Evening at South Mountain

Made my way up South Mountain for the first time in a few years. It was good to get back up there and take a few photos. Hey, we even had a few friends show up!

Old Primitive House on the Mountain

Phoenix From Up Top

Mary Enjoys the View

Panoramic View From South Mountain
(Click Image for Large Panorama)

Mary Portrait

The Shannons are Here!

Paul & Sheenae at Sunset

Andel's First Hiking Trip

He's More Interactive Now

Phoenix at Night (HDR)

Paul and Grandpa Hebert!

First Camp of the Year!

I was invited to go camping with a few folks from work last weekend. We went up to the Mogollon Rim (pronounced Mug-E-On) this time. We drove a little off the beaten path and set up a primitive campsite right on the rim itself. I love camping there, since the views are unbelievable. Did a little hiking, took some photos and just relaxed. Hopefully we can get back at least one more time before the summer ends. It gets pretty cold up there early.

Here's Camp! (HDR)

Look! There are Trees in Arizona! (HDR)

Rusty and Heather

Jason and Rusty

Cassie Loves Camp Food!

Self Portrait

I Found This Cool Bumpy Tree (HDR)

Did I Mention the View was Awesome? (HDR)

I Sat on the Edge of That Ledge to Take Panorama Photos. Talk About a Real Pucker Inducer! =:0 (HDR)

Panorama of the Whole View in HDR! (Click Image for Large Panorama)

Did I Mention the Wind Gusts On This Ledge? =:0 (HDR)

1hr & 40min Exposure of the Stars Traveling

NRA Annual Meeting

The NRA Annual Meeting was in Phoenix this year! The best part about the NRA Meeting is the show they put on. It's kinda like E3, but for guns. Awesome! In the past, I've traveled to attend the meeting, but this year it was right here at home.

I tried riding the new Phoenix light rail to the show so that I could give a bit of a review to the new system, which I have to say fails in a pretty epic fashion. First, in an entire day of riding around town on the train, I was the only person I actually saw buy a ticket. In fact, the ticket vending terminal actually had to boot up once I touched the screen since nobody had used it in so long. There are no turnstiles, access control, or as far as I can tell, persons enforcing ticket purchases. I'm pretty certain I was the only person that actually bought a ticket to ride that day. Next, the average wait between trains is about 10 minutes, and the stations are in the middle of the road with almost no shade. When its 120 degrees out, little canvas stretch shade thingies do not do the job. Finally, riding the light rail was inconvenient. Park n' Ride spots are few and far, and it's slow. I would rank it as slightly faster than riding the bus, but much, much slower than taking your car. Overall, I probably won't be using the light rail again for a long while. The only reason I could see trying it again might be to avoid the traffic problems when going to a ball game. I'll post another review when I try that one...

That being said, the NRA Show itself was sooooooo much fun! :D

Welcome to the NRA Annual Meeting

I Parked and Took the Light Rail

The Stations Offer Little Shade... :(

Our Brand New Convention Center!

Heh, It's Illegal to Take Your Gun Into an Establishment With a Liquor License in AZ

There were LOTS of People There

Good Thing There Were Lots of Guns!

All the Big Manufacturers Had Booths

Win a Truck of Ammo!

Lots of Guest Speakers

Gun Porn

Bang!

I Never Had Cool Books Like This as a Kid...

Paul Impersonates His Shirt

And We End With a Gold Tommygun!

Phoenix Tea Party

I went to the State Capitol today to take part in our local Tea Party protest against high taxes and out-of-control debt spending. There were substantially more people there than I had expected, and I ended up parking about four blocks east of the Capitol.

I've never been to a protest before, and I'm no expert at counting people, but the crowd went all the way from the park to the Capitol building itself, and almost from end to end. I'd guesstimate that there were upward of 5,000 people there. The crowd was also pretty thick, so I couldn't actually get anywhere near the center stage area to see what was going on. There wasn't much along the lines of an organized amplification system either, so I didn't really hear what the speakers had to say.

Nevertheless, it was a pretty cool gathering. I walked around and saw lots of interesting revolutionary era flags being carried by people. There were also a lot of humorous signs being toted around. I didn't see any fights or particularly angry people, and the police presence was very minimal. I think I personally saw about four police officers in total. I was also expecting some sort of counter-protest to be going on, but I was never able to find any. I suppose freedom from taxes is a bipartisan issue.

The Crowd Went All The Way To That Domed Capitol Building

They Had a Fire Truck Decked Out in Flags

News Crews were On the Ground and In the Air

There Were Lots of Gadsden Flags

But This Was My Favorite :)

Lots of Signs!

Debt Star Sighting!

Longest Line? For the Bathroom

Someone Tell Joe Biden the Unpatriotic People Are Here

Here's a Panorama of the Whole Crowd!
(Click Image for Large Panorama)

McDowell Mountains

I took advantage of a free afternoon to take a little landscape photography. I live just a few minutes from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Reservation, which offers wide open spaces and decent views of the McDowell Mountains.

I took a few HDR photos which came out pretty decent, then had a brief run-in with the Indian police, who informed me "they" don't want people "out here." I asked for clarification, and the police officer informed me that "they" were "the Indians" and "out here" was "on the Rez." Strange position for a tribe to take that is currently spending millions of dollars on a new Casino and Hotel to attract more people "out here."

State Route 101 Runs Through the Reservation (HDR)

This SRPMIC Marker is all Along The Edges of the Reservation (HDR)

The McDowell Mountains Border Scottsdale and the Rez (HDR)

Señor Saguaro (HDR)

Closeup of the Mountains (HDR)

Time to Leave The Rez! (HDR)