New Photo Studio Test Portraits

Linda bought some nice soft boxes.

Last day...

Tuesday was our last day before we had to go home. We decided to just
wander around the little coastal town of Mendocino for a while.

So much moisture and salt spray along with age gives everything here a very nice patina.

Doggie Day Afternoons...

Monday was wide open.  Nothing to do for once. So we took the dogs to another beach.

Jug Handle

Luigi got to go to the beach for the very first time (he liked it). Dogs in motion are one of my favorite things,
however they are not easy to capture. Luigi's face here kinda reminds me of one of those
mechanical rabbits that greyhounds chase for some reason.

The Skunk Train

The Chapman Point House

The rental home we stayed at in Mendocino was called the Chapman Point House. Built in the 60s by
a talented architect all from recycled materials. This is the morning view from the deck.

Yeah. Breathtaking.

Mendocino...

2011 has felt like all work and no play. Finally, we took some time and
went over the hill to Mendocino for some R&R.

CeCe reluctantly accepting the resting head of her new brother for the long drive over.

Impromptu Halloween Post

Halloween 2011 came and went.  Hard to believe at this time last year we were in Tokyo watching
Aural Vampire and drinking Zimas.  2011 has been a blur...nothing but work, work, work. But, we
were home for Halloween so we did a little decorating and pumpkin carving and candy distribution
to the neighborhood demon spawn.

Denver

So I had to go to Denver for work. On Sunday while the rest of my team went to
some sports bar to watch football (no thanks) I went to find the local used
book shop and comic store. To my surprise, the book store ended up being
right next to this:

Nevada City/Grass Valley

Took my Mom to Nevada City and Grass Valley Saturday.

Baby Turtles...Living Gems.

When I went to Florida earlier this month, my dad found some hatchlings
in his yard and saved them for me to see before we released them back
into the canal behind his house.  I fuckin' love baby turtles.

Wedding Bells

Linda's niece got hitched, went to FL for the gig.

Linda petting the cat cake.

Where my weirdness comes from...

Went to FL for a wedding last weekend, stopped by
my mom's crib.

Lounge Lizard Tuna & More Truckee Fish

Meet Luigi...

On Sunday we went to our local farmer's market for the first time. We went there
hoping to just get some fresh produce. However, there was an adoption booth
and we met Luigi. For me, it was love at first sight. Not only is he absolutely adorable
(see below), he just seemed to have exactly the type of personality and temperment
that we need in a dog that can be introduced to CeCe. If you have ever met CeCe,
than you know what I am talking about.

Fireworks over the Nugget in Sparks.

I tried. The wind was so strong on top of the mountain that it shook
the camera constantly, thus, not a single shot came out the way
 it was supposed to. Nonetheless, they are kinda/sorta interesting to look
at...

Safe Haul-Outs For Super Weaners

I could sit for hours and watch the Elephant Seals and Harbor Seals.

Cambria, CA...

For the long weekend we drove over and down to Cambria, CA.  Cambria
is a quaint beach town along the coast of central California.  Here are
some photos.

Crab during low-tide.

Caught dinner today...

Caught these three at Frenchman's this morning.  Nice, about 13-16"s each.

Houston or Milwaukee? I chose Milwaukee....

...so I could at least go visit friends and family in Chicagoland.

The Punishment Warehouse. 

Our Garden

This year we decided to try growing some food.  The weather has been dodgy to say the least
so who knows how it will all turn out.  That plus the fact that we are very inexperienced with
growing vegetables, but we will do our best.

Below you can see our potatoes are rockin.  So far, they seem to be growing the best out
of everything we have planted.

$200 out the door.

I've been wanting one of these cheap 7.62x54r old school bad boys for a while.

I couldn't wait any longer so after work yesterday we took it out for a minute.

Memorial Day Weekend in Las Vegas....

Babies.

Snake Road

Yesterday, before we left Geyserville, CA, I drove up to my snake spot. I only found
three snakes, but it was worth it for this one:

Passport to Dry Creek

Anaheim

So I had to go to Anaheim for my first move project.  While that was a total
clusterfuck, I still forced in some time to get out and herp.  It was short,
but very, very sweet.

Here is the what it looked like under the first board I flipped. That's 4 rattlers
under one board.  Awesome!

Extremely photogenic...

While in Mexico, I somehow convinced Linda to take a Unimog tour on Monday. While
sitting around the resort and drinking is certainly good enough, I felt we should really
try to do a little more and see a little more while we were there.  In the end I think Linda
appreciated it as much as I hoped she would.  Mexico is somehow an exremely
photogenic place, at least from my point of view..

That night...

We took a cab to "the boardwalk".

¡ m e X i c o !

Linda "won" a trip through work to spend four days on the company dime
in Puerto Vallarta.  I don't think I have ever went to any country with more
of an open mind than this trip to Mexico, largely because I know nothing
about Mexico...and I expected nothing.  Now I know more than I have ever
known and I want to go back about as much as I want to go back to Japan,
but for many completely different reasons...

What it looks like in New Hampshire...

I'm in NH right now, this is what it looks like.

What has Bart been doing for the last few weeks?

Here is a quick summary of what has been happening since my last post.

Went to San Fran for new years and ate Chicago pizza.