May 24, 2008

We spend one more day in New Orleans and take a swamp tour of the New Orleans Bayou. I find the calling I have been searching for: professional alligator photographer.

And then we hit the Bayou Boogaloo for round two.

And then we attend an African American art opening. The paintings are phenomenal and a DJ spins hip hop in the back room. Dig.

May 9, 2008

The Passage Resort rests at a high elevation (8,000 feet or so) and it snows many May nights due to the high elevation.

We leave the Passage Resort and drive along Route 14 through Wyoming, and pass through the town of Elmblem, population 10.

The landscape changes enormously in a short amount of time. This morning we drove through mountain passes with tall pines and heavy snow from the winter. Now arid plains surround us and farming somehow occurs despite the conditions. There is no visible source of water nearby except for small streams the farmers divert throughout the fields to nourish their crops. I presume the soil is quite fertile; the reason why the farmers are here.

Our documentary filmmaker, Bruno, began to have health problems leading up to our departure. We all agreed it would be best for him to get healthy in Maine rather than hit the road for a month. I received an email from his girlfriend and all-around amazing human being, Kate, a few days ago and she said he is doing much better and has his Portuguese pizzazz back. We wish he would have been able to have made the trip but are thankful that he’s healthy again.

I am doing my best to make video with a Canon G9 but the files are too large to edit until I return to Maine and have sufficient time. A second ago I opened Ethan’s sunroof and raised my arms, head, and camera through it to make a video of the road, plains, and mountains off in this distance. The wind rushes through my nose so fast at 75 mph that it becomes a task to properly inhale and exhale, and I get my second bloody nose of the trip; the first because of the high altitude at the Passage Resort and the second due to making video through Ethan’s sunroof.

Yellowstone National Park resides less than 50 miles away. We enter and exit the tunnels before Yellowstone while listening to Explosions in the Sky - First Breath After Coma. Rain drops begin to fall from above and onto our windshield.

The weather is a beautiful mix of sunshine and snow upon entering Yellowstone. We gradually make our way around the largest lake in Yellowstone, appropriately titled Yellowstone Lake, and stop frequently to take in sights such as the lake, gases being released from the earth, and the occasional herd of buffalo. No grizzly bears have been seen but we do find fresh grizzly scat. I can attest to this because I use a nearby stick to break open the middle portion and it is slightly moist. Thrilling, I know; the Eagle Scout and avid outdoor lover inside of me comes out.

We arrive in Yellowstone at an ideal time. One of the main roads in the park opened today, May 9, and without it we would need to find an alternate route for our travels.

We push forward and make our way to Old Faithful. Unfortunately, she is not as faithful as perhaps millions before us and does not erupt in our presence. A strong snowstorm rolls through and the buffalo run to seek shelter. Ethan and I seek shelter at the Old Faithful Grocery Store and eat roast beef and turkey panninis, respectively. We depart and pass another herd of buffalo braving the elements. I image what it is like to be an animal and live through a winter at Yellowstone.

Missoula, Mountana will be our home for the evening. Tomorrow we depart to see Shawn Gust in Couer d’Alene, Idaho.

I think that this is lovely. I would like to share it with everyone.

From the BBC:

In a statement, he accused China of not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the “continuing human suffering” in the troubled western Darfur region.

At least 200,000 people have been killed and two million forced from their homes in the five-year conflict.

Beijing has not yet responded to the move, which correspondents say is its first big setback in staging the Games.

A source in the Beijing Olympic Committee said a response was being discussed at the highest levels but had not yet been made public.

But the BBC’s James Reynolds in Beijing says the decision will anger and worry the authorities there.

Since Beijing won the right to host the Games it has always tried to keep China’s politics and China’s Olympics separate, he says, and it has attacked anyone who has tried to link the two.

Read the entire article here.

Read China’s response here.

I thought I was alone as I prepared to make my first blog post last week, but I was not.  I found out shortly after Susan made her first post that she encountered the same thing.  Then when I spoke to David, it was happening to him too!

We all had STAGE FRIGHT for our first blog post. Do any other bloggers get this?

This guy has a different kind of stage fright.

Then I found this, which has some valuable lessons.

I have assigned watching the above video as homework for all of us Pause, to Begin bloggers. Maybe it will help us pick up the pace. If I were a reader of this blog I would be getting ready for some sweet posting next week. If you are lucky, this will turn into a video blog too.