XMAS TRIP 2015 DAY 1

So another year another trip. While none of the other X Mas Trips have made it to this blog, you’ll have to trust me when I way we have been most of the other routes, and even this one had some overlap.

Not this trucks first trip, and not the last time you will see photos of our road trip vehicle of choice.

Toyota 4Runner patiently waiting for me to get done taking pics and go back to playing in the snow. Shot with the Sony A99 and Konica Minolta 17-35mm

Shot with the Sony A99 and Konica Minolta 17-35mm

So I honestly don’t remember exactly where we first ran into the snow, but it was pretty and required a few stops for photos so I obliged.

Shot with the Sony A6000 and Minolta SR Mount 50mm.

I thought the truck was cool so we had to flip around and go back for a snap. The A6000 beat out the A77 in the case this year so I could leave it in the cup holder for just such things like this or the random driving photos you see. Dragging the larger bodies and lenses out isn’t hard, but its a lot simpler to have something like the A6000 on the ready

First scheduled stop was Burney Falls in California. It was raining and the Garmin brought us in on the back side, so I just grabbed the A6000 to go explore the area a bit.

Once we figured out where we were and that it was closer to drive to the other side we did just that. From there I switched to the A99 and drug the full Pelican case and Tripod down to have more options for the water fall shots.

I played around with some long exposure by using a Tiffen 1.2 ND filter added to the Konica Minolta 17-35, but this was far from ideal photography conditions. So I snapped a few more before heading back to the truck out of the rain. I bet this place would be amazing to shoot in some sunlight!

When you look in the rear view mirror and see sights like this, you just have to stop.

I wish companies still had this much style. No sears was no longer here, but the logo was just that cool that it remains.

Last Shot of the day taken of the Hotel Niles in Alturas, CA.

X MAS TRIP 2015 DAY 2

Day 2 was a bit of a disappointment. There was a degree of miscommunication between Jamie and I that ended up with us not having the stops for the day programmed in to the GPS. By the time we realized what had happened it would have been 4 hours of back tracking to check them out.

As a result most of day 2s photos look like the above. Random highway shots with a gloomy winter background.

Chevrolet Bell Air snow packed. Shot with the Sony Alpha A99 and 70-400mm G Glass while I awkwardly waited for the guy in Oregon to pump my gas. I don’t like other people putting their pump in my truck!

Captured with the Sony Alpha A99 and 70-400g

One of the few bright spots of the day was spotting this falcon off the side of the road. This was my real first attempt at putting my new piece of glass to use.

He mostly gave me the cold should before flying off.

Idaho Scenery shot with the Sony Alpha A99 and 70-400mm G Glass

Just outside of Twin Falls Idaho, we ran into Jerome Idaho in Jerome County. Since this just happens to be my dads name, we had to take a drive around town and snap a few photos of the local businesses and such bearing “his” name.

HDR Long Exposure with the Sony Alpha A99 and Rokinon 14mm lens

We ended the day in Twin Falls and rather than wait until morning, we decided to try and take a look at the Perrine Bridge that night. I managed to use a trio of long exposure shots to make an HDR image that actually showed a visible bridge, unlike the camera or my eyes at that time of day.

X MAS TRIP 2015 DAY 3

Day 3 started with lots of promise. We were back on track and knew what we wanted to see. We had already previewed the Perrine Bridge, and we were up before sunrise. What could possibly go wrong?

Shot with the Sony A6000 and Minolta SR Mount 50mm and combined in Adobe Lightroom

We started out by searching for the Shoshone Falls which prompted the Garmin to lead us to the valley you see here. Obviously this wasn’t the first time this has happened because the kind folks in the area had plenty of “no trespassing” “no view from here” type of signs up everywhere. I’m sure it gets old having random people expecting to use your property for their enjoyment, but what did you really expect moving so close to something like this?

Frustrated but not defeated we tried again this time using Google on the phone. This time it decided we should try the north rim of the Snake River.

Luckily we weren’t in a sports car for this trip so it telling us to “turn right” on a trail rather than a road didn’t bother me. We drove around the north rim for a while enjoying amazing views and arguing about where we were going, and the “roads” we were using to get there.

Shot with the Sony Alpha A99 and Ziess 24-70 2.8

You can see a faint waterfall in the distance, but we finally reached a point where we agreed the trail leading to it might not be worth the risk. Being in a single vehicle in an unknown area, on snow covered ground means we can’t push the truck near as hard as we normally would. We do add extra recovery gear to the truck almost every trip that allows us to do more and more, but really with out a second vehicle we would be taking a lot of risk to push too far.

Shot with the Sony Alpha A99 and Zeiss 24-70

We finally decided to go back and try a third approach following some signs and trying the “exact address” through the navigation. While this got us to the normal tourist entry point, it didn’t do much good since it was locked up tight and is closed through the winter months.

A little more planning would have told us that this was going to happen, but I’m still shocked to see things like this closed in the winter. I’m sure it is more popular in the summer months, but this is one of the exact reasons I like to travel and explore in the winter months!

We shot a few photos from the parking lot, but it wasn’t spectacular by any means.

We did try one more attempt from the power plant access side just following some road side signs. but were greeted with another locked gate and not much of a view. The sign and local gentleman we ran into said they were doing maintenance and had things shut down for that. Just our luck!

Shot with the A6000, LA EA2 and Minolta 35-105

Back to the 4Runner, and back to the bridge!

Admitting defeat we went back to check out the Perrine Bridge in the daylight. Being a bit warmer I did a bit more walking and snapped quite a few photos from different angles.

In addition to the amazing views of the bridge and canyon there are a couple of statues, one of which is the “Twins”.

No idea if there is any significant meaning to the piece or not. All a quick google search turned up was that it was part of a public art project.

Feeling we had seen enough of the bridge we grabbed some lunch and hit the highway again. We did stop to check out some “mini trucks” which I won’t bore you with the pictures, but it was cool to see a modern Subaru Sambar truck in person as well as a few others up for sale to any of local farmers or ranchers.

One of the reasons I like to travel highways vs interstates is the ability to stop and turn around easily when I want to go harass the local wildlife. This hawk was less than impressed with my camera and just told me to move on. Repeatedly. If he wasn’t going to cooperate, I wasn’t going to hang out. Time to keep going.

Shot with the A6000, LA EA2 and Sony 70-400 G

Magpies enjoying a carcass meal is a common site along the roadways. I scared off most of its friends, but this lone Magpie was determined to make sure I didn’t steal his deer. Don’t worry its all yours buddy!

Somewhere off highway 26 in Idaho we stopped by for a quick bathroom break before continuing on to the “Craters Of The Moon”.

A short while before the famous Garmin “turn right” command.

We are on a road! at least the Garmin said we were. The Garmin is always interesting in its choices to get to places. Luckily I happen to enjoy a good challenge, and after a about 40 min of burring the truck up to its axles at times in snow we decided to stop for some pictures.

Panoramic view of our scenery at the Craters of the Moon.

While its hard to tell under this much snow this area is actually covered in lava flows, and cinder. I’m sure it brings in some tourists in the summer, but in mid winter there was no signs of life or anyone to ask us to not park in the middle of the road.

Sony A99 and MInolta 17-35 capture the 4Runner hanging out in the middle of the road

Random Roadside scenery captured with the A6000

We did eventually make it back to a road that had been plowed, and continued on. A while later with out the help of the Garmin we found the real entrance for the Craters of the Moon Preserve. We stopped in but for obvious reason the park was actually closed to the public. Sometimes the Garmins backwards thinking is helpful, but I would advise caution if you aren’t always prepared for an adventure..