This is our new manufactured hardwood floor. This is also our sofa-hound. New Floor Hand Laid Wood Floor

Piper is looking for something to chase. Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Skipper was posing for us. Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Teeth! Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach Dogs The dogs had a nice day at the beach

The colored lines show various routes that Dave has paddled.

I added this wall because I had a huge number of rocks delivered by the association maintenance guy. He had some left over from another project. This took a few weeks and I shoveled quite a lot of dirt out of the hillside toget the desired shape. New Wall Terracing continues between the houses. View looking down the path towards the steps. New Wall Terracing continues between the houses. The dirt on the hillside needs to be removed but I don't know where to put it. I've got rocks left over so maybe behind another wall. The hill had sloped down smoothly right into that bush on the left. New Wall Tarracing continues between the houses. From the deck above, the shape is clearly visible. It's not symetrical but I'm the only one that noticed.

It's a girl... dog. Her name is Piper. Piper Our New Puppy She likes us quite a bit. Now if she will just stay small instead of doubling in size every few hours like Skipper did.

Immediately into our journey, we spot rare and endangered creatures. The Lahhono guides tell us that these animals often visit this spot at this time of year. We are optimistic about what we will find ahead. Yosemite Day 10 We have been traveling for many days without feed or water. We are thankful that our guides are strong and health and carry most of our gear. Yosemite Day 23 We have passed many abandoned villages this week. The Lahhono guides are worried but won't tell us anyting more. Yosemite Day 36 We are heading up a steep mountain pass. It has taken us many days to get just a few miles due to the snowstorms. We have loaded our gear onto some pack animals that appeared abandoned on the trail. Yosemite Day 51 We have been trapped for weeks. The mountains have become our nemesis. The guides are threatening to go back if the storm does not clear. Our situation seems dire. Yosemite Day 79 The mountains are well behind us. All but one of our guides has left us one our own. We are making quick time towards our destination. Yosemite Day 126 We have enountered many more abandoned villages in this area. We have found no one for many hundreds of miles. The huts in the latest village seem broken as if some large hand had simply knocked them over. Yosemite Day 212 We have spotted more interesting wildlife. the jungle now surrounds us and progress has slowed again. Javier and Hausis have both been killed by Marchiafava Bignami disease. It was not quick for them. Yosemite Day 223 We have discovered the ruins of an ancient temple. The markings on the temple are not familiar to anyone in the group. We believe that some unknown culture thrived here thousands of years ago. Yosemite Day 263 We are trapped and have been here for weeks. The jungle has closed in around us and cliffs block our progress in all directions. We cannot find a way back nor a way forward. Our situation is more dire than ever before. Yosemite Day 311 Johnson, Lequoia, and Smyth, have gone back to find help. They are the quickest and strongest of our group and have the best chance of getting us out of here. My tools and equipment is mostly destroyed by the acidic water dripping off of the trees here but I have kept the camera and writing instruments intact. Yosemite Day 423 We have followeed a river upstream for weeks. It has led us out of teh jungle and into more open country. There are only three of us left. We have seen signs of human life here but still no people. We have traveled many hundreds of miles into this remote country and I fear that we will never return. Yosemite Day 434 Over a year of exploration and we have finally found it. Yosemite Day 496

Bailey and I went to Disneyland for two days. Bailey decided that she wanted to go on Splash Mountain over and over. The line was short since it was cold and raining and after a few rides, we tried to look good for the camera. I didn't show up much in this but she made quite a face!

I walked up the street to snap this shot of some houses covered in snow formations. The lighting came out odd because of the snow plow coming up the street from the left. This cornice (navcaq in Eskimo) overhangs about six feet! Honey, I found the car!   There was at least 1.5 feet of fresh snow Sunday morning (2/3). Ive got things dug out a bit but I'm nowhere near finished. ...and More Snow The Neighbors House... Somewhere Our neighbors house is not occupied full-time. They will be surprised when they see how much work they need to do to get to their front door.

A nice dusk scene in Tahoe. I used a "night landscape" setting on the camera and then adjusted the tone of the picture. Today, 1/30, was one of the first days in a while without snow falling.

Click HERE or HERE to see movies taken after a night of snow (a few days ago). These are about 13MB and might download slowly. More and More Snow January 28, 2008 After yet another storm, the piles of snow are getting huge. The snow poles at the sides of the road are almost covered and our house is disappearing.

Click HERE or HERE to see movies taken after a night of snow (a few days ago). These are about 13MB and might download slowly. More and More Snow January 28, 2008 After yet another storm, the piles of snow are getting huge. The snow poles at the sides of the road are almost covered and our house is disappearing.

Click HERE or HERE to see movies taken after a night of snow (a few days ago). These are about 13MB and might download slowly.

After a few minutes, Bailey and I got good at spelling in the air. The trick is to face away from the camera with the flashlight aimed backwards (towards your own face). As long as you stand to the side a bit, you never show up in the image... at least not too much. Light Tricks "Bug" Bailey tried first at making a word. The "B" is a bit crooked but I think we can all see the word. Light Tricks First attempt at spelling with the flashlight This is the first attempt to see what the flashlight looks like with the camera on "fireworks" mode. I faced the camera and started spinning the light to see how much showed up in the image. I was surprised at the results.

Our house is 3/4 of the way from the left edge of the picture and about 2/3 down from the top. It is a tiny bit below the more obvious road that heads up and left in that area of the picture. The picture is taken from a ski run called "Diamond Back" which is, or is one of, the steepest runs at Diamond Peak ski area. The snow is too hard packed here so I'll be skiing off to the right and into the trees where the snow is softer. Our House Looking towards our house from "Diamond Back" at Diamond Peak This is a closer view with our house circled. The large image shows more around the house but not more detail. "Diamond Back" Top of "Diamond Back" ski run at Diamond Peaks ski area "Diamond Back" is a farily steep run. It's also hard-packed right now and I'm skiing with fat skiis. I'll be heading off into the trees much further to the right where the snow is a little deeper and a little softer. Diamond Peak has amazing views of Lake Tahoe.

The forecast said we could get between 3 and ten feet of snow. Our house is at around 7000 feet of elevation but is also on the North-East side of Lake Tahoe and gets much less snow than the west side of the lake. We ended up with around three feet of the white stuff. Driving Conditions The road near our house is getting narrow Driving Conditions The lady in the car couldn't get up the street She unfortunately couldn't back down either due to a lack of driving ability. Even though she had four wheel drive, the tires were more street tires than snow tires. I was there telling her to try to back all the way down to where the street is level and to then get a running start but I had to keep pushing her out of the snow at the side of the road because she couldn't back down right. The plow driver cleard the road ahead of her and she finally made it.

The big storm is just moving into the area. There is another 3 to 5 feet of snow expected over the next four days.

We hiked in snowshoes for about 1/2 a mile to this spot where there is a beautiful view of the lake. it was also a good spot for lunch. Snowshoeing A trip into the mountains on snowshoes We hiked in snowshoes for about 1/2 a mile to this spot where there is a beautiful view of the lake. it was also a good spot for lunch.

Snow Diamond Peak, December 20, 2007

This is a tree on Fannette Island in Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe. I had paddled three or four miles from D.L. Bliss State park to Emerald Bay. Once in the bay, the island seemed a good place to explore. The views from the island are pretty although Emerald Bay is always full of tourists and is not very isolated. The pictures are not in order here. Fannette Island Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe Summer 2007 This is a rather mediocre picture looking from Fannette Island towards Eagle Falls. Vikingsholm is near the beach and is an old "castle" type house built in 1929. The pictures are not in order here. Fannette Island Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe Summer 2007 Another view of a tree on Fannette Island. The back of my kayak can barely be seen behind some rocks where I had pulled it up out of the water. The pictures are not in order here.

It was an unusual day on the lake because the wind was from the north and in my face on the paddle back from Emerald Bay to D.L. Bliss State Park. I've paddled in rougher water but never while trying to get somewhere a few miles away. I'm heading past the point of land in the distance. The pictures are not in order here. Kayaking in Lake Tahoe Summer 2007 This is a shot heading into Emerald Bay on lake Tahoe. My final destination, Fannette Island, is about 1/4 of the way from the left edge of the picture in the farthest end of the bay. The pictures are not in order here. Kayaking in Lake Tahoe Summer 2007 I took this picture just as I was leaving Fannette Island in Emerald Bay. I wanted to get a shot looking out at the lake but the view from the kayak is low to the water and nothing is visible outside of the bay. I still have a few miles to go to get back to D.L. Blis State Park. The pictures are not in order here.

Unlike most zoos around the world, the Animal Ark exercises their cheetahs at full speed. The cheetahs chase a lure on a string around a large field. We saw one of the cheetahs catch the lure while the lure was at it's top speed of about 55 MPH. There is no fence around the area and only a small fence between us and the animals. I took about 50 pictures with the camera's "repeat" feature hoping to get a few good one's. You'll see that a couple of the photos came out rather pleasing. Cheetah Run   Cheetah Run  

The lure is plastic but the staff will reward the big cat with real meat once it gives up it's plastic catch.
Cheetah Run Raw meat as a reward!

The route of the lure is changed each time the cheetahs run but one female seemed to know where it was headed and simply tried to cut it off. The staff can reverse the cirection so it dodn't work out as well as the cheetah had hoped.

This is now at the city dump but it was interesting for a while. This is based on my own coaster design. Scale Model Roller Coaster Wood Alternate View Scale Model Roller Coaster Wood Alternate View

Part of this was dismantled because it was too big. The lift hill is chain driven and works automatically. Rolling Ball Sculpture Steel Rod and Billiard Balls Alternate View Rolling Ball Sculpture Steel Rod and Billiard Balls Alternate View Rolling Ball Sculpture Steel Rod and Billiard Balls Alternate View

Bailey Turntable End of the line on our garden railway 2007 The Town of Bailey Our garden railway 2007 Heading up the hill Our garden railway 2007