Codi and I went to a triple birthday party for our friends Uri, Paul and Bodhi. We had a great time seeing so many friends in one night!

Codi and Steph…

Here I am…

This is Brad and his mega-camera. I am quite envious of his camera. I tried his lenses on my camera and I loved them. They were very heavy, but it was such a stable, professional feel.

Codi and I didn’t get a chance to see the beach during the day, but here are a couple shots of Sand Key from across the intercoastal waterway. These shots were taken from a Life Flight helipad. They’re both 30-second exposures.

Sand Key and the Sand Key bridge…

Here are some condo buildings on the beach. I like the shape of the light bursts from the street lights (far right, low center).

P.S. It’s still hot out! Another 91 degree day! weather.com says it “feels like 97 degrees”; I say it feels like the state of Florida is wrapped in a hot steaming towel.

Codi and I are in Florida for a few days visiting family. So far, the trip has been quite eventful.

First, some pics from the trip…

We left PDX on the way to Albuquerque. A soon as we cleared 10,000 feet, this view appeared.

Here’s a view out the port side of the jet.

There was a huge section of canyons and buttes just east of the New Mexico state line.

Some kid left this car under his seat. I found it long after he and his parents got off the plane, so I appropriated it.

That’s it for photos so far.

Florida drivers are certifiably psychotic. It’s hot and muggy. It was 91 degrees by noon. Last night, some poor pedestrian was run over on Gulf to Bay Blvd. Today, almost in the exact same spot, a woman was driving a red Jeep and her rear passenger tire fell off and rolled into a UPS truck. Her car was totally disabled and she rolled to a stop in the right lane. No one stopped to help her. In fact, people were honking their horns at her because they had to merge into the left lane to pass by. How rude! So I pulled the car over and went to help her. I tried jacking her car up with her jack, but she was missing a part. I got the jack out of our rental car, but it would only lift the axle an inch or two off the ground. Meanwhile, I had called 911 to get a cop to block the road so neither the Jeep nor I would get hit by these idiots driving by. 10 minutes went by and no cops showed up. I flagged a truck down to see if the driver had a bigger jack. Nope. Finally, a guy drove up onto the sidewalk and handed me a huge pneumatic jack. It couldn’t lift the Jeep high enough to get the tire back on. A cop car drove by and had to be flagged down (they were going to drive by!!!). After the cops pulled up, another Jeep stopped and the driver handed me a second jack – the exact same one the first guy gave me. I used the second jack to lift the rear axle – just enough to get the tire on. Cops and bystanders watching me work, I finally got the disabled Jeep in a condition where it could be moved out of the lane of traffic. Bloody knuckles, sweat and tire filth were my reward for being the boy scout today.

Did I mention that Florida drivers are crazy?

Oh – and Codi and I saw two bolts of lightning strike down in front of us out of the clear blue sky! No clouds where the lightning hit. I’d never seen anything like that before! Wooo, strange-ola.

One thing I’m looking forward to doing a few times this summer is going out to swim in the waterfalls, especially Oneonta and Wahkeena Falls. What a great way to spend an afternoon! Even better is a day in the falls followed by a little hiking to find fresh, sun-warmed blackberries!