Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas 2014

I must have gotten 10 emails asking me what it is like to spend the holidays on the road in an RV??

So much depends on where you are camped, I am lucky to be in an active park with plenty of group functions going on for the Holidays with a ton of nice people to share it with.

Sure, I don't have a "Tree" in the RV, but I do have Christmas Lights on the outside to contribute to the parks festive atmosphere! There is a tree in the clubhouse along with a ton of other decorations and I joined in to help with the decorating so it gets you in the spirit of things.

So my holiday plans are as follows!

Today, Christmas Day I will attend the Park Pot Luck Christmas Dinner at 2:00 pm - Park furnishes 4 Turkeys - 2 will be deep fried and 2 will be oven roasted and they are also baking a ham. The park residents all bring dishes to add to the main course and desserts - I am taking two pies.

New Years is another big party - with a prime rib dinner, live music and plenty of fun. We celebrate on Chicago Time so over earlier for the older folks...last year was fantastic and I expect this year to be the same.

What I have been up to!

I finished the Menu for the new restaurant nearby the park...nice place and great food!







Still loving my Camp Chef griddle and BBQ - Made grilled onions, foil wrapped baked potatoes and some boneless pork ribs the other night - this was just before I put on the BBQ Sauce!



Santa Arrived a couple days ago!

My followers all know I am in to photography and have a large amount of dollars invested in my equipment, well for the past three years there have been 2 items on my wish list and it looks like 2014 has been the year to acquire them.

Number one on my list was the top of the line weatherproof body by Olympus - I was lucky this summer to have a good friend, Toni Ard, who was selling her slightly used camera and we struck a deal and I got it in June. Three days ago my great Montana Friend Jim Flinchbaugh emailed me a link to the last item on my wish list - it was put up for sale by another photography forum friend and again was slightly used and the exact lens I have been wanting for a long time. It is one of Olympus's Super High Grade lens and rated as one of the best lenses they ever made. For the techie's it is a 150mm F:2 lens, affectionately called the Little Tuna. Olympus also makes a bigger telephoto a 300mm and it is called the Big Tuna, however not many people own that one as it sells for over $6000.00 new! And you rarely ever find one used. The 150 I am getting retails for $2499.00 and I am getting mine for less than half of that, so it was now or never.

The check is in the mail so to speak and I expect it will be arriving here at the park in another week or so!





Stay tuned - I will be shooting with this thing the moment it arrives and can't wait!

Merry Christmas my friends!!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!


Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Blog Update - sorry for the delay!

I got three emails today asking if I was alright - blog followers getting anxious. So figured I would do an update - have been busy since Thanksgiving the park is filling up and there were decorations to put up in the clubhouse and other tasks. The weather has not been that great, I am still waiting for a good clear night to go to Joshua Tree National Park and shoot some star trail pictures. But the rain and cloudy cold nights have been relentless.

I also had another project to revise the park map for the website and use in the office to direct people to their site. I finished that the other day and updated the website. Thought it came out nice - it was a challenge to create all those little RV Sites and label correctly and color code...but it is complete!



I have also taken on another project for a new restaurant and lounge just outside the RV Park - taking pictures of food and creating a nice menu....just starting on that but have taken the pictures we need. Great Food!

Just a little "Artsy" Shot of the name and the owner!



And another!



How about a Roast Beef or Turkey Wrap or a combination?





How about a Big Burger!



Or how about a Salmon and Artichoke Pizza!!!



I hope to have the menu designed in the next few days.

I have also been working hard on gathering photos for my Art Show in April...digging through thousands of photos to find the originals then get them cropped and sized properly and uploaded, it is a ton of work! Here are a few of the more recent finds and additions to the finalists...the number now exceeds what I will probably display, but we shall see!











The last three are very old pictures that were taken in the 70's in Philadelphia while I was in Photography school and I always liked them a bunch, so I scanned the originals and prepared them to print.

Stay Tuned for Star Trails and Christmas!! Merry Christmas my friends!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!