It’s Father’s day and I’m on a road trip with my two daughters to nowhere special, just out having fun and were driving old Route 66 and we come across this – Elmer’s Bottle Tree Forest. Needless to say, I pulled the car over very quickly and grabbed my camera. I need to head back here when the sun’s low and the light is good. Lot’s of fun and kind-of strange at the same time. This is why you always have a camera with you – you never know what you might come across!

“The roads of Redlands are legendary in the minds of the men’s and women’s professional peloton. Roads like Sunset, Wabash, and Garden are infamous, the names are usually spoken in sentences that include the terms ‘leg breaker’ and ‘searing lungs’, but now a new road that only needs to called ‘the bench’ will be added to the climbing legendary of the Redlands Classic.”  From the website  of the Redlands Bicycle Classic  http://www.redlandsclassic.com/

Last year I tried to make it our to the race and when I showed up, I could not find anyone or anyplace in Town that remotely looked like race was going to happen, so I left only to find out later that the race did happen but in a different part of Town.

This year I was determined to get it right and got out early to make sure I found a nice spot on the tract from which to shoot.  I have to be honest and say that after arriving I thought I might not enjoy the race.  It looked slow and not that action packed, but what I was seeing was just practice and not the real thing.  The first to race were the women and let me tell you that they hauled ass!  I could not believe how fast they were.  Scary fast!

Then the men took the course and although they were a little faster then the women, they weren’t that much faster, but there was 3-times as many of them on the track which made it even more crazy.  I didn’t see anyone fall, but heard over a police officers radio standing next to me that in the mens race, there was a rider down.  Speed, shorts and asphalt can’t be a good combination.

All in all, a very cool race to watch and you can bet that I will be back next year.

While traveling in San Diego, I spotted this Bank with a very unusual mural on the wall next to the drive-up ATM. I made a quick u-turn. I just had to grab a shot of this. To my surprise, another mural on the back of the building. Very strange to find a Bank painted with such bright colors, it kind-of made me smile.  Not the best time of day for an image, but I think it worked.  Looks like the owner is a pretty fun person or is a good painter.

What I like about this image is the Montana feel or just the wide open spaces with the blue sky’s, rolling hills and puffy white clouds.  Well I actually shot it in Murrieta, CA.

Our new friend

We have a new addition to the family.  Now she needs a name. Any ideas?

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