Summer 2005 Photo Archive
Colorado Panorama-O-Rama
26 August 05
I went nuts taking panoramic shots while on the road trip. Here's the tour de force: views of Kansas, the Boulder area, Rocky Mountain National Park, and Coors Field.Trail Ridge Road
24 August 05
Trail Ridge Road is the highest pave road in the US. It runs through Rocky Mountain National Park, where Mike and I returned on our last day in Colorado. Check out that marmot (the Rocky Mountain bad-ass version of a squirrel).Rocky Mountain National Park
23 August 05
You can't go to Colorado without going up. Rocky Moutain National Park is an hour outside the city. Big, bright, and beautiful, the park provided for some of the most stunning vistas on the entire trip. We liked it so much we went back again later that week. I'm no well-travelled hiker, so the 8,000 ft altitude almost knocked me out as we climbed one hill.Colorado: First Three Days
22 August 05
On August 13th, roommate Mike and I set out westward on a road trip to Denver, Colorado. For going out with very little set in stone, we managed to pack a lot of activity into 5 days. Day one: we leave Harrisonburg, VA, and make it half way there, spending the night at Kingdom City, Missouri. Please make a note that Kingdom City doesn't quite live up to its majestic name (nothing really does in the Mizz). Day two takes another 12 hours driving and we finally arrive at our destination. We meet up with Todd that night. Many thanks must go out to Todd's parents, Marc and Alice, who were especially hospitible to Mike and me. Day three: Mike and I walk around downtown Denver in the morning. Todd then drives us out to nearby Boulder, around the Colorado University campus, and up on the mountain range. As it were, Todd's got incredible hook-ups. He scored us free tickets to the B.B. King show that night. Kenny Wayne Shepherd openned. Two schlubs from the East Coast couldn't be luckier.Poolside at Jamie's
7 August 05
My last weekend at home consisted of hanging over Jamie's place. The water-basketball got rough as Alex, a former high school hoops-star, played like it was for the division. No girls-gone-wild, less alcohol than a shot of Scope, but the sentimentality fitting of a summer's end. See you guys during winter break. I'm off to Colorado, then to Harrisonburg, VA.Baltimore with Andrew
1 August 05
Andrew, being the thoughtful guy that he is, was kind enough to invite me to go along with his family down to Baltimore for the day. Of course, I could argue that he owed me one, after taking him to a Phils game, but I won't go there. We headed down early and met up with Wes, Steve, and Fiona, all Virginia Tech buddies with Andrew. We did about four laps around the Inner Harbor before finally getting to Camden Yards to watch the O's. I've never seen batting practice before, and never realized the exhilaration of reaching for a dinger, then immediately turning around before the next one comes and smacks you in the face.Lauren's for a birthday
24 July 05
How do you follow up a good house party? You do the same thing the next night, just at another place. Being my birthday, I was fortunate to be around my friends and good company for the night.Jason's
24 July 05
Jason's place has lots of memories behind it. Friends have gathered there for the past several years, and each time it's been marked with a momentous occasion. We've been there so frequently, we had some disputes about what happened when at Jason's house. In the middle of the summer, people invite other people and it's a good mix. This time, I didn't break the deck.My Place for Once
17 July 05
How about we just head on back to my place, have a couple beers, play some ping pong and put a toad in the kitchen?Phils Fireworks
9 July 05
Ever since I was a kid, my family has been attending the fireworks show at the Phillies game. Somewhere along the line my parents figured out that watching the fireworks there provided for the best show and possibly the most convienent. The legacy continued as my brother and I showed up at Citizens Bank Park last night accompanied by our dates, Hayley and Erin. A good game, even though they lost. You had to be impressed with the Ryan Howard's performance. If there was a wind blowing out, he would have had 3 homers easily. Instead, they lost by a single run. But we came for the pyrotechnics anyway.Fourth of July 05
5 July 05
Just because they're legal in Pennsylvania doesn't mean they won't annoy the crap out of your neighbors. The crowd favorite had to have been "Piccolo Pete," which made the most annoying sound in the world (a la Dumb and Dumber) for about 10 seconds.Kirkwood Preserve
29 June 05
To get to work, I drive every day through the narrow back-country roads of Delaware and Chester County. Even though the route isn't the most direct, it's easily the less stressful, as the rest of the highways are chronically congested. The journey is also easy on the eyes. As opposed to mindlessly staring at sedans and SUVs on the road, my path takes me through woods, near farms of rolling hills, and over three one-lane bridges. The most picturesque of these places would have to be the Kirkwood Preserve. The area consists of a couple acres of hills and waist-high grass set aside along one of the roads I use. It's not a park by any means, so it feels even more secluded. After passing by the preserve numerous times, I finally took a couple minutes to walk around there this afternoon.Panoramic shots now assembled using AutoStitch. It's easier and the results are much better.
Waffle House Lancaster
20 June 05
Bob Dylan/Willie Nelson, Clipper Magazine Stadium, Lancaster, PA. I'd bet you'd be interesting in seeing what that was all about. Willie Nelson's the kind of artist you love but you never knew it. I'd bet between him and Dylan, they've written about 80% of the most recognizable songs of the 20th century. Bob Dylan had a great band on stage with him, but he was so into this stylized vocals that you couldn't recognize any of his songs. All those fun melodies were gone in place of this awful four-note interval/sixteenth note singing he employed. They don't allow cameras at the gig, so Kelly I fell for their bluff and left our cameras in the car. Sorry, no pics there.Redeeming all of that, we stopped by heaven on our way back. I didn't realize they had Waffle Houses this far north. I haven't had a Texas Cheesesteak in about 6 months and it was good to meet back up. I can't say the hash browns were the best, but I can't complain. Before she left her plate half-full of the un-eaten delicacy, Kelly mentioned how stuffed she felt, but how obligated she was to complete the meal. Good show, bad show, I'll be at Waffle House afterwards anyway.