The Resurrection

I haven't posted anything here in over five years, but it looks like it is time to give this blog another go. Carol and I are heading off to Hong kong and vietnam in the morning where we will be spending the holidays with our son Austin and his wife Lauren. We will attempt to post witty and pithy musings from our trip along with the usual gasp-worthy photographic contributions. Facebook is the preferred method of communication, but access to Facebook is frequently blocked by the Vietnamese government, so this blog is being dusted off as a backup. Of course, there is also a good chance that this site too will be blocked. In that case, look to the western horizon for our smoke signals.

Our blog posts have moved to 500px...

... and can be found here: http://500px.com/weberpoint/blog

Be sure to hit "READ MORE" at the bottom to see all of the images.

Blog is moving...

...to 500px.  We plan to post from Greece and Italy this September (internet allowing).

Mt Rainier from Weber Point

Mt Rainier from Weber Point
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

A glimpse of summer. Finally.

A very soggy Fremont Parade

A constant rain did not do much to dampen the usual enthusiasm of this year's parade, though the crowds were a bit thinner.  Here then are some of my takes on the day.

ZhuJiaJao Watertown

ZhuJiaJao Watertown
Originally uploaded by weberpoint
It's our last day in China and most people (including Art) have already left for the states. The three of us who are left decided to spend our last day in the "best preserved" ancient part of Shanghai City. ZhuJiaJao is about 40km from the city center. It was built on a series of canals over the past thousand years, though most of the development occurred during the Ming Dynasty. The only modern improvements made since the site was "preserved" were the addition of toilets, information signs, souvenir shops, too many restaurants to count, and a large parking lot for the tour busses. You get
my point. Fortunately for us, today was wet and cold so the number of other visitors was at a very low level, and we had a great time walking the streets for about five hours. This town also has the friendliest dogs we have encountered in China. They are also uniformly small. The ones in the picture are full grown. I leave tomorrow at 6am, and will be home by noon (plus 15 hours in time zone changes).

ZhuJiaJao Watertown

ZhuJiaJao Watertown

ZhuJiaJao Watertown

ZhuJiaJao Watertown

ZhuJiaJao Watertown

Yang Shuo Mountains

Yang Shuo Mountains
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

Landscape photography isn't really my thing, and I have a hard time
composing effective images when I am confronted with scenery such as this.
To be in the middle of it is just an overwhelming experience. It's far
easier to just take it in than to interpret it in a photo. That being said,
I think the best time to visit this area is about 15 years ago. The once
sleepy little town of Guilin is now a major city. The backpacker crowd
would usually head out to Yang Shuo to get away from the crowds. Now Yang
Shuo is a major tourist area - it has two McDonald's and a pedestrian
shopping street that is packed with crowds at night. Further down river is
the relatively unspoiled hamlet of Xing Ping, but it too is quickly
succumbing to the crowds.

Yang Shuo Mountains

Yang Shuo Mountains
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

Landscape photography isn't really my thing, and I have a hard time
composing effective images when I am confronted with scenery such as this.
To be in the middle of it is just an overwhelming experience. It's far
easier to just take it in than to interpret it in a photo. That being said,
I think the best time to visit this area is about 15 years ago. The once
sleepy little town of Guilin is now a major city. The backpacker crowd
would usually head out to Yang Shuo to get away from the crowds. Now Yang
Shuo is a major tourist area - it has two McDonald's and a pedestrian
shopping street that is packed with crowds at night. Further down river is
the relatively unspoiled hamlet of Xing Ping, but it too is quickly
succumbing to the crowds.

Yang Shuo Mountains

Yang Shuo Mountains
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

Landscape photography isn't really my thing, and I have a hard time
composing effective images when I am confronted with scenery such as this.
To be in the middle of it is just an overwhelming experience. It's far
easier to just take it in than to interpret it in a photo. That being said,
I think the best time to visit this area is about 15 years ago. The once
sleepy little town of Guilin is now a major city. The backpacker crowd
would usually head out to Yang Shuo to get away from the crowds. Now Yang
Shuo is a major tourist area - it has two McDonald's and a pedestrian
shopping street that is packed with crowds at night. Further down river is
the relatively unspoiled hamlet of Xing Ping, but it too is quickly
succumbing to the crowds.

Yang Shuo Mountains

Yang Shuo Mountains
Originally uploaded by weberpoint

Landscape photography isn't really my thing, and I have a hard time
composing effective images when I am confronted with scenery such as this.
To be in the middle of it is just an overwhelming experience. It's far
easier to just take it in than to interpret it in a photo. That being said,
I think the best time to visit this area is about 15 years ago. The once
sleepy little town of Guilin is now a major city. The backpacker crowd
would usually head out to Yang Shuo to get away from the crowds. Now Yang
Shuo is a major tourist area - it has two McDonald's and a pedestrian
shopping street that is packed with crowds at night. Further down river is
the relatively unspoiled hamlet of Xing Ping, but it too is quickly
succumbing to the crowds.