Ann & Dan’s Excellent Adventures
T Minus 7 and Counting
We’re initiating countdown!
Jonathan touched base last week and we’ve set a date for pickup of the Sportsmobile! We’ll be in Fresno on Thursday April 13thto do a final check of the build (and any last-minute tweaks), and set for delivery in Las Vegas on Friday the 14th. We wanted to wait until we had the latest build photos before we posted this (and to get the new blog site up), but since the photos arrived this afternoon and the website/blog is up, there’s no reason to wait.
It moves too fast!
I don't really enjoy photographing live things. No wildlife, no sports events nor active (or inactive) children for me. They move too fast and I find it frustrating and often get bad results: who wants to see the backsides of their kids or blurry dogs. Who knew that a shutter speed set to 1/250th of a second would be too slow? I enjoy photographing landscapes, partly to experience beautiful or interesting places when they are at their best but also because they generally don't move much.
Maybe you think this kind of photography would be relaxing, an act of meditation? Maybe not so much.
Working Out Details
Things are moving right along with the Sportsmobilebuild. Over the past couple of weeks we’ve received phone calls from Jonathan to resolve issues about the bulkhead cabinetry. On the one hand, they’re excited about being able to do some custom cabinetry work, on the other hand, the project rarely proceeds exactly as planned. Fortunately, since I work from home, I’m nearly always available and all it takes is an e-mail with a photograph and a few minutes on the phone and an “issue” is resolved.
Inside Out
“I could turn you inside-out
What I choose not to do”
REM
We just received our latest update photos from Sportsmobile West and things are moving along. It’s not often one gets to see one’s vehicle built from the inside out, so it’s kinda cool.
Occam's Razor
Occam’s Razor. The principle that the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.
Well Devon asked us to have our DNA tested at 23 and me. I just got my test results.
Body Piercings - Sportsmobile Update
No, I haven’t gone crazy and gotten my nose (or any other body part) pierced - face it, the time to do that would have been 20 years ago when I first moved to hippie town USA. We’re talking here about our favorite topic of conversation lately, our Sportsmobile.
Houston - the Eagle has landed!
Well, the day Ann and I thought would never arrive finally has. On Wednesday I sent Sportsmobile an e-mail inquiring about an ETA for on our Sprinter (I was going to make a “Where’s Waldo” joke, but I don’t want to inadvertently name it Waldo . . .
Fresno Trip - Stage 6 The Klamath National Wildlife Refuge
The trip to Klamath Falls was a long one. Not only did we arrive well after dark, it had started raining during the last couple of hours of driving. We weren’t in the desert anymore.
We woke up to more rain, but because you never know what you’re going to get and since this was our last stop on our trip, we decided to head out to places we had scouted out on our first leg of the trip.
Fresno Trip - Stage 5 Alabama Hills - Part 2
The next day started early for us. After brewing a pot of coffee and checking out of the hotel, we headed out to the Alabama Hills. Unfortunately, finding our tree was much harder in the dark than I expected.
Fresno Trip - Stage 5 Alabama Hills - Part 1
Our short stay at Kings Canyon was over and we needed to move on. Ann and I had decided to take the long way home, continuing with the idea that much of the trip was for scouting purposes, so our plan was to head south
Fresno Trip - Stage 4 Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks - Part 2
The break for lunch was worth it. Not only did Ann and I get a chance to dry off, warm up and get some fuel in our bodies, the weather decided to cooperate and stop raining. Given that there were still plenty of clouds in the air, we decided to play it safe and go to the near-by General Grant Grove in the event that the weather turned yet again.
Fresno Trip - Stage 4 Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks - Part 1
Our trip to Sportsmobile West only lasted a few hours. Jonathan took his time to show us how different ideas were implemented in other vehicles they were working on in the shop, and definitely answered all of our questions to make sure we would get the vehicle we want, but we had a good idea of our needs and wants, and quickly went through the list of options available to us.
Fresno Trip - Stage 3 Sportsmobile West, Fresno
The next stage of our trip was the ultimate reason why we were on the road - to make a trip to Sportsmobile West to finalize details about our vehicle build even though the vehicle itself hasn’t arrived in country. Apparently the Mercedes 4x4 Sprinter has been in high demand and there was a backlog of building them in Germany.
Fresno Trip - Stage 2 Yosemite - Part 4 Barking Up A Tree
I recently purchased a photography education package of e-books and videos that included a 26-week, weekly e-mail from David DuChemin, one of the photographers I follow and have learned quite a bit from these past few years.
Fresno Trip - Yosemite Interlude - Ann's Tree
To give everyone a change of pace from looking at my stuff, to acknowledge that I don’t photograph by myself on these trips, and to acknowledge not only the significant impact Ann has had on my work, but also the impressive progress she’s made in her own work, I thought I should share her tree photograph that I casually mentioned in a previous Yosemite post.Ann and I photograph well together.
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