Scattered Thoughts . . .

Our visit earlier in the day to The Palace of Fine Arts was beautiful and, honestly, I could have spent another few hours there just shooting photos of the gardens, architecture and wildlife.  I am drawn to classic architecture and this architecture is classic, immense and not something you see often on this continent.  Additionally, there was plenty of wildlife to capture in images all day long as well.   The environment, as a whole, was peaceful and comfortable while the weather was sunny and beautiful especially since we were still mostly accustomed to the snowy, wintry weather we had departed just a week earlier.  Unfortunately, our time in San Francisco was very limited since this was just one city of many we visited during our long cross-country journey by rail.  We had a lot to fit into two short weeks so there was no lingering to be done during any of our sightseeing excursions.  Before long, we needed to get going.  We had one more thing planned for our day after walking a

On our second day in San Francisco, we walked from our inn down to the transportation center on The Presidio.  It was a beautiful morning for hiking so that was our plan on this day.   We chose to start hiking along the cliffs on the west side of The Presidio overlooking the Pacific Ocean and then make our way to the Golden Gate Bridge.  If we finished all of that early enough, I had hoped to recommend we visit the Palace of Fine Arts too.  It would be a busy day regardless. We actually caught our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean the previous evening.  Our shuttle bus from Inspiration Point down to Crissy Field took a circuitous route that provided us a surprise view of the Pacific Ocean as the sun was beginning to get low in the sky.  I snapped a one-handed photo, below, through the window of the bus... I was interested in hiking some of the trails along the Pacific Ocean for two reasons.  First, of course, this would provide some spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean and

As most everyone who follows this blog knows, we recently traveled across the country by rail.  While we were in San Francisco, we stayed on an old Army post named The Presidio where I felt more at home than I have since retiring (more on that later in another blog entry) .  There were many interesting sites to see on this old post including many spectacular and scenic views.  On our last day residing on this beautiful, scenic, historic and memorable property, we spent a good portion of the day visiting the National Cemetery which is located within The Presidio grounds.  As anyone would imagine, anytime we visit a veteran's cemetery or National Cemetery, I'm vividly reminded of my Air Force Honor Guard days.  As a team chief, I managed and conducted more than 300 funerals during my three year tour.  I could write a book solely on my experiences with this outstanding team of men and women and many of these colorful yet somber memories flashed through my mind while strolling th

I think I am feeling well enough to get a few blog posts published so I'll give it a shot.  My health is still rather poor and I'm still in recovery mode from a bout with the flu but I'm thinking more clearly than I have since returning home so I should be able to get a few blog entries published today.   The first group of photos that I needed to and wanted to get done were the photos from Adam and Joi's surprise engagement so that is what I tackled first. I was one of the few who knew that Adam was going to propose to Joi but, since we were traveling across the entire United States, I was very light on photography gear.  I would have preferred to have a few flashes, some umbrellas, and perhaps even a more appropriate portrait lens or two.  Everything had to fit in one small shoulder bag though so I had to sacrifice the lighting and heavier lenses for convenience and staying as lightweight as possible.   Since I knew the proposal was coming, I was constantly on t