The Milky Way

Needed to drive out to the desert last night so I could have some work done on our desert homestead cabin project. There's a local kid out here (Shane) who is a real wizard with a Bobcat... amazing what he can do! I needed to meet with early Thursday. When we got out to the desert Wednesday night we had beautiful clear skies and the Milky Way was quite visible. One of my friends on Flickr told me the secret of photographing the Milky Way is to set your alarm for 3:30 AM when the night skies are at their clearest. I took this at about 9:30 PM... way to tired to get up at 3:30! I think it turned out fine.

ISO 1250, f/2.8, 16mm, 30 second exposure.

Here's Shane and his Bobcat hard at work fixing up my dirt driveway. That's the little desert cabin we're fixing up on the right. Still got a ways to go, but it's coming along. I keep reminding myself that there's no hurry and to enjoy the process! It really has been a lot of fun.

Linking with Skywatch Friday. Click on the link to check out great skies from around the world. Thanks for stopping by!!

No Livestock Allowed!!

I think if I were a cow, I would find this sign offensive!

Linking with Skywatch Friday.  Click on the link to check out great skies from all over the world!

29 Palms Power Transfer Station

Last night, under cloak of darkness, I went over to the other side of Highway 62 to photograph the power transfer station. It doesn't look like much during the day, but it's pretty impressive at night. There's a huge solar power facility that feeds electricity to it. Then the electricity goes from here to power the city of 29 Palms. I think the big marine base out past the city has it's own dedicate power supply. That's Highway 62 on the left, and the transfer station on the right. Let's take a closer look...

One of my favorite shots from last night gets in pretty close... fortunately the police didn't show up to haul away the crazy guy with the camera!

Adding a little texture and Photoshop magic gives it an old, vintage look...

And even a little closer...

I don't know anything about power stations, but these things looks like they could pack a wallop! As I was taking these photos I think I heard the sound of bugs getting fried!!

Tommy Trojan

This life-sized bronze statue is Tommy Trojan, the University of Southern California's collegiate symbol and a favorite meeting spot on campus since 1930. I took this last weekend just before the dreadful USC vs. Washington State game. As a USC graduate, I feel like I paid for part of this statue (even back then it was an expensive university). More accurately, it was my wife who paid for part of this statue, as I was in school full-time working on my doctorate of pharmacy degree and she was paying most of the bills. When I graduated, she was given an honorary "Ph.T." degree (putting hubby through). I think she still has that diploma somewhere!

I like how Tommy looks like he's getting ready to go after that seagull with his sword! Linking with Skywatch Friday. Click on the link to check out great skies from around the world!!

Mt. San Jacinto

Traveling south on Highway 62, just before reaching the 10 freeway, we were treated to this beautiful sight on Monday. This is Mt. San Jacinto (home of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway), and Palm Springs is just to the left (east) of the photo on the left. The peak is 10,834 feet in elevation. Look closely and you can see the many wind turbines that are prominent in the area. Wind is funneled through this valley between the mountain peaks, and it's frequently very windy.

Linking with Skywatch Friday. Click on the link to check out great skies from around the world!