Dusk at 33,000 feet.

CLICK HERE TO SEE IT HUGE!

Physically I tend to feel pretty uncomfortable when I fly. At close to six foot, two inches, I spend most flights with my knees shoe-horned against the seat in front of me. Airplanes are just not built for taller folks. I am never able to adjust to the pressure changes so I end up with a headache in a semi-nauseous, sinus pressure-filled state for the duration of my flight. Having said all that, I absolutely love to fly. It is one of my favorite things. I always try to book a window seat because otherwise the poor person next to me would have to spend the whole flight with me staring past them out their window. I am filled with the awe of an 8 year-old on their very first plane trip, every single time I take my cramped window seat. The whole process amazes me. As long as there are views like this outside my window, I can take being packed like a sardine.



p.s. The comedian Louis C.K. has a great bit about flying that pretty much sums up how I feel. The flying part starts at the 2 minute mark, but the whole video is hilarious!!!




"You're sitting in a chair... IN THE SKY!"

Bigger in Texas.

"This thing is HUGE!!!"

Alone.

Thorny Issue.

For Sale Sell.

As soon as I saw the car I knew something wasn't right but it took a minute to put my finger on it. Seriously, I sat there staring at the car because one part of my brain was screaming "error" but the other part of my brain couldn't put two and two together. Maybe it was the fact that that I was standing outside on a one hundred and nine degree day. Just a little hot.

The Dog House.

The Bailey/Brasher clan.

Safari (indoor)

Dallas World Aquarium - Dallas, Texas

Mariposa.

Any ideas on the species?

Early Morning Flight.

Nobody likes getting up before dawn to catch a flight. But when an airline will sell you a ticket for a 6:30 am flight at almost half the cost of what it would be to get out of bed at a civilized time, you do what ya gotta do. You try to stay in bed til the very last moment, savoring every last z, even though you know it's not going to make a difference. The rest of the pre-flight ritual consists of aimlessly shuffling through the various airport lines in the pre-dawn hours like some sort of pajama-clad Zombie. Being it is such an early flight half the people don't even bother with the whole "getting dressed" thing and are more than happy to wait in line at the airport McDonalds wearing their comfy sweatpants complete with hair rollers and teddy bear slippers. All this to save a few bucks you ask? Yer darn tootin'! Plus nothing makes a TSA agent feel more ridiculous than asking you to take off your teddy bear slippers before going through a metal detector.

The Meat Eater.

Fargo, ND

A beer brat... wrapped in a cheeseburger... wrapped with bacon and then deep fried. Hear that? It's the sound of your arteries clogging just by looking at this picture. God Bless America!

Kinda Creepy.

I swear his eyes followed me everywhere I went!

Seriously Guys...

How many times do I have to tell you to not touch the viking!

p.s. I think we have a new self-gratification euphemism on our hands... pun intended.

Oh, Deer!

What big ears you have! This doe, we shall call her Bambi's Mom, was really calm for a deer in the wild. I usually consider deer nature's ADHD poster child since they never seem to sit still and tend to jump at any slight sound, but she was very docile and let us get pretty close. At one point she just laid down on the forest floor and lazily gnawed on some grass in her vicinity. Check out the flies buzzing just above her ears.

Out on a Ledge. (ReMix)

Out on a Ledge.

Sights to See.

Dancers at Dusk.

Denver, Colorado.

I have never been once for dancing. It's just not in my jeans genes. I am all for the act of dancing when carried out by trained professionals. But you will not see me out on the ball room floor any time soon. What I do when trying to "dance" can't rightly considered dancing at all. It would be considered more of an involuntary convulsion. On the rare occasion that I've tried to dance, the paramedics are summoned by some concerned citizen who informs them that there appears to be an epileptic individual flailing about at the Johnson wedding. There is nothing worse than finally getting the courage to wander out on the dance floor and bust a move, only to have a wannabe hero shove a wallet in my mouth to keep me from swallowing my tongue.

Pondering Life's Big Questions.

A Monk at Pike's Peak, Colorado.

It's easy to do at a place like this. You come for the drive and the views, but what keeps you at the the top for so long is the inner-monologue that ensues when you stand on the edge of a fourteen thousand foot tall pile of shale and sandstone. Everywhere you look there are people blankly staring off into the horizon. You can't help it, you wouldn't be human if it didn't happen. It's just part of the trip.

Card Catalogue.

Fargo, ND

At The Top Of The World.

Pike's Peak, Colorado.

Copper Tank.

Tommyknocker Brewery. Idaho Springs, Colorado.

ALVINNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!

(Must read in a Richard Attenborough-like voice) Watch as the elusive Alpine Chipmunk emerges from his burrow.  What a marvelous creature.  He is undoubtedly foraging for sustenance...

NOM NOM NOM

Welcome To Colorado!

Pike's Peak, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Storm Rollin' Across the Rockies. (700th Post!)

Castle Rock, Colorado.

Do Just That.

Between Fargo and Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Serenity.

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

Hotel Bison.

Fargo, North Dakota.

Web of Flies.

Reaching a bit with that title, I know.

Webs On the Rocks.

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

These things were everywhere!  Couldn't decide which I liked more.

Vikings in Minnesota!

... and not the football kind.

The Hjemkomst, a life-size replica Viking ship, was built in Hawley Minnesota in 1980 and later sailed from Duluth, Minnesota to Oslow, Norway in 1982.

The Hopperstad Stave Church Replica is a replica of a Norwegian stave church located on the grounds of the Hjemkomst Center. The church was built in 1998 by Guy Paulson and is a full-scale replica of the 12th Century Hopperstad stave church in Vik, Norway. This Norwegian-style church serves as a symbol of the Scandinavian heritage in the Red River Valley.  Thanks Wikipedia!

Amazing craftsmanship, all done by hand.


Check out the link for more info:

The Hjemkomst Center