We had some spare time today, so we decided to take a drive out to Lake Pleasant in North Maricopa County, Arizona. It was really too hot to have a picnic like we originally intended, so we drove up to the visitors center and took some pictures. I made this panoramic image that shows only a portion of the lake from Bass Bay on the left to the New Waddell Dam on the right. Click on the thumbnail image for the full panorama - remember to use the scroll bars to pan the image left and right.

While we were in Arizona earlier this month, Damsel and I went to take some photos of the new property. I took a series of images and stitched them into a 360° panoramic view of the lot and the neighborhood. In the thumbnail above, Damsel is standing on the pad where the new house will stand sometime this fall.

Click on the thumbnail and use the scrollbars on your browser to view the entire panorama.

Damsel snapped a photo of the Colorado River just as we crossed into Arizona on I-10 at the beginning of our recent vacation. I cropped it into a panoramic view of the river, both states and a suspension pipeline crossing the river just south of the interstate bridge. Click the image for the full panorama.

I found this panoramic image in the photo archives this morning . . .

During our visit to Joshua Tree National Park last year, we took the short drive from the main road to a place called Keys View. From that point, you can see the Coachella Valley and the Palm Springs area five thousand feet (1525 meters) below. You can also see the San Andreas Fault which has been the cause of many Earthquakes in California, including the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

Although it is difficult to see through the haze, the Salton Sea is visible at the left and Banning Pass on the right. A spectacular view to be sure.

As I looked through the photo album this morning, I had the urge to book a trip to escape the cabin fever. Maybe soon, real soon. Click on the panoramic image above to enlarge.

In this El Niño year, the snow levels dropped to below 5000 feet in the San Gabriels, normally not seen with snow on the southern slopes. Damsel took this image (cropped to make a panorama) after the rain passed the other day. Lingering clouds can be seen topping some of the peaks. Click on the image to see the full-sized panoramic image - don’t forget to use the scroller to see the whole image.

Damsel took this shot from the Saguaro National Park (West), near the museum. I cropped it down to this panoramic image looking west from the park. We drove up from Tucson to visit the park, then on to Marana, where we stayed for a couple of days to relax and look around.

There certainly is some pretty scenery in Arizona. Click on the image to enlarge.

The Catalina Mountain Range, just outside of Tucson, AZ.

Very pretty. I also love the little red-bird of paradise flowers like the one that got into the edge of this view of the mountains.

Check out this panoramic image of an actual derailment we passed near Globe, AZ, today. Workers were busily working to fix this mess. Click on the image to enlarge.

It made me wonder who is going to fix the derailed US Government? The House of Reps, Senate, and Administration in Washington are seriously off-track. It will have to be the American voters over the next several election cycles that will vote the idiocy out of office. Hopefully, ACORN and other subversive organizations will have been fully exposed for the frauds they are and sanity will prevail.

OK - Just one more panoramic image from our vacation. I took this the first night away from home on our way to the Gun Bloggers Rendezvous - this is the Merced River (South Fork) that ran immediately behind our hotel room at the Yosemite View Lodge, just outside the National Park boundary.

Other than a five foot high fence obstructing the view (refer to the right end of the panorama), this was what we had for ambiance that evening. We sat on the back patio and waited for the stars to come out and after that, the moonrise over the canyon wall.

Click on the panorama thumbnail to see full size.

A colleague sent me this email today:

As you move your cursor you can see the whole cockpit from top to bottom. You can even zoom on the dash [sic - instrument panel is the term]. Most panoramas are of landscapes. This 360-degree panorama is unlike any other - It’s a picture of an Airbus A380’s cockpit. Be sure to go to full screen.

CLICK HERE >> INSIDE THE COCKPIT OF THE AIRBUS A380

Panorama photographs are becoming increasingly popular on the Net. That’s because software is making it easier than ever to create them. The Airbus A380 is the largest passenger airliner in the world. It can seat more than 850 people. Only a couple of the
planes are in service. So, you’ll probably have to wait for your first ride. Until then, check out its state-of-the-art controls, top, bottom and all around.

After a quick look, I had to force myself to go back to work and defer the frustrated ex-pilot geekery until this evening.

Click in the link or the screenshot above to go to the website.

While looking at some winter vacation pictures as I was eating my lunch today, I ran across several images I took at Grand Canyon last month. I stitched them together to form this panoramic image of the canyon seen from Lookout Point on the South Rim of Grand Canyon. Lookout Studio, with all the icicles, is on the right. Just left of center, you can see the tower atop the El Tovar Hotel. This is much different than summer conditions at the Canyon.

Click on the image and scroll to view this panorama full sized.

The first day out on our recent winter cruise, we camped in the RV Resort in Twentynine Palms, California. When we woke up on Christmas Eve, we unhooked from the camp and headed into the Joshua Tree National Park north entrance.

It was a perfect day to see the park in wintertime. There were patches of snow here and there and the mountains surrounding the drive had a nice dusting of snow. At one point, we stopped at a scenic point where I took several images to later be stitched into a composite panorama.

Image: Looking South and Southwest toward the Coachella Valley. Click 4 big.

We’re thinking about heading back to Twentynine Palms and back through the park in the springtime when the flowers will all be in bloom. The park was almost named “Wildflower,” but “Joshua Tree” won in the end.