What do those judges know!

So today wasn't the best of days. I found out that I did not win any awards at the AV fair for my photos. I saw the ones that did win on their website, and honestly I think mine are better. Some of the ones I saw were so plain and boring. There composition was all wrong. So what do these judges know! Are they actual pro photographers? Or are they just some hobbyist. Ahhh...I could defiantly use some cheering up. Everyone tells me to keep my chin up and don't let it set me back, but it's hard to not let it affect me. I mean I try so hard and I think my photos are pretty darn good. I'd just like someone else to recgonize that besides my friends and family. Does that make any sense? Maybe my photos were just to Non-traditional for these judges.

Bears, Hikes, and Campfires

This weekend was yet another fun filled weekend. This time we spent the weekend camping at Yosemite with two other couples. Since we had originally planned to hike Half Dome we reserved 2 campsites on the valley floor. This proved to be very entertaining. The first night we enjoyed the campfire, smores and wine. We all went to bed, but at about 5am, we awoke to a big noise. I immediately thought "bear" and I was right. One of our camping neighbors did not put all their food in the bear box so a momma bear and her cub payed them a visit! All of a sudden I heard "What do I do" and another voice saying " I think you just let it eat it". A few minutes later the bear took off. The guys were pretty wound up and kept talking for a while. Then it got quiet as the guys went back to bed. All of a sudden we heard a similar loud noise and some more screaming from the guys. This time the bear jumped in the back of the pickup truck and found some dog food. Apparently the bear stood up on her hind legs in the bed of the truck with the dog food in her mouth. I obviously didn't see all of this since I was in the tent, but the vision just makes me laugh every time!So Saturday night comes and we are hoping to not get woken up to bear attacks. All of a sudden at 1am we get woken up to someone (most likely a ranger) screaming "BEAR!" followed by a lot of noise (this is how they scare the off). Apparently one of our other neighbors left a backpack out. So both nights we got woken up to Bear incidents. Friday was definitely the worst. I must say we are kinda glad to be home in our own beds, and we don't have to worry about hearing bears attacking campsites.

The rest of the trip was wonderful. Dave and I did 2 short hikes on Friday. Then on Saturday we all hiked the panorama trail. This trail was amazing. There were constant beautiful views of Yosemite, plus Illoutte Falls, Vernal Falls, and Nevada Falls. Being that it is late in the summer all the falls were pretty low in water levels, but they are always nice to see. The low water levels also meant we could play in the water safely. So we sll put our feet in the water at the top of Illoutte falls. It was nice just spending time up there relaxing. Sunday we parted our ways and Dave and I decided to rent bikes and travel around the valley floor.

No Vegas Love for the Schanker's

If you remember a couple of years ago Dave and I went to Vegas and won $950 on a nickel Keno machine and I bought my camera. Now that I want to upgrade my camera I was hoping for more Vegas luck. Unfortantly that did not happen. Neither Dave nor I was lucky on this weekend trip to Sin City. Oh well. We still had fun. We stayed at Treasure Island and had a great time. We spent the afternoon longing at pool with a nice cold beer, at a fancy dinner at Francesco's, and of course played blackjack, roulette, and craps. It is so nice that we are only 3.5 hours from Vegas. Even though it was 110 or so, we still had a great time.

Santa Monica Photos

On Saturday Dave and I decided to go to the Great Indoor Store and pick out new hardware for our new kitchen cabinets. Since we were down below we decided to also go to Santa Monica for the evening. I had my camera and decided I would try some night shots of the pier (mostly the ferris wheel). Here's a few examples.


On a side note - we have some busy weekend ahead of us..but all fun and play.
Next weekend - Vegas baby!
Following weekend - Camping in Yosemite
Labor day weekend - San Diego/ Angels and Airwaves concert

Sweet! I can't wait for all the fun and exctiement. While in Vegas we are staying at Treasure Island and hoping to eat at Francesco's our (the place we had our first really nice dinner together). mmmmm!!!

Monkeys, sloths, white water, and zip lines...

What do all these things have in common? Costa Rica!!! yup or next exotic location of choice.

Aug 8 2007
I just had to eleaborate on this post. I'm way to excited. This is going to be the best 30th birthday ever! So I booked our airline tickets today. Not bad...the price was pretty reasonable. Two tickets cost just about as much as we have paid to go to Europe. Now I gotta book day tours and hotels. Here's the itenerary as is in my head.
1 - Rest and relax since we arrive on a red eye, hopefully go see Irazu Volcano
2 - Start our 2 day rafting adventure. Stay at the lodge in a riverside bungalow.
3 - more rafting and drive up to Saripiqui
4 - Kayking or similar activity
5 - Drive to Peace Lodge, stay there for a night (all rooms have an outdoor jacuzzi!) visit the Paos Volcano and Waterfall Garden.
6 - Drive to Arenal - still deciding on the hotel, but maybe Tabacon since its my birthday timeframe. Go to the hanging bridges and hot springs.
7 - Horseback ride to La Fortuna waterfall
8 - Waterfall Rappelling!!!
9 - Transportation to Monteverde Cloud Forest - hiking
10 - Zip Lines! and Bridges! A great way to end the vacation
11 - Time to go home, but the flight isn't until evening so we'll sleep in and sightsee on the way back to San Jose.

Post from Aug 6th:
In October we will be heading to Costa Rica for 10-11 amazing and adventurous days. I am so excited I can barely contain the excitement. The itinerary is still being figured out. But right now it looks like we will be leaving on the 4th of Oct and returning on the 14th of Oct. The 11th is my 30th birthday. And I wanted to celebrate it in a way the symbolizes me. I always describe my personality as "active". I love doing anything that doesn't require sitting down! It is so incredibly hard for me to sit in front of a tv for over an hour, unless I'm doing something else. It doesn't matter if its laundry or dishes, I just don't like to sit still. So this vacation will be packed with adventure. We will start with touring a volcano park, then head off for 2 days of white water rafting, then maybe some white water kayaking. We'll then have a rest day while we tour another volcano and got to a waterfall garden park. Then it's back to adventure...kayaking, horseback riding, hot springs, zip lines, waterfall rappelling, mountain biking, and hiking!!! I can't wait. I'm sure most of you are thinking I'm going to totally wear Dave out...and maybe I will, but he's totally up for the vacation style ( I think!). I just hope we get to see monkeys and sloths while we are there. They are so incredibly cute! While in Costa Rica I think we are going to stay at the nice Tabocan Resort! It's got hot springs right there, nice rooms, and all of them have views of the active volcano (arenal). I think my tripod somehow needs to make this trip!