Illini vs Wisconsin hoops, 1/25/2009

ILLINI 64, WISCONSIN 57

Connie was pretty patient with my wandering around taking pregame shots. She had to stand up there in the aisle holding MY program and the binoculars as I ran around.

Here's the view from our seats (one row from the top of Assembly Hall) in Section C.

Pregame warmups - Illini and Badgers hit the floor

Demitri McCamey shooting a freethrow.

Mike Davis (24) and Chester Frazier (3) eye a rebound

Assembly Hall basks in the sunset. Too bad it was about 4 degrees outside!

ILLINOIS WINS!!!!

We were pleased to watch the Illini handle the Wisconsin Badgers 64-57 yesterday in Champaign, Il. The game was never really in doubt (no real reason for me to sweat this one)! This will be our only chance to see the Illini play this season so a win was a nice plus.

I was practicing with a new camera I bought to see what the quality would be. The action shots were taken from afar so I could test the camera out. All in all, the quality of the closeups was pretty good considering how far away we were. There is some blurring - but not too bad. The second image from the top above shows how far away we were to take the "closeup" shots. I'd say it was pretty good day and as the scorebord says "Illinois Wins".

ILL - INI !!!

Ecuador, 2009

We will be embarking on our first trip to South America on February 21, 2009. A group of 12 will be spending 10 days on the Galapagos Islands and 4 days on the mainland of Ecuador. I will attempt to post to this blog site each day, updating some images as we move from place to place.

Here's some links to places where we will be staying: Good luck with the place in Banos if you don't speak Spanish. They have no English version, but Connie speaks Spanish pretty well and I do enough to get in trouble. You can always look at the pictures! We're supposed to be doing white-water rafting and a bike trip down the Andes from Banos to Puyo. 12 kilometers DOWNHILL and then (thankfully) a $.40 bus ride BACK to where we started. I was a little worried about the return back up the mountain - but I'm told you can "throw your bike on top of the bus" and ride back. Sounds like fun!

Galapagos Islands: Hotel Albermale http://www.hotelalbemarle.com/index.html
Angermeyer Waterfront Inn: http://www.vivatravelguides.com/south-america/ecuador/the-galapagos-islands/islands/santa-cruz/puerto-ayora/puerto-ayora-hotels/angermeyer-waterfront-inn
Casa Opuntia Hotel: http://www.casaopuntiagalapagos.com/index.html

Mainland of Ecuador: Hotel Miramelindo http://www.miramelindo.banios.com/

And finally, here's a site about Ecuador itself: http://www.purecuador.com/

Tangiers and El Alhambra - Fall 2007

TANGIERS, MOROCCO

This first is the view from our boat as we traveled from the south of Spain to the city of Tangiers, Morocco. We went on a day trip and this marked our first contact with the African Continent.

The day was spent seeing some of the countryside outside Tangiers with the obligatory touristy camel ride! Here's your intrepid storyteller looking scared as a camel gets ready to let me disembark!

The next image is a series of doors in the Kasbah (fortress) area of the old town of Tangiers. We wondered what was going on behind these doors!

We stopped for lunch then shopped for (and purchased) a oriental carpet which now graces a wall in our home. Pretty much of a cliche (dumb tourist buying a "fine" carpet - but it makes for a nice story). You'll see an image of our salesman "bartering" with us with said carpet - a totally staged event!

EL ALHAMBRA - GRENADA, SPAIN

Back to Spain and another day trip to visit El Alhambra which is a World Heritage Site in Grenada, Spain. This was the highlight of the trip in my mind and is a fascinating marvel of Moorish architecture and enginering. Here’s a view of one of the castles of El Alhambra from the courtyard below where we had lunch.

The next is a decorative arch inside one of 3 castles. Amazing details of carving and etching everywhere!

This is the most famous of ALOT of beautiful courtyards that seperated one building from another within the castles. This is The Court Of The Myrtles, named for the myrtle shrubs that lined the courtyard.

Finally, a closeup of a door with marvelous carving. Once again, the attention to detail was spectacular!

Torrey Pines North Course - Hole #3

Connie was at a conference in San Diego last fall and I tagged along. I got to play both the North Course (where the U. S. Open was played last summer) and the South Course while we were there. This is the signature hole on the North Course - although they're all pretty scenic! What a beautiful hole. Hard to concentrate on the golfing!