February 2, 2011
Pink Lupine in Palmer and stress getting to the airport

We spent some time visiting friends in Wasilla, Alaska, in the summer of 2009 and went to the Visitor Center in nearby Palmer one morning to photograph the flowers in the native-plant garden. I like the structure of lupines and there were several varieties there to photograph. The solid overcast provided some wonderful diffuse light, but the slight breeze blew the flowers around just enough to make them difficult to photograph. I like the really tight framing on the lupine in the image above because it captures the three-dimensional Fibonacci spiral of the individual flowers.

Going to Albuquerque

Today was interesting — in the Chinese curse sense of the word. We had planned to drive the Jeep up to Albuquerque and take all of our camera and computer gear into the CBP (Customs and Border Patrol) office at ABQ (Albuquerque International Sunport) to register it so we won't have any problems bringing it back into the US. Then we'd spend the night at a hotel, and I would fly to Tanzania early tomorrow morning.

Unfortunately, we couldn't get on I-25 because it was closed due to snow and ice, and that's about the only way to get north through central New Mexico. So, we waited for a while hoping that it would open up. Then we tried to have our GPS take us on some dirt roads and avoid highways and that didn't work, so we retreated to the RV to evaluate options and have a late lunch. Hiring a private turboprop to fly me to ABQ from the local airport would cost about $8-12k — just a little outside my price range! Driving way to the east before heading north might have worked, but then we would have had to drive over some mountainous terrain at night when the roads would likely be worse. Fortunately, I was keeping an eye on the New Mexico Road condition website, and I-25 opened up around 2:20. We quickly departed and made our way north.

We reached Albuquerque with no problems except that we missed the opportunity to take my equipment to the CBP office because we arrived after they closed. I was still quite relieved to have made it to Albuquerque so I can get to Arusha in time to take care of my clients.

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