Bill sent me a link to a very cool website which tracks commercial airline flights.
Each red dot is a plane flying over the USA.
The most interesting visual is the movie linked below.
Animation of all flight movements tracked by FlightAware during a 24-hour period in September, 2005.
You can search by Airport, Operator, air craft type or flight number.
This was my 5th year helping out with Dave and Lisa Adlard’s FUNtastic gymnastics camp in Coeur d’Alene. (I spell that name differently every time.)
As usual, I posted photos of the kids and coaches.
See photos of our hike / scramble on my hiking blog.
atop the fire tower
After months of voting by the general public the World over, a new list of Seven Wonders was announced today as part of the New 7 Wonders Campaign:
• The Great Wall of China
• Petra in Jordan
• Brazil’s statue of Christ the Redeemer
• Peru’s Machu Picchu
• Mexico’s Chichen Itza pyramid
• The Colosseum in Rome
• India’s Taj Mahal
The Adventure Blog: New Seven Wonders of the World Unveiled!
Colosseum in Rome?
Christ! The Redeemer?
I’d given them the “correct list” back in March. But did they listen ??
1. Angkor Wat
2. Machu Picchu
3. Pyramids (ineligible as it turned out)
4. Petra
5. Great Wall
6. Taj Mahal
7. Easter Island Statues
source – flickr
This was my 5th year at Adlard’s High Performance Training Camp. Another great event!
After the competition some of us headed out to the new lake cabin just purchased by Barbara Anne and Michael.
Here’s the view from the deck:
BEFORE the tree was chopped down
AFTER the tree was chopped down
Later we headed out to camp at a reservoir in Montana in celebration of the 4th of July.
more photos on flickr
En route to Idaho, my parents and I were happy we scheduled dinner at the “Roosevelt Room”. The best meal we’ve had in a long, long time.
Recommended.
Ancient towering trees…sun splashed lawn…a tranquil lakeside setting
Welcome to Washington State and the glorious Olympic Peninsula.
Find your true retreat at historic Lake Quinault Lodge, a landmark on the shores of beautiful Lake Quinault. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Lodge is the perfect place to leave the cares of the work-a-day world behind.
I lucked into a tour of the fantastic Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.
It’s a world-class, award winning educational facility owned by 5 universities.
Bamfield is a great, remote location for researchers.
Many of their buildings were originally part of an undersea cable system connecting the British Empire.
In 1902, the Bamfield Cable station was constructed as the western terminus of a worldwide undersea cable called by some the All Red Line as it passed only through countries and territories controlled by the British Empire.
The cable initially went to Fanning Island, a tiny coral atoll in the mid-Pacific, and from there continued to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. …
In 1953 the cables were extended up the Alberni Inlet to Port Alberni and station closed on June 20, 1959.
Bamfield – Wikipedia
old cable used in monument
The highlight of the tour for me, however, was the processed wood used in construction of the newest building. Huge beams had been pressed in an eco-friendly process. Gorgeous material.
Some years ago we kayaked the Broken Group Islands, the #1 destination in Canada for paddlers. (Some would say #1 in the world — but I’d head to Isla Espiritu Santo, Baja California, first if I were you.)
This time I rented a single kayak in Bamfield and paddled directly to the Deer Island group, the closest to town.
Broken Islands are a protected National Park. Nearby Deer Islands are commercially developed, some even with holiday homes.
It was a great, relaxing trip. I saw bear, seals, sea lions and nearly stepped on a baby puffin.
More photos from this trip – flickr
If you’re shopping for investment retirement property you could check out 3 peninsula towns on the rugged west coast of Canada:
In remote Bamfield, I can put you into a little fixer-upper on the east side.
To sweeten the deal, I will throw in a skiff to get you across Bamfield harbour.
They say Bamfield is so depressing during the long, wet winter that the 250 permanent residents cannot muster enough passion to commit suicide. But a cheery person like you could handle it!
My campsite on the beach near town.
more Bamfield photos on flickr.
Bamfield – Wikipedia
Added a few more photos of a Vancouver Island road trip with Mom and Dad and Pete.
We had heard golfer Greg Norman was around eyeballing the terrain for a future course overlooking the sea.
Pete (our Jack Russell) couldn’t pick up Greg’s scent. We failed to track down the Great White Shark.
All my flickr Family photos.
Rick McCharles 