Pictures from Airplanes

I've been busy the last few months, but here are some interesting pictures I've taken from airplanes over that time.

This was taken somewhere between Denver and Minneapolis on my way to see Brett and his family in early November:

Mt. Ranier flying from Seattle to Denver after Thanksgiving:

Great Salt Lake later that evening:

San Jose flying home from AGU in early December:

Louisville, CO later that night:

Boulder on my way to Washington for Christmas:

I live about half way between the two lakes along the lower left hand side of the picture.

Ootheca

Yesterday when I blogged, I looked at the Wikipedia page for praying mantises.  I saw that the ootheca, or egg case, looked familiar.  I had seen a similar looking thing on the stucco while taking pictures of the praying mantis.

Here is what's on my wall:

This also blends in well with its surroundings.  Here it is from farther away (in the center of the picture):

Wikipedia says that praying mantis oothecae are laid in the fall, and hatch in the late spring.  They are valuable for organic farmers, because all the newly hatched babies have ravenous appetites for aphids and other pests.  [I originally typed 'oothecas', but the spellchecker complained.  I looked up the proper plural on dictionary.com.  Once I had the correct plural, the spellchecker still complained; it turns out, it thought I was typing 'toothache'.]

While I'm on the subject of bugs, I saw this spider in my basement tonight.

It looks like it could be the offspring of the one that was living in my garage two years ago!

Praying Mantis

I saw this brown praying mantis in front of my townhouse today:

I'm not sure how I spotted it, because when I first noticed it, it blended in well with its surroundings!

Zurich

I was watching the beginning of The Eiger Sanction with Clint Eastwood, which came out in 1975.  The opening scene took place in Zurich.  I thought the scene looked familiar (and not because I'd seen the movie before).

Here's the scene from the movie:

and here's a picture I took two years ago:

The Swiss flag looks like it's still in the same place, and that weird tree that looks like it's missing its top-left portion looks exactly the same -- 35 years later!


In other news, I thought this Big K soda was expensive!

First snow in the mountains

It was rainy and cool from Tuesday through Thursday.  When the clouds cleared, they revealed snow up in the mountains.

The last two months

It's been awhile since my last blog!

Back in July (when it was still hot), this bunny seemed content lying in the shade:

In August, Terri came to visit.  We spent some time up at Horsetooth Reservoir.

The water level was so low, the boat ramp didn't even reach all the way to the water!

On August 25th, the USA Pro Challenge came to Boulder.  That's the bike race I volunteered for last year.  This year, Harald and I first went up to Peak to Peak highway to watch the race go by.

Then we drove down Left Hand Canyon and watched the race up Lee Hill.  We barely made it on TV.  Watch closely as they go from the leader graphic back to live action -- that's me in the white shirt, and Harald in the orange hat!

Here is a freeze frame from my TV:

I was busy taking what turned out to be a lousy picture:

But I was ready for the peloton as they came by!

On Labor Day, Harald, Tara, and I went for a hike to Arapahoe Pass.  This is Caribou Lake as you look down from the pass:

Unlike the last time I was there, this time there was no snow, so we were able to hike over to the pass in the middle left of the above picture.  From there, we could see some mountains to the west.

Zooming in and examining Google Earth, I discovered that the two tallest peaks on the horizon were Mt. Powell and Eagles Nest, two mountains north of Vail.

Heading back to Arapahoe Pass, we had a nice view of Apache (left) and Navajo (right) peaks:

Toronto

I went to Toronto this past weekend for Cora's and Trevor's wedding.

On Friday, I went to the Hockey Hall of Fame (the first HOF I've been to).

It was a little different than I expected.  I thought there would be a little memorial to each person in the Hall, but instead there were a few large displays for the "legends".  Otherwise, there were a lot of team displays.  I saw a replica of the Stanley Cup:

They also had a special exhibition of goalie masks. 

Ahh, Pelle Lindbergh.  What might have been ...

Saturday, I took a trip to the CN Tower.

As expected, the view was excellent.  Unfortunately, it was humid and hazy, so visibility was limited across Lake Ontario.  But the view of Toronto was nice!

The University of Toronto is in the center of the above picture, where the green dome and green space are.

There was also an Indy Car race taking place this weekend. 

Here I am standing on the glass floor, more than 1100 feet above the ground.  Yikes!

I stood there long enough to take the picture, but not much longer!

The wedding took place later that evening at the Hart House on the University of Toronto campus.

The ceremony seemed to go without a hitch.  The clouds provided shade, which was a welcome relief after the record-breaking heat the day before!  This was the impressive dining hall where we ate dinner:

Overall, it was a fun weekend!