La Jolla

This month my photo club went to La Jolla. While most of the club went in the afternoon, Harvey and I went in the morning. It will be interesting to see how the different pictures came out with the different light.

We spent about 3 hours photgraphing on a beautiful morning. There were lots of others out enjoying the sun and the surf.

Click the link above to see the photos that I took that wonderful day

La Jolla in Spanish means "The Jewel". It is the Jewel of America's finest city, San Diego. La Jolla is an exquisite combination of a southern European resort atmosphere and Southern California fun. While La Jolla is known to be one of the most affluent communities in the United States, it has a down to earth feel due to the beautiful natural scenery and the helpfulness of its residents. Moreover, in addition to fine restaurants, beautiful beaches, hotels and art galleries, La Jolla is home to renowned institutions, such as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and the Stephen Birch Aquarium & Museum.

New Dog: Zoe

Some of you heard that we got a new dog recently. Here is a picture of her. We picked her up from a shelter - she was a 'rescue' dog'. Her breed is Maltese.

We have called her Zoë.

We got her from a shelter - she was matted and stinky and a bag of bones. We took her to the groomers on the way home and now she's soft and cuddly. She's been scarfing down her food and already has a little more fat over those bones. She loves to just sit with one of us on the couch - definitely a lap dog. The vet says she is anywhere between 2 and 7 years old. She only barks and fusses when we go away and leave her in the laundry room, or in her kennel at night. I think she's well-enough trained now to let her sleep upstairs with the boys - then she won't make a peep.

Awana Games: 2007

It's that time again: We went to the 2007 Awana Games on February 10. Our team was again in the afternoon. We arrived about 11:30 - and I think that our first event was at 1:00 where we met in the bright gym for the opening ceremony. We then went over to the very dark gym where it is almost impossible to take pictures. I did what I could - follow the link to see the best that I could do with the light that was there. I don't understand why they don't turn on the additional lighting that is installed. Anyway - it makes for a terrible photo opportunity.

Beyond that - our kids did great. This year - we had a great team that really prepared and worked hard. We were so good that we actually gave some of our team members to another church. We ended up winning the preliminary round, and were invited back to the finals. We made some mistakes - but ended up in 3rd place overall. I am very proud of the way each and every one of the kids did.

Follow the link on the title to see some more shots of the 2007 Awana Games.

Point Loma National Monument

Today my photo club went to Point Loma National Monument to get some shots of the Tide Pools. We did not know it at the time - but the USS Ronald Reagan was pulling out and we were able to see it go past us. Here is some information on the USS Ronald Reagan:
January Hundreds of friends and family members of Sailors assigned to the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group (CSG) watched as the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), embarked staffs and squadrons departed San Diego Jan. 27 on a surge deployment in support of U.S. Navy operations in the Western Pacific.
The Ronald Reagan CSG was deployed under the Navy’s Fleet Response Plan (FRP), which provides the U.S. with the ability to respond to any global commitment with flexible and sustainable forces and the ability to rapidly respond to a range of situations on short notice.

We also spent some time at the Tide Pools. Here are some pictures that I captured while there.

On the western side of Point Loma lies the rocky intertidal zone, a window into the ocean ecosystem that lies along of San Diego's coast. During periods of low tide, pools form along this shore in rocky depressions. In them you may see flowery anemones, elusive octopi, spongy deadman's fingers, and a myriad of other creatures.

The Grand Canyon

On our trip back to San Diego, we stopped in Flagstaff, AZ. Instead of heading straingt home like we usually do, we decided to stop by the Grand Canyon since it was only an hour or so away. We got up early, and drove the 1.5 hours to the South Rim. I was pretty impressed by the size of the place. Here are a few pictures that I took that day.

Sunshine after the Blizzard

After spending 50 hours inside (except for the occasional snow clearing exercise) we were able to get outside again. Here are some of the pictures that I took when the sun came out. We are still stuck - cannot go South into New Mexico - but that should change some time today. We are enjoying the sunshine and the warm weather. The roads in town are passable - the freeways were dry - and the city streets were slushy during the day and icy at night - but the plows have been working non-stop. My sister and her family need to go East from here - and are delayed by at least one day. Bummer for them. My brother-in-law has a court appearance that will not be met!
This is a picture that taken today that I took yesterday in the midst of the blizzard. Same (approx) location. Note the blue sky and the drifts.
Pike's Peak with lots of blue sky.

Christmas in Colorado: Snowed In

We drove from San Diego to Colorado Springs for the Christmas break. 2 days after we got here - one of the bigger blizzards hit the area. We are stuck inside - at least we have plenty of food and have lots to do. We sent the kids out 2 times a day to shovel the walk and the driveway. Not that we need it done - it is still snowing - but it gets rid of some of the pent-up energy that they have from being inside all day. Here are some pictures that I took of the storm and some of the fun we had while cleaning up:
Here is Caleb shoveling snow. At this point - it is still snowing and blowing. He did a great job moving a lot of the heavy snow off of the driveway.
Yep - here is our CA car - it has never been in snow like this!

Here is Jesse after clearing a section of the driveway. You can see from the photo that it is still snowing!

Here is a picture from the top of my parent's street. Normally - the view from here would be a fantastic view of Pike's Peak. Here - you can see the snow drifts. The city plow had been by a few minutes before - but the wind was blowing pretty hard. This was taken about 7:30 in the morning, so there were not many cars on the road. I was able to walk down the middle of the road since most of the sidewalks had not (yet) been shoveled.

Balboa Park

Bummer - I was going to submit some of these pictures to my photo club - but I never got around to it. Anyway - these were to be some shots that I took of a Christmas theme. I think that I was in Balboa park too early.

Ocean Beach Sunset

Ocean Beach Pier

Sunday afternoon - the boys and I went to Ocean Beach to the city pier. It had rained and hailed here almost all the day before. I was wondering what the waves looked like after a large storm.
This is a picture of the Ocean Beach inn. I liked the shot - the skateboarders just kind of makes you feel as if you are in a beach town.
This is a picture of the pier. It was interesting when we were there. There was a photographer with a 12 inch view camera taking a picture from nearly this same view point. He was down near the water - and was lugging a big, heavy camera and tripod. I was very impressed. Digital is so much faster and easier.

This is one of the final shots that I took. This is from the Pier looking West (obviously). The boys were getting cold - but I convinced them to stay for another 5 minutes while I took a last set of shots. We then walked the length of the pier and back to the truck. Walking through Ocean Beach is 'interesting' to say the least.

Awana Games 2006

Awana Games

I have put the photos on the costco web site. Feel free to browse and print the ones you want!
Photos at Costco



Saturday, Feb 25 was the Awana Games at the Ramona High School. Many of the different Awana clubs from around the San Diego area met for a day of fun, competition and excitement. Our club from CABC made it to 2nd place. Way to go team!


Hand off that baton!


Before the games started - we all met in the same gym to hear a little about what the day would hold for all.


Our Team before we started the competition.

After one of our brief rainy periods in San Diego - we often get nice sunsets. I went out late on Saturday afternoon to an overlook at the end of our street and waited for a sunset. It was not as spectacular as I was hoping.
In this first picture - the black spot is not dust on my sensor (I first started to panic that I had a big spot on it) but is a helicopter making it's way in for a landing.


I typically don't like photos with power lines included - but since I was standing directly under the power transmission lines to the entire Eastern San Diego area - I decided to try to incorporate them into the shot.