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After a hike with the tigers, we all wanted to see a bit more so we all headed home to pack up the bus and off we went. I wanted to drive some of 285 with the kids as it’s a very nice area to drive through, problem there isn’t a great way to get there from Parker. We decided to drive some small dirt roads that followed the Platte river. That turned out to be a great choice as we got to just cruise between some beautiful mountains of CO. The river was beautiful and made me want to start to learn fly fishing as there were several groups of people enjoying that sport. One somewhat hairy part of the road was a 12% grade down on loose dirt, the bus did great and we all made it through just fine. We continues to cruise north and eventually stumbled across 285. I wanted to see a bit more scenery so we turned south on 285 and headed towards Kenosha pass. 10,000 feet is quite a chore for a loaded down bus, it performed great however we just went up the pass quite slow. Once we got there we walked for a few minutes & soaked up the scenery. I also got the family to take a group photo, which the kids also wanted a “goofy” photo.

Once back in the bus we headed back north for just a few minutes to the Colorado Trail where the aspens were starting to change to a beautiful gold. I was hoping to be out sometime to catch some of the color, but right place, right time I guess. While exploring the area and walking part of the trail we found the remains of an old railroad track complete with a track switch. All the kids loved working with that for a little while. At the end of the track was part of the trail which lead to an overlook. I also got the opportunity to train for the WDW trip by hiking with Olivia on my shoulders for most of the way. The wind blowing through all the aspen leaves was fantastic & so relaxing. A few minutes later we headed back to the bus and got on the road again.

Our route turned north in Grant, CO where we did some more climbing in the bus and drove through Guanella Pass which sits at 11669 ft. The bus performed like a champ with this as well. As a treat we drove by The Old Geneva Basin Ski Area and looked up a bit of history when we got home. 118 Winds it’s way north into Georgetown with a fantastic payoff at the end of a breathtaking overlook of the entire town from above in the mountains. I hate driving I-70 in the bus so our path was east on hwy 40 as far as Idaho Springs where we stopped for some food. It was getting late and the girls had plans for a sleepover so our next destination was home.

I had a great time but really need to find a combination of gps/software to allow me to track where I drive & also generate a map for reference in the future. I guess I’ll keep an eye out.

Well after going in to the local camera store here in town to just “look” at a 17-55mm lens. I walked out with a D200. I really wanted the D2Xs, however there is a huge difference in price. I was impressed with the clean 1600 iso images also it felt like a tank. I hope to really put it to work.

here are some studio shots of my favorite kids in the Halloween costumes.119894119896
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Well I now have a fantastic working F4. This thing works and feels great. Don’t get me wrong, I will not put that digital up anytime soon, but at least I can take a good camera with me always and not worry about Steph not having one to capture any family moments. Looks like I’ll need to invest in a good scanner to put film on the web.

While I have not received my Valentines gift yet I informed my wife how nice it was for her to buy me a nice used F4. I can’t wait to get this so I can take some film pictures again. I really like the digital, but sometimes I wish for some good Illford 100 B&W film to play with and make me spend more time composing the shot than knowing that the digital film is free. I’ll report back after it arrives

Well I managed to get one of the Nikon Speedflash SB-800. I can’t say enough good things about this flash unit. It does lots more than my skills can manage currently. One neat thing is the remote flash feature. I’ll hopefully get some shots using it at some point, but for now just spending time learning flash photography. There are a few of my first shots here

I’m very pleased to announce a new addition to the family. Last week I got to buy a Nikon D70. As you no doubt can tell this is at least 60 more than a similar Cannon D10 It has sure kindled my desire of photography again and I hope to start posting a collection of shots I like every week. Look for them in the gallery.

Well after complaining about how my Digital camera really bites I got to get a good digital. I’m hoping I can start to take a few pics every day and post them. Check in the gallery for some posts