The Best of 2009

  

click photo to enlarge		 I have not done a best of in a number of years. The idea seemed pretty simple. Just pick the 12 best pictures of 2009. Ummmm much easier said then done. First I have to try to detach myself from the emotional aspect of the photo. Then what defines the best? Colors? Composition? Difficulty behind the picture? This picture was taken at El Mirage Dry lake bed less then an hour from our house yet the first time we had been there. There are speed races here twice a year. I liked this shot because of what and how this guy is going for speed records. I mean he is really out in the open if something happens.

click photo to enlarge		 This shot is in Chloride Arizona. We spent New Years Eve in this thriving Ghost Town and had a wonderful New Years Eve dinner and music at Shep's Miner Inn and Yesterdays Restaurant. This shot is just after sunrise New years Day. We have now stayed there twice and we have eaten at Yesterdays a number of times.

click photo to enlarge		 Ahhh in February for Valentines day we went up the Owens Valley to spend the weekend. It was very cold and very pretty. We spent the night in Independence.

click photo to enlarge		 This is taken in early March. We drove down to the Desert in Borrego Springs to see the wild flowers before Karen left for Cleveland. This is the  historic Saint Francis Chapel, established 1830 in Warner Springs.

click photo to enlarge		 This shot is at the Daffodil Gardens in Running Springs. Each spring for the last 40 years Gene and Dale Bauer have been opening up their gardens to the public to enjoy for 2 weeks. 2009 is the last year though as the couple says it has just become to much work for them as they get older. The mountains are the only areas where it gets cold enough for daffodils to  grow in Southern California.
We have friends who have this wonderful yard and they maintain about 20 or more humming bird feeders. We have been talking about me coming over to get some pictures for a few years and it finally happened in 2009.
At the end of May we went to Portland Oregon. We did some hiking along the Columbia River Gorge to get some pictures of waterfalls. I even took my tripod on the hike to get these pictures. Heh, what I drag my poor wife on. We go to Portland and I take her out hiking to get pictures of waterfalls.
The red rock is on the road from Williams to Jerome in Arizona. It is a wonderful scenic dirt road. Close to Williams it is a pine forest and as you go south it changes to what you see here with the horses.
This photo is the restored Conoco service station in Shamrock Texas on route 66. We were staying in McLean Texas and we drove back 40 miles at sunset to get pictures of this neon.
This photo is an abandoned service station in Glen Rio Texas. Glen Rio is a "Ghost Town" on the border of New Mexico and Texas on Route 66.
Wow, I could have picked 12 shots from what I took in Santa Fe. Truly one of the prettiest cities in the United States. Oh and I just love the Green Chile Cheeseburgers in New Mexico.
And finally one our favorite stops on our almost yearly visits to Laughlin. This time I framed the local residents in front of the Oatman Hotel sign. I had to get Karen to lead them into this angle with a carrot to get the picture. HaHa.

So ends another year in photographs. 2010 will be starting my tenth year of blogging. Way before the term was invented and before there were all the photo sites to display your pictures. This web site has become a real dinosaur. Hmmm what does that say about me?