Tag Archives: photography

August 20, 2012 · 6:00 am

Catching the MS Statendam to Alaska

Our latest travel excursion began on Saturday, August 12, with a flight to SeaTac International Airport. One of the neat things about SeaTac is all the aviation history hanging from the ceiling, such as Voyager. Voyager (N269VA) was the first aircraft to fly nonstop and unrefueled around the world. Voyager was designed by aeronautical genius Dick Rutan, and flown by Dick’s brother Burt Rutan and Jeannie Yeager. Having contributed to the project many years ago, I still have a large, framed picture of Voyager autographed by both Rutans and Yeager.

After a night at a nearby hotel, we went back to SeaTac the following morning to catch the Quick Shuttle to Vancouver, British Columbia. The Quick Shuttle is a marvelous way to get from SeaTac to Vancouver because not only do you get spectacular scenery along the way, you also get WiFi the whole trip. Not bad for only $53 a person.

At the border we braved the daunting Canadian Customs. Canadian Customs did their usual thorough job of diligently checking to make certain that no one dared smuggle into Canada untaxed booze. After all, heaven forbid that a bottle of Canadian Club fall into the wrong hands priced approximately one-third of what one must pay in the country of origin.

Our bus snaked its way through the winding streets of Vancouver to the Canada Place cruise terminal. Canada Place has some really unique architecture, with huge sail-like structures jutting into the blue Canadian sky from atop the terminal roof.

Following a brief hike through Canada Place we made our way across the gangway to our home for the next seven nights—Holland America’s MS Statendam. Yes, this is a near repeat of our trip of last year, but this time we were reversing the course and the weather would be much, much better. As such, the photography this trip far exceeded the results of the previous year’s voyage.

The official start of any trip out of Vancouver’s Canada Place rightfully begins when you pass beneath the Lion’s Gate bridge. Oh, and don’t forget the lifeboat drill.

So, for the next several blog entries, sit back and enjoy a pictorial guide through the Alaskan wilderness, old frontier towns, whale watching, death-defying tramway travel, quaint steamboat rides, and other exciting adventures.

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Tagged as Alaska, cruise, Hollan America, photography, Statendam, travel

August 3, 2012 · 5:45 am

O’Keeffe Country—July 2012

Well, Taos’ loss was someone else’s gain. As I tell trainee air traffic controllers—good controllers have a Plan B; great controllers have a Plan C, D, and E. Having stopped short of our original intended destination, we turned tail and headed back toward Santa Fe. But before reaching Española we turned right and headed northwest for a little ad hoc photo safari, spurred on by dramatic clouds that we knew would only enhance the scenery ahead. We had, after all, gone this way before. Indeed, art lovers the world over come here.

Where is “here?” We passed through Abiquiú and headed into the Red Rock Country made famous by artist Georgia O’Keeffe. If you like the pictures you see below, go to my previous blog on this area for more. But, whereas that last blog concentrated on the Ghost Ranch, today’s photographs will give you views of other nearby sights.

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Tagged as Georgia O'Keeffe, photography, travel

August 1, 2012 · 5:46 am

The Road to Taos—July 2012

The next morning we departed Santa Fe for a quick road trip to Taos. Alas, we didn’t make it.

Note to the business owners, police department, city council, and mayor of Taos, New Mexico:

There is one main thoroughfare through your fair city. That thoroughfare is, for all intents and purposes, the only way to get from Santa Fe to points north, via New Mexico Highway 68 where it joins up with U.S. Highway 64. It is never a good idea to shut off your main street (and a major state highway leading to a major U.S. highway) for a street festival. It is an even worse idea to do so without posting directions for an alternate route around the blockage. Setting up a police roadblock, having an officer direct you to turn off the main drag, and having no directions as to what follows is a sure way to get us, a dozen or so cars, and a motorcycle tour group (from what I saw in the 20 minutes we got tied up in this fiasco) to make a U-turn and head back toward more visitor-friendly venues. Shame on you, Taos. What the hell were you thinking? You didn’t have another street you could close? Really dumb, guys.

But it wasn’t a total loss. Cresting the mountains and descending into Taos grants to you a grand view of the Taos Gorge. Running through that gorge is the Rio Grande . . . the same Rio Grande that eventually makes its way down to El Paso and forms the border between Texas and Mexico.

Ursula and I have on two occasions gone river rafting on the Rio Grande river just southwest of Taos. We didn’t do so this trip, as the water was too low to have much fun. But we did stop and take pictures of those who were out on the river that day.

These scenes alone were almost worth the aggravation of dealing with the stupidity that ran rampant through Taos that day: