Posted on by Anne Sandler

Trinity weekend: Geocaching

It doesn’t pay to way up early even though you catch wonderful images. I know this because by the time we went geocaching, my early morning rise was beginning to show on my body. In spite of this, I did have a good time.

Geocaching is like going on a scavenger hunt–an organized scavenger hunt. First you check out the geocaching website to find hints to where small treasures are hidden. Anyone can hide a cache and register it on the website along with hints to find the treasure.  Karen checked the website and printed out the hints at her Sacramento home (She doesn’t have a printer in Trinity.). She’s very organized and into this hobby and even has a geocaching GPS.

We followed the instructions and hints and found all the caches we were out to get. Caches are hidden in small containers (Easier for hiding.) and are small items. If you want to take something, you have to replace it with another item before you put the container back. Karen travels around with a small box of cute items just in case she wants to take something. You might find paperclips, well used pencils, and other not so useful stuff. You’ll also find a small pad of paper to sign when you find the cache. The paper, treasures and/or your replacement treasure go back into the container. The fun it in the hunt.

When you get back to your computer, you list where you went, whether you could find it and what shape the container of treasures is in. We did have one cache that the website posted as being elusive. We didn’t bother with that one because it may have been removed or moved to another location.

Sue proved to be the best hunter of all of us. I did manage to find one on my own and one with Karen’s help. The afternoon adventure also included lunch, some photo opportunities and a tube trip down Trinity River.  I declined the tubing opportunity and took a couple of power naps. Julie stayed back also and read her book by the shoreline. How peaceful it is there. When I woke, I waded in the River and took more pictures.

Dinner was a delicious taco salad, and afterward we walked down the street. The deer were out and I shot some–with the camera of course! I slept well that night and didn’t wake up at 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Trinity weekend: Good morning!

Darn an aging body. I woke up about 5:20 a.m. to use the bathroom (Yes I do check the time.), but couldn’t go back to sleep. So, I rolled out of bed at about 5:40 a.m. Put my sweats and jackets on, grabbed my camera and went outside to experience the river.

Right here I need to back track. Yesterday I said this was to be an all women’s weekend, but we did have a guy along. Karen’s husband Ron had work to do on the property and rode his motorcycle up. I knew Ron was getting up at 6 a.m. to do a controlled burn of excess brush and green waste. But, here I was the early bird, wishing I could have slept in.

However, the river didn’t disappoint me. It was beautiful at daybreak. The sun hadn’t come up yet and all was still. I walked the property, taking pictures and continued to come back to the river to catch the waking colors as the sun rose and hit the tree lined shore.

And, when Ron came down to start the controlled burn, he gave me an additional opportunity of capturing images. I’ve always enjoyed a campfire. We always had one when we camped with the kids; but now, we seldom leave the trailer and television in the evening when we travel.

The morning moved on, and I went in to put Julie’s breakfast casserole in  the oven to bake. By the time it was done, only Sue was still asleep. She woke up just in time to eat and leave for the geocaching adventure. Tomorrow would be another day for trying to sleep in.

Enjoy the early morning at Trinity River images. Geocaching will be the subject of tomorrow’s post.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Trinity weekend: The hike!

It started out as a women’s weekend coordinated with a group of six I belong to. Karen had offered to host the weekend at her vacation home in Trinity County–on the Trinity River. Three of us couldn’t go at the end for various reasons, so Karen’s friend Sue was a welcome addition. It ended up being exercise in a 3 1/2 mile hike that went straight up for the most part, an education in geocaching, a deliberate missing of an opportunity to go tubing down the river and experiencing the solitude and beauty of the Trinity River.

Today’s post is about the hike. When Karen said she planned for a hiking stop before we got to her house, she admitted that it would be about 3 miles round trip up to a water fall. She also admitted that it was up hill most of the way, and that when she went on that hike, she stopped to catch her breath. None of that rang warning bells inside my head probably because we are a multi-generational group of women who have become very close.

The hike was definitely up hill most of the way until we reached the water fall, and at age 71, I almost didn’t make it to the main top area. But, I pushed my body along. When I did get to the falls, Karen and Sue told me there were steps to the other two levels. I just looked at them and said, “No way!” Julie stopped midway because her bad knee couldn’t handle the incline. It was a beautiful hike, and I’m so glad I pushed myself to make it as far as I did.

Here are some of the pictures from the hike.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Sacramento Music Festival, part 2

It takes a lot of volunteers to run a weekend festival like ours. Although we just help during the weekend, I do feel like I’m a part of the whole operation. As a volunteer, we get free admission and a T-shirt. That shirt and our badge will get us into all the venues free. Of course, we work our own venues each day.

We work a youth venue on the Delta King dock. The ship’s staff is very gracious in their sponsorship and support of youth. Some of the older kids are just as good as some of the adult bands, and the younger kids are pretty good too. This year we had a group of  4th and 5th graders, and they were so cute! Evolution from North Bend Oregon drew crowds that numbered more than 100. They are a community band with children from 12 to 21. They were excellent. A local band from River City High School in West Sacramento drew crowds also.

Just watching the kids filled me with joy. They have a passion for music, and it keeps them away from other destructive activities. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to say, “I saw him/her play in our youth venue!”

While we do get to listen to wicked good music, we also work. The entire crew gathers on Friday morning to set up the venue. We put out the chairs, zip tie them together, help get the band area ready and our own table set up. During the performances that run all day, we keep the venue clean, patrol the fire lanes, and introduce and close the bands’ sets. It’s not too difficult, and it is fun. Next year I’ll take before and after shots!

Here are the last of the pictures. We’ll continue with the parade.

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Sacramento Music Festival: a Memorial Weekend tradition

It was HOT! During the entire Memorial weekend at the Sacramento Music Festival (sponsored by the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society) mother nature turned on the furnace. I’m sure it could have been worse; but then, it could have been better. The heat did put a damper on our weekend of listening to wonderful music, but we handled it. Well, I handled it until Monday morning when I realized that I was suffering from some form of heat stroke. We did not go to the Festival that day to listen to bands, but to just help tear down our youth venue. I rested and slept most of Monday.

The sets we attended were great. Our favorites did not let us down. I kept wondering how the performers were handling the heat. I guess they give it their all no matter what. We also enjoyed seeing bands we haven’t listened to before. One stand out was a band from Poland. In addition to being great musicians, they were funny and entertaining.

The standout was Dave Bennett. For the past two years he has appeared with the Memphis Boys, doing Jerry Lee Lewis style rock and roll, and some country. He plays the piano like Lewis, uses Lewis’ style and does the vocals. However, he also plays the clarinet, and this year he did two “Tribute to Benny Goodman” sets. He was amazing–so much talent.

Now, in the past, I’ve posted mostly photos of the various groups we’ve enjoyed. This year, I decided to focus on street photography and show you what the Festival looks like outside of the venues. I only brought my camera in one day. I hope you enjoy them. I’ll put them in two posts. Today you’ll see most of the parade. More to come tomorrow.

Oh, today (the Tuesday after the Festival) the temperature was in the ’80s and a nice cooling breeze was blowing. Talk about bad luck!

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 3 Comments

On the road again: family reunion in Las Vegas

We went in search of neon last night. Actually we went to the Linq an outdoor shopping center. Jim suggested I go there to get a good shot of the High Roller (a 550-foot observation wheel) and a fountain. The High Roller is the tallest observation wheel in the world and takes one hour to ride. I heard it costs $35 per person. It’s easy to shoot since it doesn’t move fast!

The shopping center was fun to walk through, not too crowded and had a variety of shops and restaurants. I hope you enjoy what I managed to capture.

Today we are going to visit with Anita and Jim again. I’m looking forward to this post-reunion visit. We go home tomorrow, hoping to drive straight through. Do we sound anxious to get home–yes!

Tomorrow were going to hit the highway in search of home!

Posted on by Anne Sandler

Family reunion in Las Vegas and the Valley of Fire

It’s a wonder that near the neon, fast paced city called Las Vegas, there are two beautiful natural areas. Yesterday I showed you Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, and today I’ll show you images I took last night at the Valley of Fire State Park. They are both beautiful, but different.

While the Valley of Fire also has red rock, it has more formations like you’d find in Arches National Park. We did miss some formations because we stuck to the road due to the late hour and lack of any shoes to hike in. But, there still was much to see during the golden hours. My only regret was the lack of a sunset worthy of shooting.

That was because the high winds blew sand and grit into the air creating a haze of sorts. The wind was so strong that as soon as I released my car door lock, it blew the door open. Many times I had to brace myself so I wouldn’t fall down. I hope you like today’s photos and, maybe, visit the two awesome areas someday.

Tonight we are going into town to catch some neon and whatever else we can.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler · 2 Comments

On the road again: Family reunion in Las Vegas and Red Rock Canyon

On the way back to the resort from visiting The Valley of Fire State Park and just as we were getting into Las Vegas, Simon and Garfunkel (singing the Sounds of Silence) sang, “and the people bowed and prayed to a neon God they made..” That was a wicked amazing sense of timing! Neon was all over the city.

Another wicked bad timing has been the wind. Tonight’s sunset wasn’t. There was just light colored haze up in the mountains. At least it’s keeping us cooler. It was windy last night too when we had the reunion dinner. I’m hoping our hosts are resting today. They deserve to.

Last night was great. People mixed before dinner, looked at the boards again and after dinner Anita showed a slide show she put together with all the pictures we cut out. She’s going to create a DVD and mail it to all of us. I didn’t do too well in the capturing images department last night. I guess if I knew the clan better, I would have gotten in their faces with my camera. Jim was taking groups for another DVD, and at the very end of the evening, he got a group shot of all of us. It took some time to set up, and I’m anxious to find out how it came out.

By the way, Jim and Anita’s photography can be viewed at their website Sandstone Photography.

In addition to a few pictures of the dinner last night, I do have some images to show you of Red Rock Canyon. This beauty is relatively close to our resort, and reminded me of parts of Sedona Arizona and Southern Utah. We drove the 13-mile scenic route. The only disappointment was the sunset–not too grand.

Tomorrow we are having breakfast with friends. After that, I’m not too sure what we will be doing. Maybe if the wind dies down, Richard can put up his sun scope, and I’ll edit my Valley of Fire shots.

Posted on by Anne Sandler

On the road again: Family reunion, part 3

Here we were this morning walking around the hospitality suite, wearing our buttons, eating our breakfast and trying once more to meet family. Some I recognized from last night. One cousin, he’s a Friedman, actually remembered where we were from! Now that’s good remembering for someone with grey hair! More of the younger set showed up this morning too.

After the meet and greet, Richard and I took off to eat lunch and find the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop of TV fame. If you’ve ever watched the show on the History channel you know what I’m talking about. The shop was pretty much as it’s shown in the TV series, except for the owner’s desk area. That wasn’t in the shop. We strolled through the store like the others who wanted to catch a glimpse of TV history. I didn’t bring my camera in because it was a long, narrow and crowded room. But, now, when I watch the show, I can say, “I was there!”

Back at our resort, I took advantage of the down time to edit some shots I took of the Las Vegas strip the other day. I really don’t like to vacation in Las Vegas. I cry when I lose money, I don’t drink and the shows have gotten very expensive. It was hot when we were out so we just walked a little.

They make it easy for you to walk the strip with elevated walkways going from casino, to shopping, across streets, etc. I remember when I was here last for a trade show. We walked from casino to casino, soaking in the lavish interiors. I do have a disclaimer–where our cousins live, it is nice. Their home is near the mountains and is beautiful. The people who live here seldom come down to the strip. Just us tourists walk from shop to shop and casino to casino. It’s like living in Manhattan, you seldom go to Times Square. It took me 12 years to visit the California State Capitol building and we live in the Sacramento area!

Here’s a glimpse of what we saw. Tonight is our dinner and then a large family portrait.

 

Posted on by Anne Sandler

On the road again: Las Vegas family reunion, part 2

What do you do when you’re shy and know you’re about to meet a whole bunch of family for the first time? You get anxious–at least I did. But, cousin Anita did a great job of helping us sort out the branches of the family tree.

Since we arrived in Las Vegas early, we went to help Anita and Jim Ziegler prepare for the reunion. Actually, the only help we could give was to cut pictures. Anita had asked us all to send her family photos. She edited them, printed them, cut them (that’s where we came in) and glued them on poster board according to family. She also made up family organization charts, showing us where and which part of the family tree we belonged to. To say that she put in a lot of effort is an understatement.

This effort began last summer with her asking for phone numbers and emails of all family members. She had no idea that she’d have 80 of us attend. This afternoon was the day we all met at the LVH Hotel. Even though I was anxious to begin with, I rapidly got caught up in the “who are you?” game. Anita had made up button badges of various colors according to our family branch. So once you understood the color/branch connection it was easy. Everyone was eager to meet and learn.

The Zieglers took time away from their photography business to plan and execute this reunion. I was amazed at their images, or should I say ART. From portraits to landscapes, their work is wonderful. And, they made sure that 66 high school seniors who couldn’t afford their senior pictures got them taken with out charge.

We have taken time to visit other places in the area and I’ll show you some images in a later post. Right now here isare some photos about the reunion itself–the preparation and first meeting. Tomorrow is breakfast and dinner. I won’t be so anxious.