Bonjour, Canada!

Ah, bonjour to you mon ami! Bienvineu a Montreal!  

Aaaaand my French is done.  But, a picture is worth a thousand words, so, here's some pictures from French-speaking Montreal.  This makes me fluent, oui?  

And the Old City is even prettier at night!  

More Big, Old Trees

Because, let's face it, any time I get a chance to get out and play in the mountains I'm going to take it.  This year, it was cold (40 degrees), there was still some snow on the ground, and the melting snowpack higher up was case for both celebration and raging rivers.  

Here, we observe the rivers: 

Here, we observe the fauna: 

This was the best photo I could get of the illusive photographer in the wild:

And, on a personal note, I looked my fear of heights in the eyes and told it to piss off: 

Field Day 2016

Every year, we get to close the store and spend the day out in the field.  A "Field Day" if you will.  And we will.  

Here's a bunch of folks surfing.  

And here's a bunch of non-surfing

Big Old Trees

Finally, time to go do something worth doing again.  This time, I took the gear and headed up the road to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.  Or, to be technically accurate, the Sequoia part of the parks.  

Here we see a rare image from the road, what shall be called a "sign" if you will.  

Here we get a special guest appearance from my backpack.  It's the small blue object.  

Here we see one of the many groves of Sequoia trees.  Sequoias are the largest trees by volume in the world.  Some are taller, some wider, but none as huge.  

This is Chief Sequoyah, arguably the "Chief" of the Sequoias.  Or Sequoyahs.  Either way.  

As with all things worth doing, just getting there was difficult.  The drive into the park made the guy who's afraid of heights really question his decision-making skills.  

But views like this made it worth it.  

And getting to see a clear blue sky behind the rich green of the trees was worth the hour - yes, hour - of twisting and turning roads.  (Note, I did absolutely nothing to this photo in post, the sky was that blue.)

As the sun slid lower towards the horizon, it cast a brilliant glow amongst the trees.  

And as a special bonus, water!  

The Petersen Auto Museum

Take a trip to the car museum they said.  It'll be fun they said.  Well, they were right.  

The Petersen Automotive Museum in LA was everything it was supposed to be and much more.  

There were classic cars...

Bat cars...

Fast cars...

Fancy cars...

Whatever this car is...

Cars with really expensive hood ornaments...

"Cars" with no hood ornaments (or hoods for that matter)...

Even gold cars...

And the 2017 Ford GT.  600 horsepower twin turbocharged V-6 engine.  Carbon fiber body.  Aerodynamics designed to let wind pass through and around the car.  $400,000.  I'll take one, please.  

End of an Era

Before we left DC for good, there was only one more thing we had not done but was on our combined Bucket List: climb to the top of the Washington Monument!  (And by climb I mean take and elevator.)  And now you, Gentle Reader, get to climb/elevate with us.

First, you'll look out the southern window at the top of the 551 foot tower, enjoying views of the great Commonwealth of Virginia, and our home at the time.

Next, move around to the easterly window, and view the Capital, Capital Hill, and the Park Service replacing grass on the Mall.  Thanks, Obama.

Continue around to the north, and enjoy a view of the White House and downtown DC at night.  Hi, Obama!

Finally, look to the west, over the World War II Memorial, the Reflecting Pool, the Lincoln Memorial, the Potomac River, the Commonwealth again, and see California waaaaaaaaaay off in the distance.

And now here are some more photos for your personal viewing pleasure, including an artistic view of the White House...  

...this stunning shot of the night sky, and America...

...and what the Washington Monument would look like if you were falling over.  

America.