9/21/2003 - Departure from Reality   I left Phoenix about 7:30 am and was in Flagstaff by 9:30.  There I did some chores before moving on the Page/Lake Powell area.  I arrived at the horse shoe bend of the Colorado around 2:00 pm and loaded up the camera gear for the short hike over the hill.  I struggled to get the whole scene in with my wide angle lens and was shocked to find out that you practically need to shoot strait down over a cliff to get the shot.  I think the right lens would be a 8 – 10 mm fisheye if you are shooting digital.  I may stop on the way back and shoot the film body to make sure I get it.  I’m sitting on a cliff that must be 2000 feet above Lake Powell watching the sun set over my shoulder and lighting afire the canyon walls before me.  This was a nice surprise with today’s flat skies.  Water is extremely low exposing much of the low level shoreline. It’s pretty clear that we are suffering from a wide scale drought.    My lookout is known as Alstrom Point and proved a difficult find even with the modern ...

It all started with a red trailer from Fred Meyer, some plywood from Home Depot and a whole lotta stuff. Completing the ensemble was a maroon 1980's Datsun 200sx and two college kids who had no idea what they were getting into. "No problem, we'll just drive strait through from Mukilteo, Wa to Phoenix, AZ". "The car is reliable and the trailer is brand new, what could possibly go wrong?"....   I guess the answer to that is “plenty.” It started with the trailer assembly, which was no small feat since it came in a box of about a thousand pieces and had more hardware than the audience at a Puffy Daddy concert. After a couple days working with another friend piecing together the trailer, I stood back to marvel at the beauty of a 4’ x 4’ x 8’ plywood box on wheels. Hook it up, time to move. As always, packing took considerably longer and more space that originally calculated. Why can’t guys do anything that doesn’t take at least fours longer than their most conservative estimate? After staying up most of Sunday night packing, we managed to shoe horn most of my things into the trailer and hatchback of the ...