Category Archives: travel

June 15, 2012 · 5:58 am

Fun Foto Friday


Views, sunsets, and views of sunsets.  El Paso has it all.  If you’re squeamish about heights, then perhaps the Wyler Aerial Tramway is not for you.  But keeping your two feet firmly planted upon the ground doesn’t mean that you have to miss out of views of this magnificent gem of the Chihuahuan Desert.  There are other views that may be reached by automobile or, if you’re so inclined, even bicycle.  One such place is Scenic Drive.

Unfortunately on this particular day we had in the air a thick layer of smoke.  No, not urban smog.  This smog was of the forest fire variety—in this case, from the devastating Whitewater-Baldy fire in the Gila National Forest several hundred miles west northwest of El Paso.  Yeah, the fire was that bad.  The daytime shots below were taken on June 3, and the smoke was much worse than it appears.  I managed to marginally mitigate the smokey effects by upping the contrast and increasing saturation in post-processing.

But visibility-reducing smoke during the day often means spectacular skies with vivid colors after sunset.  The twilight pictures shown below were taken June 12 after sunset.  The camera used was my new Canon PowerShot G1 X set atop a carbon fiber tripod.  Shot settings were ISO 100, 1 second exposures, with f-Stop set between f2.8 and f5.6.  Final images were tweaked in post processing for color saturation and contrast.

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June 13, 2012 · 12:00 am

Wyler Aerial Tramway—A Long Way Up and a Longer Way Down


El Paso has a pretty cool distinction, as far as U.S. cities go.  It’s the only city I know of that is split by a mountain range.  I live in West El Paso, which is located on the west side of the Franklin Mountains.  Central/Downtown El Paso lies nestled below the southern end of the Franklins, in the pass formed between the Franklin and Juárez Mountains and just a river, a bridge, and a very short stroll  away from Ciudad Juárez.  East El Paso is where the El Paso International Airport resides (and where I work), as well as Fort Bliss (Army post), Biggs Army Airfield (former Air Force SAC base), and other areas of the city.  Northeast El Paso stretches along the eastern slopes of the Franklins.

Wouldn’t be great to see the sights from atop one of the peaks overlooking El Paso and Ciudad Juárez?

You can.  And not just by helicopter (which I did aboard an old Huey to the top of Mount Franklin back in the early ’80s).  The other ways to get there are to hike or, much less strenuous, by taking a ride aboard the Wyler Aerial Tramway.  An aerial tramway, also referred to as a cable car (unless you’re in a San Francisco cable car), consists of a passenger or cargo gondola suspended beneath two cables and pulled by a third cable.  They’re not for the height-sensitive queasy types among us, but they get the job done in relatively safe manner . . . unless you’re in one when the military is flying around either in Italy or France.

July of last year our eldest grandson came for a visit to Casa de Wicker.  So, being one of the aforementioned queasy types, I checked to see if there were any military jets in the air, downed the requisite half-bottle of Scotch (just kidding . . . kinda) and loaded him, Ursula, and myself aboard the tramway, and headed to the top of Ranger Peak some 1,700 feet (518 meters) or so above the surrounding terrain.  The actual elevation of Ranger Peak is 5,632 feet above sea level (1,717 meters), but the elevation of the El Paso International Airport (which you’ll be able to see in the distance) is 3,962 feet (1,207 meters).

Tall enough for some fantastic views.  From Ranger Peak you can see two cities (El Paso and Ciudad Juárez), three states (Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua), and two countries (U.S. and Mexico).

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June 8, 2012 · 12:00 am

Portmeirion—Part 3


Despite what you might think looking at the photographs in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series on Portmeirion, the skies weren’t just varying shades of gray.  Occasionally the buildings of Portmeirion were framed in blue during our stay.  You’ll also see how the topography changes during high tide—blue waters caressing the frontage of the main hotel and lapping at the base of White Horses.

Fans of The Prisoner will also note other points of interest—”Town Hall” and the statue of Hercules holding the world for Atlas; Battery Square with its shops connected by a pedestrian bridge (the shop on the left is The Prisoner Shop); a stunning shot of the Bell Tower; and, of course, the Village Green with its pool and the fountain from which “Rover” springs forth. Rover, for the uninitiated, was the sentry that made The Village escape proof—a gigantic, almost gelatinous ball that would chase down and suffocate those who made the attempt.  Rover was in fact nothing more than a large weather balloon, but the beastly roar emanating from it made it appear far more ominous than its true identity would dictate.

If you plan a visit to the British Isles in general and Wales in particular, you need not be a fan of The Prisoner to enjoy a stay here.  The accommodations are incredible, and the views even more so.  But before you go, you owe it to yourself to find a copy of the series and prepare yourself for the experience.

Have you put The Prisoner into your Netflix queue, yet?  Before it arrives, a word of warning:  What you think the series is about is not what the series is about.  The beginning leads you to believe this is, at its core, a spy drama.  It’s nothing of the sort, and you don’t get a sense of that until at least two-thirds of the way into the series.  There are hints throughout, even starting as early as Episode One, of the deeper meaning, but . . . well, that would be telling.

I will say this much:  Listen for references to individuality, social conformity, and society.  Then prepare for a shock at the final, psychedelic conclusion.  Indeed, you may want to watch the series a second time to see what you missed in the lead-up to the finale.  How shocking was it?  Well, let’s just say that angry viewers who missed the clues, who were unaccustomed to having to think about what they watched on the proverbial “Idiot Box” known as television, were positively outraged.  Because of the intense emotions the final episode evoked, Patrick McGoohan reportedly found it necessary to pack up his family and flee England—first to Switzerland, and then to the U.S. (the country of his birth).

Now for some closing images of this remarkable, enchanted place:

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