These
Christmas trees were in the lodge at Sun River during December 2000.
When
I moved across the country from Indiana to Phoenix I made a quick detour in
Texas to see the Palo Duro Canyon.
During
my move I visited the Carlsbad Caverns in southern New Mexico.
This
was taken at the top of the Magnum XL-200 at the amusement park Cedar Point. This is a great ride.
It goes way out by the lake and provides a great view.
These
are photos from the 2000 Rose Festival Air Show. These show how close
the planes flew to our house. If you look really closely, you can see
Nick on the roof taking his own pictures.
Too
see more pictures from the Air Show click here.
In
May 2000 we spent a day in Washington D.C. One of the places we saw
was Arlington Cemetery. It's very overwhelming.
At
Arlington Cemetery we saw the eternal flame that's next to the Kennedy's.
While
in Washington D.C., we also toured the Capital Building. This is the
inside of the rotunda.
For our one year anniversary we went to the
Carson Hot Springs. It's kind of a little hole in the wall place where
people go for a natural spring water soak and a massage. On our way
back we took the scenic route through the gorge.
This photo was taken December 22, 1999, when the winter solstice
coincided with a full moon. It hasn't happened for 133 years! The moon and sun occupied opposite ends of the sky on December 21-22. A full
moon rose just as the sun went down in its leftmost position of the
year along the horizon.
Since a full moon on the winter solstice occurs in conjunction with a lunar
perigee (point in the moon's orbit that is closest to Earth), the moon will
appear about 14% larger than it does at apogee (the point in it's elliptical
orbit that is farthest from the Earth).
The Earth is also several million miles closer to the sun at this time of
the year than in the summer, so sunlight striking the moon is about 7%
stronger, making it appear much brighter.
In laymen's terms, it will be a super bright full moon, much more than the
usual. Our ancestors 133 years ago saw this. Our descendants 100 or so years
from now will see this again.
For Nick's birthday in 1999 we went to
Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. It was a gorgeous day. Warm and sunny. We took
our sleds and spent the afternoon sledding. It was very fun!
Over Memorial Day weekend in 1999 we flew to
Anchorage Alaska for a few days. This photo was taken near downtown
Anchorage around 11:30 pm. It didn't get dark for about another 30-45
minutes.
This
was taken when I was in high school in my parents' front yard after an ice
storm.