Whale Watching Trip June 2014

Since most of our whale watching trips happen in the winter, which is Gray Whale migration, I figured to try a different season.  These are Humpback Whales.  Still have yet to see one breach.

Anyway, here a some whale pictures.

Russo Dolphins

Here are some pictures of other animals seen on the way.  The Monterey area is really nice for general aquatic viewing.

Einstein Day

Black Pine Circle (BPC) bid to make The Guinness Book of World Records for the most people dressed like Einstein.  This took place in March of 2015 but did not become official until November of the same year.  It was truly a unique experience both for my daughter and for me as an observer.  (I was going to participate but they ran out of wigs.)  Everything was rather scientific with a grid system that the kids had to stay in.  This allowed the volunteers to effectively count the kids and made sure everyone kept the attire on for the appropriate amount of time.  Oh and it ended up being a rather hot day for March but everyone pulled through and the official count  was 305.  I believe 315 was the unofficial count, so loosing 10 was not that bad.  So here are a couple of pictures that I took of that day.

Pt San Pablo

This is a little area right off from the Richmond - San Rafael Bridge.  Exit right before the toll plaza.

This first is a picture of The Brothers bed and breakfast.

Now a arty picture and a view of the bridge.  This was more of a day to relax since very few people know of this area.

Yosemite Oct 2014

Ok, this has been a while.  I've not posted travel shots here since Apple stopped supporting Aperture.  Well that is a poor excuse, but I did have trouble converting to a new workflow.  Thus many, many pictures and a new processing method and I think I'm starting to get into things again.

Anyway, I will be posting back travel as I get things finished but I don't think I'll post things in order.  That is just too organized for me.

So what have I replaced Aperture with?  For now it is DxO Optics Pro 10.  It seems to have matured since I purchased it at Pro 8 or I have started to get used to how it does things, either way I've started to learn it.

So this was our trip to Yosemite in October 2014.  This was the 3rd year of the 4 year drought and we did not get back to the same areas in 2015.

So this is Half Dome from Glacier Point.  This was actually my first time to Glacier Point which is surprising since we go to Yosemite almost every year.  This second picture is of Vernal Falls.  I do not have a good idea about how the drought affected this falls but we will see later how small it has become since we hiked there later that weekend.

 

These two are Nevada Falls.  Close up and of the valley.  These falls are right above Vernal and you can see the edge of Vernal in the second picture.

Now we come to Bridalveil Falls.  Alway like stopping here for a short visit but the last two times our daughter loves to climb on the rocks and hike all the way to under the falls.

These last ones I am standing basically under the falls.

This is now at Vernal Falls.

The second one is of the upper lake above Vernal and the water flow over the rocks is from the Nevada Falls.

Ok picture of a Sequoia.

Lastly, we stay at Yosemite Lakes, in a Yurt.  Interesting stay, pretty nice, rustic but not too much.  But it did allow me to get out and take some night shots.  The Yurt under the stars.