Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, Alamo, Nevada

Posted on January 28, 2014 by Ron

Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, Alamo, Nevada

This refuge consists of an upper Pahranagat Lake, a lower Pahranagat Lake and a stretch of marshland in between the two lakes as well as the surrounding lands. There are 14 rustic campsites along the east edge of the upper lake. I had read about this location before leaving home so was happy to eventually get there and set up my tent even though it was after dark when I arrived. The glow of the Las Vegas lights a hundred miles away silhouetted the intervening hills that surround the lake area.

There is not a lot to see in nearby Alamo, Nevada but there is a store and gas station which provide all of the necessities and then some. A surprising variety of grocery items is available from the store including many fresh baked items for the early morning riser. There is no potable water available at the Pahranagat campsite so a trip to the Alamo store for water is a good idea. Of course, those freshly baked cinnamon buns can also be very tempting.

At this time of the year, Pahranagat Lake is home to large flocks of ducks including Mallards, teal, red heads and a collection of American coots. Roadways and trails provide the birder or hiker with an easy way to walk around the whole circumference of the lake. It was a nice walk on a sunny day with temperatures a pleasant 55F. I was treated to a fly-over by a Red-Tailed Hawk and then a Bald Eagle perched for an extended photoshoot opportunity.

I only stayed at this location for one night and then enjoyed a half day of exploring before heading for the campground at Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas, Nevada

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Twin Falls, Idaho – Shoshane Falls

Posted on January 27, 2014 by Ron

Twin Falls, Idaho – Shoshane Falls

As I drove into Jerome, Idaho there was a light misty snow falling and things were getting a bit slippery on the roads. I was happy to check into the Best Western and rest for the night rather than trying to drive further. In the morning, everything was covered with hoarfrost and a heavy fog reduced visibility significantly. The temperature was only 20F so I decided to put on my tourist hat and spend some time visiting the tourist attractions of Twin Falls. As you enter Twin Falls form the north, you cross the Snake River Canyon – a pleasant surprise that I wasn’t expecting.

After stopping to photograph the local Church of the Latter Day Saints structure and some of the hoar frost covered trees and bushes, I headed over to famous Shoshone Falls. From all of the pictures which I had seen, I was expecting quite a wonderful falls and hoping that the low temperatures would have created some interesting ice scenes as well. The clerk at the Best Western had sort of warned me that there wouldn’t be too much water flowing over the falls at this time of the year. Even with that warning, I was still surprised when I arrived at the visitor parking lot and looked over the edge. THe massive rock face was almost dry as bone!

The lake above the falls serves as a source of power for the generating station at this location so, during low flow wqinter months most of the water is diverted to the power station leaving not much more than a trickle flowing over the “Falls”. Interesting to see the underlying geology of the falls laid bare and fully exposed but I would have preferred to see a bit more water flowing over the falls :-).

Having seen the famous local point of tourist interest, I headed out of town toward my destination, Las Vegas, Nevada. What a surprise, when I got about twenty miles south of Twin Falls and escaped from the fog. The road ahead was suddenly bathed in sunlight, clear blue sky was overhead and almost instantly the outside temperature climbed form 20F to near 50F by the time that I reached the Nevada border.

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Snoqualmie Falls, Washington

Posted on January 25, 2014 by Ron

Heading south from Vancouver to Las Vegas, stopped by the Snoqualmie Falls, Washington. Heck of a lot warmer here on the west coast then at home in Ottawa (-1C vs -25C). As mentioned in my previous post, the day had started off foggy and I had some concerns that I might encounter delays at the border but things had gone well and I was ahead of schedule so aside trip to Snoqualmie Falls was just the break from driving that I needed.

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I still had to worry about getting through Snoqualmie Pass with the possibility of some visibility issues and some snow at the higher elevations so, although I might have liked to have explored the area around Snoqulamie a bit more, it wasn’t long before my gear was packed back into the truck and I was on my way again.

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Snoqualmie to Yakima, Washington

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Ron

Snoqualmie to Yakima, Washington Road reports from Snoqualmie Pass indicated that aside from a bit of poorer visibility, I should have no problems with road conditions. Snoqualmie Pass and a couple of other ridges between Snoqualmie and Yakima were the areas that concerned me the most when I was planning this winter road trip so getting through this area without any serious issues would certainly help keep me on schedule. Therefore, after making a tourist-style stop as Snoqualmie Falls, I was on the road again heading skyward into the mountain passes. Although the road was clear and dry, up ahead I could see that I would be soon encountering fog and possibly snow squalls. DSC_7476-roadway DSC_7479-roadway DSC_7480-snow-ahead DSC_7482-snow-ahead DSC_7487-road-signs DSC_7499-fog-ahead Although the fog and low-lying cloud cover reduced visibility to near zero for some short stretches of this portion of the trip and required a drop in speed on occasion to 30mph, there was no area where the roads were slippery so no need to install chains or rely on the 4 wheel drive capability of my brother’s truck.  At some locations, there was a heavy coating of frost on the trees and fences and gave the landscape a truly magical appearance. DSC_7500-Roadside DSC_7504-frosted DSC_7506-one-way-sign DSC_7507-frosted
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Made it into Yakima, Washington without encountering any new problems once we began to drop in elevation form the higher passes and ridges.  Next day, would be the stretch from Yakima to Twin Falls.

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Vancouver, B.C. to Snoqualmie, Washington

Posted on January 24, 2014 by Ron

The day started off fine. The kayaks had been loaded the night before so my plan was to leave reasonably early from my brother’s place in Burnaby, B.C. Was cool enough overnight to deposit a light film of frost on the windows but that was easy to remove.

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Hadn’t counted on the fog,though, so had a bit of difficulty getting onto #1 and getting off onto #15. Once I got that bit of directional difficulty sorted out, it was a straightforward trip to the US border at Blaine, Washington.

I was a bit concerned that I might encounter some difficulty at the border. After all, here I was, driving a truck that I didn’t own, transporting three kayaks that weren’t mine, and carrying a large bag of camping gear. The border agent asked numerous questions but in the end was just as interested in asking about the adverse weather conditions in Eastern North America (ice storm and -25C temperatures) as he was in slowing down my travel. We both agreed that -25C was colder than he wanted to experience and, with that decided, he sent me on my way.

The last time that I drove in the Seattle area, I was driving a Miata. This time, I was higher up in the cab of a Ford 350. The traffic certainly easier to deal with when you can see over top of most of the vehicles in front of you. Didn’t help me much though when I was supposed to make a highway change. Found myself in the wrong lane at the time and the better manoeuvrability of the Miata might have come in handy. Eventually got lined up to head east and started to climb into the mountains. My next challenge would be to get through Snoqualmie Pass. I was ahead of schedule and the weather forecast was fine so when I reached the area of Snoqualmie,I decided to play tourist and go to visit Snoqualmie Falls before heading through the pass.(More Snoqualmie Falls images)

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The Grand Canyon beckons

Posted on January 23, 2014 by Ron

Three Ottawa, Ontario area kayakers won the lottery for a time slot on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. Small problem. Their kayaks were in Vancouver, BC, 2200 kms away from the launch point. They needed someone to transport the kayaks to Las Vegas, Nevada. I volunteered for the task and so, here I was at 5:30 AM waking up to get to the airport for an early morning flight to Vancouver. This time around, I was flying Air Canada, but plenty were also there at that time of the morning to board the Westjet flight boarding at an adjacent gate.

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I was flying with point redemption so, as is normal, the only spots that tend to be available are the flights that leave early in the morning or arrive very late at night (or have multiple stops along the way). Since flying from Ottawa to Vancouver takes about 6 hours non-stop, it was the non-stop flight that I wanted to be on. Not interested in extending that part of the trip by stopping for a chat or plane change in Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg or Calgary which made up all of the other options and would have added another hour or two to the travel time.

Before we could take-off, our pilot had to taxi the jet to the deicing area so that a solution  could be sprayed onto the wings.  While waiting for the deicing process to be completed, the couple sitting next to me began a discussion of the costs of the deicing process both in terms of the cost of time as well as the cost of the deicing fluids and the manpower and machinery needed to apply the stuff and clean up the excess fluids. That led to discussion of how coatings based on nanotechnology might some day eliminate the need for deicing altogether.

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I was looking forward to visiting with my brother in Vancouver before loading the kayaks and heading south to Las Vegas. The slight difference in temperature between Ottawa and Vancouver was an added bonus of flying to Vancouver. When we were boarding the plane in Ottawa, the outside temperature was hovering around -25C while the forecast temperature in Vancouver was +8C and sunny.

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The flight with Air Canada went well with just a touch of turbulence as we approached the foothills of the Rockies near Lethbridge, Alberta. I was lucky to have a young couple sitting beside me on the plane who were involved in the mining industry in Peru. Although they had lived in places that I might only wish to visit some day (Chile and Peru), their Canadian roots in Squamish and Whitehorse (two places that I have visited) were locations of which we could share some knowledge and stories. Who knows, in this small world, my middle son’s career in Geophysics might some day lead him across their path on some flight in the future. Having interesting flying partners can certainly make the flight seem shorter.

As we flew along the 49th parallel, I could look south to see all sorts of mountains and patterns whenever the cloud cover thinned to allow a glimpse or two at was below.  Soon we were back on the ground at Vancouver International Airport .

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After my brother met me at the airport, we did a quick tour of Vancouver’s Gastown (cobblestone as demarcation from nearby Chinatown) The steam clock was an interesting piece of engineering.
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As we walked from place to place a number of different signs caught my attention as did Vancouver’s Flat Iron building which is a backdrop in many of the large number of films produced in Vancouver.
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Plenty of food establishments in the Gastown are but we finally decided on one with an interesting wall 🙂
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After my brother headed back to work, I wandered around Vancouver’s Gastown and Chinatown area. Overhead the skies were clear blue and the sun shone brightly. Rather an uncommon sight in Vancouver in the winter.

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Hardwood Flooring

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Ron

Back at the start of the summer we talked about replacing some carpet in the house. The choices would be new carpet or some combination of laminate flooring or hardwood flooring or … the list goes on.  Then, just at the right moment, along came the local hardware store with one of their truckload sales of various hardwoods in various colours and stains. We ended up deciding on the hardwood option and a natural oak appearance. The plan expanded from one room to four rooms and now that the job is almost finished, it is time to look for my camera again and time to haul out those travel brochures (and finish a few of my unfinished posts from the early summer).

RON_4648-Hardwood-floor

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Watch out for Fraud! Watch out for Scams! Watch out ….. (A Month Later!!!!)

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Ron

Well another month has gone by and the ingenuity of the phishers and scammers continues to astound me. Since posting on this subject a month ago (Watch out for Fraud! Watch out for Scams! Watch out …..), we have continued to have variations on the same theme continue both by phone and by e-mail.

Over the phone, my wife fielded the “Hi, this is your friendly computer technician alerting you to unusual amount of activity on your computer…”

Then came another of those e-mail scams from the traveling friends who ran into trouble in a far off land and needed help (of a financial nature, of course, to help them get out of trouble). We’ve seen these types of pleas at various times before. They generally look like variations of this:
Thieves stole everything. We’re okay. Canadian embassy will reissue our passports but we need money to pay for our hotel and hospital bills. We hate to bother our friends but have no where else to turn … Please contact us and we’ll give you instructions on how to wire us the funds ….

Reading that your friends are in trouble is always unsettling but especially so if you know that they haven’t left the country!

Along the way, I have been told various bank accounts have encountered coding errors, etc. and need me to submit critical identity information right away to help some cyber contact person get me right back on the correct path right away. I’m sure that they would be most helpful once they had sufficient identity information to contact my bank and steal everything!!!

Today’s version of the bank account fraud e-mail which I received today looked like this (links deactivated):

—–

Dear Customer,

Your account has been SUSPENDED, as an error was detected on your profile

The reason for the error might be:

1. You have changed your billing address.
2. You have Submitted incorrect information during bill payment process.
3. Your credit/debit card has expired.
4. You didn’t update your *** profile.

We need you to update your information here

Thank you for your cooperation

—-All of the banks and credit card companies have fraud investigation units so, with a few clicks, off went another fraudulent e-mail to the fraud unit of my bank branch.  Hopefully, someone gets a nice message from an anti-fraud detective with a warrant.

 

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Rideau River Slow Motion Boats

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Graeme

While location scouting for HPFP.ca I had a chance to film some boats on the Rideau River. It’s mainly test footage for slow motion as I’m still learning how to maximize the quality right out of the camera and I goofed a few settings. But none the less, it looks cool!

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Watch out for Fraud! Watch out for Scams! Watch out …..

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Ron

Based on my own experiences of the past month or so, the summer heat is certainly bringing out those wonderful people who like to operate the various scams of the world.

On the phone, I’ve learned that I have won trips, vacations, prizes and who knows what else if only I would be willing to enter some number on the telephone key pad to claim my prize, etc. My number is on the government’s “Do Not Call” list but I’m still hearing “This is your captain speaking” or similar from time to time or hearing that some friend or relative of mine has entered my name in a draw at a nearby store and guess what …..!

For folks in Canada, the government (Canadian Radio, TV, and Telecommunications Commission – CRTC) operates a “Do Not Call” list. It isn’t perfect but it does reduce those suppertime calls a bit and if you want to complain about getting those pesky telemarketing calls, their webpage offers a form for doing just that. CRTC – DO NOT CALL website

The comes the mail. I recently learned that some relative, whom I’ve never met or never known, has unfortunately passed away leaving a huge amount of insurance money just waiting to be picked up. The first announcement of this wonderful financial pot of gold came to me in an official looking postage paid Canada Post style Hudson’s Bay Co. envelope. I didn’t reply quick enough, I guess, because shortly after the arrival of the first letter, I got a second letter announcing the death of the same relative and it directed me to contact one of the partners at McCollum & Associates in Minneapolis, which I did by using the correct e-mail address not the e-mail address listed in the letter. No surprise here but the folks at McCollum & Associates are not too pleased that someone has included their name in the scheme. They have provided details to the authorities, as have I.

For folks in Canada, the national government has a section that investigates these kinds of mail schemes. They call it the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. They can be reached toll free at 1-888-495-8501 or by e-mail at info@antifraudcentre.ca. Their web page has plenty of interesting reading about what the currently popular scams look like. Have fun, take a peek, report a scam. Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre website.

Today, it was e-mail fraud time.  Today, I received an e-mail that was immediately suspicious.  It read:

Dear MyBell member: The credit card we have on file for your MyBell Internet service was declined when we attempted to bill you on 07/10/2013 for your most recent service fees. For this reason, your service could be suspended. Please visit our Account Information pages, located at Click Here and update your credit card information as soon as possible.Once your credit card information is updated, you will be charged immediately, as soon as payment is received. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. We look forward to continuing to serve you.
*************************
Account ID: *****
E-mail ID: ****
Online Session PID: ****
*************************
Sincerely,
MyBell Customer Care

Suspecting a fraud/scam, I phoned the Bell folks immediately and found out thatmy account, as usual, was in good standing without any credit card issues. If you are a Bell customer in Canada and have received a similar notice, DO NOT click on the Click Here link in the original e-mail. Contact Bell Canada’s customer service number at: 310-2355. I’ve sent a copy of the offending e-mail that I received to Abuse@bell.ca which apparently gets directly to Bell Canada’s scam investigator unit.

I enjoy purchasing used photo equipment through listings on sites such as Kijiji.  Well guess what I’ve found out – some offers are real, some are not. Why do all of the best deals involve wiring money to someone who just left town :-).  Anyways, whenever I encounter these fabulous offers, I notify the website operators directly. Did that again just recently.

Maybe, if I don’t have to spend so much time dealing with scam issues, I might have more time for photography and travel :-).

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