We went to a Nellie McKay concert  at the Highline Ballroom.  Nellie is one of my favorites and I’ve seen her twice before.  She performed a lot of songs from her most recent release which was a tribute to Doris Day.  Great lighting at this concert.

Nicki is also here visiting her friend, Sarah.   We met for lunch one day, much later parting in the subway.  I didn’t use a flash on this photo, it only looks that way.

Jenn had to work for a bit while I was here (I did work as well while she was away).  Jenn and her friend, Erik, at bar trivia on Monday night.  We lost, but had a great time.

And then went to the US Open on Tuesday for the night session.  Walking from the 7 train….

I don’t know what this was, but I watched it for probably 30 minutes while we waited in line.  The guy in the center is wearing a steadicam rig and filming these two people.  Why wear a steadicam in a 10′x10′ box?

I had a great time looking at the cameras while we were waiting to go into the night session (the day session ran late).  There were a few of these overhead rigs.

Jenn on the move.

A lot of people were confused about their seats.

Rafael Nadal v. Teimuraz Gabashvili.  A long match, but Nadal wins in straight sets.

Arthur Ashe and the trains all put in bed.

Time to head home to Pittsburgh soon!

First the “inflation.”  We were all careful not to call it a “blow up.”

My guy, Ryan.

“Gregory the Great”

Our balloon, “Victory.”

I was obsessed with these cannons and the fire.  315,000 cubic feet of air.

The balloon (empty) weighs 700lbs, the basket and tanks add 1300lbs, and the 20 passengers about 3,000lbs to total 2.5 tons.

After takeoff, the balloon flies up and away.  The pilot can ONLY direct the balloon UP or DOWN, so the “steering” is at the mercy of the wind.  The crew drives around on the ground following the balloon and picks it up when it lands.  They are definitely working hard.

Planes are buzzing around, showing off for us.

I don’t know why the white haze surrounds the shadow of the balloon.

On the ground, the crew releases a small, black helium balloon so the incoming balloon can determine which way the wind currents are blowing.

We had a great time!

Then, in grand San Francisco style, fireworks in the fog.

And my new friend on a bike

Happy 4th!

A sign to show the scale of and endurance of the Grizzly Giant.

Naturally occurring (or carefully prescribed) forest fires are good for the Sequioas.  The fires burn off weaker species, create rich soil, and cause pine cones to burst and release Sequoia seeds.

I was pretty tired of walking, so Ryan was tempting me along with cocoa-roasted almonds.  Shaking the container like I was an animal.  Oh and at this time we saw a coyote! so we started yelling and waving our arms so he would run away.

The view inside of “Telescope Tree.”  Very cool.

Ryan inside of Telescope Tree.

These mamma-jammas are BIG.

“Clothespin Tree.”

The tree on the left is called “Faithful Couple” where two separate trees have grown together at the base as one.  The tree on the right may be the next Faithful Couple in a few hundred years as their bases were beginning to grow together as well.

After logging our additional miles, we spent a few (very crowded) hours on the Valley Floors doing small hikes on easy trails.  We decided that we wanted some sunset photos, so we hung around to go to Glacier Point at sunset to see Half Dome.

While the sunset was lovely,  enjoyed photographing the other people and photographers who were there to witness the great event. Being that I am a wedding photographer, I think that this is a good thing.

So much of this going on…

This guy was my favorite.

Please note that the previous day, we hiked from this point (Glacier Point) to that waterfall way in the distance and all the way to the Valley Floor.

During our descent down the mountain, the sunset deep into the sky creating these beautiful colors (These photos SOOC = Straight out of the camera).

Isn’t this moon supposed to be over Half Dome?

View from Glacier Point.

Starting our hike to the Valley Floor.

Seriously,  I was so glad to be traveling DOWN these granite “stairs.”

This time we are going down the “Mist Trail” again.  Much more fun since we were prepared with waterproof camera gear.

Ryan bit it 2 seconds later.

And nice lighting for a self portrait.

After our day hike, all we wanted to do was eat and sleep.  So back to our comfy hotel we went.  All I said for the next day’s plan was “Please, Ryan, we can do anything but hiking.”  Guess what we did……

First up was our nearly four hour drive from the airport at San Francisco to Yosemite National Park.  At the airport, it was barely 68F, but by the time we reached the desert, just 90 miles away, the temperature jumped to 98F!

Ryan is awesome! I thought it was great that our blue/green rental car matched the sky so well.

This was one of our first views of the Yosemite Valley Floor.  Yosemite Falls.

We took a quick four-mile hike on our first afternoon in the Park.  This one to Vernal Falls..  Everything is wet (including my camera which I kept shoving into my jacket to protect it) but sunny and fun!

Nerds in the mist (with rainbows).

Also called “Mist Trail” for a good reason.

After dinner in our cute hotel town of Mariposa, California

Considering the three hour time change, that was all we had time and energy for on the first day of our trip.  We had so much fun already.  More tomorrow!

Since Japan is a 6-hour flight away (as is Phoenix, Arizona), almost all tourist signs and other printed materials are shown in Japanese and English.  There was no English text with this graphic.

Laura (left) and me (right) snorkeling.

Laura….

There were so many fish here and the water was soooo shallow (mostly 12″-30″ depths) so the fish were always nearby.

This guy and his buddy (top right) were swimming in circles.  He was big, probably about 30 lbs.  If you know me well, you know that this is not my scene, but it was worth it for the photo.

As we said over and over this day, it was “like swimming in an aquarium.”

Some wild chickens getting some sun.  I bet they were poking their heads in my bag while we were in the water.

Well, that is all of the photos I have to share from Hawai’i.  We had a great time! And we’re happy to be back in Pittsburgh in plenty of time to photograph Tatiana and Marc‘s wedding on Saturday!

Getting to Pearl Harbor early was a key to having a good time there.  It rains often, in Hawai’i, if only for a minute, but the weather moves quickly… First up, a rainbow.  We saw so many rainbows here!

Taking the ferry to the USS Arizona memorial.

The memorial.

The battleship is still below the monument.

And still leaks 1-2 quarts of oil per day into the harbor.

A crew member from the USS Arizona had recently passed.  On this day, he was going to be interred among his shipmates.  His name is under the black tape.

Ryan and I took a little drive north to go to a few beaches (and snorkel unsuccessfully).  Another rainbow on the drive home….almost a double rainbow if you can see it on the left. 

Sunset at the harbor near Waikiki.

Tomorrow, the final blog post from Hawai’i………Snorkeling!!!!

Our first stop was the Thurston Lava Tube.  Being so early, we were the only ones there (yay).  So here are some photos….since everyone brings off-camera lighting on vacation with them, right?

Aloha!  Me, waving to YOU.

Ryan in the tube

Here the flash is pointed directly into the camera.  You can see Ryan’s legs.

While we kept to the properly lit tourist area, there are 334 meters of the tubes that you can explore by flashlight.  Creepy!

(Don’t worry, I let him out)

Freaky to think that we are walking inside of this thing.

The Kilauea Iki Crater…..looks like asphalt……actually cooled lava.

Steam coming out of the ground.

Active volcano.  Parts of the park were closed due to high amounts of sulfur in the air.  Dangerous.

This guide was speaking to a group of German tourists about the story of Pele.  Since I am trying to learn German, I was listening carefully.  The only words I knew were the words for “snow,” “sun,” “flower,” and “This is…”

Beginning our hike on the The Kilauea Iki Trail.  The climb is 450 vertical feet into and out of the crater.

Ryan calls me “baby giraffe” since I’m so graceful sometimes.

It was raining at this point, and during most of our hike.  I took a video here at the start of the hike across the crater, which I hope to post when we return to Pittsburgh.

Not bituminous pavement….

I’m showing you where we were earlier in the day when (it was sunny) and we hadn’t yet decided to hike into the crater.

Windy

The cooled lava looks like metal, rocks, and melted plastic.

This photo is not overexposed, but steam was shooting up from the ground below.  How do plants grow here?

Rain in the air, steam in the background.

Mad air.  Surreal.

Photo by Ryan, of course. 

After our hike, the weather changed quickly again and we went back to view the active volcano from a safe distance.

We made a long drive to Waipio Bay.  Beautiful!

And saw a rainbow during our drive back to the airport.

We were only on the Big Island for 14 hours, but it was already my favorite thing we’ve done here in Hawai’i!  More good stuff tomorrow and a wedding on Saturday.