Running Springs

A friend and I went to Running Springs after church. It was about 10 degrees cooler than in the valley. I had a chance to try out my new camera.

Palomar Observatory

Today a friend and I went to see the Hale telescope at the Palomar Observatory. The 200" telescope was the largest in the world from the mid 30's until the late 70's. It took 13 years to polish 10,000 pounds from the Pyrex mirror/lens.

The finished dome is 135' tall, and 137' in diameter. The dome weighs approximately 1,000 tons, with a plate steel exterior and aluminum panel interior, separated by four feet to allow for dome venting. Two 125-ton shutters cover the opening seen in the center image and slide open at night to allow light through the slit and into the dome. Needless to say, it was huge!

Vacation

I'm really excited as later this year I'll be going NC for a photography class. The setting is going to be beautiful. (Photo's not mine)

New Lens

My new camera lens came today, as there was no one else around, Nikoli and Fikus had to be my models. Fikus is wide eyed as I said the magic word "Fishy" to get his attention. The lens is so amazing as these were both taken in very low light (compliments of then 2.8 aperture). It's heavier than my other lens, and it's big enough that I might feel like the paparazzi carrying it around, but so far I'm very pleased with it.

Today, a small group from work (and spouses/friends) went on the 40 ft boat from work to Catalina Island for lunch. On the way back, we saw a pod of dolphins. They were everywhere we looked and swam along with the boat for about 30 minutes. It was fun to watch them and get pictures of them. It was so amazing to see them so close up in their natural habitat.

A Day in the Office!

Today, I went down to Long Beach for our monthly staff meeting. We spent the first couple of hours out on the water. What fun! I was able to dock the 40' boat using the new Zeus technology on the boat. It's a system that allows you to dock a boat using a simple joy stick. The boat moves whichever direction you push the switch. Very easy to use.

Palm Springs Arial Tramway

This weekend, I went with friends to Palm Springs to ride the tramcar. It starts at the valley station (elev. 2,643'), then ascends 2 1/2 miles up Chino Canyon to the wilderness at the top (8,516'). The rotating tramcars are the largest in the world. It was much cooler at the top and we hiked the picturesque Long Valley.