Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween

Millerton cave

There was a trail of blood on the ground leading to the campsite. After a trip into the middle section of Millerton cave, facing rattlesnakes and floating dead bodies, the blood was of little concern to us. I plunged a fork into the exposed flesh and tossed another steak on the grill. Mmm that smelled good. Nothing like a good juicy bbq steak and corn on the cobb dinner following a days caving. Ric, Don and I lounged around the bbq waiting eagerly for our dinner to be done. Ron and Tracy had already left since they weren’t planning on camping they’d started their drive home soon after we got back from the cave.

Large wasp along the trail

Following our adventurous river trip the previous weekend what was their to do then another river trip- this time underground. Ric, Don and I drove down to the campsite Friday night so we could get an early start Saturday morning before it got too warm.

Ron and Tracy arrived Saturday morning as we were finishing breakfast and off to the cave we went, we say several large wasps, and an interesting spider along the way.  We started out visiting the short lower section where we saw several frogs then moved on to the middle section. In the middle section we had a bit of a surprise as Don and Ric spotted a small snake- When I stopped to take it’s picture I realized it was a rattlesnake that must have fallen in the stream. We were all careful to avoid it. A little further upstream we found a small pool full of  several dead rats and mice. Perhaps the snake had been in pursuit when it tumbled in.

All in all a very enjoyable trip though once more we did not go all the way through the middle section.

The rattlesnake in the water

Ric at the entrance to the slot out of the pool

Wild river trip

Weekend before last I had the good fortune to get invited by neighbors up the street, Paul and Kathy, to go river rafting on the American river. We loaded up in their van with Don, Ric. After a brief stop to get their friend Eric and a truck that would be our ride back to the van after rafting we then headed up to the middle fork of the river. We left the truck at the take out spot then headed up to the oxbow powerhouse where we’d put in. From here we had 16-17 miles of river to negotiate with several class iv rapids and the infamous “tunnel chute” where miners dug a tunnel through a hillside and then blasted a chute to divert the river into it. It was a really great trip. I haven’t edited my pictures yet but I shot mostly video from the bow of the boat so I’ve posted a video of our trip. I wanted to post it here but wordpress isn’t letting it show up so you’ll have to click on over to smugmug to check it out at Rafting the american river video.

Ice cream and kite flying

There's still pheasant in Antelope

Well, it was actually frozen yogurt but close enough. James Emily and Michael came to Sacramento to take Michael to the dentist as he had tried to knock out yet another tooth. We went out in the evening for some delicious frozen yogurt.  After they left  a pretty strong wind blew up, so Nick, Aubrey and I went out to fly a kite. On the way we spotted a pheasant! We had fun flying the kite at the the park- a pretty good weekend.

Enjoying a frozen treat on a warm evening.

Nick and Aubrey flying the kite

Filipino Fiesta 2009

I headed down to Southern Sacramento for this years Filipino Fiesta. Once more there was lots to see, All sorts of things for sale, good food, and performances with singing and dancing.  Sadly I seem to be affected by allergies this year and as a constant cool breeze made the weather perfect for an outdoor festival,  it gave me a pretty bad sinus headache so I left a little early but not before getting a few pictures.

Parade at the start of Activities

Performers ready for the stage

Mmm. Lechon (roast pork)

Pacific Island Dancers

Makefair 2009

I happened to be browsing on Gizmodo and spotted a post that Makefair was taking place in San Mateo so I headed down to see what all the fuss was about. I had a wonderful time. My only complaint was there was too much to see! There was no way to check out everything in a single day. Next year I have to plan ahead, get some friends together and spend two days there.

Dancing Girls, Curtesy of the Boiler Bar

The whole crew from the Boiler Bar Theatre did a wonderful performance.

It’s electric- tesla coil generates big sparks

There was a lot of electricity in the air- Pacemakes beware.

Giant Robotic hand

And it was a bad day to be a 50 gallon drum- This thing crushes them with ease.

Pacific rim festival

This weekend was the Pacific Rim festival in old Sacramento. I always enjoy this event- Lot’s of good food and interesting dances, the colorful costumes make for some interesting pictures. The heat was a little daunting but it wasn’t quite as hot as last year.

Dragons

Laos Dancer

Lao Dancer

Colorful Fans

Hmong Dancers

Old photographs

So on my last trip to southern California, I was trying to go to speleo-ed but due to car trouble that didn’t work out, my Mom mentioned she’d dug out their old wedding pictures. I talked her into letting me take a few home with me so I could scan them in in order to preserve them. They’re black and white and She mentioned that the photographer had originally intended for them to be hand colored by his wife but she passed away before that was completed, so I’ll be trying to colorize them a little myself.

Bride

Cutting the cake

Important internet announcement

URGENT! new internet protocol to be implemented  

Starting at noon today a new protocol will be implemented urging a shift from IP v4 to IP v6 . This should not affect the normal operation of isp’s or their customers and should result in improved performance. A vital part of this shift though will cause data loss if certain applications are running during the transfer. Due to this possibility We urge everyone to temporarily power down their systems and disconnect from their internet connections. Rest assured normal activity should resume tomorrow. Read more here http://softwareproinc.com/

 

Seasons Greetings from Captain Nemo

Another year goes by, I’ve mostly spent the year adding to the number of photographs I’ve taken on my travels. I never imagined at the start of the year that not only would I spend two weeks in Guadalajara and a week in Florida but that I would return to Mexico for a week in Peurto Penasco for a week of relaxing by the beach before summer was over. Now I’m looking at travelling yet again, not until next July though. Hopefully to see the giant caves of Northern Mexico before attending the National Speleology and International Congress’s convention being held in Kerrville Texas.
I’ve added my new calendar design of my Mexico Pictures to my Cafepress store only time will tell if it’s as successful as my Guatemala one has been. I found out that a bug on the cafepress website has caused the profile/link to my other designs to fail or even go to other peoples stores! Hopefully they fix it or I have to start writing another way for other people to find my other designs.