This past week we've been having winter stormy weather, but unfortunately we haven't gotten any snow in the city. Since we wanted to go to the snow and let the dogs play, we got home from work a little early on Tuesday and drove up to Walker's Pass. It's about a half hour drive from our house and there is a little camping area there where you can pull off the road and let the dogs play. Here is a video from the trip.
Showing posts with label Dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dogs. Show all posts
Friday, December 19, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Test flight with our new camcorder
For the past few years I've been watching videos on YouTube of people flying into different areas and capturing their adventures. I've been jealous and wanted to buy a camcorder to tape my own flights, but haven't been willing to spend the money. Michelle and I decided long ago that we would wait until we start our family before we buy a camcorder.
Here is a link to another pilot who posts his flights. This is his flight into Kernville, I figured I'd link this one since this it compares to the flight we just made.
Now that we have a girl on the way, we made the purchase. Granted she's not due until the end of February, but that's just too long to wait. It kind of goes along the lines of getting the new TV in time for the football season and the new camera in time for a long anticipated trip. The anticipated trip is to Panguitch, UT to visit my Uncle Errol and to fly over Lake Powell, the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas.
We decided that since we have a fancy new HD TV, we wanted to get a nice HD camcorder. We also want it to be digital since we will be posting both flights and videos of our daughter on the web for friends and family to see. The hassle of DV tapes eliminated that category, and since hard drives don't operate at altitude, those versions wouldn't work either. Hard drives rely on airflow between the disks so that the head "flies" between the platters. When the altitude goes up, the pressure goes down, and the head crashes and the disk fails.
This left us looking for a solid state HD camcorder. I also had 2 requirements for flying, an image stabilizer and a microphone input. All the HD camcorders come with image stabilization so that wasn't a problem, but finding one with external audio in was. Canon is really the only manufacturer supporting external audio anymore these days and we ended up with a Canon Vixia HF100.
My airplane just got out of maintenance so I was anxious to get back up and flying so a flight for lunch in Kernville to test the new camcorder setup was perfect. We also decided to take the dogs with us. They've each flown before, but this was the first time they both flew together and Michelle wasn't in back to calm them down.
The dogs did ok, but they both ended up being nervous at some point. Emmett was much worse off, but I think he'll get used to it. He's always not been a fan of bouncing around. When we drive up to trailheads to go hiking, he always lays down in the back of the Jeep, but he's never gotten sick.
The video turned out pretty good, but there are a few things I found that I want to change. I made a little stand the camcorder attaches to that has a sponge between as a shock absorber. I noticed that the sponge allowed the camera to shake more than if it was just attached firmly. The angle also didn't turn out too good, it was looking down too much and the dash takes almost 1/2 of the screen. This also causes issues since it tries to focus on the dash instead of outside. I also want to work on the audio a little. I have it tied into the co-pilot audio jack, but there seems to be a lot of noise in the audio.
I used a trial version of CyberLink PowerDirector to edit the video, but I think in the future, I'm going to try to use Microsoft Movie Maker so I don't have to pay for the software. I decided to shoot the trip in HD since I had more space on the card than the battery would last. The video was incredible when it was focusing on the terrain. After editing and down converting to HQ, the file was about 10 minutes and 652 Mb. Good thing YouTube just started allowing up to 1Gb uploads... It took about 1 hour to render the video on my PC and the clip is still trying to upload after almost an hour.
Tomorrow I'll be working on the attic since I spent all day playing...
Here is a link to another pilot who posts his flights. This is his flight into Kernville, I figured I'd link this one since this it compares to the flight we just made.
Now that we have a girl on the way, we made the purchase. Granted she's not due until the end of February, but that's just too long to wait. It kind of goes along the lines of getting the new TV in time for the football season and the new camera in time for a long anticipated trip. The anticipated trip is to Panguitch, UT to visit my Uncle Errol and to fly over Lake Powell, the Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, Hoover Dam, and Las Vegas.
We decided that since we have a fancy new HD TV, we wanted to get a nice HD camcorder. We also want it to be digital since we will be posting both flights and videos of our daughter on the web for friends and family to see. The hassle of DV tapes eliminated that category, and since hard drives don't operate at altitude, those versions wouldn't work either. Hard drives rely on airflow between the disks so that the head "flies" between the platters. When the altitude goes up, the pressure goes down, and the head crashes and the disk fails.
This left us looking for a solid state HD camcorder. I also had 2 requirements for flying, an image stabilizer and a microphone input. All the HD camcorders come with image stabilization so that wasn't a problem, but finding one with external audio in was. Canon is really the only manufacturer supporting external audio anymore these days and we ended up with a Canon Vixia HF100.
My airplane just got out of maintenance so I was anxious to get back up and flying so a flight for lunch in Kernville to test the new camcorder setup was perfect. We also decided to take the dogs with us. They've each flown before, but this was the first time they both flew together and Michelle wasn't in back to calm them down.
The dogs did ok, but they both ended up being nervous at some point. Emmett was much worse off, but I think he'll get used to it. He's always not been a fan of bouncing around. When we drive up to trailheads to go hiking, he always lays down in the back of the Jeep, but he's never gotten sick.
The video turned out pretty good, but there are a few things I found that I want to change. I made a little stand the camcorder attaches to that has a sponge between as a shock absorber. I noticed that the sponge allowed the camera to shake more than if it was just attached firmly. The angle also didn't turn out too good, it was looking down too much and the dash takes almost 1/2 of the screen. This also causes issues since it tries to focus on the dash instead of outside. I also want to work on the audio a little. I have it tied into the co-pilot audio jack, but there seems to be a lot of noise in the audio.
I used a trial version of CyberLink PowerDirector to edit the video, but I think in the future, I'm going to try to use Microsoft Movie Maker so I don't have to pay for the software. I decided to shoot the trip in HD since I had more space on the card than the battery would last. The video was incredible when it was focusing on the terrain. After editing and down converting to HQ, the file was about 10 minutes and 652 Mb. Good thing YouTube just started allowing up to 1Gb uploads... It took about 1 hour to render the video on my PC and the clip is still trying to upload after almost an hour.
Tomorrow I'll be working on the attic since I spent all day playing...
Monday, September 1, 2008
Camping at Lake Isabella Labor Day weekend 2008
We usually head out camping/backpacking with our friends the Fords a few times a year. This year we have been both so busy that we haven't gotten out camping much. We got to June Lake earlier this year and now we got out to Lake Isabella. I had hoped to go on a 3 day 2 night backpacking trip from the Cottonwood Lakes to the Kern River, but decided to switch since Michelle is now pregnant. Maybe Kevin and I will be able to make the backpacking trip later this year before it gets too cold.
This was a really nice relaxing trip to the lake. We got their Friday afternoon in time to get a site, set up the tents and make dinner. Kevin had an 'Ice Cream Ball' that makes ice cream by adding ingredients and ice and shaking it for 45 minutes. This turned out pretty good considering we didn't have anything long enough to scrape the bottom of the container to mix it. It was good enough that we got more ice and did it again Saturday night.
We pretty much hung out by the lake all day Saturday reading and swimming. The water is very stirred up so the visibility is about 2 inches, but it doesn't seem very gross. There is no algae and it doesn't really smell at all. Emmett and the Ford's dog Gracie were having a blast swimming all day. Maverick didn't want to go in the water. After a few hours, I eventually decided to bring Maverick in since I know he can swim and likes fetching balls. He remembered that he likes swimming and started having fun.
Emmett kept swimming up to me while I was on the raft so I decided to pull him up to see how he liked it. I put him on his back so he wouldn't pop the raft with his nails. He seemed to like it and laid down to relax. Michelle was upset that she didn't have the camera so we had to pose for the picture once she got back with the camera.
Even though Kernville is one of my favorite flights, it just wasn't worth it to fly there for camping for the weekend. Someone would still have to drive the Jeep there with supplies and we'd have to carpool around to accommodate the airplane. Next weekend we're flying to San Jose for our friends Kevin and Shelvey's wedding so I'll get my flying in then.
Oh, and here is a picture that Michelle took of a bug that was hanging around our picnic table that looks like a leaf.
This was a really nice relaxing trip to the lake. We got their Friday afternoon in time to get a site, set up the tents and make dinner. Kevin had an 'Ice Cream Ball' that makes ice cream by adding ingredients and ice and shaking it for 45 minutes. This turned out pretty good considering we didn't have anything long enough to scrape the bottom of the container to mix it. It was good enough that we got more ice and did it again Saturday night.
We pretty much hung out by the lake all day Saturday reading and swimming. The water is very stirred up so the visibility is about 2 inches, but it doesn't seem very gross. There is no algae and it doesn't really smell at all. Emmett and the Ford's dog Gracie were having a blast swimming all day. Maverick didn't want to go in the water. After a few hours, I eventually decided to bring Maverick in since I know he can swim and likes fetching balls. He remembered that he likes swimming and started having fun.
Emmett kept swimming up to me while I was on the raft so I decided to pull him up to see how he liked it. I put him on his back so he wouldn't pop the raft with his nails. He seemed to like it and laid down to relax. Michelle was upset that she didn't have the camera so we had to pose for the picture once she got back with the camera.
Even though Kernville is one of my favorite flights, it just wasn't worth it to fly there for camping for the weekend. Someone would still have to drive the Jeep there with supplies and we'd have to carpool around to accommodate the airplane. Next weekend we're flying to San Jose for our friends Kevin and Shelvey's wedding so I'll get my flying in then.
Oh, and here is a picture that Michelle took of a bug that was hanging around our picnic table that looks like a leaf.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Camping in June Lake, July 10-13 2008
Michelle and I usually like to get out and do a bunch of camping and back packing each summer. Unfortunately, we've been way too busy this summer. With 2 trips to the Midwest, our trip to Oceano and Santa Paula, a wedding and much more, we just had a hard time to find any free time. We finally managed to get out and go camping in June Lake with Kevin and Sarah Ford the second weekend in July.
We mostly wanted to escape the heat of summer and relax. We've also been having a lot of smoke in our valley and wanted to get up to some clear air. It was cooler up there, but as our luck would have it, the smoke from some other fires was filling that valley and they were just as smokey as we were. We camped on Silver Lake near June Lake just north of Mammoth. We left Thursday night to ensure we'd get a campsite since it is first come first serve. It was a good thing we left early since there were only 2 sites left when we got there.
I almost forgot to write about the trip up. As usual we carpooled in the jeep to ride together and save gas. We've done this a few times before, but this time we also had Gracie, or better known as Gracilicous, who then became The Lish which quickly became Da Lish which is Kevin and Sarah's new golden retriever. We packed the car top carrier, loaded the gear, and had dogs on laps on the way up since we were WAY over packed. I don't think we'll be able to carpool anymore :(
Friday morning we got up and went to check out the lake. It was very nice, but there were people fishing everywhere. We didn't want to bother them with our dogs so we kept looking for a free spot. We were told by the camp manager before we came here that they were dog friendly and you could swim in the lake. They didn't tell us that there were people fishing every 5 feet so you'd have to be a big jerk and go swimming right were everybody is fishing if you wanted to swim. Eventually we went to where the stream enters the lake, we found a nice quiet spot just up the stream. We put the long leashes on the dog close enough so they could play in the water and we set up day camp.
We pretty much hung out and did nothing all day. Once and a while we'd let the dogs off leash to go play fetch with the tennis balls in the water. Emmett can't get enough of the water and Maverick seems to enjoy swimming, but is afraid of it. Once he's swimming he's fine and will keep going, but he hates that first step. Gracie did great for her first time in the water.
I wonder if Emmett likes the water?
We had to let them off the leash for a bit so they could play.
We pretty much did the same on Saturday - nothing.
Sunday we got an early start to come home so we could do something with the day. As it turned out, leaving at 9am, wasn't early enough. On the way home, there was a detour around Independence because of a mudslide. By the time we got there, traffic was backed up for miles. The backup didn't start too much earlier and we would probably have made it through if we had left at 8, but now we were stuck with everybody else. The wait was about 3 hours before they were able to clear the road and divert the flood waters away from the highway.
We mostly wanted to escape the heat of summer and relax. We've also been having a lot of smoke in our valley and wanted to get up to some clear air. It was cooler up there, but as our luck would have it, the smoke from some other fires was filling that valley and they were just as smokey as we were. We camped on Silver Lake near June Lake just north of Mammoth. We left Thursday night to ensure we'd get a campsite since it is first come first serve. It was a good thing we left early since there were only 2 sites left when we got there.
I almost forgot to write about the trip up. As usual we carpooled in the jeep to ride together and save gas. We've done this a few times before, but this time we also had Gracie, or better known as Gracilicous, who then became The Lish which quickly became Da Lish which is Kevin and Sarah's new golden retriever. We packed the car top carrier, loaded the gear, and had dogs on laps on the way up since we were WAY over packed. I don't think we'll be able to carpool anymore :(
Friday morning we got up and went to check out the lake. It was very nice, but there were people fishing everywhere. We didn't want to bother them with our dogs so we kept looking for a free spot. We were told by the camp manager before we came here that they were dog friendly and you could swim in the lake. They didn't tell us that there were people fishing every 5 feet so you'd have to be a big jerk and go swimming right were everybody is fishing if you wanted to swim. Eventually we went to where the stream enters the lake, we found a nice quiet spot just up the stream. We put the long leashes on the dog close enough so they could play in the water and we set up day camp.
We pretty much hung out and did nothing all day. Once and a while we'd let the dogs off leash to go play fetch with the tennis balls in the water. Emmett can't get enough of the water and Maverick seems to enjoy swimming, but is afraid of it. Once he's swimming he's fine and will keep going, but he hates that first step. Gracie did great for her first time in the water.
I wonder if Emmett likes the water?
We had to let them off the leash for a bit so they could play.
We pretty much did the same on Saturday - nothing.
Sunday we got an early start to come home so we could do something with the day. As it turned out, leaving at 9am, wasn't early enough. On the way home, there was a detour around Independence because of a mudslide. By the time we got there, traffic was backed up for miles. The backup didn't start too much earlier and we would probably have made it through if we had left at 8, but now we were stuck with everybody else. The wait was about 3 hours before they were able to clear the road and divert the flood waters away from the highway.
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