Christmas is over, New Years is over, and things are starting to get back to normal. Here’s a quick version of how it went down… For Christmas, Jessie and I went up to both my parents in Santa Barbara and her parents in Newbury Park. Then, a few days later, we went up to my aunt and uncle’s house in Anaheim. That’s over 620 miles in 4 days.

On the way down from Anaheim, we brought home a little bundle of joy - my 3-year-old nephew. Breakfast, Zoo, Lunch, Dinner, Bath, Breakfast, Balboa Park, Lunch, Dinner, Bath, Breakfast, Mall, Lunch, and a train ride later and he was back with mommy and daddy. It was more work than I imagined, but we all had a good time. Did I mention kids are out of the question now?

Now that the new year is here, things are starting to get back to normal. You know, that Breakfast, Shower, Work, Lunch, Work, Dinner, Bed kind of normal.

Above: A shot from my new Nikon 10.5mm fisheye lens. It has about a 180 degree field of view. Any wider, and I’d probably be in the picture for once.

Jessie and I made gingerbread men tonight. From scratch. Well, we didn’t mill the flour, but you get the point. Check out a boat-load of photos after the break.

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Thought I’d share a shot I took this evening… oh, and remind you that i’m still alive and well.

I just picked up the latest issue of Esquire magazine this afternoon. Now, I have never read the magazine before, nor am I going to read this one. In fact, I don’t even know what the magazine is about. What I do know is that the October 2008 issue is the first magazine ever to have an e-ink cover. Check out the video above and see for yourself. They only made 100,000 copies, so you might want to pick one up.

Last weekend Jessie and I headed up to visit the California Science Center at Exposition Park in Los Angeles. We wanted to get out of town for the weekend and admission is free (!), so the Science Center fit the bill. As you can see above, not only were there plenty of science exhibits to see, but also a few chicks on exhibit. I’m sure they appreciated that I’m vegetarian and won’t be eating them once they grow up.

The park is also home to the fabled LA Coliseum, home of the 1932 and 1984 Olympics (oh, and two super bowls and one world series). The coliseum has seen better days, but we still enjoyed taking a peek at olympic history. Click on the photo on the right to see a larger version.

I don’t remember exactly when I last visited the park, but I believe it was in the early 90s. Back then, I remembered seeing a McDonalds with windows where you could see them making your food. We didn’t see it this time and I’m curious if it’s still there. Anyone know?

Jessie’s Birthday was sunday and we decided to head downtown and grab some dinner and dessert. Being the carbon-footprint-conscious people that we are, we figured that taking the trolley would be a smart choice.

I imagined that public transportation would be one or more of these: faster, cheaper, or more convenient. Sadly, San Diego’s trolley strikes out on all three. Let’s compare driving downtown to taking the trolley:

Driving
1. Drive directly from our house to Horton Plaza. 10 Minutes.
2. Park at Horton Plaza for free for 3 hours.

Total Time: 10 minutes
Total Cost (Gas): $1.10

Trolley
1. Drive to Fashion Valley Trolley Stop. 10 Minutes.
2. Park, Buy Tickets ($2.25 each, one-way), and wait for Trolley. 15 Minutes.
3. Take Green Line Trolley to Old Town. 12 Minutes
4. Transfer to Blue Line Trolley to Imperial Station. 30 Minutes.
5. Transfer to Orange Line Trolley to Gaslamp Quarter. 2 Minutes.

Total Time: 1 Hour, 9 Minutes
Total Cost (2 x 1-Way Trolley Tickets + Gas): $5.60

When you look at the comparison above, I think you’ll see why many people don’t use public transportation in Southern California. It just doesn’t work. It’s not faster, cheaper, or convenient.

A few months ago, we took the trolley to a concert at San Diego State University and it mostly worked (after waiting about 30 minutes because of trolley car problems.) and I’m sure the trolley works for many people. But, when going from Fashion Valley to the Gaslamp, it shouldn’t take 7 times as long, cost 5 times as much, and take 3 different trolleys to travel 8 miles. No thank you, we’ll just drive.

Yesterday was a travel day from West Yellowstone east to Ennis. We got into town around 1:00pm and then headed a few miles out of town to Moonlight on the Madison (photo above), which is where the wedding will be held at. We met up with the wedding party for a quick rehearsal while off in the distance we could see a summer thunderstorm heading our way. As we were wrapping up, the storm suddenly hit us with rain and strong winds. It was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. We all ran to our cars headed back to the main road and back into town. According to the weather report, wind gusts were up to 70mph.

We’re heading back to wedding site in about an hour. Hopefully we won’t get another summer storm like yesterday. After the break, check out one more photo taken yesterday evening after the storm passed.

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Today was Yellowstone Day. After getting to sleep after 2am, we crawled out of bed this morning and headed into Yellowstone for the day. We stopped and saw Old Faithful (who’s now +/- 10 minutes) among many other stops along the loop. I’d tell you more, but instead, I’ll show you. Check out some pics after the break. Enjoy!

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We finally made it into Salt La… er, Denver. We were originally headed to Salt Lake City, but our new and not improved itinerary has brought us to Denver instead. In about 30 minutes, we’ll start boarding our flight to Bozeman. If we’re lucky, we’ll arrive around 11:00pm. From there, we’ll be driving down to our hotel in West Yellowstone. We’ve called the hotel to let them know that yes, we’re still coming - even if it’s after midnight.

Here’s one more shot for now. As you can see, it’s raining here in Denver. That rain also made for a bumpy approach into the airport (more like a roller coaster in the sky). Click on the photo to see a larger version.

Today was going to be a good day. Jessie and I got up and started getting ready for our flight at 11:30 to Bozeman, Montana. Unfortunately, Delta threw a wrench into our plans when I got an email from them at 8:50. Our flight from San Diego to Salt Lake City was cancelled. And so, our adventure began.

I immediately called Delta to see what our options were. They had automatically rebooked us for tomorrow morning, but that wouldn’t work. They gave us the option of driving to John Wayne airport in Santa Ana to catch a 11am flight to SLC. With no other options, we took it and jumped into the car. On the way up, we realized our chances of making the flight were slim to none.

We get to John Wayne, and it’s about 10:50am - too late to catch our 11am flight. After running through our options, they book us on United. We’re set to leave here at around 2:30 and won’t get into Bozeman until about 11pm. We were supposed to arrive around 4:30.

We’re off to a great start.