Update

Got to Oxford just fine this morning. Train was very easy to figure out, and yes it left exactly on time. Oxford was interesting...not a whole lot to take pictures of (what I did take is up on Picasa), but lots of history, REALLY OLD stuff, and really young people. Rode the double decker sightseeing bus, which was worth the 12 quid as it served a dual purpose...got a tour of the city and a ride to my hotel at the same time. The guide (both real and recorded) had plenty of history and tidbits to share. I didn't realize the MG cars originally came from Oxford. Anyone know what MG stands for? Not all that creative, eh? Then again, is BMW? Anyway, it started to rain late in the afternoon so here I sit for now giving my feet a rest and doing some blogging. Gonna go out later if it doesn't come down too hard and find me a pub and grab a pint. Tomorrow it's off to Stratford-Upon-Avon, where I meet up with Jenn and Tony Kimbrough (somebody I used to work on call with) for some exploring.

More steampunk...

Since Picasa only uploaded the first four images...

This is an iPod speaker...you can see the jack on the left hand side of the box.

Steampunk

Oxford Science and History museum had steampunk on display (if you don't know what that is then use your google-fu grasshoper).

A self portrait :-)

Update

Well, I'm heading to Oxford tomorrow morning. Hopefully the trains are as easy to use as the tube. OBTW I've been updating Picasa with all the pictures I've taken. Not all of them are great, but I'm not really sorting them now. Here is a link to them.

London Apple Store

This one is at Oxford Circus. Notice all the people? The sidewalks all along Oxford St. were like that all day. Doesn't anyone work in the UK? And yeah this store was huge...nice glass stairway too :-)

What is "the most popular stone in the world"

And the winner is....the Rosetta Stone. Guess where I went today?

Talk like an Egyptian...

Ever wanted to say "cat" in Egyptian? Well here you go....

Big Ben

Went to Westminster Abbey today. Didn't get many pictures as they don't let you use cameras inside the Abbey. Did get a decent shot of Big Ben though...

Westminster sun clock

From a time before mechanical clock mechanisms...

Something for the F1 geeks

All two of you :-) Was strolling down Oxford street and walked into a dept. store. After some wandering, I found this F1 car. It's actually there to help pimp luggage...guess that is what happens to F1 cars when they are put out to pasture...

Well, I made it!

A six hour plane ride later, and I'm in London! My luggage arrived without issue, customs was nowhere to be seen, so after a 30 minute train ride to Paddington station, and a 30 minute walk to the hotel I'm here. Only issue was that hotel didn't have room ready yet (and I was really hoping for a nap). So I wandered to a cafe with internet and got some food.

For all the g33k5

The entertainment system on the plane is running Linux how cool is that?




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Well I've boarded...

So I guess I'm almost to the point of no return...c ya in London :-)


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Made it to Philly

Though through a comedy of errors we were 15 minutes late instead of 30 minutes early. But I'm here. As soon as I hit the international terminal English conversation went away...even the ambiance here is foreign...wow...

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And so my most excellent UK adventure begins...

Just about ready to get on a plane at DCA headed to Philly. So far so good :-)


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Roxanne

This is a picture of Roxanne. I raised her from a 7 week old puppy
back in 1990 when I could hold her in one hand. I finally had to put
her to sleep in 2003 (six years ago this month) after she put in 13
awesome years. I don't have too many pictures of her as she never
photographed well (usually all I got was a black blob with eyes). She
is probably 7 or 8 in this picture...a little grey under the chin but
her coat is still completely black. She was my best friend and I still
miss her...

My Trip to the Natural History Museum in Washington DC

Went to the Natural History museum today...and the National Archives...and I wandered around downtown DC some. Figured I'd practice being a tourist for my upcoming trip to U.K. Anyway, here are a some photos

Doesn't anyone smile anymore?

Nice tiger....too bad he's stuffed...

Open wide...

Bug exhibit had some pretty colorful butterflies...this was one of the more colorful ones...

Three guesses as to what this is...and no it is not a pile of marshmallow man poop!

For some reason the gem exhibit was the most popular...and the Hope diamond was the centerpiece. There was only one guard, and she for some reason had it in her mind to direct traffic when it didn't really need directing...I think she had her gun belt on a bit too tight...

More pretty colors...

From the National Archives...We the People...

There was something going on at the Capitol Building today...lots of rainbow flags being waived...

This is a fountain located in a newly finished park about a block away from where I live. Pretty colors...

You know I couldn't post a blog entry without putting at least one Autostitch composition up :-)

Pictures from the George Washington Masonic Memorial

Took this one of Alexandria on the steps of the memorial. Directly ahead is King street, which runs down to the river.

This is the main room at the entrance of the memorial.

As has probably become obvious from other pictures in my blog, these were done on the iPhone with Autostitch.

Pretty evening sky

Took this sunset picture in the parking lot of Bridge Street Town
Centre in Hunstville AL. It poured rain down here all day today, and I
think this is the first sun and blue sky that has been seen down here
in a while...

Some panoramic views from Sandia Peak

Was on travel to Albuquerque recently, and decided to take a ride on the Sandia Tram. I had just purchased a new digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 560) and wanted to give it a try on some scenery. I used some of the pictures to generate the panoramic views you see below via Autostitch.

View of Albuquerque from the Tram station on Sandia mountain.

View to the east from the High Finance Restaurant.

View of Albuquerque on the trail to the Kiwanis cabin. You can see it on the peak on the right side of the photo.

View back toward the Sandia tram station from Kiwanis cabin.