Alaskan Fishing Part 2
From the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch. You can click on any picture to make it larger.
The Time Bandit looks huge on the TV series, so that boat beside it must be gigantic. I just can not even fathom how much money a boat like that must cost. Must be fun filling that thing up with fuel.
They spent part of one day trying to fish in a stream. But they did not catch anything. I know I personally would not be able to fish in an environment like this. I would be nervous I would fall in because of the fast current.
Different day, more eagles. I always stand in amazement whenever I get to see a Bald Eagle at the zoo. So I would probably be in a daze if I saw one in the wild.
These really have to be one of the ugliest mammals around. I wonder how many of them get hit a year on the roads.
It may be hard to see in the picture, but there were some mountain goats or something of the sort descending down the mountain.
During the week we all got a text from my dad of a bear. I am pretty sure my mom would of killed dad before the bear could if she knew they were this close to them. From the picture message on my phone the bear looked to be around 10-15 ft away from my dad.
I wish I could play the music from The Fox and the Hound when the bear is chasing them. Granted no bear could rival the one in that movie, but these still look gigantic.
ummmm….someone took the wrong turn….
Just some added comfort just in case a bear did become an issue while fishing.
I would say this sign does a great job at getting it’s point across. Because if I remember correctly they were there around 9/6
Dad with the rest of the fishing crew.
I believe that is all of the pictures for now. If anyone wants to see more my dad and the other guy have around 500+ pics.
Alaskan Fishing Part 1
First off, none of the pictures below were taken by me. They were either taken by my dad, or from another person on their fishing trip. I wanted to mainly post this for his family to see, and for others to really see the beauty that Alaska can offer.
In September, my dad and some others decided they all needed to go on a fishing trip to Alaska. I think at first my dad might of had some second thoughts about going, but as time went on he became really excited. The trip started off with dad flying to Chicago and straight to Anchorage. I do not remember the exact time, but I think his flight was around 12+ hours. They spent the first night in Anchorage to wait for the others to arrive, and then the following day headed out to their cabin. These pictures were taken from around the airport in Anchorage.
Where they stayed for the night
Another one of the group went out one day, my dad was unsure when, and took some pics on his own. There were seaplanes everywhere from looking at all the pics, and listening dad talk about it. I guess everyone there buys a plane instead of a car.
Picture of the cabin they were staying in. As you can tell it was not very big, especially for 5 men.
They had a fishing guide, so each day they would head out onto the water for a day of salmon fishing. I believe they were limited on how many they could catch, and it did not sound like the selection was low. So some days ended with them just slowing moving on the water smoking a cigar.
The water had a weird color to it in all of the pictures, but dad said it actually looked like that at times.
They were on two separate boats, and each had their own dog to provide some good companionship. Which probably came in handy because I am assuming dad was really beginning to miss Copper..HA! not
Pretty sure this is a “I want something” pose
After looking at the two sets of photos, and my dad talking about it, there must of been Eagles everywhere.
Evidently you can enjoy fishing….and all these years I thought it was boring
One day instead of fishing they headed to Homer, Alaska. They were grateful enough to have an Alaskan native join them on the trip, so he knew of places for them to go site seeing.
I can not believe how smooth the water looked in this picture.
Part of the glaciers. On the next post I will try and look for the sign that mentions what the area was called.
Trees already changing and it was just early September at the time.
Well I think that is all I will post for today. I still have 100s of photos to look threw, but I really need to try and accomplish something today on my day off…..aka go take pictures of my new mountain bike… 
Summer Vacation
Well it has been a LONG time since we went, and I honestly can not even remember if it was technically summer when we went to Florida. BUT, I finally got around to uploading all the pictures from the trip. My family went to Sarasota, Florida for a week. The trip was great since at the time I was still in Ohio, so it gave our family a chance to all be together. I flew in from Columbus, and just waited for them at the airport, which thankfully was only about an hour or two. To me the highlight of the trip was going to Universal/Islands of Adventure mainly because of Harry Potter world. I wish I had pictures from then, but I did not bring my camera. However, here are some pics from our trip that I did not post while we were down there.
I am not a fan of getting into the water when people are fishing.
Macro adapter. This shell was about the size of a dime.
I want this house!!!
It’s Pan Time
Since I am home, I finally have access to some programs to stitch some panoramic photos together. I would of done it earlier, but with all of the recent storms, I have tried to keep my new computer turned off and unplugged. The first is a technique I have never tried out before. So I am pretty happy with the results, but would love to work on it more. It consists of a full 360 degree pan taken in Chicago.My big complaint would be how much the people were distorted. And I might try to spend more time on the clouds next time, but I am unsure as how I could improve those.
This pan shot was taken while riding down the Lakeshore Trail or whatever it is called. It was about 10 miles from their place to Navy Pier. Great day for riding, especially since it was flat!
This was right by Millennium Park on our way into the city from Navy Pier.
Keep Your Wind
Ok it actually was not that windy while I was in Chicago. It was so calm some of the days that we were unable to even fly a kite. Crazy I know. Anyways, I finally have returned to the great city of Nashville. Mixed feelings since it means my internship is over and the job search begins…. which means hours a day filling out applications. I spent two hours this morning just filling out two. Gah that is such a tedious process, especially when they ask for the history of all my jobs over the past ten years. I have not been here long, but it has been weird. The first morning I woke up I was lost because I was not used to a wall being to my left. It took me a few seconds just to figure out where my clock and phone were since everything was different.
Long story short, I am home, which means I have access to my new computer. It has been amazing so far getting to upload multiple pictures at once, play HD videos, and more all at once with no signs of stress. It also means I finally have had the ability to upload and edit my photos from the past 3 months. So enjoy. I should have quite a few posts in the near future.
One morning we spent some time feeding the birds. Nothing crazy fun, but it was a good way to start the day.
One of my cousins’ friends let me borrow his bike, so Jordan and I spent one day riding downtown which was easily the highlight of my week.
Leaving the city with some bad storms.
If there is one pro of no hills it is seeing a storm miles away and the lightning striking.
That is all for today, tom should have some pictures of my trip but mostly just of family and what we did. Then I have some panoramics and something else for next week. Enjoy
OHHHHHHH and this was my 125th post!!!!! YAY
The Real Windy City
Well it honestly has not been that windy while I have been here, but then again it is the summer. Anyways, it is nice to spend some time with my cousins, and be in Chicago when it is warm. Oh and thankfully one of my cousins’ friends came to the rescue and let me borrow his bike for the weekend. So the past two days, Jordan and I have rode our bikes around Chicago. Yesterday we went downtown, and today we stayed around Northwest Chicago. I have not been able to take tons of pictures, but bellow are just a few from out bike ride. The weather has been really good, minus the downpour that got Jordan and I stuck on Wednesday.
Right off the bus. Oh, I rode the Megabus to Chicago for only $35. It did take 7 hours, but it was not bad at all.
On our way downtown on the Lakeshore Trail.
My ghetto wideangle…..picture is not that great of quality, but it will have to do until I get home and have my panoramic program to stitch one together.
Cheap Wine, Cheap Service
I am glad to say that the warm weather has finally arrived in Ohio. So it was nice to get to spend the weekend outside and enjoy the good weather. Saturday morning my cousin Amy picked me up to go to Cincy. We stayed till Monday morning since we both had some things to do before work that week. We have not had a vacation with my dad’s side of the family in a long time. So we all decided to meet up in Cincy since it was a somewhat neutral location for everyone. Anyways Saturday was spent traveling, and then Sunday we all headed to the Newport Aquarium. It was fun, but I think it only confirmed my dislike for children. After that we had a great lunch, in my eyes, at Bar Louie.
Then we all headed back to the hotel to clean up for dinner at Chart House. That was probably one of the worst experiences our family has ever had. The food was good, but the service was incredibly bad to the point of pure frustration. I am an extremely laid back person, but I was boiling the whole night because of it. But since we were there for over 3 hours, I had plenty of time to take pictures. So enjoy!!
The wine list.
Refreshing glass of wine
One of the many “cheap wines” as our waiter stated…
The view of Cincy from the restaurant
The End is Near!
Well today is our last day at the beach. I spent the last two days not laying out in the sun at all, and I honestly enjoyed it. Sitting inside almost all day Friday was great since I got to finally just lay back, relax, and read some.
Anyways, I had not taken any pictures until today because we have been pretty busy. Thursday Alex, Rachel, Rocky, and I drove to Orlando to go to Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios. Now I am pretty sure I can speak for everyone in saying that we had an amazing time. We were definitely all about to die by the end of the day with all of the walking and standing in the heat. I was in a state of shock I enjoyed going to Harry Potter world so much. I could be very happy if I lived there. I did not take my camera, so I will not have any pictures from that day.
Here is how the beach looked at around 6:40am. Sun was starting to light up the sky, yet the moon was still clear as (day?)
Messing around with the macro adapter again.
Anyone want to live in a large house by the ocean? I know I would. It was nice to see a car with a UT license plate parked out front also
A Week in Paradise
I really needed this vacation. It is the first time in a few years my family has been able to go to the beach together. With Alex being at college and me in Columbus, it was nice to have everyone together for a week. The weather started out ok, but has cleared up lots. Today we had barely any clouds, which meant it was pretty hot. Since I got burned from kayaking yesterday, I spent the majority of the day under an umbrella reading. Anyways, here are a few more pictures from today. I have only been uploading a few because i am not on my computer. So I am trying to refrain from showing all of the pictures since they have no post-processing.
I have a cheap macro converter that I have rarely used, if any. But since today was so bright I decided to get it out and see how it performed. This is of a shell smaller than a dime on the beach.
Alex catching some rays. As you can tell she is extremely dark since she was in Florida the week before with a friend.
This bird would not eat the fish. It just kept dipping it in the ocean.
SPF 50 Please!
Ok so I got a tad burnt yesterday on my legs from when we went kayaking. We were not expecting our legs to be exposed in the kayak, but they did. So after sitting in the kayak for a few hours, they became a tad burned. Anyways the weather was amazing yesterday and it was perfect for the kayak. Today (Wednesday) is supposed to be amazing also. We are trying to decide if we want to drive to Orlando to go to Universal Studios. But it is hard to decide if it would be worth the drive.
Our crab waiting to help build our next sand castle.
On our way out for some exploration
Summer Days
Well yesterday was a pretty decent day. It started out very overcast, and stayed that way for most of the day. So we decided to play some shuffleboard in the morning until lunch. I can say none of us are really good, and it would help if we knew how to play. Other than that the day consisted of sitting around, getting burned, and then looking for shells. Towards the end of the day we also built an epic sand castle which as of this morning is still up defending the Siesta Key Coastline.
That is all for now. We are about to go eat breakfast at the Broken Egg. Maybe Dick Vitale will be there like last time. Evidently he eats there all the time. Then eventually we will be kayaking and riding bikes sometime this week.
Sandy Sunday
Well it was a great Sunday in Florida. Weather started out a tad cloudy, but around lunch time things cleared up. Rachel and Rocky were flying in so once they arrived we headed out for lunch. We went to a place called Siesta Key Oyster Bar. First restaurant I have ever been 2 that had someone jump up because a snake was by their table. Nasty…
Gatlinburg Panoramics
Another delay in my posting. I sorry. But below are the panoramic photos taken from our trip last month. I knew I wanted to take lots of panoramic photos at the high spots. So I made sure to try and spot out some angles for some overview photos.
This pan shot consists of 6 photos stitched together. It was taken at the parking lot before going to Clingman’s Dome.
Another pan shot from Clingman’s Dome. But this was actually taken at the top, facing Gatlinburg.
Looking down at Gatlinburg from the top of the Sky Lift
Then the same photo from the previous photo from Cade’s Cove
Cove de Cade
Sorry for the delay but I am back with some pictures from our trip. Hard to believe it has been over 2 weeks since we had gone.Anyways, after a great time at the speedway we realized how time crunched we were. We wanted to get a good afternoon in at Cade’s Cove, but quickly realized that the day was running out. So after a stop at a gas station for some refreshments we headed on our way to Cade’s Cove. A few miles before we arrived we passed a sign that said “Cade’s Cove 3-4 hours.” We all thought to ourselves, what in the world could that mean since we were so close. Well after about 100 yards of driving we quickly realized what it meant.
Traffic was horrible there, so it probably took us around 3-4 hours to drive 11 miles. But it was a well spent 3-4 hours to me. The scenery was good until it got dark, but once it was night the weather felt amazing. We saw maybe 4 deer up close but the rest were small dots in the distance.
The whole family…and Rachel
The mandatory jumping picture
One of the panoramic photos taken. This was about midway into Cade’s Cove.
Smokey the Mountains
Back to the topic of Gatlinburg. Saturday began with some disappointment, aka the traffic. We were pretty lucky the first two days with traffic, but since the weekend was here, so was everyone else. The day began with a good lunch but poor entertainment. The TV’s had the UT game on, so it was frustrating to watch. After eating lunch we dropped Mom and Rachel off at the mall. Then Alex, Rocky, Dad, and I headed over to the Superspeedway or whatever the go-kart place was called.
The tracks were really fun and thankfully the lines were not that long. I went on a few and for the last ride decided to take some pictures. The whole time we were there we thought Rocky would get kicked out of a race. But it ended up being my dad haha. Evidently we were all bumping too much and he was the one who drew the short straw.
Alex is too cool to drive with two hands.
Tomorrow will have pictures from our trip to Cades Cove.
Going Down the Mountains
I realize I have not posted any scenic panoramic shots so far. I took some panoramic photos from each high spot and I am going to post those all together. But back on subject. After checking out the view for awhile we decided to make our way down the mountain. One thing I was surprised about was the big temperature change from Gatlinburg to Clingman’s Dome. I do not remember the exact temps but it was around 8 degrees cooler at the top. So I was in heaven up there since it felt so cool at the top.
There was one thing I had been wanting to do the whole trip, and that was take pictures of a stream. I did not want to say anything because I felt that I would be a nuisance having to stop just for me to take pictures. But while we were driving down my dad extended the offer, and I was not going to pass it up. After stopping a few times we finally found a good spot to take pictures.
So I grabbed my camera and my 24mm lense and heading onto the rocks. We all put our hands in the water to see how cool it was, and it did not disappoint us. The water was not freezing, but it was cold. It made me really want a cold glass of water.(As I type this I am craving a glass again)
After a few minutes of rock jumping, and taking pictures the inevitable finally happened. While I was taking pictures Alex and Rocky were walking around and Alex got herself into a tough situation. She went somewhere that was easy to get to but hard to come back from. So her only choice was what led to her downfall. I did not get to see it since I was taking pictures. But she tried to get across a gap and jumped onto a wet rock. This jump combined with her boots caused her to slip and go in. THANKFULLY she did not fall completely in but only to her knees or so. She did get a really bad bruise and her socks were wet for the rest of the trip but we all survived.
Once we hit the bottom we decided to head over to Hill Billy Putt Putt. We all had a great time there since putt putt tends to rarely disappoint. It was a cool location, but it honestly had little obstacles or difficulty. Even with the lack of challenges we did not have many hole-in-ones. I think that was because the course was not in top shape.
I took a few pictures there but I really did not like the outcome of any. After finishing, and Alex bragging about winning we headed back to the cabin. Once we got back we decided to go check out the clubhouse and some other cabins. I do not know about you, but the consensus with us is that we would NEVER stay at these cabins. Look at how high they are. It is hard to get the full effect without seeing them in person, but I had never seen a house on stilts haha
Gatlinburg Day 2
Day two began much better than the previous morning since my air mattress held air all night. So I was def in a much better mood in the morning. The first thing we did Friday morning was go to the Applebarn to eat. The wait was not that long which is always a great way to start the day. As expected, the servings were large and I don’t even think I was hungry. After we finished eating we decided to go to Clingman’s Dome. I was really excited about this since it is the highest point in TN. The drive up there was pretty long and curvy so it did take awhile to get to the top. I think we were all expecting a car drive to the top, but what we found was a steep uphill walk to the point.
The drive up.
Still going up!
End of the driving…now for the walking part
The trees up here were not showing many signs of life.
Getting closer to the top
WE MADE IT!!! I could see it being pretty creepy up here alone at night since everything is dead looking
Alex enjoying the view not realizing what awaits her in an hour or so.
More trees
I can now say I have walked part of the trail…even if it was just about 10 feet
All I could think of while we were on these rocks was of Lion King.I really wanted to have a lion cub and raise him over my head for everyone to see.
The trees were starting to turn colors. The scenery would of been much different if we were there the next weekend.
Rachel and Rocky posing for a picture.
That is all for today. I spent the majority of the day at a car meet so I am pretty tired from being in the sun for a few hours. Stay tuned to see what awaits Alex on the drive down.
Gatlinburg Day One Part Two
Now onto the rest of the day’s activities. After the skyrail we decided to head to Ober Gatlinburg. We decided to drive there which was nice except for the way down. The driver in front of us was on his brakes the whole way down so it kinda smelled bad.
The first thing we did up there was ride the slides. So more money was spent, another line, and then back onto a different skyrail heading up the mtn. The view from this skyrail was great, and we even were stopped a few times which allowed for a peaceful break. Once we hit the top we grabbed our sleds and got ready to go down. I must say this was the biggest waste of my time on the whole trip. Not because it was stupid, but because I had to go behind the slowest girl in the city. Evidently she was on her brakes the whole way down which meant I caught up to her about 1/4 of the way down.
We do not like each other that much.
Since Rachel and Alex looked the same I think Rocky was mistaken and asked the wrong girl.
I am not a fan of ice skating so I just sat to the side and watched. If I was meant to be on ice I would of been born with ice skates as feet.Rocky however was a beast on the ice even though it was only his 2nd or 3rd time to skate.
After skating for awhile we decided to head down the mountain. Before we went to eat we made a stop at Wal-Mart to get me a new bed. I was not going to sleep on a broken air-mattress one more night. So after wasting an hour in Wal-Mart we left with an air mattress, some sheets, and 2 gallons of water. (Quite the combination) By the time this was over it was nearing dinner. So we decided to go to Old Mill for dinner. It was pretty packed, but thankfully had many distractions. The first distraction was the waterfall in the front.This was the last time Alex would be this close to one and have dry socks. (Tune in another day for that story)
We then stopped by the store and found a slingshot sitting next to some marbles. Not a good thing to have near each other.
We still had quite some time until we were going to be called so we headed over to the fudge store. After buying some fudge we were finally called for dinner. The food was good, and the servings were large. Food was one thing we never lacked in Gatlinburg. This is Alex’s face after she was given her plate. She seems to be a tad surprised about the amount of food.
Since this was a very eventful day we decided to call it a night. We headed back home, watched a movie, and then went to bed preparing ourselves for another great day in the mountains.
Gatlinburg Day 1 Part 1
I am going to try and have a post about each day from my Gatlinburg trip. Some days may take more than one post since I did take lots of pictures over the trip.
Day 1: Our first day was really a long day since Rachel, Rocky, and I did not arrive until about 1:30am. So the first thing I did in Gatlinburg was go to sleep. Quite the story I know. After getting a nice 3-4 hour sleep(My air mattress was broke and I had only one blanket in the freezing room) we headed off to Gatlinburg. The first thing we did was find a parking spot and head over to the Pancake Pantry. This is the one place everyone mentioned we should make a stop at. I was definitely glad we did. The wait was not long, and the food came quick. Nothing better to start the day than a Swiss Chocolate Chip Pancake….5 of them…
Can you say yummy?
We then went to drop something off at the car and walk around in the mall. Lots of tourist traps inside but that was not a big surprise.
My parents and their new friend.
Our next stop on the trip was to the Sky Lift. I will admit that this seemed exciting and worth doing. But once I saw the price I lost all desire to do it. I can not fathom how much money they must make since it cost over $10 to just ride up and down. So after stomaching the cost, and watching dad pay for it, we headed up.
It sure is a long way down.
Alex taking in the view.
We made it!
At the top.
Left to Right (Rachel’s boyfriend Rocky, Rachel my older sister, Alex my younger sister, and then yours truly)
Relaxing on the way down. I think at this point Alex and I were actually counting the money spent. I think at this point it was at about $7 of the 11.
Alex representing her new love (and hatred) UT.
That seems like enough pictures to hold everyone over for now. The first day was filled with different events. So I don’t want to try and cover them all in one post. Thanks for looking! The next post will involve skating, water, and disappointments.
Smokey Mountains were not so Smokey
I can finally tell people I have been to Gatlinburg. Kinda sad that I have lived in TN my whole life, and even went to school in Knoxville, and I never visited Gatlinburg. But now I have, and I enjoyed every minute of it……….. ALMOST….The only thing that got old was the traffic, and that was not bad until Saturday and Sunday.
My family and Rachel’s Boyfriend all went to Gatlinburg from Wed-Sunday. We got to stay at a friend of the families’ cabin. Instantly the trip was amazing since our cabin was perfect. Rachel, Rocky, and I did not actually arrive till 1:20 AM on Thursday, but my parents and Alex got there around midday. I will have a post describing each day along with pictures.
But to keep everyone held over till then, here are a few pictures from the trip. The weather could not of been better since the highs were mid 60s and lows in the 50s.
Our cabin. Thank you so much Bubba for allowing us to use it. The road to get here was really curvy and steep. I kinda wish I had my road bike just to try and ride it AKA pass out trying.
The den.
The Man Cave!!!!
Master Bedroom where my parents slept
Where the sisters slept upstairs.
