San Diego Full of Surprises

A stick insect may not be what you expect when you pull into the mobile station- but when the opportunity presents itself, it sure is fun to have a camera handy. Obilan, Amy, and Myself found our way to San Diego this past weekend with the help of our new friend TomTom. On the way down, we stopped in Temecula for a few wine tastings. While Napa and Sonoma get all the credit, Southern California can be home to some fine wines. I find that Syrah's from Southern California tend to be very tasty, if a bit spicy (which I like).

We met up with the Rambler and Handsom Hubby (more on that tommorow), and had a fantastic dinner and drinks out in the Gas Lamp, Gas Light, Gas Lantern -whatever-district. So, in Honor of the Rambler- here are a few things I learned:

Lesson 1- Just because they let you throw toilet paper at other patrons doesn't mean they don't have bathroom attendents.

Lesson 2- You can dodge pushy bathroom attendents by washing your hands until the next guy is finished with his business, then slip out while the bathroom attended is busy with the other customer.

Lesson 3- Toilet paper, when thrown, travels much further when wet.

Lesson 4- You get in trouble for dipping your toilet paper in the ice bucket.

Lesson 5- When you order a 40oz. beer, it comes in an ice bucket.

Lesson 6- Only order 1 40oz beer- two is too many.

Lesson 7- Meeting up with old friends and throwing around toilet paper is a surprisingly good way of catching up.

Lesson 8- Don't try this at home.

And, below this post you may notice I took some more pictures- Enjoy!

Orange

Sunshine Flower

No Clue

Winery Flower

Cool Kids

Red Rose

Pink Rose

Spiky

Prickly Pear

Cacti Flower (Prickly Pear)

Cacti

Purple Flowers - by the Zoo

Antarctica is a nice change of pace

I'm getting a little jaded of flowery pictures from Hawaii; posts strewn with glib-pointless grammatically incorrect text. Well, for a little more excitement check out what's happening on the other side of the world. Phil Jacobsen's blog is something to behold- telling the story of the dark days of April, as an 'overnighter' on the lost continent.
Or check out our friends Kim and Tom who just welcomed Brayden to their family! I'm hoping to catch up with the 'Rambler' and her Handsome Hubby this weekend. And Obilan is in town to find a job- All in all a rather fun time for us bloggers!

yellow

EP's Quest

Once again we find Evan on the edge of a cliff. Ever since childhood he has been the bane of trail guides, parents, or anyone who has any common sense that standing on the edge of cliffs is not a good idea. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have the part of the brain that says.. "Whoa, if I fall..." His brain says "Cool...can I get closer?"

Prime Odd Flowers

I thought this was interesting- the flower has 5 outer leaves, and 7 inner stamens. Of course this is just a happy curiosity, because I took the picture thinking "Dis heer flowar sur is purty" (apparently, while on vacation, my brain decides to think in country bumpkin)- nothing against country bumpkins, bless their hearts.

Smack Down Thursdays

I've had a beach of a day today, so I'll just post some nice pictures I took last week when I was having a good day.

Beach Walker

Wake up early and find a beach of your own.

Lone Tree

Water Wednesday

I like the way water just sheds off leaves in the tropics, natures teflon.

Water Lilly

Color Fast Gecko?

When you stop and look, you notice amazing things. This Gecko (I think), turned from a bright green, to a dark brown, then back to a bright green, depending on where he was sitting. I noticed him scamper across the pavement when he was bright green, and sit on a tree that was brown. I kept eating my breakfast, looked up, and he was brown. I went a found my camera, and waited until he jumped onto a green leaf- and took the following sequence over a 1-2 min time period.

Brownish-Green

Greener

Bright Green

Gecko?

Kaholawe & Molikini from Wailea

So, I guess if you spend a week in Maui you end up with a few good photos. I'm getting the hang of my new camera. 8 days in Maui is pretty much what you would expect- heavenly. It is so difficult to leave, I think I need a vacation after being ripped away from a place so beautiful- the photo's below are a few, I will keep posting for probably the rest of the month- but the initial onslaught is over- enjoy!

Buddha - looking away from the ocean, the buddha watches over one of the best condos.

Fat Birds- very cute suckers, they pop up around breakfast and see if you have anything worth hanging around for.

Plumeria - The best part is they smell better then they look- wish I had a smell-o-blog

Orchids

Water Drops

Maui Mushroom - the only room I can afford on Maui

Honey Bee Butt

Flowers by the Pool - this photo was the toughest one for me to capture the whole trip- I made 3 trips out to the pool to get bright enough lighting, and the right position- I think I'm most proud of this photo- even if it is probably not the best one.

Whale - wish I had a zoom lens when we saw the whales- the best part was listening to them under water.

Bird1 - with a bug in the beak!

Amy- enjoying the lobby at an expensive hotel (where we are not staying)

Maui4

Piper- on the green, I just liked the logo quality of the moment.

Everyone wonders- no this is not photo-hacked. The flower just looks like this- it is not even a cropped photo.

Maui No Ka Oi

Focus!

The ability to focus has not been something I could handle this week. Even my new Camera/lens combo (Cannon Rebel XT, Macro 100mm) couldn't focus...but Robo here was sleepy- maybe if I get him in a better mood.