderful options. The Nikon optics are great and I have always been a big fan. It has been hard to switch to Canon for the DSLR, but Nikon has a lot of promise with their D200 for the semi-professional line.

Sunshine Through a Tree on the Oregon Coast

2006-07-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

Here is another shot from the Canon PowerShot SD400. This is another great example of why this camera is so good to have around. It fits in your pocket yet it can produce some really nice pictures. This particular shot was taken in the late morning on the Oregon Coast. The focal length was set at 6mm (35mm equivalent of 37mm), aperture at f/2.8 and the shutter speed was 1/400s. Ofcourse this was all done in automatic mode but still quite stunning. My wife had many great shots on this particular trip to the coast, all with this tiny little camera. I know there are many others on the market and I am sure they do just as well. The beauty of these types of cameras is the ability to take them almost anywhere. Now we will have to see how well I can do in manual mode with the DSLR for the 4th of July....

Great Backcountry Camera

2006-06-15T22:48:00.000-07:00

This is a nice picture I took with a great backcounty camera. The camera is a Canon PowerShot SD400. It is small and compact and easy to carry in a coat pocket or shirt pocket, depending on the conditions. I took this shot on top of Mount Ashland while snowboarding. This angle is looking north towards the City of Ashland in Oregon. It was a great snow year this year!

The specifics of this shot are 1/400s at f/10.0. Not the best lens but considering it is a compact, it does pretty well. The focal length was 17mm which gives a 35mm equivalent of 110mm (full zoom for the camera). I thought the camera did very well with the white balance. Even though the camera is small, I find it easy to snap pictures with.

Apple Corp. and the PC World

2006-05-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

I have been a long time PC user. I started using them in 1985, started building them in 1986, and built for profit in 1987. For years I would not touch a mac but when the mac mini was introduced I finally made the leap. I have to admit that I am impressed with the video editing software and ease of use. I then pulled the trigger and got a Powermac and now I am getting ready to buy an iMac. I still use a PC as my primary computer but I have to say that I am hooked on iLife.

Now that being said, note that I stated Apple Corp., not Apple Computers. Apple has become quite a machine in the computer world, but how long can they build computers for when they are really building PC's with their own OS? This has got me wondering, and it appears to me that the next logical choice for Apple is to port everything to a PC. The universal binaries have already solved most of this problem. Now they just need to be able to run on Vista and away you go.

I know many have said that without the hardware, Apple could not make it. But look at Microsoft, Adobe, etc. The iPod alone has kept the company alive, but long term they could really explode into the PC world with products like iLife. And as far as video editing, you can't beat Final Cut Studio. Final Cut Studio is what made me buy a mac in the first place. Now you can say that this is EXACTLY why Apple should not port their software to a PC. Unfortunately I think that the capitalistic marketplace will win hear though, and if they don't port to PC then someone else will have a product that can do the same thing but be available to 90% of the market share, not 10%.

Apple will always be successful with the "I don't care how much it cost" crowd, along with the zealots. They have proven time and time again that they are more art than computer with their design. I guess for some this is worth the premium but the computer market is moving into the appliance stage. I know that I paid a premium for a toaster that looked good with the granite on my counter, but their are many appliances that sit in the cabinets and I don't care how they look. I think the same is becoming true about the PC. Do I really care what it looks like when it is shoved in a desk and it works like any other system? It appears that Dell is trying to deal with this right now with the acquisition of Alienware. Even though the gamer systems get the bigger profits, as we move to an appliance mentality it will be the original Dell concept that will win.

A lot of people have said that Apple's big mistake in the 80's was not opening up their system to third party development. They have embraced some of that now (with open source and their developer network) but will they be able to beat out Microsoft and dominate the desktop market. I would venture to guess no and this is why I think they will port their software to the PC world. Just my $0.02...

Funny Video

2006-05-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Pretty funny, reminds me of being a kid!

Seahawk's Stadium

2006-05-24T22:37:00.000-07:00

Here is a nice picture of the American Flag brought out on the field before a Seahawks game. I am quite impressed with Canon EOS Digital Rebel. This shot used a Canon Zoom Lens EF 75-300 f4-5.6 USM. For an entry level lens, this does quite well. The shot particulars are f/7.1, 1/400s, ISO 100 and a focal length of 155 mm. The 35mm equivalent is 247 mm which means that this camera has a FOV crop of almost 1.6! I love the camera but I really want a full size sensor, maybe a Canon 5D or Nikon D200. I have always been a Nikon fan but some of the Canon products lately have almost made me completely switch. My next camera will be the deciding factor as I need to get better glass...

Supercross @ PacBell

2006-05-24T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was impressed with this shot from my Nikon Coolpix 5000. It was very dark out and this turned out pretty good, not nearly as noisy as I thought it would come out. The Nikon has been a great camera, it is small enough to pack but not too small to be able to hold it steady. Not bad for f/2.9, ISO 100 and 1/30s. Though I now shoot with a DSLR, I have to say, this has been a great camera!

Sunflowers and Blue Skies

2006-05-24T22:08:00.000-07:00

I just like this picture and thought it was good to have posted since summer is on its way. I took this picture with a Nikon Coolpix 5000, f/2.8, ISO 100, focal length of 7mm.

Here is a cropped version, I think I like it better. What do you think?

Crater Lake Rim Ride

2006-05-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

If you like to ride a bike and want to see some incredible scenery, I would strongly recommend you take the time to do the rim road of Crater Lake. The ride is approximately 33 miles in length and even though you are traveling around a lake, the elevation gain is approximately 4,000 feet. The good news about the ride, besides the scenery, is the for every foot you ascend, you also get to fly down on descent. Not only do you get to ride the rim at around 7,000 feet above sea level, you also get to hit top speeds of nearly 45 MPH (I am sure you could hit 50 MPH if you really tried, but I think my huge grin killed my aerodynamics).

As far as riding goes, I would recommend a road bike for the trip but many people do it on a mountain bike. I have managed to do this ride a couple of times and we always do it as late as possible. These pictures were taken on October 5, 2003 and as you can see the weather is pefect and the crowds are almost non-existent. We try to start pedaling by 9:00, it is usually a little cool at this time but the ride starts with nice climb.

The recommended ride starts at the Park Headquarters at the base of the mountain. I would strongly recommend starting here as you will end the day on a nice descent to your car. It also has the benefit of starting a nice climb that warms you up until the sun starts to warm the air. When starting from this point you will do a clockwise route around the lake. When you get to the top of your first hill, make sure that you continue past the turn-off a few hundred yards to the parking lot of the lodge, make sure to take a minute and enjoy the view.

Remember that on this ride there are no services once you leave the lodge. Make sure to pack sunscreen and plenty of food and water. On this particular trip we had a sag wagon (my wife, kids, and dog wanted to enjoy the scenery as well) which made life a little easier. There are bathrooms at certain points around the rim. The ride consists of climbs to scenic lookouts and then nice descents. The most important part of the ride (or even car drive if that is all you can do) is to remember to stop and enjoy the scenery. The water is so blue and reflective that you can find yourself staring at the water most of the day. In most of the picutres I have included, you will see a sharp pointy mountain beyond the rim, that is Mount Thielsen. That is a great hike, but more about that some other time...

Smith Rock Photo

2006-05-20T22:48:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to add this picture of Smith Rock State Park becuase it was taken on December 21, 2003 at around 3:00 PM. It turns out that even though central Oregon and the east side of the Cascades can get some pretty severe weather at times, Smith Rock can be hikded and climbed on may days throughout the year. We had blue skies on this day and we were out in short sleeved shirts. On this particular day there were quite a few climbers on the rock and it was spectacular to be there. I will write more about the hiking and provide some other pictures for the next post, but for now it is bedtime. One other thing, if anyone wants to use any picutures on this site, please email me....

Hiking John Day Fossil Beds National Monument

2006-05-18T23:17:00.000-07:00

Welcome to John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. If you are ever in the middle of nowhere in central Oregon, you are probably in John Day. This remote part of Oregon in the north central part of the state has some amazing geology and some very nice hikes. Most of the rock in the area is eroded volcanic and if you look closely you will see fossils almost anywhere you look.

Because we were on a quick day trip through the area, we only stopped at the Clarno Unit of the National Monument. If you are wondering, the National Monument is HUGE! Getting to John Day can be quite a trip, it is 240 miles from Portland, Oregon and 122 miles from Bend, Oregon. We drove up Highway 97 through Bend and Madras up to Road 218. Be advised the Road 218 is a narrow two-lane road. Usually there is very little traffic but we happened to get caught behind three busses full of students, obviously making there way out to John Day as well. I say obviously becuase the only thing east of this area is Fossil, Oregon, and once you drive through Fossil, you realize that the whole town would not even fill three school busses. On a side note, when you leave Bend, Oregon, you pass one of the great climbing areas in North America, Smith Rock State Park. This trip was not about rock climbing, more about geology, but it is hard to pass one of the first places in the country to have a 5.14 climb!

As far as hiking goes, the trails are pretty easy and well defined. You can find yourself getting lost wondering around and looking at the beauty of the rocks. If it is hot you can always go to the John Day River and take a soak, it looked quite appealing when we passed but time was not on our side. A very family friendly hike along the Geologic Time Trail is well worth the hour or so you can spend on it. It is only 1/4 mile long but plan on taking the Trail of the Fossils loop as well as the Clarno Arch Trail (arch pictured above). All in all you can hike 2 or 3 miles at this location from the parking lot and back.

If you have the time, to the Painted Hills Unit and do some of the hikes there as well, once again all are well marked and fairly easy to hike. The overlook view is spectacular. Enjoy the area and if you have some rock shoes handy, remember you are close to Smith Rock...

Trip to Joshua Tree

2006-05-15T21:38:00.000-07:00

This is Josha Tree National Monument. We went there during Spring Break 2006 and had a great time. It is an incredible place to boulder or sport climb. My kids, ages 9 and 11, had a great time for their first trip out rock climbing.

The rock is very stable and graining, good for smearing. I noticed good cracks as well. We did not get to venture to far into the park and I would guess that there are many conditions that could exist. The place where we were at was ideal for bouldering or sport climbing. Though I did not try any, it looked like there are many good single pitch lead climbs available. I do not know if it is my age getting to me or if I am spoiled (I grew up near Yosemit National Park and that is where I learned to climb) but the rock sure seemed rough on the hands. This could have something to do with not having my hands on a rock in years as well. If you go to the area, I would strongly recommend tape.

If you are traveling to the area for a quick day trip, or even just a couple of days, you can rent shoes at a great little outdoor store in the town of Joshua Tree. It is also a great entrance to the park. The park also has some great hiking trails with some nice views of the desert. Once again, we did not get to venture nearly far enough in the park and I am sure there are some great vistas with incredible views.

I look forward to making back down to the area with my kids someday, hopefully with a full rack so the kids can really stretch their legs. If you have the chance, make sure to get to this park, it is not only worth it for the climbs but also the natural beauty but also for the lack of crowds. Enjoy...

Hiking on the Island of Kauai

2006-05-10T19:58:00.000-07:00

Hiking Pihea Trail

Here is a picture of the Kalalau Vallay on the island of Kauai. If you can see in the distance there are all kinds of waterfalls running down the sides of these steep slopes. We took this picture on a hike with our family. If you ever go to Kauai I would strongly recommend you bring some old shoes and do this hike. The hike begins at the Kalalau Lookout at then end of road 550 on the west end of the Island. On the drive up, enjoy the Waimea Canyon, it is spectacular. The hike can take you from one end of the island to the other where there are no roads. We only went for about or 4 miles in and it did get steep and mucky. As I stated, bring a pair of junker shoes because you will get muddy. Also make sure to pack water and something to keep your camera dry. It will be perfectly sunny and the next thing you know, it will be pouring rain.
The trail we hike along was called the Pihea Trail. One of the spectacular view points along the trail is the Pihea Vista. Be prepared though as this is a steep climb to get to the top. This is where you will get your hands dirty as well as your feet. Use branches and roots to help you get to the vista, it is well worth it. About 2 miles in (all distances are from the end of the road, apparently you use to be able to drive to the end of the road but we had to hike it) the trail intersects with the Alaka'i Swamp Trail. Apparently this trail leads to the highest swamp in the world, though we did not make it.

When hiking, you might try to keep your feet from getting muddy, but do yourself a favor and don't bother. There are some walking blanks along the way when it gets too swampy, but most of the trail is along the most amazing clay type material (I assume decomposed lava). The stuff is almost impossible to get off. If you make the trip, try to also bring clothes that you don't mind being dirty forever. I say this because some of the things still have that clay like material in it, and we went in July of 2005. Another item that is a must have if you visit Kauai, the book The Ultimate Kauai Guidebook. Don't worry if you don't pick it up before you leave for the island, we found it at numerous places and all for the same price as on the mainland. I have read on some web sites that this trail is considered moderate to difficult. I took my 9 and 11 year old on it and they would have kept going if we had more time and water. The most important part of taking the hike is to plan enought time to enjoy the surrounding, it is truley amazing. Also, if you look at the pictures closely, it should remind you of the movie Jurassic Park, it is my understanding that this is where some of the file was shot. I hope you get the opportunity to take this hike, it is worth every minute of it...

PS3 ~ Is it worth it?

2006-05-08T23:21:00.000-07:00

OK, first I lied, I will post again sooner than I thought. Even though it is past my bedtime, I am sitting here wondering if the PS3 is really going to be worth it? The hype alone should make it worth at least $300, but $600 (who really bought the 360 core system, so who will really buy the entry system on the PS3)? Me thinks that Sony has really screwed themselves lately. I have always liked certain Sony products and really disliked others. But they always do certain things VERY well. I have to say though I think the PS3 is going to be a let down, and ever since the root kit issue with the CD's, I am totally down on Sony. I just purchased a new TV recently and remember thinking to myself that it did not matter how nice the picture was, I would not buy Sony. I wonder what is next for this company, it sure wont be a PS3 for me...

Welcome

2006-05-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the blog of the Georgevitch family. This is post number one and it might be quite a few days before post number two. We are really busy right now since we are closing in on the end of the school year as well as the soccer season. We will have more interesting topics soon...please check back.