So Many …

Titles for this

Last night was awesome
I hate morning phone calls
An almost all nighter
Wow – This used to be easier.
More fun then Sex (Almost)

So you ask what was more fun then Sex (Almost). I have to say the start of milky way shooting season for me. The opening act is happening at Anza Borrego State Park in California. Even after helping to pack up and set up in near triple digits. On a side note: I have learned so much over the last year, that I am waiting to try in my photos. I owe credit to Roy who gave me the inspiration, NPAN (National Parks at Night) for the great learning materials (and conference), there will be others I will give a shout out to along the way this year.

Yes, getting ready to go places with the camper, and staying up late used to be easier. I also used to be younger and a size 4. (LOL) I am glad I have the ability and desire though to pull an almost all nighter and be able to help get things done for camping and adventures. I have to admit it was not an all nighter as I did take a nap in the late evening. Now a quick word on why I hate morning phone calls. After only 4 hours of sleep, phone rings and it is someone who is way too perky. Long story short I am getting scheduled for a routine screening test that has been put off for 6 months due to COVID protocols. (See upcoming blog post).

Last night was truly AWESOME!

After getting the tripod set up, taking some test shots and figuring out an approach to the night I was able to just sit and be still. I am not sure I’ve experienced a quiet like that in a very long time. I do know that this summer there will be darker and quieter night shoots but this was my first time. Speaking of first times, it was also my first time shooting the milky way with very little light pollution and I think I have seen a new shade of black. Being still I heard an owl, plus a bunch of coyotes (I got nervous). But I enjoyed this so much, and can’t wait to experience it more this summer. I do want to clarify that Roy did get out of the car a few times to look at the sky. (in between snores).

I will leave you with a few of my unedited photos. I was able to work on stacking the photos. I took numerous pictures of the same thing with the same settings and used software to combine them. I also took a picture of the Milky Way over the town of Borrego Springs, so even with some light pollution you can still see the Milky Way.

Enjoy, the quiet.

One Down Eleven to go

Yes, I took the challenge. It seems at one point and time when a photographer becomes interested in night photography, they chase the moon. I am chasing it this year. I took the first step tonight.

We are camping at Usery Regional Park near Mesa AZ. Our campsite is perfect to get a shot of the moon. Here is a jpeg of the moon getting ready to rise.

The clouds and mountains were still visible, this was about twenty minutes before the moon popped up. This is just a tease until I get home and process the other images.

I am going to experiment this year with taking the moon the day before it is full, this way you will be able to see more of the foreground. Next month the moon chase will bring me to Cottonwood AZ. The summer will see moons over Custer, SD and some place in the Rockies. I do promise to add milky way, star photographs, and creative things you can only see at night.

So please come along with me on this night time journey.

Joy at the Mailbox

Yes, it can happen. Mine, however, was short lived. No it wasn’t a tax refund, a PCH prize notification, or even an Amazon package, I see the envelope Jury Summons, my mind starts to race. Roy might get his wish, he got called. This is a man who has always wanted to be seated on a jury. He has come close twice. I’m getting happy and excited, then I see the name. Darcy Quimby, my mind shouted THIS IS INSANE! I will explain. I understand that serving on a jury is my civic duty. I would love too. The state of California says I can’t have a driver license because I can’t see or stay awake. (They do not live in Palm Desert, you know how many people can’t do this but still drive?) They will try and put me in charge of someone’s fate.

I can see this happening in my near future; I am sitting behind bars, I get asked why are you in here. Well here’s the short story. I get a jury summons, I get seated, I fall asleep.

I think if I did fall asleep it would be ok, until I argue with the judge that I was not sleeping. I do that sometimes when Roy is talking and I fall asleep. I do know that I will probably get medically excused, it just struck me as funny.

This is a short post I just thought I would share the insanity. I hope to bring you more snippets of life with MS this year. I am also getting ready to embark on at least two months of summer travel and wildlife pictures. We have reservations for Custer State Park in South Dakota. This year I promise not to be so scared of the burros.

It Does Exist

What is it you ask a magnet to snow. I feel all my life snow has followed me, possibly because I was born on the first day of spring and it snowed. In fact it snowed almost every year on my birthday when I was in a cool climate. I live in SoCal so it doesn’t snow on my birthday, it does however snow every time I go near a cold climate. For example, the trip to Reno for New Years Eve 2011 when the return trip took 18 hours in the snow, middle of summer on the Dempster Highway NWT, Las Vegas mountains Christmas 2019. More on the Christmas snow later.

So this Christmas we decided to go to Vegas and take Toni with us. We had a blast, did the cactus gardens at Ethel M’s https://www.ethelm.com/cactus-garden-lighting I will say there were quite a few people there I did manage to get a picture of some of the lighted angels, the garden covers 3 acres one of my thoughts was I hope they get paid well for stringing the lights through the cacti or wear heavy gloves.. At least the angels are placed among the cacti The gardens are open all year long but they really come to life around the holidays. I have to say this place has the best chocolate cover cherries. The factory is also open to take a tour and get a free sample. So I would have to say if you enjoy chocolate this is worth a stop when you are in Vegas. They even ship the wonderful chocolates year round.

Yes, we did treat ourselves to a diner experience at one of Gordon Ramsay Steak at Paris https://www.caesars.com/paris-las-vegas/restaurants/gordon-ramsay-steak#.XghMgEdKhPY Most restaurants will bring a cart showing what deserts are on the menu this place brought by the cuts of meat available. The wait staff was attentive we had a table on the second floor and were able to look down on the first floor.

What is something you think of doing during the Christmas season. Since childhood it has always been a dream to see the Nutcracker performed on stage. Last year was the first time I had the opportunity was last year Christmas Eve so if it is done once it becomes a tradition. This is my story. I was able to share the joy with Toni and Roy. That is the three of us before the show arrived a little early before the doors opened I do like being early. https://www.thesmithcenter.com/event/the-nutcracker-2/ This is a ballet any age can enjoy. I myself have become fond of the peacock.

Later that evening we headed out to drive through the Las Vegas Speedway Glittering Lights http://www.glitteringlightslasvegas.com/ You drive under the grandstands of the speedway and see light displays sponsored by local businesses there was actually a living Nativity scene something I have never seen before. Finishing up Christmas Eve we went back to the hotel/casino (strange because we always take the camper) to eat dinner at The Angry Butcher https://www.samstownlv.com/dine/the-angry-butcher . This place had me at Rack of Lamb very good. Sams Town Casino also has a indoor park atrium which features a water show on a small scale I will have pictures of this over New Years visit.

Finishing off the adventure of a Vegas Christmas we went to Twas The Knight at Excalibur https://excalibur.mgmresorts.com/en/entertainment/tournament-of-kings-holiday-show.html Fun fact Merlin’s costume is 34lbs. I myself had fun eating Cornish Hen with my hands and drinking a Pina Colada, Roy and Toni had wine in a can. I know Toni enjoyed the horse and Roy enjoyed the maidens and the food I myself loved the snow.

Speaking of the snow magnet me it does not snow that often in Southern California. So the morning we were due to leave I look out the window on the way down to get coffee in the morning and you can’t see the casinos on the strip it looks icky out. I new there was a chance of rain and mountain snow but thought we would get ahead of it. We did not the border to California was closed at Primm NV. For those not familiar with the I-15 headed into Vegas from Los Angles there outside of Baker CA is Mountain Pass with an elevation of 4730 feet so it was snowing and snowing total amount of snow that had to be cleared was over 3 1/2 feet. That amount of snow explains why it wasn’t opened the next morning when we planned on leaving. We took 95 out of Vegas and I still got to see snow in Searchlight Nevada and a little out of the way trip to 29 Palms and snow.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and Holiday season we are now off to Vegas for New Years to ring in the 20s. I just hope there is no snow but I think my magnetism is very active.

Headed Home

The time has flown by we’ve been on the road for over 3 months and will park it for a few weeks on Saturday the 14th. I will catch you up on photos once I’m home. I have to say this has been one of the more unique trips we’ve taken. I did scratch off lightsg the northern lights, and a lynx from my bucket list, now I want to photograph polar bears. I aim high.

I am looking forward to putting things in my new kitchen, I’m glad Toni and Sue were there to keep telling me it looks good. Here is the first photo we got back in June kit5

I was a little nervous when I saw that picture and also was glad that I was not there. We also had a new kitchen window and a sliding glass door installed. Here is the finished product kit1 I think I’m going to enjoy my kitchen might even learn to cook. No that won’t happen but I will enjoy doing the dishes more with a dishwasher that is not named DARCY. So now that you all have read my HGTV infomercial back to heading home.

An Amazing Town

Yellowknife NWT is the perfect location for the northern lights, diamonds, ice road in winter, the seat of government of NWT, and old town. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellowknife The whole area is built on rock or what is known as the Canadian Shield https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Shield It was funny knowing that the road will not be completely smooth and the rolls are not frost heaves. We did get to drive to the edge of the ice road made famous in the first season of Ice Road Truckers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_Road_Truckers we wanted to see where it would start in the winter. I do not think that’s a road I would want to travel although as kids we did drive on the ice on Lake Winnebago (ok I was young and crazy then). I am also glad Roy decided not to go for a swim with this picture you have to wonder how many did go for a swim. This is one time when stop means stop. There was construction on the way out to the end of the road at 4 trucks every 20 minutes the road into Yellowknife after getting off the ice can cause wear and tear. Here is an article about ice road trucking there is a 70% turn over in drivers http://www.go-explore-trans.org/post.cfm?ID=19059

Yellowknife down town area is like any urban city that is the seat of government. On a side note we were in Yellowknife on August 22nd which is the day that A&W Canada donates $2 of every teen burger to fight MS. https://mssociety.ca/resources/news/article/christine-sinclair-aw-canada-and-the-ms-society-of-canada-score-a-big-win-on-burgers-to-beat-ms-day Can you guess where we had lunch that day in Yellowknife? We do try to arrange the part of our trip that we will be in Canada during August, because of the day and they take donations all month.

One thing we did learn is the visitor center or so I say the old center is sinking into the water so trying to find the new one we passed by the legislative building of the NWT https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislative_Assembly_of_the_Northwest_Territories We explored the downtown area and came across this park with this UN tank. We did find the visitors center and found out that there was also a farmer’s market while we were going to be in town so of course we went.

This trip we have tried to buy local produce at the markets this one had entertainment, booths was in the park by City Hall. It did last for only two hours which was surprising. I was able to get a photo of Roy yakking it up.

I enjoyed walking around the booths and seeing the interactions of the locals.

It was interesting to see the variety of people in Yellowknife First Nations, people who are embracing a simpler life, then a hodge-podge of older people who call Yellowknife home. There is also a strong Oriental presence in their tourism industry, and local workforce. I don’t want to keep coming back to food but food this trip has been very good. Especially if you can get a total of 3 meals out of a dinner.

Some background on where most of the restaurants are located they are in old town. https://spectacularnwt.com/attraction/yellowknifes-old-town Remember I mentioned that Yellowknife is built on rock check out the link it gives a birds eye picture of old town. I would have to say that the area is condensed so parking is at a premium we did luck out though. Bullock’s Bistro https://extraordinaryyk.com/member-information/bullocks-bistro I have to say it is quirky there is writing all over the doors and the patio I don’t know when that started but I am now forever engraved on a piece of the door. (Thanks Roy). The food here is local seafood and good meat. Roy had Arctic Char it was cooked perfectly and I went with a bison steak extremely tender and yes we had leftovers. We also made it to a newer restaurant also on the suggestion of some locals we met when we stayed at Lady Evelyn Falls Territorial Park this one was a brewery the Woodyard https://www.nwtbrewingco.com/ from the website I thought would be too spicy I am glad Roy decided to try it anyways. It had flavor not hot spice is the only thing you taste. I was able to get a craft root beer which tasted better then A&W it was bottled and brewed in Canada not at the local brewery. The art outside the building was a cool photo-op

Roy had the bison short ribs I had a burger, we also had smoked fish potato salad the fish was smoked local inconnu fish and fried capers just to name a few ingredients almost worth a trip back to Yellowknife just to get some more.

Old town is also home to the Aurora Lighthouses these are little houses with beacons on top of them and will shine when the auroras are to be active. This one is located outside a gift store in old town notice the painting next to the lighthouse. Speaking of houses old town also hosts houseboat bay. It is a true off the grid experience. I was reminded of either a beach town in California or a town seaside town in Maine in this case the town is in the bay at least. https://spectacularnwt.com/attraction/houseboat-bay-0 Paddle to your front door in summer skate to the front door in winter. I don’t think any of the house were painted the same or were the same size. Old town has so much personality packed into just a few blocks. Check out the painting on this can and the big bug I found .

I have to say that being able to see the Northern Lights for so many nights of the year brings magic to this town.

They Danced

My quest to see and photograph the northern lights happened Thursday August 22nd. I am so glad I am able to share these pictures with you. I have to say the dance they put on were watched by Roy, me and a few others at the turn-out we chose to stop and watch, just check out the picture. The other thing I wanted to share is this is my 300th post. I think I’ve grown in this journey, I also hope you’ve enjoyed the adventures with me.

Speaking of adventures this trip has been a great one. I’ve learned you can not plan everything and when you stop looking it will happen. We traveled the Ingraham Trail another end of the road for Roy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingraham_Trail in the daylight to figure out where we should set up if we got the chance to see the dance. We were 40Km or about 25 miles from town so no light pollution. The town of Yellowknife gives out maps for places to see the northern lights we stopped at one turn-out and realized there were too many people waiting for the lights to begin dancing so down the road we went. It was a tad chilly (39F) standing out taking pictures but well worth it. I also just took some time watching the way they ebbed and flowed pictures do not do them justice. I also shared the moment with a young woman who also had never seen the lights and she was also in awe.

The moon was starting it’s third quarter phase so it did not dampen or dim the lights. I played with some lighting effects where they say you should wash the foreground in light from a flashlight well I unintentionally used the taillights of our jeep. I hope you enjoy the building that was lit. Here is one picture of the building not bathed in light. I do like this picture better because I can let everyone including me believe that it is a warming hut. (it could be used as one). Here is another example of bathing in light, I snapped the picture when the car was pulling out on purpose. This is one more where you can see a light trail I did try to do a selfie that did not turn out well, I was afraid of exposing for 30 seconds so here is the first effort at the selfie. The lights were ever changing and it seemed some of the better lights happened on the way home. I turned into a wimp and got to cold to stay real late.

I have to say this journey of 300 posts has been unbelievable. The first year of the trip I wrote every night and posted no pictures. This was the year that we did a busman holiday although I did get to experience the bears on Kodiak. The second year was all about eagles, the third year was my 50th birthday and photo trip with Lisa Langell and I hope you enjoyed those pictures. This year has been about reaching for the northern lights. I am sharing a few more pictures from the first night of lights. This picture has grown on me it was taken outside the trailer and backlit by a motion sensor light. The 23rd we had rain the 24th we chose a different location and I’m still working on those. I do have to say I am not used to staying up so late so I’ve been sleeping late into the afternoon. So the Yellowknife blogs will be coming soon. On a semi-sad note tomorrow the 26th is the time in our trip that we are now heading home.

The First Time

Get your mind out of the gutter. Made you smile I did. I know I’m jumping ahead but I thought you might want to enjoy this with me in almost real time as it happened over the 16th and 17th of August. We were driving from Fort Resolution area and talking about what animals we have not seen on this trip moose came up and no we still have not seen one. We talked about we thought might have been a lynx that crossed way up in front of us early in the trip. So driving further down the road dodging a few rain drops and coming up to our turn off for Enterprise and Lady Evelyn Falls we were close enough to be positive that it was a lynx this time. They really do exist to quote my favorite candy commercial. Once it felt our presence it started to bounce across the road when it was safely across it just glimpsed at us to say HI! It is on the dash cam.

Upon checking into the park we set up and the sky had begun to clear up. I was getting my hopes up because I was able to check the aurora forecast from NOAA https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast# Roy and I counted back the hours from UTC time and figured when the best chance to see them would be. That time frame was between 1:45 am to 2:30 am we decided to not set up the camera as I did not want to have to worry about exposure my first time. So our time frame set we stayed up late, turned off the lights in the trailer, got adjusted to the dark, put on some layers, and head outside. Our campsite is surrounded by trees even though it was a clear night I was concerned that it might not happen. Roy thought he caught some green dancing in the north near the horizon between the trees but nothing over head. Back inside we go shed some layers and wait. I went out about 2:15 let my eyes adjust before I went out put on some layers (34 degrees) waited nothing. I came back in and decided we will try in Yellowknife. Roy goes out one last time at 2:30 am to check next thing I hear in a whispered voice is get your clothes on quick (28 degrees). I did! Never before had I been told to get dressed so quickly. Outside and directly over head we see a bright sorta neon green ribbon that lasted about 30 seconds. I was in awe, enamored, over joyed and just tickled pink or should I say green. I will tell you I’m still all of those things

I would like to say it did not last long but it was sooooooooooooooooooooooo AMAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZING for a first time. I am hoping I can share some photos in the near future of the dancing northern lights with you.

Big DADDY

This part of the trip we spent some time exploring Wood Buffalo National Park https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_Buffalo_National_Park it is the largest National Park of Canada. This is the link to the Parks site https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nt/woodbuffalo/decouvrir-discover The road that travels through the park I will say the first part ends before Fort Smith and the second part goes out of Fort Smith in to Alberta, so it makes Fort Smith a perfect spot to day trip out of. I am also wrapping all of the animal sightings and features we discovered in this one blog.

They also grow the Buffalo quite large here are two big daddy buffalo

I have to say I really believe size matters in the Northwest Territories and Alberta. We haven’t begun to come close to exploring the whole park but did drive out to the Salt Plains Viewpoint https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/nt/woodbuffalo/activ/2015act6 and you can see forever. A photo does not do it justice but I tried then you can see from where the viewing platform is how expansive the plains are . We were lucky enough to actually see a black bear run across the plains dodging in and out of the clusters of trees using the viewers on the platform. We did not do the walk down the path but were able to watch a few hikers attempt . We told them how close they were to a bear though, it did not phase them. Also along the 11 km (6.8 miles) dirt road is the turn off for the other end of a 4×4 trail it is only 54 km (33.5 miles) Roy discovered yesterday the 13th. I have to say he hasn’t lost all his marbles this trip.

Now back to the buffalo. The first day we are greeted to some courtship in a sand hole that the buffalo actually stayed for us not camera shy here. Although I think she might be saying not now. I would have to say there were about 10 to 14 in this herd just standing or laying around. The life not a care in the world. It is quite a sight to see how skittish these large animals are because they do not see a bunch of human traffic. This first group of buffalo was where we encountered Big Daddy number 1. Yes I do think his butt is big in this picture. More of that first group. There were not many large groups of buffalo we did see a few large single males. I think Roy was having an intense mind meld with this guy, or they were trying to compare beard lentghs. I wasn’t going to ask. I did take a closer picture and discovered that this was another big boy just hanging by himself. For the record Roy has the better beard but Big Daddy 2 has the better head of hair even if it looks like a mohawk. We also saw a group of three buffalos on the way out of the park it was Eenie Meenie Miney … Mo buffalo. Here you see what happens when I accidently get the door mirror in the picture. He is charging the mirror my story and sticking to it

The park is also the world’s largest dark sky preserve every year they have a festival in the park usually the last weekend in August. http://www.tawbas.ca/ I do still have my eye to the sky in the hopes I will see them this year.

We drove into the second part of the park we stopped at the Salt River Day Use Area and saw a golden eagle perched on a log looking for dinner no luck at capturing this massive bird on film. We’ve seen two in the wild and have yet to catch them on film. That is another one for the bucket list, along with the whooping crane. The park has areas that the whooping cranes nest and raise their young. I was able to work on more of my landscape layouts by catching the reflection of the cliffs in the river I took the shot from the bridge.

There is one campground in the park that can handle RVs it is called Pine Lake and is also the area where the dark skies event is held. I had fun exploring this whole area of wilderness with the small towns along the way.