Hospital Visit
Methodist Willowbrook Hospital
June 29, 2004 - Tuesday

My mother is in the hospital recovering from surgery and she is doing very well now. Lisa and I came to visit her and to see how she is doing. She is still very groggy from all of the medications but the outlook is very positive. She should be released home on Friday.



This image was taken from the hospital's atrium where we sat for a bit until it was time that we could visit her. We plan to go back up there tomorrow night to check up on her and relieve my father for a little bit so that he can go to the house and get fresh clothes.
 

One BIG Bag!
My Place
June 28, 2004 - Monday

Last week I won this Lowepro Nature Trekker back pack for camera equipment on Ebay and it came in the mail today. I got a very good deal on it since the price had not gotten too high and I was able to outbid someone at the last second before the auction ended. This bag is VERY big, way too big for me. It would fit anything and everything I have in it as well as a small child.



I was a little disappointed that the bag was so large because now I have decided not to keep it because of that. I will put it back on Ebay first thing in the morning for about what I paid for it and try to find a bag that is a bit smaller.
 

Sisters Of Charity Park
Downtown Houston
June 27, 2004 - Sunday

Since we went out of town this past weekend, we really weren't too crazy about the idea of staying in the house all weekend long. So we got in the car and drove around town looking for something to see or do. We ended up in downtown and noticed a large rainforest like park nestled near an overpass. We pulled over and went to check it out with camera in hand.



It was called the Sisters Of Charity Park and was right across the street from St. Joseph's Hospital. Apparently it was built by the hospital and was largely funded by numerous public and private donations. I had never known about this place and it was kind of weird to be secluded in this gorgeous park knowing that there was a hectic freeway only about 50 yards away.



One thing that I have made note of that I need to get in the near future is a ND filter. I had one for my Canon G5 but now I should get one for my 10D. This filter will allow less light into the camera allowing me to use a slower shutter speed in order to blur the motion of the running water. I will get one in due time.
 

Gulf Greyhound Park
La Marque, Texas
June 26, 2004 - Saturday

Lisa and I ran a few errands today and ended up at Gulf Greyhound Park in La Marque, Texas. We had never been to the dog races before so we stopped in for a little while, made a couple of bets, lost and then snapped a few photos before we left. I am still deprived of a long zoom lens so this was taken with my 17-40mm lens. I'm hoping I can decide on a lens on Monday and have it here before next weekend.




The dogs were extremely fast! I had never seen a dog race before and man was I surprised. I couldn't get over how far and how fast they ran. This was a definite first for us and we plan on coming back another day once the weather is clear and also once I get a longer zoom lens.
 

Silver Tongue Devils
The River Cafe
June 25, 2004 - Friday

A friend of mine plays in a band named Silver Tongue Devils here in Houston and Lisa and I went out to see the play tonight. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to try out some flash photography and also help them get some nice images for their website.



I haven't had a chance to use my Canon 550ex flash much since I bought it but I did get to use it quite a bit tonight. This flash is extremely powerful so it took a little getting used to. I think I will be better prepared for their next show.
 

Another Mini Tripod
Hopefully The Last
June 24, 2004 - Thursday

One of the best things I have invested in for photography has been my mini tripod. Since I've started my PAD Gallery I have bought about 4 different ones trying to find the best one. When I was using my Olympus 3040, Canon G5 & my Canon S400 the Quantaray tripod has been the best one and only cost about $12 from Ritz Camera. Now that I have my Canon 10D, that tripod just doesn't cut it. It can handle the weight just fine; it's just that it is very off balance and tends to tip over. I went out to a local camera store today to find a replacement and man did I find one. This is a Manfrotto 3007 mini tripod with a 482 mini ball head attached. It ran about $40 but this thing is VERY slick. The legs spread out far enough to keep my camera balanced and the ball head is nice to have in order to get the right angle I'm looking for.



This little tripod set is by far the best I have had up to date. It is very sturdy and I have no worries about it being able to handle the weight of my heavy digital camera.
 

Late Night Drive
Far West Houston
June 23, 2004 - Wednesday

Lisa and I had dinner over at a friend's house tonight and I took this photo on the way home. Man was it dark out there!


 

Poker Night!!
Abel's Hotel & Casino
June 22, 2004 - Tuesday

Tonight was our weekly poker game and I must say that we all had a great time. We matched last week’s turnout of 8 players tonight and I think we went through like 6 pitchers of Margaritas. I got smart this time around on my margarita assembly line, I made about 7 pitchers worth before everyone got there and then just dumped them all into a small igloo ice cooler. This way I didn’t have to interrupt my playing in order to make more. This really worked out best so now I know what to do for future games.



Well for the second week in a row I finished in second place. What is it that people always say “Second place is the first loser”. Anyways, the game got down to only Shane and I left and I had pocket 10’s (a pair in the hole). I start out the preflop betting and Shane quickly calls my bet. The flop falls and gave us a Q 7 10. So now I have three 10’s so I decide to bet a little aggressively and Shane still calls my bet. The fourth card falls and it’s like a 9, it doesn’t do me any good but I'm betting that it doesn’t help Shane either, betting ensues. The fifth card is dropped and it’s a Q so now I have a Full House (10 10 10 Q Q) so I’m thinking ok, I got this one. I bet more, then Shane raises, he goes all in which is about $6,000 in chips so then I sit there thinking ok, I have to call this because you never back down when you’re sitting on a full house so I call. Now there’s about $12,000 in chips in the pot and Shane drops his pocket pair of Q’s which with the two on the board give him a 4 of a kind! Never once did I guess that he could have had pocket Q’s. Anyways, my full house was no match for his hand so that ended my night. If there is a good way to end a game, then that was it, we both had great hands it just didn’t go my way this week.
 

Astros Beat The Pirates
Minute Maid Park
June 21, 2004 - Monday

Lisa and I went to an Astros game tonight and had seats in the Club Level. This was the first time we had been there in that section and we really enjoyed it. The seats were padded, they were wider, there was more leg room and we had our own wait staff to take our drink and food orders. All of it was great except for the wait staff, it was just easier to get up and go order something personally instead of trying to flag one of the guys down.



We have been very busy since Friday and we still have one more day to go before we can slow down to rest. We host our weekly Poker Night tomorrow night so there's no time to let up now.
 

Long Way Home
Gruene, Texas
June 20, 2004 - Monday

Keeping with the spontaneous theme of the weekend we decided to drive through historic Gruene, Texas (pronounced "Green"). The small town of Gruene was originally founded in the 1880's by Henry D. Gruene. The most famous landmark in Gruene is Gruene Hall which is a local country bar and dance hall. Gruene Hall is the oldest active dance hall in all of Texas. The dancing scene in the John Travolta movie "Michael" was actually filmed here in the hall.



The Guadalupe River runs through about 200 yards or so behind Gruene Hall. Canton Lake is upriver from Gruene and with the lake well above normal level they have been releasing water from the dam. The river is about 6-8ft higher than normal and was really flowing quickly. 



The extra fast moving water made for some nice white water rafting conditions. We saw about 6 or 7 rafts make the trek down the river. It's times like these that make me wish I had a nice long zoom lens. I'm hoping that one day Lisa and I can make plans to go rafting here in Gruene.



After we left Gruene, we decided to drive through the Natural Bridge Caverns Wildlife Ranch in New Braunfels, Texas. By this time the weather was extremely hot and we had the AC cranking full blast. We had the chance to drive through the park and feed the various animals by hand. it's just that this guy was a little to adventurous and almost ended up in my lap.



I think we will make a trip back here to New Braunfels sometime in the Fall and take the tour of the caverns nearby. By then, the weather should cool off enough to get out and do a lot more exploring. We logged in a total of 518 miles this weekend and we were about 45 minutes or so outside of Houston when I could not drive any longer. My beautiful copilot, Lisa was kind enough to drive us the  rest of the way home.
 

A Lot Of Sights
Wimberley, Texas
June 19, 2004 - Saturday

I woke up early this morning to venture down to the Blanco River which was only about 1/2 mile or so away from the Bed & Breakfast that we were staying at. I thought this would give me a great chance to catch some early morning lighting for photographs.



I noticed this cypress tree along the river bed which had a nice little added feature. It is a child's handprint dried in mud which had been left over night to dry. I thought this was a very interesting sight so I fired off a few photos of it. This just happens to be one of my favorite images from the weekend and I had just stumbled across it accidentally.



Lisa and I spent a lot of time feeding the local deer. This doe and her two fawns came to feed every day and were not at all camera shy. I was using my 17-40mm lens for this shot so you can kind of get an idea that I was fairly close to them in order to get this shot.



The sunset in the hill country is absolutely gorgeous. Every evening Lisa and I made it a point to enjoy the sunset on the balcony of our room since this is a sight that we hardly ever get in Houston.



Unfortunately this is our last night here but we have enjoyed ever second of our impromptu mini vacation.