Top Twelve Photos of 2012

Gila Bend, AZ

 

 

 

    Here's what I feel is the best photo I took during 2012.
    Shoshone Falls, which is mispronounced as "Show-Shown" by the locals, is just up the Snake River from Twin Falls, Idaho.
    More Twin Falls Photos.

 

 

 

 

    Photo of the HooDoos at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah; taken on 8 Apr 2012.
    More Bryce Canyon Photos.

 

 

 

 

 

    Mount Rainer, Washington, as seen from the north-east; taken on 10 Jun 2012.
    More Mt Rainier Photos and yet additional photos.

 

 

 

    Mount Lassen, California, the southern-most volcano in the Cascade Range, looks considerably different after the 2011/2012 winter than it did in 2011; this photo was taken on 18 Jul 2012. (Lassen NP did not open until August the previous year.) This photo was taken on 18 Jul 2012.
    More Lassen NP Photos.

 

 

 

 

    Grosvenor Arch in Utah south of Kodachrome Basin State Park; it is named for the founder of the National Geographic Society. Taken 7 Apr 2012. [Reached by a gravel road not advisable for travel by large RVs or 5th-Wheelers.]
    More Grosvenor Arch & Kodachrome Basin Photos.

 

 

 

 

    Strait of Juan de Fuca from Washington's Salt Creek County Park just after sunset. Photo taken 3 Jun 2012. [There are remnants of a former Coast Artillery Battery near the park as well as an RV Park.]
     Additional Juan de Fuca & Olympic Peninsula Photos.

 

 

 

    Rock formations at Kodachrome Basin State Park in Utah. Taken on 7 Apr 2012.
    Additional Photos of Kodachrome Basin State Park.

 

 

 

    Vista Point atop 9200' Sherman Pass with Olancha Peak just to the right of my rig. [N.B.Forest Service road not advised for large Class A RVs or large 5th-Wheelers.]

 

 

 

 

 

    Iconic Half Dome in Yosemite NP as seen from Olmstead Point along CA120, the Tioga Pass Road. Taken 7 Oct 2012.

 

 

 

 

 

    Devils Postpile NM, reached via Mammoth Lakes Road from US395. [N.B. There are travel restrictions during the summer and early fall on the Minaret Summit Rd to the Monument through the end of September.] Taken 5 Oct 2012.

 

 

 

 

    In an article in Century magazine John Muir spoke of a valley on the South Fork of the Kings almost as grand as that on the Merced River in Yosemite. The photo was taken from the Canyon View(point) on the way to Roads End past Cedar Grove. Taken on 21 Oct 2012.

 

    Number 12: you recommend one. Send me an e-mail with your recommendation for the 12th photo. If others send in photos which I prefer, will still keep a link to your recommendation along with your name.

 

    From Trevor Glenn of Mi-Wuk Village, CA: a photo of Shiprock in northwestern New Mexico.
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Links:

• More Twin Falls/Shoshone Falls photos
• Bryce Canyon images
• More Mount Rainier photos
• National Park Service website on Lassen Volcanic National Park
• Whikpedia article on Grosvenor Arch
• Many, many Grosvenor Arch Photos
• Wikipedia article on the Strait of Juan de Fuca

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Su 13 Jan Actual Route: Ajo Hwy bd - Tucson VA Hosp - Ajo Hwy & Mission Rd McD - Ajo Hwy bd
M 14 Jan Actual Route: Ajo Hwy bd - Mission Br Lib - Ajo Hwy bd
T 15 Jan Actual Route: Ajo Hwy bd - Mission Br Lib - Wilmont TJ's - Ajo Hwy bd
W 16 Jan Actual Route: Ajo Hwy bd - Mission Br Lib - So Tucson - Benson - Willcox - Sagebrush MH & RV Park
Th 17 Jan Actual Route: Sagebrush MH & RV Park
F 18 Jan Actual Route: Sagebrush RV Pk - Bowie - Lordsburg, NM, - Deming - Wagon Wheel RV Pk
Sa 19 Jan Actual Route: Wagon Wheel RV Pk - Deming - Wagon Wheel RV Pk
Su 20 Jan Actual Route: Wagon Wheel RV Pk - Las Cruces Walmart
M 21 Jan Actual Route: Las Cruces Walmart - Big Lots - Las Cruces Walmart
T 22 Jan Route: Las Cruces Walmart - Dollar Tree - Library - Las Cruces Walmart
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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
• Free campsites website
• Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

Christmas Day in Salinas, CA

Salinas, CA

 

 

 

    Here are photos taken at my niece Lori and her husband Greg's home in Salinas.

 

    [From Left to Right:] Blaise DiGirolamo, Madison DiGirolamo, and Marco DiGirolamo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    [From Left to Right:] Greg Voogd, Lori DiGirolamo Voogd, Tyler Voogd, and Nick Voogd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    [From Left to Right:] Tyler Voogd, Marco DiGirolamo, Madison DiGirolamo, and Nick Voogd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

     [From Left to Right:] Phil DiGirolamo and Jane Lemmon DiGirolamo.

 

 

 

 

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• Monterey County Historical Society history of Salinas
• Wikipedia article on Salinas

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T 1 Jan Actual Route: Hesperia Walmart - Hisperia - Victorville Walmart

W 2 Jan Actual Route: Hesperia Walmart - Hisperia - Victorville - Appley Valley - Victorville - Hesperia Walmart

Th 3 Jan Actual Route: Hesperia Walmart - Hisperia - Victorville - Appley Valley - Lucerne Valley - Joshua Tree NP (Jumbo Rocks CG)

F 4 Jan Actual Route: Jumbo Rocks CG - Keys View - Cottonwood Sprs Dump Station - bd outside of southern boundary of JTNP

Sa 5 Jan Actual Route: bd outside of southern boundary of JTNP - Blythe - Mayflower [Riverside] County Park

Su 6 Jan Actual Route: Mayflower County Park - Blythe - Quartzite - EX 81, I-10 - boon-dock

M 7 Jan Actual Route: Salome Hwy bd - Tonapah - Palo Verde - Arlington - Gila Bend - Butterfield Trail bd

T 8 Jan Actual Route: Butterfield Trail bd - Gila Bend - Senfield - Casa Grande Lib - S Montgomery Rd bd

W 9 Jan Actual Route: S Montgomery Rd bd - Casa Grande Lib - Coolidge Walmart

Th 10 Jan Actual Route: Coolidge Walmart - Casa Grande Ruins NM - Florence - Catalina - Catalina State Park
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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
• Free campsites website
• Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

Christmas Eve in Scotts Valley, CA

Santa Cruz, CA

 

    Because my late brother Warren had complained that I never spent Christmas with them I accepted an invitation from his widow Cynthia to spend Christmas Eve with her and her family.
    It was a very enjoyable evening with good food (especially the clam chowder) and much laughter.
....

bsp;

    Here are some photos of her, her two sons, and their families.
    [Click once to enlarge; press ESC to return here.]     [From Left to Right:] Sean Lemmon, Bailey Lemmon, Connor Lemmon, Traci Hamann Lemmon, and Cynthia Kaarsberg Lemmon.

 

 

 

 

    [From Left to Right:] Jarrod Lemmon, Emily Lemmon, Heather Sheard Lemmon, and Ian Lemmon.

 

 

 

 

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• Wikipedia article on Santa Cruz
• Wikipedia article on Scotts Valley, CA
• Warren H. Lemmon's page on the Hugh Lemmon & Descendants website

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T 18 Actual Dec Route: Santa Cruz - Scotts Valley - Santa Cruz

W 19 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz - Aptos - Watsonville - Pinto Lake RV Park

Th 20 Dec Actual Route: Pinto Lake - San Juan Bautista - Mission Farm RV Park

F 21 Dec Actual Route: Mission Farm RV Pk - Watsonville - Santa Cruz

Sa 22 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz

Su 23 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz

M 24 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz - Scotts Valley - Santa Cruz

T 25 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz - Castroville - Salinas

W 26 Dec Route: Salinas - Marina - Salinas - King City

Th 27 Dec Route: King City -
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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
• Free campsites website
• Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

The Writing of "The Christmas Song"

    Here's the story of the writing of "The Christmas Song" as related by the composer, Mel Torme, in his autobiography, It Wasn't All Velvet. [His lyricist was Bob Wells.]
....

    One excessively hot afternoon I drove out to Bob's house in Toluca Lake for a work session. The San Fernando Valley, always at least ten degrees warmer than the rest of [Los Angeles], blistered in the July sun. Bob lived with his parents in a beautiful Colonial type home, but even it was oppressive in those pre-air-conditioned days. I opened the door and walked in. (Before Charles Manson some people left their front doors unlocked.) I called for Bob. No answer. I walked over to the piano. A writing pad rested on the music board. Written in pencil on the open page were four lines of verse.

            Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
            Jack Frost nipping at your nose
            Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
            And folks dressed up like Eskimos

    When Bob finally appeared I asked him about the little poem. He was dressed sensibly in tennis shorts and a white T-shirt, but he still looked uncomfortably warm.

    "It was so damn hot today, I thought I'd write something to cool myself off," he said. "All I could think of was Christmas and cold weather."

    I took another look at his handiwork. "You know," I said, "this just might make a song."

    We sat down together at the piano, and, as improbable though it may sound, "The Christmas Song" was [completed] about forty-five minutes later. Excitedly, we called Carlos Gastel, sped into Hollywood, played it for him, then for Johnny Burke, then for Nat Cole, who fell in love with the tune. It took a full year for Nat to get into a studio to record it, but his record finally came out in the fall of 1946; and the rest could be called our financial pleasure.

    A humorous footnote: when Nat initially recorded "The Christmas Song," he sang the last line of the bridge: "To see if *reindeers really know/How to fly." After the first pressings were released, and the song became a hit, we pointed out his grammatical error. Nat, a true gentleman, and a dogged perfectionist, stewed over this mistake, and, sure enough, at the end of another recording session of his, with the same-sized orchestra at hand, he rerecorded our song, properly singing "reindeer." The second version is virtually indentical to the first, but those early first pressings have become collectors' items.
....
[Source: It Wasn't All Velvet. by Mel Torme, c1988, Viking Penguin Inc., New York, pp. 83-84.]
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Links:

• Wikipedia article on Mel Torme
• MyMusicBase biography of Mel Torme
• Wikipedia article on The Christmas Song

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T 11 Dec Actual Route: PA VA Hosp - Palo Alto Branch Lib - Santa Cruz

W 12 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz - Capitola - Santa Cruz

Th 13 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz - Scotts Valley - Santa Cruz

F 14 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz - East S.C. P.O. - Santa Cruz

Sa 15 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz

Su 16 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz

M 17 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz

T 18 Actual Dec Route: Santa Cruz - Scotts Valley - Santa Cruz

W 19 Dec Actual Route: Santa Cruz - Aptos - Watsonville - Pinto Lake RV Park

Th 20 Dec Actual Route: Pinto Lake - San Juan Bautista - Mission Farm RV Park

F 21 Dec Actual Route: Mission Farm RV Pk - Watsonville - Santa Cruz
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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
• Free campsites website
• Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.