Monday, January 18, 2010

Phoenix 2010

We took a little trip to Phoenix last weekend. I have been looking for a motorcycle trailer, but not just any motorcycle trailer, and I found one in Phoenix via Craigslist. It was within my 500 mile limit and had the added bonus of being able to visit our good friend TonyD. Tony graciously went and checked the trailer out, then bought it for us and took it to his friend Jackie's house. We cruised down, took Tony and Jackie to dinner, and socialized the night away. The next morning Tony took us to a funky little restaurant for breakfast, then we hit the road home. It was a great weekend.


Vette and Tinker posing before a wall mural in Moab. We used to come to Moab quite a bit when we were Jeeping. Good thing it's just a painting, the spider wouldn't stand a chance.


Snow in Utah. I think it was 28ยบ when we were passing thru.


Monument Valley. Spectacular scenery.


Tony and his friend Jackie. She has a beautiful house, and was a charming hostess.


Tink had a HUGE backyard in which to chase the tennis ball. We wore her out good.


A view of the backside of the house from the yard. The orange tree was cool, just walk out an pick a few.


The breakfast joint.


A very unusual place, not one that just any tourist could find.


A fun atmosphere


Our breakfast bowls, They came with Scrambled eggs and hash brown, plus 6 toppings! Had to take a picture for Sherm! We missed photos of the excellent Mexican place we ate dinner at, I forgot the camera, and then when the food came, I forgot to use the cell to get photos. You will just have to believe me when I say the food was excellent...


A cool bridge on the way out of Phoenix


It was pretty desolate until we started going uphill.


But it was so nice and warm!


A very nice villa surrounded by Cacti.


A cool old, not-used bridge



The formations were spectacular


Monument Valley from the other side.


Simply incredible scenery


Breathtaking

I didn't take any pictures of the trailer, but you can see it here: http://kendonusa.com/dual_trailer.htm
It is a great little trailer and pulls very nicely. We bought it for the times when the weather is ugly, or if we have limited time to get somewhere. I don't anticipate using it often, but it will be nice to have just in case.

Thats all for now!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Sunspots and Climate Change






Fig 5. This graph shows the relationship between solar cycle length and the global temperature. I've added current length up to the later part of 2009 for solar cycle 23 which also show the estimated temperature drop during solar cycle 24, currently estimate is that this will be about 2 degrees centigrade lower than the current global temperature. This is the current length, 13,5 years, if solar activity would start up today.

http://www.global-warming-and-the-climate.com/