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May 11, 2010, a Tuesday
near Moab, Utah, USA
— Had a big breakfast, went to town, and went to Arches National Park
[You may view a map of Arches National Park in PDF format.]
I awoke with the 5:20 alarm and I could hear some wind. I looked out the window and didn't see any clouds, so I went back to bed.
When I got out of bed around 7:10, there were clouds that might have been nice at sunrise. J made a big breakfast of Western omelets, potatoes, whole-wheat toast, and OJ. I had my usual LavAzza Gran Filtro Dark Roast coffee and J had her usual Lucile's tea. It was nice to relax over breakfast for a change. After doing the dishes, I did some computer work. I left in the Jeep by myself around 10:55.
I went to the Moab Post Office to buy some stamps and mail some things.
Then I went to only barbershop in Moab, and the guy said he already had his last two customers before he would close for lunch. :(
I returned to the RV around 11:55 and did some more computer work.
I had lunch around 12:25 while reading more of the May Outdoor Photographer. I won one of the Sunpak 383 flashes that was on auction at eBay. The seller had two identical flashes on auction that ended within a minute of each other, and I used Gixen, a free auction sniping service, to snipe them as part of a single bid group. In other words, I set up maximum bids for the two flashes, and Gixen knew to only bid on the second if I didn't win the first — what a deal! I'll use the flash as part of our strobist flash setup for hummingbirds. I did some more computer work, and several rain showers went by. One even included some sleet. I ordered some Maha Imedion AA and Maha Imedion AAA low self-discharge NiMH rechargeable batteries. I can't stand using throw-away alkaline batteries, and have been using some older Maha Powerex NiMH rechargeable batteries for a few years. They work great as long as you remember to charge them before using. That's because NiMH rechargeable batteries loose their charge over time — even just sitting there not powering anything. The new Imedion low self-discharge batteries retain up to 85% of their charge after one year, a vast improvement over the older Powerex batteries, and I can't wait to start using them because then I'll likely not have to charge them before using each time.
We had dinner around 6:00 of Parmesan Pork Tenderloin and cheese mashed potatoes, and the pork tenderloin was delicious! It was some of the best-tasting food we've had in a long time!
After I did the dishes, we got ready to go photograph and left in the Jeep around 6:50.
It was mostly cloudy, but there were bright areas on the horizon to the west, so we had our hopes up for good conditions at sunset which is around 8:20.
We went to Arches National Park and went straight to Balanced Rock, a good subject at sunset. We parked and waited under a really dark cloud that extended to the horizon to the west — not good. The conditions looked better over near the Fiery Furnace, so we drove over there. It was brighter, but still not very good for photography. After waiting there for a while, we headed back to Balanced Rock where it was raining — really not good. We waited until the official sunset time just to make sure we wouldn't miss anything, then we left.
We returned to the RV around 8:55, and I had some Asbach Uralt while doing some computer work.
I awoke with the 5:20 alarm and I could hear some wind. I looked out the window and didn't see any clouds, so I went back to bed.
When I got out of bed around 7:10, there were clouds that might have been nice at sunrise. J made a big breakfast of Western omelets, potatoes, whole-wheat toast, and OJ. I had my usual LavAzza Gran Filtro Dark Roast coffee and J had her usual Lucile's tea. It was nice to relax over breakfast for a change. After doing the dishes, I did some computer work. I left in the Jeep by myself around 10:55.
I went to the Moab Post Office to buy some stamps and mail some things.
Then I went to only barbershop in Moab, and the guy said he already had his last two customers before he would close for lunch. :(
Parmesan Pork Tenderloin
- 1 lb pork tenderloin
- 6 tbs fine dry bread crumbs
- 2 tbs grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 small onion, thinly sliced
- 5 clove garlic, minced
- 2 small zucchini or summer squash, thinly sliced
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.
I had lunch around 12:25 while reading more of the May Outdoor Photographer. I won one of the Sunpak 383 flashes that was on auction at eBay. The seller had two identical flashes on auction that ended within a minute of each other, and I used Gixen, a free auction sniping service, to snipe them as part of a single bid group. In other words, I set up maximum bids for the two flashes, and Gixen knew to only bid on the second if I didn't win the first — what a deal! I'll use the flash as part of our strobist flash setup for hummingbirds. I did some more computer work, and several rain showers went by. One even included some sleet. I ordered some Maha Imedion AA and Maha Imedion AAA low self-discharge NiMH rechargeable batteries. I can't stand using throw-away alkaline batteries, and have been using some older Maha Powerex NiMH rechargeable batteries for a few years. They work great as long as you remember to charge them before using. That's because NiMH rechargeable batteries loose their charge over time — even just sitting there not powering anything. The new Imedion low self-discharge batteries retain up to 85% of their charge after one year, a vast improvement over the older Powerex batteries, and I can't wait to start using them because then I'll likely not have to charge them before using each time.
We had dinner around 6:00 of Parmesan Pork Tenderloin and cheese mashed potatoes, and the pork tenderloin was delicious! It was some of the best-tasting food we've had in a long time!
After I did the dishes, we got ready to go photograph and left in the Jeep around 6:50.
It was mostly cloudy, but there were bright areas on the horizon to the west, so we had our hopes up for good conditions at sunset which is around 8:20.
We went to Arches National Park and went straight to Balanced Rock, a good subject at sunset. We parked and waited under a really dark cloud that extended to the horizon to the west — not good. The conditions looked better over near the Fiery Furnace, so we drove over there. It was brighter, but still not very good for photography. After waiting there for a while, we headed back to Balanced Rock where it was raining — really not good. We waited until the official sunset time just to make sure we wouldn't miss anything, then we left.
We returned to the RV around 8:55, and I had some Asbach Uralt while doing some computer work.