Western USA (and beyond)

Alberta Photo Map

2009-11-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

Pictures from Alberta added to a Google map.

Alberta Photo's on Google Maps

Includes "Banff Springs Hotel", "Lake Johnson", "Bear From the Woods", "On Glacier Ice", "Calgary Landing", "Plain of Six Glaciers Teahouse", "Banf Cable Car Terminal", "Wolf on Road", "Muskrat Island", "St Mary Lake", "Hanging Valley", "Mountain Perspective", "Montana from Bear Hub", "Bald Eagle", "Prince of Wales

Glacier National Park Montana

2009-09-20T00:53:00.000-07:00

With no wind, the waters of St Mary lake are flat and reflect surrounding mountains like a mirror

Full Sized View

Another flat water view of St Mary Lake in Glacier National Park

Incredible Leaping Cat

2008-12-08T21:12:00.000-08:00

Sep 9th, 2008: (Plaktia, Crete) Lunching in a restaurant above a tidal pool teaming with small fish we noticed a medium sized white and orange cat lying in the shade of a rock in the middle of the tidal pool. The cat watched as schools of fish moved back and forth within the pool. There was no obvious path for the cat to leave the rock and the pool and return to shore without getting wet. However, in a few minutes, the cat began moving from rock to rock. Eventually, he came to a point were the only path forward was to jump five or six feet onto the next rock followed by an even longer jump to reach the shore. I figured there was no way a cat (which hates water) would attempt to jump that distance over water, however, he soon began pacing back and forth. I could tell he was working up courage to make the first jump and readied my camera. His jump is captured mid air in the picture below. He completed the first jump without getting wet. The second jump was even longer and he landed in shallow water but sprinted ashore and came up to sit beside us.

Click to enlarge photo

Since we were in Greece, I considered that cat's jump to be a point 9.8 on the Olympic scale.

Seattle - A Place to Stay, Some things to Do

2008-12-07T14:22:00.000-08:00

The Warwick hotel is good; as is the Mayflower Hotel which are downtown and located close to:

Pikes Place
Icon Grill
Cutters Bayhouse and lots more eating places
Walk to Ferry to Bainbridge Island (Walk onto the ferry, see Bainbridge Island, and return to Seattle, with great views of the Puget sound)
Cab/Car to Argosy Puget Sound Tours
Cab/Bus to Pioneer Square (daytime only) site of famous Underground Tour
Cab/Car to Boeing Field Mueseum
Monorail to the Space Needle and the Museum of Music

Seattle in December

2008-12-06T17:19:00.000-08:00

Seattle in December - This classic view of Seattle with Mt. Ranier in the backgroud is from Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill.

Mt Ranier has it own weather which becomes visible in the form of a dome shaped cloud (a lenticular cloud) located directly above the mountain. The cloud can be see in the photo below. The first time I saw a dome cloud over Mt Ranier, it was so perfectly formed it could have been a ship from space. For more impressive views, see Ron Warfield's Lenticular Cloud over Mount Ranier, Ed Book's Mount Ranier Lenticular Cloud, or the photo from living wilderness.

While Mt Ranier dome clouds appear stationary, they eventually they move. In the picture above, remains of a previous dome cloud is visible just to the right of that tall building in the downtown. Below is a close up of the dome cloud.

Iphone and Wordpress

2008-01-07T20:50:00.000-08:00

Here's how to place put an IPhone front-end on your WordPress blog.

Iphone and WordPress

Mt Ranier

2007-12-17T21:37:00.000-08:00

Here's an unusual view of Seattle's Mt Ranier. The shape of the cloud indicates easterly winds which almost never happens because winds usually come from the west; from the Pacific, meaning clouds over Mt Ranier usually form in the oppsite direction; e.g. from right to left; under the influence of Pacific winds.

Tree Blast - Mt St Helens

2007-12-17T21:15:00.000-08:00

Here are trees blasted from the force of 1980s Mt St Helens explosion

Click picture to show full size.

Relaxing in Walla Walla

2007-06-08T23:08:00.000-07:00

The Areus Bed and Breakfast in Walla Walla Washington. The B&B is unusual because of it's location in the middle of an operational wheat field and it's rodent control in the form of four legged kit kats.

Walla Walla's Areus B&B

Palm Springs from the Air Tram

2006-06-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

A view of Palm Springs, Ca from the aerial tram. Visibility is reduced due to smog blowing east from Los Angeles.

Click picture to show full size.

Wind Power in Palm Springs

2006-06-03T12:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the 4000 windmills in the San Gorgonio Mountain Pass just west of Palm Springs, Ca. In the photo, sand is moving towards the camera pushed by steady 20 mph winds. Turbines are spinning, but the photo doesn't capture rotation of windmill blades.

Helicopter Logging

2006-06-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

Helicopter logging Near Walla Walla, Wa. Felled trees are carried from the mountain top to trucks waiting in the valley.

Seattle from the Alaskan Way Viaduct

2006-03-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

A view of downtown Seattle from the Viaduct which runs along the shore separating downtown from the waterfront.

Container Ship

2006-03-05T00:39:00.000-08:00

Dozens of container ships enter and leave Seattle every day. This ship is heading north up the Puget Sound.

Mt Ranier from Tacoma

2006-03-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

Here's a view of Mt. Ranier from Tacoma, Washington. This was taken from South 36th street in Tacoma. Were Mt Ranier to erupt, Tacoma's South 36th street would be covered with Pyroclastic flow from the eruption.

The Dog has Goggles

2006-03-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

How often to you see a dog on the back of a bike wearing motorcycle goggles? This was taken on a Seattle city street in a neighborhood called Ballard. Some North West bikers really love their dogs.

Seattle from Queen Anne Hill

2006-03-04T19:43:00.000-08:00

These are classic pictures of Seattle with Mt. Ranier in the backgroud. They're taken from Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill.

Welcome

2006-03-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

Welcome to North West USA