Wide Open Spaces in Kansas

606 miles

We drove across Colorado and Kansas today. What a great way for the children to learn which order the states are in and where they are relative to each other.

As we drove along Interstate 70 (I rarely travel back and forth from a place the same route... even at home). We needed somewhere to stop for dinner. I already learned on my journey across Oklahoma to keep the car filled up with gas. But like the sparce gas stations, there weren't a lot of restaurants in Kansas, so I headed South towards Salina, Kansas when we were hungry, which is 5 miles off of the interstate.

We found Martinelli's Little Italy  using the new iPhone app called AroundMe. The restaurant is located at 158 S Santa Fe in Salina. It was a great value. And, the food was all served quickly. Our waiter was friendly and efficient. I especially liked the caesar salad and manicotti.

Across the street you will find Steve Martin on July 31 and Josh Turner on Aug. 19.  This is a city not to be missed.

And, we happen to be listening to the Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis. Notice the name of the theater here... This story is set in 1963. The audio book is a collection of short stories that all fit together and work separately if you have listeners fading in and out. The African American family ultimately makes a road trip to Birmingham, AL. They have just arrived in Birmingham in the book. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Lightning Near Arches National Park in Utah



Rain



412 miles



We drove back and forth to Arches National Park yesterday. The drive was very scenic, and we finished up The Lightning Thief audio book. (And we saw a lot of lightning!) And the children watched the movie again. I wrote more about this children's book in a recent post.



"Zeus has His Say"



I just learned from National Geographic photographer Peter Essick at a seminar how to shoot lightning. He said to use F8 and 1/30 of a second. He also said to set up your camera on continuous shooting on a tripod. To set up my Nikon D-90 press the button on the top of the camera that looks like a picture of multiple photographs stacked on top of each other; then, spin the rear dial to cycle through the options. H will shoot 4.5 frames per second as long as you hold down the shutter. Check your camera manual for other cameras.  I took about 400 photographs and ended up with three nice lightning images.



I recommend this park for exploring with children because it is a quick drive through the park. You can stop as often or as little as you want. I felt as though we all saw the park pretty thoroughly in a couple hours. We were lucky that it rained while we were at the Sand Dune Arch; this was our favorite part.



Sand Dune Arch -- "The Playground"



"Stoney End"





Maroon Bells and a Couple Car Accessories

184 miles

We watched the end of "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan on TV Wed. night, which spurred the children to plug in the audio book in the car on our drive to the mountains. The book is well written and entertaining. The children (middle and high school aged) are anxious to get back in the car to turn on the CD player. This story is the story of three children on a quest. Rick Riordan has created a modern day setting and incorporated Greek mythology characters and stories, which adds to the tale. I recommend the The Lightning Thief: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Book 1 (Percy Jackson & the Olympians) for all ages.

This morning I drove to view the Maroon Bells outside of Aspen listening to Sara Evans through DirectDeck HandsFree adapter for the iPhone. the device works great to play my music and place and receive telephone calls through the car speakers. Here is one of my photographs of the mountains and a pretty daisy I found in the field nearby.

Portrait vs Landscape

Ah! So you have heard these words before....

So which way do you usually hold the camera? landscape

And, which way do you usually type on a page? portrait

And why is it called portrait?

If you are taking a photograph of a person, you will want to turn the camera 90°, so it is portrait like you are typing a letter. And see what happens... Put their eyes about where hers are 1/3 of the way down from the top. Do this because people are shaped tall and not wide (for the most part...) Here's my latest photo titled "Freckles" -- you'll have to zoom in (click on it)!

And, so I will write about one of my favorite children's books, which I did not read as a child, but was published in 1971, so I could have. Freckle Juice by Judy Blume is an endearing story about a little boy who WANTS freckles. It is short, just 47 pages, so early readers can manage. It's about second grader freckleless Andrew Marcus who wants freckles and an enterprising little girl named Sharon who is willing to sell the recipe for freckles for five weeks' worth of allowance. You can just imagine what happens...

At summer camp, everytime I see a child with freckles I ask them if they have read this story because Blume certainly provides a new appreciation for freckles.

Ride to Roanoke with Scat by Carl Hiassen

Mileage 449.5

It was our longest drive today, but we are ready to get back home. The view of the mountains today was peaceful. Lots of farms. In fact there were so many I wondered if they had very much land. They seem to be almost on top of each other; farm houses and silos within a short distance of each other.

We stopped at Costco before we left Staton Island and I was once again reminded of my idea, which Costco can't do. They just can't have an express lane. It just misses the point of Costco. But for SD cards, it is worth standing in line. I bought two - 4GB SD SanDisk cards for $34 total plus tax.

Can't wait to photograph the farm tomorrow. We will see how my favorite tree looks in the summer minus a huge branch that fell this past winter. On the way we might be able to finish Scat, the latest book by Carl Hiaasen. We really enjoyed his other two books, Hoot and Flush. Hoot was made into an enjoyable movie. All of these stories about taking care of our environment and children and adults who make extra steps to correct wrongs.

Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and the Mets

We had a wonderful day in NYC! We rode the 30 minute ferry into the city from Staton Island. A photographer's viewpoint for sure. We learned uptown and downtown quickly. We saw the numbered subways travel north to south and the alphabet travels east/west. We also learned that not all trains on the route stop at all the stops. Lots of success.

I loved the VanGogh, Monet and Degas works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My youngest immediately recognized Monet's bridge because of a Monet art class he took at the Abernathy Arts Center two summers ago. The children wanted to visit the Museum because we listened to The Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler another summer. E.L. Konigsburg received the Newbery Medal for this book. The story is about two children who camp out in the museum, explore its art and unravel a mystery. The Met has an issue of MuseumKids devoted to the Mixed-Up Files; ask for it and read the book if you attend.

We enjoyed the Mets game with all the tradition of the National Anthem and also the 7th inning stretch. The Mets played the Dodgers at Citifield, which was easily reached via the subway. Here is an image from the game, which happened to be Manny's first game in New York since being reinstated.

Fourth of July, 2009

Mileage 130

Bike Mileage 15.4

This is my favorite holiday! I love to prepare food and have it hot when we eat in the hours before fireworks, which is a challenge... I love listening to music and then watching fire works. Tonight we watched the sky light up in Hyannis (without a gourmet dinner because we are traveling). There was a band first and then a nice fireworks show. Here are a few photos from Hyannis. My fireworks shots were hand-held and the shutter was open for 4 seconds for most shots. We were overlooking the bay, so there is also a reflection and perhaps a full moon in the photos. The image on the right is unaltered.

Earlier today we were in Provincetown where we saw a drum corps play music.

And, the night before we listened to a band in Chatham. I'd say we got our money's worth as Fudge would say as he learned about money in Double Fudge by Judy Blume. This was our listening book for the Cape Cod drives. This story had many twists to its plot and kept all of us interested. We definitely celebrated the nation's holiday.