Pacifica CA.

Pumpkin or Ball?

Playing Tourist (from 2011)

The weekend of May 7th and 8th my son Jon & I decided to go to the Motocross Races in Kimball. It was a beautiful weekend!

I drove down hwy 71 to get Kimball. The Wildcats Hills looked gorgeous!
It was a nice drive and after about 45 minutes we arrived at the Highpoint Motor Speedway, just a short drive south of Kimball on 71.

I took a lot of photos of the races. It was so fun! Motocross is a nice family orientated event. It was was great to see the families supporting the riders and cheering them on.


Here are a couple of my favorite photos from Day one at the Races.

Okay so getting back to playing tourist, we left the races late in the afternoon and headed off to find the highest point in Nebraska. We drove north on 71 until we got to interstate 80. We headed out west and the drove to the Bushnell,NE. exit. Then we turned south onto Road 17.
(If you decide to take this trip make sure you have a full gas tank, because there is no service anywhere close!)
 Ok now back to the trip:

This year I'm doing the 365 project. Starting April 1st through the 26th, I'm going to do the Alphabet project alongside it. I'll be posting these on my photography page: https://www.facebook.com/TheUltimatePhotographyAdventure I would love it if you would play along! There will be an album you can post to, called "Adventurers Alphabet Project" Starting tomorrow with the letter "A". Rules are anything that looks like an "A", begins with the letter "A" or something you make that represents the letter "A"! I'll be looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with. Come play in the "Alphabet Adventure"!

Just take the first Step

I've been thinking about my initial dream of driving an RV cross country and visiting all 50 states and viewing all the National Parks. That dream started a little over 2 yrs ago. Since then I've been plagued with health issues and along with that financial decline. I haven't given up on my dream! Over the past two years I have been able to travel a little bit, more than I thought I'd get to do. I need to get those photos up in this blog soon and start compiling all the things that I have gotten to do. I need to start thinking of all the positives and leave the negatives at the door. Lately I've watched a lot of movies about hiking, like "The Way" and " The Wild". These gave me a new motivation to relook at my dream and maybe go about it in another way! It's super expensive to have an RV and gas prices are heading back up again. Plus I don't have an RV! While it would be comfy and nice, for me at this time it's not an option. So I decided the thing I do have is feet!

All it takes is, to take the first step. I did that today! I walked a mile around my property. Just in that short time I got to take some beautiful photos.

I need a lot of practice before I do any big through hikes, like in the movies I watched, but that's okay! I have to start somewhere and where better than my own yard? I have chronic pain with the fibromyalgia and also migraines along with a few other issues. I plan to heal myself, one day at a time and a little more each day by hiking in nature. I feel like this choice is more realistic for me at this time. Although by the end of the one mile today I could barely move and my back was on fire, I still made the one mile! To do the first through trail I want to try, which is the Cowboy Trail here in NE. I will need to be able to walk at least 14 miles in a day. That is the longest segment of this hike. If you would like to see more about the Cowboy Trail their web site is: http://www.outdoornebraska.ne.gov/trails/cowboy_trail/cowboy.asp There are shorter day hikes near my home and my son and I are going to practice on those this summer. Make everyday an adventure! Big or small they all count!

Our Hike in Wild Cat Mountains (July 2007)

Subject	Our Hike in Wild Cat Mountains
DateCreated	7/16/2007 8:45:00 PM
PostedDate	7/16/2007 7:05:00 PM
Body	Wild Cat Mountain Hike   It was a beautiful day July 14th 2007. Jon and I decided we should go hike in the WildCat Mountains. Well the directions in the phone book were not to clear. It would have been easier had they said, " take a right at the red barn after you have gone two miles north of the lake by the blue barn. Then turn left after you see that 3 legged cow and proceed until you see a sign that says Wild Cat Mountain hike!" I took pictures of course!! Here are a few on our way to the hike.   The old, Out the car window shot! lol I was really trying to get the road ahead here, guess my hand doesn't see too well! Just a couple more shots along the way. I think I missed the red barn. This was the last picture I took on our way to our hike. Jon said make this the last one please! You know if you keep stopping and taking pictures we are never going to get there and you missed the turn already! KIDS! ha he was right though! lol So we finally make it and decide to go for a hike. It was our goal to make it to this far away peak! We started out and it was going rather well. I had to call Candy back and tell her to stay on the proper side of the fence. She did listen, but first she had to roll in cow dung! DOGS! Jon and the dogs were ahead of me most the time. I kept stopping to take pictures! Like these Jon decided to wait up for me. He said, " Mom just take a picture of the Yucca plant and lets get to hiking already!" Pretty soon there they were clear up ahead of me again. lol By now it was mid afternoon and it was getting HOT! HOT! like around 100 degrees. Way to hot to be hiking and the sign said, "FISHING" so we were thinking there would be water somewhere! We walked and we walked and we walked. This was our goal, we figured maybe the pond/stream was here. However we never made it that far! So we decided we would head back to the car. Wow what long walk! Jon gave me the backpack and headed back still way ahead of me. Sammy D went with Jon. I kept taking breaks to ummm ya take pictures! I'm not going to admit I could barely move, it was so friggin hot! Even Candy was Hot I thought for awhile I was going to have to carry her. She was slower than me! I did take a few more photos, besides it was a good way to take a break and get some water. By now I'm pretty sure I'm getting heat stroke, I seen this cliff and thought any minute there would be someone coming over the top to shoot at us! It reminded me of the old Country western Movies! Then I seen a cloud that looked like a Native American Still have a long haul back to the car. Jon and Sammy are out of sight and Candy and I are dragging booty! Oh my gosh! Was this my idea?? ROFL Pretty views, but not at 100 degrees and no shade. This will be a walk we will have to take on a cooler day. Then I remembered this was rattle snake country. However I think they were smart and were in their holes. Now even the clouds were making faces at me Where is the car? lol Sammy D came back to check on me and Candy. Then he went to stay with Jon. Jon and Sammy D were sitting by the car when Candy and I finally arrived a full 20 minutes later! Sammy D is such a good dog to stay with his boy. :) We got in the car and headed to town to get mail. It was a HOT day, but we did have a little fun and got out and about. We stopped to get mail and I took one last picture for the day. Thanks for coming along on our walk in Wild Cat Mountains. I actually took around one hundred photos! I just picked out my favorites to share with you here in this blog. I hope you enjoy them as much I did taking them.

The Ultimate Photography Adventure Begins

The Ultimate Photography Adventure was suppose to start today. Then I realized that truly it had began way before this. I think back on some of my most vivid memories as a child. I've always been a little adventurer. At the wee age of five I would take off for walks, to see what I could see. I would visit neighbors to see how they lived life. I met some fine people and learned a lot in those days.

This is a photo of me at Christmas 1963. From the gifts I got, I guess I was expected to grow up to be a housewife!

I visited the farmer and his wife down a long country road. They showed me how to feed pigs, how to gather eggs and check them. They were so happy and they worked hard. They worked together to make the life they wanted and cherished. I visited the neighbors behind my house. They had cheese with holes in it! Swiss! I'd never before tasted such a delight. One of my favorite neighbors lived across the street. I would spend hours at their house. Mrs. Neibour taught me to how to play bridge and we would sit and have cookies and lemonade. She was a stay at home Mom and she kept her house so neat. She was proud of children and she showed me the projects they had completed. Her husband raised sheep and she had a garden with grape vines. Oh the grapes were delicious! I always wanted to know more about the world. There had to be more than what I saw at home. When my little brother got old enough. I drug him along on the adventures too. We often got in trouble!

Back then I lived for the freedom of summer days. Now the learning could really begin. I'm not saying I didn't learn anything in school, but school could painful. School is where you learn that not all people are nice, but that is another story. Finally the summer of my 10th birthday came to pass. I got my first camera! It was a Poloroid Instamatic. We went on vacation and I took photos. After that I dreamed of traveling and taking pictures of beautiful things. I sold my first photo when I was 14. It was a sunset with a shed in it. I remember feeling proud that someone wanted a picture I had taken.

Through the years I worked off and on in the photography industry. I made a pretty good living. Things got tiring after awhile dealing with the general public. I went off to learn new things and meet new people. The one constant thing was my camera. I love the memories that photos hold. Sometimes you don't realize how precious things are until you look back. Too bad we can't see those at the time.

Life went on and I went on, still taking photos all along the way. It wasn't until the year 2005, that I became passionate about photography. It was like a light came on and now nothing would stop me from recording the great beauty of the world. The digital age was exactly the format I'd dreamed of.

Yes today was suppose to mark the day I would take off and travel around the country taking photos and meeting online friends. However life has a way of trying to distract you. I have been called to jury summons for three months. That keeps me here at least until the end of July. I am also now unemployed, thanks to my back and neck problems. I don't have a decent vehicle and on and on. The thing is, even though I can't make the journey I dream of at this time. I can still have adventures! Just like when I was younger. There are things to explore right out your door. Somethings may have been there all along and I've passed them by. It's time to take a look at the world around me with the eyes of myself when I young. Everything was an adventure then!

So I will continue on and try to make the most of each day. Tonight we started a fire and roasted hotdogs. I won't give up my dream, for I know it's out there now. Each passing day, each photo I take just brings me closer to it. Have a wonderful day and dream big or don't dream at all.

If you haven't had a chance yet, please check out The Ultimate Photography Adventure page on Facebook. Thank you!