Earlier this year, I camped out on the Continental Divide between Idaho and Montana. I also peed into two watersheds.....at the same time!

Most Recent Trip: Norway / Denmark

I just returned from a trip to Norway with a side trip to Denmark, visiting my friends Anita, Arve, and their daughter, Ina. I had a great time, in no small part to my hosts and their extensive planning efforts. Upon arrival, 3 hours early, Anita and Ina came to pick me up at the airport. From there, we went to the house and picked up a few things before heading off to their cabin, a few hours' drive away, where Arve met us for a weekend of fun. The cabin is perched on a hilltop overlooking a fjord, and is near only 3 other cabins - remote but fully modern inside. What an escape! In the morning, we all headed to Arve's home town, Odda, which is famous for its fruit orchards. We stayed at Arve's mom's house - she was vacationing in Spain - and her house has a fantastic view along yet another fjord.

The next day (Saturday?) started off rainy, but that didn't stop us from going fruit-shopping, directly at the orchards. Arve's long-time friend, Oysten, has a plum orchard and his family treated us to waffles and cases of plums. Later that day, we went hiking up to a glacier. It was a good hike but a bit steeper than what I'm used to. So, as a result, I was passed up by an old man, Anita who was carrying Ina, and Arve who was following their dog, Bajas. By the way, their dog is a wirehaired dachshund!

On Sunday, Anita, Ina and I headed to Kristiansand to catch the ferry to Denmark in the morning. Finding an open restaurant there at 9 pm was quite difficult. Unfortunately, Anita received a speeding ticket along the way - I offered to play 'dumb tourist' but she wouldn't let me. The next morning, we were on the 3 hour ferry to Denmark. Anita reserved seats in the restaurant, so we were guaranteed a comfy place to sit, an all-you-can-eat buffet, and a child seat. We dressed Ina in her "pooping in progress" shirt, which was quite unfortunate, because she lived up to that statement several times that day. The girl is certainly a trooper - loves travel, and has been to more countries before the age of 1 than I had visited by the time I was 23!!

In Denmark, we did a bit of shopping. I found a *killer* pair of black knee-high boots, a nice top, and a chic jacket. We also stopped at a Wal-Mart like grocery store to buy LOTS of meat, cheeses, and other supplies. Later that week, Anita and Arve were holding two birthday parties for Ina's first birthday, in addition to hosting a houseful of guests the following weekend. Thankfully, we had a refrigerated cooler. It was much cheaper to take the ferry to Denmark to purchase the quantity of meat and supplies needed.

On Tuesday, we went back to the house in Stavanger to unload groceries, relax, and spend some time with Arve. Unfortunately, my flight back was Wednesday morning, and I returned to work on Thursday (albeit hit by jetlag pretty strongly in the afternoon).

On my flight back, I had the pleasure of being seated next to a cultural anthropologist (what I would be if I could choose professions). She had just spent 3 weeks in Finland studying and researching native folk art. We had a great series of conversations, between laughing at the in-flight movie, Sunshine Cleaning. (The Hangover was not showing on that flight :-().

Anyway, I'll add a few photos here and more single photos above. Enjoy! And Thanks, Anita & Arve!!

Danish Modern Architecture

Unbelievable - a Lamborghini Tractor!!

Oysten's family's plum orchard

Ina is eager to stark hiking!

Drive-By Shooting: taken while riding in the car

Great Driving, Great Scenery

Yes, Caviar in a Tube

Arve and Bajas, the Mountain Climbing Daschund

Me and Ina

Danish Street View during 2-week Denmark Birthday Celebration

Church Interior

Church Interior

Danish Delinquents

Old Danish Church - initially started in 1060

Old Danish Building

Very Unfortunate - ticket time

View from the Top

View from an old road - note the snow patches at the top

Reaching the Glacier! (at left)

Fun Footbridge over Freezing Water!!

Sweaty, Drizzled Goofball Alert!!

Anita, Ina, Arve, and Bajas on our Glacier Hike

Glacial Runoff

View from Glacier Hiking Trail. Note the village area below...and the lake beyond it...

Hiking up toward the glacier. Note how seemingly tropical this looks, with the moss and ferns...

Typical Roadside Waterfall

Cloudy morning drive

Roadside Fjord View

View from Anita and Arve's Cabin

Arve at the cabin on the fjord...

Think they're related?

This is my Norwegian friend Anita, and her daughter Ina

New Month, New Destination - Montana! Road Post #1

I was planning on doing a little daily blogging from the road, but opted not to lug my laptop along with me. Having an iphone is enough but it's difficult to blog. So, on occasion, I'll post some short updates on this blog as my trip progresses. So far, so good - no travel hangups, delays, or other misfortuntes.

True to form, however, I have forgotten to pack something. This has become an unfortunate habit. At least for thsi trip, my forgetfulness has a minor and completely remedy-able impact. I forgot to pack socks. I'm in Montana, to hike and camp and experience other outdoor adventures yet to be experienced - and I have no socks for my hiking boots. Fortunately, tonite I'm in Butte and there is a great local outdoors supply store nearby. I just know they'll have ThorLo socks. Or SmartWool.

Otherwise, I've been scribbling notes in my new moleskine. One of the things I love most about a trip is that it opens my head up to think. Aussies go walkabout; I go drive-about. The open landscape, sky, and road are apparently precursors of an open mind, for me. I begin to remember what inspiration and creativity feel like, and the timeliness of the landscape helps reset my internal nanosecond, multitasking, frenzied clock.

Today I'm road weary and just a touch pink on my 'driving arm'. It's a laundry night (apparently I packed a dirty outfit or two...) and an early morning exploring Butte's mining history before heading further Northerly-ish.

Chicago, IL - May, 2009

Click here to see a Picasa slide show link to the snapshots taken thus far.

April trip to Houston

I traveled to Houston on April 23 through May 2 recently for work - a very productive trip. In addition, I was able to visit family and friends while there - including one friend I haven't seen in 20 years!!! Here are a few snapshots from that trip -

Me & Brad Moore at his new Big Star Bar - I'm indicating to Martin where the photo button is on the camera, and nothing more -

Martin, me & Patrica. Martin looks this way because he's trying to hold the camera far enough away for a good portrait, after some failed attempts...this one he's got!

Me and my Sister From Another Mother - Patricia Hernandez

Friday Night at Poison Girl

Somehow, San Felipe is *still* under construction.

Kyle sleeping with Sienna

Aunt Kristi and Casey

Meanwhile, back home, the Lilacs have blooomed!!

New Website Launched!!!

After much work, WorldWideGlimpses the Website has been resurrected. WorldWideGlimpses the blog will continue as a basic communication site about what is going on at the website, or with me in general. Thanks for your continued readership, and please check out the new site!

Countdown to Weblaunch - April 15th! Tax Day!

COMING SOON!!! New Website!!

I have resurrected my www.worldwideglimpses.com website (vs. this blogsite). It is not yet active and will be a professional photography website featuring, of course, my photos. Much of this blog will be archived but it will remain active as a posting place for a number of whimsical things. Keep posted!

And Now, for Something Completely Different...

...a few snapshots of an Austin, TX sunset, thanks to Russel B...

The Recession is hitting Denver Pretty Hard....

....and apparently driving the McGoverns (Marty, Gabe, and Kendra) back into the 19th century!

No caption needed...

....and More Snow!!!!

I love it.......

Finally! Real SNOW!

Living this close to Canada, this is the kind of snow I expect in December. Better late than none...with more to come, yay!

Singapore Daydreaming

Got a nice card from my friends at Lanson Place, where I lived in Singapore. Gotta love Google Earth: here is an aerial image of the roooftop pool. It's over the bridge between two buildings, just above the caption...

Ice Storm.......woo hoo!

So, we've had a tiny recent ice storm. It was actually sleet, but on top of a thin layer of snow and ice. The problem was that the temp was 32, and the sleet had been coming down for hours. So, everything - I mean everything - was coated with ice. The hard part? 32 was to be the warmest temp for several days. It's Sunday, December 21st, the first official day of winter. Appropriately enough, the temp outside is 7, but with the wind - gusting up to 40 mph - the wind chill temp is between -15 and -20. But today, at least, it's half-assed sunny. The next time we move above the freezing point is Wednesday, on Christmas Eve, when we'll hit 40 -with rain. yay, wintertime in NW Ohio...

The hard part for some folks in town is tree deadfall and downed power lines. Fortunately I haven't experienced that yet - but as a backup plan, I can always walk to work a half mile away - and make coffee! Oh, and I'm all set with a ton of wood and a wood stove. At any rate, here are some photos of our ice, which is going to be around for a few more days -


For this one, I was outside, and though sheltered, still couldn't avoid the falling sleet.




Brrr!!!

My Animals are So Great.....

Of course, any animal parent would say the same, but mine really are. In case you've been wondering how Djiini & Kathman are doing, here are some updates!

Below, Kathman is on one of his favorite posts, on top of the wall unit...that angled thing behind him is actually the narrow stairway to the upstairs.


Djiini, who is notorious about avoiding a camera at all costs, must have let her guard down for me to capture this one. I love her death-ray aimed at Kathman, who was inadvertently walking by a hidden doggie bone.


And finally, Kathman has decided to learn to read. He loves to sit on the TV stand - in this case, he seems really interested in Humana's health benefits for AARP members.

Smart Squirrels!

I found this out in the front crabapple tree the other day - it's a small gourd that was part of my Halloween yard decorations. The squirrels (there are 2 that live in the back yard and play in the front) wedged it into the fork of two branches, resulting in a little gourd-ateria!

I couldn't help myself....mwa ha ha ha...

Halloween Decor

Punkin' Carving 2008

This was my first ever pumpkin carving event, at the age of 39. What a sheltered life I must be living! My friend and his children came over to show me how it's done. Amid pizza, root beer, and a break to warm up and watch the Simpsons, we ended up with some real show-stoppers, I think!!

The pumpkin guts were truly disgusting. I'd heard that they smelled bad, which I didn't really find to be true - but getting the stuff out of the pumpkin wasn't nearly as easy as I thought. I started with a big soup ladle, went to a serving spoon, and then a regular tablespoon - it's hard work. But at some point, it seems inevitable that you have to just roll up your sleeves, shove your hand in, and pull out the goop. Which made me feel a bit like doing what I intended for my pumpkin to do......

I can't take original credit for that - think it's a classic - but all those pumpkin guts, as we called them, came in handy for this guy.

Mwa ha ha ha haaaaaa!

The Evolution of a Bedroom

The Before...

And the After.....

I KNEW it!!!!!!

They ARE having an affair!

Photos from recent trips

Washington, D.C. Note the cool orange eclipse - my rental sportster - and the proximity of my streetside parking spot in front of the Capitol!

....and adjacent to the newest Smithsonian addition, the Museum of the Native American Indians. The architecture was breathtaking. Part of the landscape are some rows of corn, sheltering beans and gourds growing on the ground. The Capitol in the background provides an interesting juxtaposition.

From the interior; a kiva-inspired dome.



Lone tree, South Dakota

Gary's horses nuzzling.....


Badlands, South Dakota


Djiini is good about tolerating my occasional quick photo stops.....note chin resting on dashboard!


Djiini is confused - it's snowing, but I'm wearing my vacation lei! (note the snow flakes on her nose)

Later that day, at the river that runs through Gary's ranch....





Hiking in the Big Horns, Wyoming


Wild Horses (there were more but I could only get two in one frame because of their spread).
Christmas in September! In the Big Horns, we encountered a bit of snow one day.....followed by a day at lower elevation (and much hotter!).

So, I think I've found my first ever Christmas Card Photo in September......


On a recent trip to Wyoming and back, I took my dog Djiini. To make up for some doggie photos to come, I'm posting an image of Kathman here....kind of a cat and doggie karma.

South Dakota: sunflowers. Giant, big-as-your-head sunflowers.


Crazy Horse, South Dakota.
Seems to me it is taking an awfully long time to complete this sculpture. In fact, an Egyptian pyramid could have been built in the time it has taken this sculpture to reach its current state. Egyptian as in ancient & without tools. I think it's a shame that such a wonderful tribute and idea has been so long delayed.

Djiini at Gary's house, Hyattville, Wyoming.

Travel photos coming soon.....

So far in September this year, I've done a bit of travel - driving from NW Ohio to Wyoming and back, and then flying to Washington D.C. (and staying in Virginia). So, in less than 2 weeks, I've been to:
Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana (and back), Washington D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

Unfortunately I haven't been super photography oriented during these trips, but there are some worthwhile images that will be posted here soon.

What's your Geography IQ?

Well, mine was 112...which I'm not sure is good. The only issue: If the map were larger, you could actually see specs on the map such as Easter Island or the Maldives. Good fun, though! Good luck -

Yellow......

The sunflowers are from the yard, and I hear that a squirt of lemon helps preserve them as cut flowers. Not sure if that's true or not, but I picked up a lemon yesterday. Oddly, Kathman is crazy about this lemon. He has 'kneaded' it several times, no doubt releasing some lemon oil essence. I couldn't help but snap a photo - the yellow of the hibiscus outside - the flowers - the lemon - and a little yellow glint in his eye just seemed to jump out at me.

Here Comes the Sun(flower)

Turns out the overspill from the bird feeder provides a delayed gift. Unfortunately, the squirrels like them...so the day after these photos were taken, all that was left of this sunflower was a bare stalk and some petal remains on the back deck. Which is where, I suppose, those buggers like to sit, relax, and dine.

Anita & Arve, Photo Gold!

Well, going through the 1000+ photos from Anita & Arve has been a thrill! Thank goodness for high speed wireless.... I think it's about time for another vacation visit...

You All Apparently Want Homemade Cherry Pie...or, Home-Made Cherry Pie, redux

In reviewing some site statistics, the most repeated google search landing visitors to the site are those searching for some alphabetical variation of home made cherry pie. Last year, I posted an entry about just such a thing when visiting friends in Wyoming. With a photo. Here is that photo, and just so that those searchers actually find what they're probably looking for - a recipe instead of a photo - I'm posting that here as well. Bon Appetit!

Homemade Cherry Pie Recipe
Stuff you’ll need:

• Pastry for Two-Crust Pie
• 4 cups of fresh de-stemmed and de-pitted cherries
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter

Stuff you’ll need to Prepare:

• Preheat oven to 425F
• Prepare pastry for Two Crust Pie - 9 inch pans.
• Prepare pie pans (glass or metal: add a touch of oil, butter, Pam, etc - to extra-non-stick it).

Stuff you’ll need to Do:

1. Combine cherries, sugar and flour and blend lightly. Most recipes advise adding a splash of almond extract, but I'm not sure why.
2. Taste your cherries. Are they a touch too sweet? Add a splash of lemon juice. Too tart? Add a squirt of honey.
3. Spoon into pastry shell.
4. Apply a little butter/margerine here and there.
5. Add the second pastry shell to the top, or use it to make a lattice crust.
6. Fold edges of top pastry under bottom pastry.
7. Press together to seal and flute edges.
8. Cut slits in several place in top of pastry.
9. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until juice bubbles through the top crust.

Alternative / Options:
Create a show-stopping top crust by applying an egg wash and some raw sugar crystals!!

• To create an egg wash you’ll need an egg yolk and a splash of water, and a new ~2” paintbrush.
• Blend an egg yolk and a teaspoon of water. If the wash doesn’t appear to be easily spreadable with your brush, you may gradually add a little more water – but be careful of making the mixture too runny.
• Brush mixture on the top pastry of your pie – whether lattice or whole crust.
• This yeilds a shiny, golden-brown effect to the pie crust. Additionally, it allows things to stick – like a couple of sprinkles of raw sugar crystals. For the same effect, but with less shine, use the whole egg.
• For an additional neat presentation effect, use a decorative item to press into your pie shell fluting. Examples are something with grooves, lines, patterns, etc. If the texture is flexible, it can be wrapped around a pencil, using the pencil to press in the fluting
• Finally, add a sprig of spearmint (not catmint) to the top for presentation zing.

Norwegians Sweep America!!

I wonder how many erroneous futbol or rugby hits that title might gain.....

Well, my short trip with my Norwegian friends Anita & Arve is over, and they're on their way back to Norway today. Somehow, I didn't end up taking a lot of photos of Las Vegas. That truly is another planet.

The Norwegians Have Arrived!!

Anita & Arve (pronounced like Ave, kind of) arrived on Monday, June 2, and we quickly proceeded to the grocery store to load up on a few necessities. Like an extra "big ass" suitcase for their trip, in which they could pack their extra purchases. And of course, beer, wine, brats, and other bbq accouterments. The bbq went off without a hitch, with some new and old friends and co-workers enjoying a meal graciously cooked up by my friend Jim, who took on grilling duties.

Exploring Amish Country, and Colorado.....

Day 2 of our adventure began with our having a little time on our hands prior to our 7 pm flight out of Detroit. So, after a quick breakfast, we hopped on south a bit to explore an Amish area. I've gone out into Amish country before, but had not previously seen so many Amish people. You couldn't throw a rock without seeing an Amish person. And then we realized: Because of Anita's pregnancy, she's a good luck charm. Every time from this point on during our trip that Anita said, "I'd love to see _______!", it would literally appear around the next corner. This included marmot, buffalo, elk, a condor, Amish, snow-covered mountains, good weather ......you name it. There are too many examples to recall.

Despite arriving at our Denver hotel at 1 am due to storms in Chicago (long story), we were raring to go the next morning. I should mention that I am often cursed in rental car arrangements at Denver International. And it appears this is contagious. On one previous trip there to pick up a rental and explore Wyoming, I was 'upgraded' from a basic economy to....an electric-spandex-lame-ass-blue PT Cruiser. Good mileage and drive, but ugh, what an ugly freakin' car. Such was our luck - queer blue color and all - on this trip. Hopefully we won't also hit an elk.

At any rate, our Colorado venture was essentially a LONG day of driving across it on I-70. Wanting to break up the scenery a bit, we had time for one side trip, and that was to the top of Mt. Evans. This mountain, along with Pike's Peak, is one of two in the country that have a paved road to the surface and whose summits are over 14,000 feet (or over 4200 meters). The highest peak in Norway is 2,469 meters (8,100 feet). En route to the top, we encountered marmots, road mice, and even some scavaging mountain goats before they were able to see a span of the Rocky Mountains laid out before them. Below: road marmot - found an erosion-created pothole that he called home, which I'm sure was warm, but noisy as hell when cars rolled over. And not very life-preserving!

Now, we all know about not touching wildlife, but this miniscule little bugger was literally sunning himself in the middle of the (thin) blacktop roadway. We stopped and tried to wave him to the side of the road, but he went instead under the car. So, Arve picked him up and moved him to a nice, flat, warm rock on the side of the road, where he stayed - at least until we drove away.

Utah - Red Rock Country

After whizzing through Colorado, our next leg was to take us just into Utah on I-70 and then cutting south toward Moab, and along the east side of the state. We were in Moab at the onset of a gale force wind, announcing a fast-moving storm. It was fantastic! During our time in Utah, I kept mentioning I'd never seen it so pretty so late in the spring - there was much remaining green, and having actual cloud cover was fantastic. My last camping route through the area was in May, prior to Memorial Day a few years ago, and the heat (at 92 degrees) was unbearable - mostly due to the lack of any possibility of cloud cover. We had great weather for our trip, in fact keeping us quite cool until we reached Vegas (at 102). Some Utah pics:


This is probably my favorite: Fisher Towers on the left; Colorado River at the bottom; snow-capped La Sal mountains behind. yay!

A real-life tumbleweed on a fantastic reddy-purple sandstone background.

The electric-spandex-discotronic PT Cruiser. PS: Chrysler, I'd be glad to lease you a copy of this image...

Onset of storm. This literally blew in during the time it took us to fill up the tank on the car, and take a bathroom break. There were trashcans rolling down the street.

Heading south from Moab, adjacent to Canyonlands. Some real, and some ghost rain.


Mmmm.....red geology........




The goosenecks of the San Juan River.

Grand Canyon 08, with Norwegians

We made it to the Grand Canyon with plenty of daylight left to eat, shop, and do a little hiking before sunset. And, in keeping with our trip's trend, just as Anita was wishing to see elk, they seemed to stumble right across our pathway - nibbling on the grass in front of Bright Angel Lodge.







And Arve, the perennial quiet humorist, has a great sense of physical comedy!


Hufta!!

Watch out, Vegas.......

Anita & Arve arrive in the morning, and we'll launch into our whirlwind tour of the West - Denver to Vegas, via Moab, Canyonlands, Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, and the Skywalk bridge. More to come soon!

Congratulations, Nepal! You new Republic, you.....

In another post of shameless self-promotion, I present to you another photo of mine published by a news service, regarding a topic especially close to my heart. Nepal! And its newborn freedom!

And here's a link to this story (my photo, ahem, at top right...).

Old Farm Accents

My friend Jim's family has an old farm nearby, and I visited recently to snap a few photos of what I call 'interestingness'. Enjoy.

Mmmmmmm.........Lilacs!!