Maguire Peaks

Maguire Peaks

A not-too-distant photo of one of the far corners of Sunol Regional Wilderness. Maguire Peaks sits at the northern-most point of the park, and from the far side of those hills you can see parts of Pleasanton and i680. (And likewise, see these twin peaks while traveling south on i680.) I once spotted a mountain lion and her cubs on the trail out at those peaks. Needless to say I stopped and waited for her to head down the hill before continuing on.

Wintering in Florida

Wintering in Florida

A (mangrove?) tree grows alongside the Manatee River in Ellenton, FL. I was on a business trip in Tampa recently and I took a spin down to visit my folks for a day. This is the view from behind their complex, minus a telephone pole and some wires.

Directions in Boston's North End

Directions in Boston's North End

It's no secret that Boston's "North End" is predominately Italian. This modified fire alarm pole appears to offer directions to some of the more popular neighborhoods.

If you ever do get this part of Boston and you're looking for great pastries, here's a good thing to know... the tourists go Mike's, and those in the know go to Maria's.

Love parots

Love parots

A little bit of playing with Photoshop this morning. I had a few shots of these birds in a shop window in Park City, Utah. Unfortunately I was not able to properly expose them against the window without blowing out the background or underexposing the birds. So, a few minutes with the select and gradient tools, and now there's a workable photo here. Maybe I'll try putting them over some new background another day.

Haleakala panorama

Haleakala panorama

A wide panoramic view of the Haleakala National Park wilderness area. This was stitched together from three or four photos taken from one of the visitor overlooks at the top of the volcano.

Sunset on Oahu

Sunset on Oahu

Digging back to a week we spent in with friends in Hawaii. This was a lovely sunset from a beach near their house.

Two redheads on Diamondhead

Two redheads on Diamondhead

Looking down from a peak on Diamond Head I noticed these two redheads standing in my view.

Climbing Haleakala

Climbing Haleakala

On the way up the volcano the life on the ground became increasingly sparse. There's very little growing at this altitude, and in a couple thousand move feet there will be little more than volcanic rock on the ground. We can already look out over the clouds and we're not even half way up the mountain yet.

Sliding Sands Trail

Sliding Sands Trail

There are a lot of trails in the Haleakala wilderness area that allow hikers to explore and get a close-up view of the volcanic cinder cones. From where we are standing we can see the head of the Sliding Sands Trail heading off into the crater. Our short visit didn't allow any exploration of the crater, but am I glad I was able to get such fantastic photos from the visitor overlooks.

Morning on Maui

Morning on Maui

Looking out over the blue ocean where the night before we had watched an amazing sunset.

Sunset cruise in Maui

Sunset cruise in Maui

A large tour boat heads back to harbor while the sun makes an impressive show of color against the evening sky.

Playing with the sunset

Playing with the sunset

A group of children play in the water's edge at a beach in Honolulu as the sun casts its final rays into the evening sky.

Honolulu waterfront

Honolulu waterfront

A view of the beaches and waterfront at Honolulu on Oahu, Hawaii. This picture was taken from Diamond Head, and Pearl Harbor lies in the distance before the hills.

Boat and hibiscus

Boat and hibiscus

A view of the ocean in Hawaii as we walked one morning. I'm pretty sure this was taken on Maui. Our week was spent mostly on Oahu, but we did go to Maui for one day to see some friends who were there on a business trip.