That's my dog, the wonder dog found my shoes (sans me in them) and just had to indulge!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Bogie At The Office
Well, my boss was taking pictures at the office for our new website. She quickly snapped a pic of Bogie (my dog) at the office. Look at how well he blends into the floor!
That's my dog, the wonder dog found my shoes (sans me in them) and just had to indulge!
That's my dog, the wonder dog found my shoes (sans me in them) and just had to indulge!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
My Tour Of The Winchester Mansion (November 2007)
Well, I’ve just gotten back from my trip to San Jose California. The trip was for business (FileMaker Train The Trainer For FTS) but I took an extra day before the training to check out the local attractions.
I’ve always been fascinated about the stories regarding the Winchester Mansion. This was probably one of my best times to see it. I took both the standard and the behind the scene tours. For more about the story of the Winchester mansion, you can check out the following links...
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/
A snap from wikipedia...
The Winchester Mystery House is a well-known California mansion that was under construction continuously for 38 years and is reputed to be haunted. It once was the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester, but is now a tourist attraction.
Here is a quick movie I took with a handheld from one of the balconies.
Under Sarah Winchester's guidance, construction on the house continued 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, until her death 38 years later on September 5, 1922.[1] The cost for such constant building has been estimated at about US $5.5 million.[2] If this cost were paid entirely in 1922, it would be equivalent to almost $70 million in 2007 dollars.[3
Here is a link to the wikipedia link that is more or less what they told us on the tour.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mansion
Some items not mentioned in the wikipedia post as much as on the tour is that Mrs. Winchester had a fascination with spider webs, the number 13, upside down pillars and gardens (gardens in which she reportedly believed were part of the secret of everlasting life).
As in the wikipedia post, she was reported to be earning more than $1,000 a day, which was pretty good money back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. All of the staff were paid in case at the end of each day, so that Mrs. Winchester could let someone go off the payroll at a moments notice.
Here is a quick movie I took with a handheld at the front of the mansion.
I’ve always been fascinated about the stories regarding the Winchester Mansion. This was probably one of my best times to see it. I took both the standard and the behind the scene tours. For more about the story of the Winchester mansion, you can check out the following links...
http://www.winchestermysteryhouse.com/
A snap from wikipedia...
The Winchester Mystery House is a well-known California mansion that was under construction continuously for 38 years and is reputed to be haunted. It once was the personal residence of Sarah Winchester, the widow of gun magnate William Wirt Winchester, but is now a tourist attraction.
Here is a quick movie I took with a handheld from one of the balconies.
Under Sarah Winchester's guidance, construction on the house continued 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, until her death 38 years later on September 5, 1922.[1] The cost for such constant building has been estimated at about US $5.5 million.[2] If this cost were paid entirely in 1922, it would be equivalent to almost $70 million in 2007 dollars.[3
Here is a link to the wikipedia link that is more or less what they told us on the tour.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Mansion
Some items not mentioned in the wikipedia post as much as on the tour is that Mrs. Winchester had a fascination with spider webs, the number 13, upside down pillars and gardens (gardens in which she reportedly believed were part of the secret of everlasting life).
As in the wikipedia post, she was reported to be earning more than $1,000 a day, which was pretty good money back in the late 1800s and early 1900s. All of the staff were paid in case at the end of each day, so that Mrs. Winchester could let someone go off the payroll at a moments notice.
Here is a quick movie I took with a handheld at the front of the mansion.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
DAY SEVEN - Hat Rock / Tea Pot Service Station / Leavenworth
DAY SEVEN - Hat Rock / Tea Pot Service Station / Leavenworth / Home (Oct. 4, 2007)
We headed out early and made very good time on day seven. We stopped off at Hat Rock National Park and had a great hike along the Columbia River.
Hat Rock State Park, located off U.S. Highway 730 nine miles east of Umatilla, lies on the south shore of Lake Wallula behind McNary Dam on the Columbia River. Hat Rock was the first distinctive landmark passed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their journey down the Columbia, and is one of the few remaining sites not underwater.
Dwayne At The Rock
Not a bad shot with my cheap little camera.
The park is a desert oasis surrounded by rolling sagebrush hills and outcroppings of basalt. The park offers visitors a chance to escape the summer heat under the shelter of cottonwood and black locust ringed by acres of green grass. A boat ramp provides access to the lake, which is noted for walleye, sturgeon, and other fish. Waterskiing, jetskiing, swimming, and boating are popular here. The park has its own pond stocked with rainbow trout and provides year-round habitat for waterfowl.
April at the river with Hat Rock in the distance.
Getting back into the car, we didn’t stop until April got excited about a highway sign indicating the Teapot Dome Service Station was the next exit. Government scandal and "creative juices" were behind the creation of this 15-foot handled-and-spouted gas station. The full story can be found by clicking here. This site reports that the Teapot Dome gas station continues to operate about 15 miles southeast of Yakima on Interstate 82. It didn’t look like it has operated in some time to me but perhaps it just opens on special occassions. It is said to be one of the oldest functioning gas stations in the United States, and is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.
Very cool and then we decided to head all the way to Leavenworth Washington and perhaps all the way home to Snohomish. Leavenworth was great but we hit it just shy of closing time. A quick by quaint dinner later, we set out on our last leg home.
Beautiful drive to and from Leavenworth.
A shot of just one of the streets in Leavenworth WA.
We headed out early and made very good time on day seven. We stopped off at Hat Rock National Park and had a great hike along the Columbia River.
Hat Rock State Park, located off U.S. Highway 730 nine miles east of Umatilla, lies on the south shore of Lake Wallula behind McNary Dam on the Columbia River. Hat Rock was the first distinctive landmark passed by the Lewis and Clark Expedition on their journey down the Columbia, and is one of the few remaining sites not underwater.
Dwayne At The Rock
Not a bad shot with my cheap little camera.The park is a desert oasis surrounded by rolling sagebrush hills and outcroppings of basalt. The park offers visitors a chance to escape the summer heat under the shelter of cottonwood and black locust ringed by acres of green grass. A boat ramp provides access to the lake, which is noted for walleye, sturgeon, and other fish. Waterskiing, jetskiing, swimming, and boating are popular here. The park has its own pond stocked with rainbow trout and provides year-round habitat for waterfowl.
April at the river with Hat Rock in the distance.
Getting back into the car, we didn’t stop until April got excited about a highway sign indicating the Teapot Dome Service Station was the next exit. Government scandal and "creative juices" were behind the creation of this 15-foot handled-and-spouted gas station. The full story can be found by clicking here. This site reports that the Teapot Dome gas station continues to operate about 15 miles southeast of Yakima on Interstate 82. It didn’t look like it has operated in some time to me but perhaps it just opens on special occassions. It is said to be one of the oldest functioning gas stations in the United States, and is listed on the National Register of Historical Places.
Very cool and then we decided to head all the way to Leavenworth Washington and perhaps all the way home to Snohomish. Leavenworth was great but we hit it just shy of closing time. A quick by quaint dinner later, we set out on our last leg home.
Beautiful drive to and from Leavenworth.
A shot of just one of the streets in Leavenworth WA.
DAY SIX - Emmett Idaho And Surrounding Wineries
From Dwayne Wright - www.dwaynewright.com
DAY SIX - Emmett Idaho And Surrounding Wineries (Oct. 3, 2007)
We decided to spend a second night in Emmett and in the morning went for a great hike in the high desert landscape. Then visited three local wineries of Ste Chapelle, Williamson Vineyard and The Winery At Eagle Knoll. A wonderful dinner with our hosts and wrapped up by watching A Night At The Museum.
I’ve only been to a dozen or so wine tasting rooms but I’d have to put the experience of these three Idaho tastings at the top of the list. In fact, April bought most of the wine on the entire trip in Idaho. None of them charged us for the tastings. Now, after we did the winery tours, we bought groceries at a local Albertsons and noticed that nearly all the wine we tasted was there and much cheaper than the discount price at the wineries themselves. Although, I did not see any of the Idaho wines at our local Ablersons in Washingon.
I thought the tasting room at the Ste Chapelle winery was excellent and we sampled about 8 wines there.Click Here To Visit Ste Chapelle Web Site
The Willamson Winery was a room off to the side of the Williamson Farm Vegetable Stand. They had a very unique array of produce, the tastings were excellent and we got to say hello to a little puppy during our visit.
Finally, The Winery At Eagle Knoll looked excellent. I bought a couple table wines there and they just were bought by new owners. The very next day they were having a massive parking lot sale of the wines the new owners did NOT purchase with the winery. We were disappointed that we were going to miss the sale until we saw that Albertsons still had those discounted prices beat. Anyway, they have a great back courtyard and hold concerts in the summer. I have to say the little bit of time we spent in Idaho was absolutely charming.
DAY SIX - Emmett Idaho And Surrounding Wineries (Oct. 3, 2007)
We decided to spend a second night in Emmett and in the morning went for a great hike in the high desert landscape. Then visited three local wineries of Ste Chapelle, Williamson Vineyard and The Winery At Eagle Knoll. A wonderful dinner with our hosts and wrapped up by watching A Night At The Museum.
I’ve only been to a dozen or so wine tasting rooms but I’d have to put the experience of these three Idaho tastings at the top of the list. In fact, April bought most of the wine on the entire trip in Idaho. None of them charged us for the tastings. Now, after we did the winery tours, we bought groceries at a local Albertsons and noticed that nearly all the wine we tasted was there and much cheaper than the discount price at the wineries themselves. Although, I did not see any of the Idaho wines at our local Ablersons in Washingon.
I thought the tasting room at the Ste Chapelle winery was excellent and we sampled about 8 wines there.Click Here To Visit Ste Chapelle Web SiteThe Willamson Winery was a room off to the side of the Williamson Farm Vegetable Stand. They had a very unique array of produce, the tastings were excellent and we got to say hello to a little puppy during our visit.
Finally, The Winery At Eagle Knoll looked excellent. I bought a couple table wines there and they just were bought by new owners. The very next day they were having a massive parking lot sale of the wines the new owners did NOT purchase with the winery. We were disappointed that we were going to miss the sale until we saw that Albertsons still had those discounted prices beat. Anyway, they have a great back courtyard and hold concerts in the summer. I have to say the little bit of time we spent in Idaho was absolutely charming.
Friday, November 2, 2007
DAY FIVE - John Day Painted Hills / Emmett Idaho
DAY FIVE - John Day Painted Hills / Emmett Idaho (Oct. 2, 2007)
From Dwayne Wright - www.dwaynewright.com
DAY FIVE - John Day Painted Hills / Emmett Idaho (Oct. 2, 2007)
We left Prineville and proceeded to April’s childhood friends house in Emmett Idaho. We decided to take Highway 26 and visit John Day Painted Hills National Park. Here is a little bit of info I found describing it (but not really describing it)...
A visit to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is like taking a journey into ancient Oregon. Whether you tour the museum at Sheep Rock, hike a trail at the Painted Hills, or picnic at Clarno, Oregon's exciting past will be revealed. Vividly colored, red, black, and tan striped hills make up part of the lower John Day Formation. The color variation reflects changes in ancient soils and vegetation during a major global cooling event approximately 33 million years ago. The volcanic ash that accumulated here and formed these colorful deposits, also records the onset of Cascade volcanism.
Following is a small sampling of the pictures we took in the park.
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More info about the author and FileMaker in general, contact me at info@dwaynewright.com.
© 2007 - Dwayne Wright - dwaynewright.com
The material on this document is offered AS IS. There is NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, expressed or implied, nor does any other contributor to this document. WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT ABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. Consequential and incidental damages are expressly excluded. FileMaker Pro is the registered trademark of FileMaker Inc.
From Dwayne Wright - www.dwaynewright.com
DAY FIVE - John Day Painted Hills / Emmett Idaho (Oct. 2, 2007)
We left Prineville and proceeded to April’s childhood friends house in Emmett Idaho. We decided to take Highway 26 and visit John Day Painted Hills National Park. Here is a little bit of info I found describing it (but not really describing it)...
A visit to the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument is like taking a journey into ancient Oregon. Whether you tour the museum at Sheep Rock, hike a trail at the Painted Hills, or picnic at Clarno, Oregon's exciting past will be revealed. Vividly colored, red, black, and tan striped hills make up part of the lower John Day Formation. The color variation reflects changes in ancient soils and vegetation during a major global cooling event approximately 33 million years ago. The volcanic ash that accumulated here and formed these colorful deposits, also records the onset of Cascade volcanism.
Following is a small sampling of the pictures we took in the park.
=
More info about the author and FileMaker in general, contact me at info@dwaynewright.com.
© 2007 - Dwayne Wright - dwaynewright.com
The material on this document is offered AS IS. There is NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY, expressed or implied, nor does any other contributor to this document. WARRANTIES OF MERCHANT ABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. Consequential and incidental damages are expressly excluded. FileMaker Pro is the registered trademark of FileMaker Inc.
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