San Diego - Coronado Island

I went to Coronado Island off of San Diego for a work meeting. As has been my luck lately, it was cold, windy, and rainy when I arrived. Here is the view from my hotel room in between rain showers. You can see a faint trace of a rainbow on the coast of San Diego.

The rain let up long enough during a lunch break to be able to take a short walk around the hotel grounds. Here's a view of the bridge and San Diego coastline.

Here's a shot of the beach on Coronado Island. It was really cold and windy towards the beach, so I didn't head over there.

I tended to stay on the harbor side, since it was sheltered from the wind.

At least there were some pretty flowers to see.

Letchworth State Park, NY

While in Rochester, we took the short drive to Letchworth State Park to see waterfalls, instead of fighting the crowds at Niagra Falls. The park bills itself as the Grand Canyon of the East, and I was mightily disappointed when I saw this view. My first question was "where's the canyon?"

We watched a couple rafters head down the river (tiny blue spot coming around the bend) but they got out right before they hit a small set of rapids.

cicada

I was not disappointed with this waterfall!

Middle falls

One rainbow

Double rainbow

Middle and lower falls

Rochester, NY

I just got back from a short visit to Rochester, NY. Most of the following pictures were taken in the butterfly garded at the Strong Museum of Play. Atlas moth

Blue morpho butterfly. Unfortunately, I couldn't capture a good shot of the wings open.

However, I did capture two of them in the act.

My interview with the Count.

Standing at the front door of an art gallery. I wasn't able to go in because they were closed the day we visited.

You can't take me anywhere! Pulling an elephant's tusk at the George Eastman House.

Portland ME and surrounding areas

I went to Portland ME for a few days for a conference for work. The conference was great. I wish I could say the same for the weather. It was cold and raining (or at least drizzling) the entire time I was there. This is a shot of the waterfront of Portland, just outside J's oyster bar.I wasn't interested in the oysters, but the lobster seemed like a great deal at $15.50 per plate.

Playing with my food before cracking it open.
We had one afternoon off to explore the area, so a group of us drove up the coast to visit the shell middens near Damariscotta.

To get to the river to see the middens, we had to walk through a nice little meadow.

Along the way, there were plenty of wildflowers

along with interesting looking fungi. There were also mosquitoes. Lots of mosquitoes. And they were hungry!

After leaving the middens, we headed to Pemaquid Point to see the lighthouse and the interesting rock ledges. The weather was foggy and misty while we were there, with a few scattered sprinkles.

After the lighthouse closed, we headed to Shaw's Wharf to grab some dinner.

Fresh lobster!!

Finally, the last stop of the day was at LL Bean.

I found it very strange that they had a bunch of dead animals in the children's section.

The manager didn't see the amusement in it, and booted me out of the store.