Monday Phoebe Blogging

Phoebe 1 - El Portal  2017

Phoebe 2 - El Portal  2017

Busy swooping out over the Merced River, catching bugs.

Photos taken using an Olympus 75-300mm lens.

El Portal Campground (Video)

El Portal Camping, May, 2017 from Mike Mundy on Vimeo.


Dry Gulch Campground near El Portal. Special Baggy Pants edition. Shot with a Canon G5X.

El Portal Campground

Tent, Merced River - El Portal  2017

The Merced River is running very high this year. The noise was a continuous rumble although my tent was perched safely above the water.

Dead Trees - Update

Dead Trees - Sierra Nevada  2017

Dead Trees - Sierra Nevada  2017

This is a follow-up to last year's Dead Trees post.

Most of the trees have lost some, or all, of their needles. This is making the problem less conspicuous as they are starting to resemble the snags left after a fire. Certainly they are going to provide fuel for future forest fires.

I have heard an unconfirmed report that, over time, the pines will possibly be replaced by cedars. Will have to keep an eye on that.

El Portal Lupine

Lupine, White - El Portal  2017

Lupine, Merced River - El Portal  2017

To be honest, because of the wet season I thought that there would be more flowers than there were. But these are nice.

Photos taken with an Olympus E-M10 and a 14-150mm zoom lens.

Mariposa

Mariposa Sign (Mariposa) - Mariposa County  2017

Churches (Mariposa) - Mariposa County  2017

Return to Mariposa, on my way to the campground in El Portal.

I've shot the churches sign before, but this one was taken from close-up, so we can see the various churches in greater detail.

One of the churches in photo below. I used a Canon G5X for the photos.

Circle of Hope - Mariposa County  2017

More Snow

Pine Branch, Snow (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

Branches, Snow (Boomtown) - Nevada  2017

Snow kept falling on my head off overhanging pine tree branches while I was walking around Truckee. Hmph.

After Thursday's storm, bare Nevada branches were coated with cool-looking clumps of snow.

Monday Duck Blogging

Duck, Ducklings - Sonoma County  2017

Make way!

Spring Storm (Video)

Spring Storm, California - Nevada, April, 2017 from Mike Mundy on Vimeo.


Mostly taken with an iPhone, with some Canon G5X footage.

Boomtown Casino

Shadow Diamond (Boomtown) - Nevada  2017

Colossal Wizards (Boomtown) - Nevada  2017

No trip to a casino would be complete without some slot machine photos. From what I could observe, playing on these things would seem to be unbearably tedious. It would for me, anyway.

The lady in the top photo was semi-animated and definitely met the criteria for the uncanny valley hypothesis.

Spring Storm

View from Hotel, Evening (Boomtown) - Nevada  2017

View from Hotel, Morning (Boomtown) - Nevada  2017

We were resting in our hotel room Thursday afternoon when I happened to glance out the window.

Snow! Randomly swirling around, then being driven horizontally by the wind. Then, legitimately coming down quite heavily. By evening, we had a unique view of the arid Nevada landscape covered in snow. The weather had cleared next morning with a view of the distant hills, yes, covered in snow.

Truckee - 5

McDonald's, Snow (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

Truckee River, Snow (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

By the time I ended up in a McDonald's parking lot it had started to snow. Heavily . . . I wouldn't know, not having that much experience. Not that great for still photography, however.

Truckee - 4

Truckee River, Buildings (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

Buildings, Trees (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

This was a unique opportunity: snow-covered landscape scenes, just hours away from the Bay Area.

Top photo: iPhone. Bottom: Olympus E-M10.

Truckee - 3

Large Building, Snow, Clouds (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

West End (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

I drove the Toyota to a less high-end part of town, where I could park for free.

Small Building, Self-Portrait (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

Monday Dog Blogging

Dog (Sausalito) - Marin County  2017

Waiting in front of Drivers Grocery, where Mike goes for cinnamon rolls and coffee when he's in Sausalito.

Sausalito

Walkway (Sausalito) - Marin County  2017

Walkway (Sausalito) - Marin County  2017

Top shot is an iPhone panorama. Bottom taken with a Canon G5X.

Art Show Pix

Little Boy, Clouds - Marin County  2017

House, Clouds, Window - Marin County  2017

Two more shots taken during the recent Open Studios event (held at the Marin Society of Artists' space).

iPhone pix.

Truckee - 2

Trees, Snow, Clouds (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

Branches, Snow (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

Truckee snow sightems, taken with an Olympus EM-10.

Truckee - 1

Intersection (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

Chains Installed on Caltrans Truck (Truckee) - Sierra Nevada  2017

I drove up to Truckee early Thursday morning wondering about road conditions. But although the forecast called for heavy snow the short drive up into the mountains was uneventful. I found a parking lot, then wandered off to see what I could see.

April Weather (Nevada)

Evening Clouds - Nevada  2017

No Outlet - Nevada  2017

We arrived at Boomtown on Wednesday. The forecast for Thursday called for extensive snow in the mountains to the west. Returning from our dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant we could see clouds moving in.

Top photo taken with an iPhone 6s Plus. Bottom one with a Canon G5X.

Boomtown!

Boomtown - Nevada  2017

Boomtown Hotel Lobby - Nevada  2017

Dry Hills - Nevada  2017

In Nevada! 2nd exit on Hwy 80 east of the California/Nevada border.

Hali and I stayed here for two nights last month. I've been interested in using this Best Western hotel as a base for Tahoe-area explorations, as well as a stopover point for more extended trips. We had one of the "mountain view" rooms (photo of the hills taken from our window). Yes, yes. I used a telephoto lens to crop out various roads and buildings.

Hali says that she doesn't need to go back.

Monday Geese Blogging

Geese in Flight - Sonoma County  2017

Goose & Goslings - Sonoma County  2017

I used an Olympus E-M10 with a 75-300mm zoom lens.

More Maui

Lava, Ocean (Maui) - Hawaii  2016

Sand Ripples (Maui) - Hawaii 2016

. . . from last November. Both taken with a Canon G5X.

San Quentin

San Quentin, Fog - Marin County  2017

Exercise Yard, San Quentin - Marin County  2017

Taken from the Larkspur ferry. I used a Canon G5X for the top photo, and an Olympus EM-10 with a 75-300mm zoom lens for the bottom one.

Oakland Sightems - 2

FuseBox Mail - Oakland  2017

Mannequin - Oakland  2017

So, although FuseBox has closed, a ramen place is set to open in the same location! Whoa.

Oakland Sightems - 1

Chainlink Fence - Oakland  2017

Butte - Oakland  2017

A late afternoon trip to Oakland to eat at FuseBox, a Korean restaurant in an industrial part of town. FuseBox, alas, has since closed operations.

Terrapin Sightems - 2

Keep It Weird - San Rafael  2017

Phil Lesh Reading - San Rafael  2017

Wow. Both Phil Lesh and Terrapin Crossroads have lengthy Wikipedia articles. You know you've arrived when you're the subject of a lengthy Wikipedia article.