Saturday, April 21, 2012

Friday, April 20, 2012

Sydney 2012 - Work and fun down under

Meeting in Sydney.  The Convention Center at Darling Harbor.  Gave 2 talks and found some time to visit a couple of the local attractions.  Its always a delight to see Koalas.  

Here is the view out the window of my room.


Great picture of Patrick with the Opera House during the boat ride to the zoo.



Got to walk with the Kangaroos


My Friend Jenny from Melbourne came up to spend the day.


The Cassowary.  What a weird bird.


I love Wombats


Great viewing of Koalas


I love this picture with this giant crocodile.  He was a big boy, and very photogenic.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Easter Brunch with the Brown's

After dinner, Diane played with Zeus while everyone relaxed.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Trout Opener - no fish this year.

First weekend in April and time for the Illinois Trout opener. Weather has been too warm. No fish in our normal spot. Maybe next year.



It was a beautiful morning!

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Mountains and Spring break

End of March, time for the Keystone meetings. This year I am going to 2. For the first time in years, Keystone overlapped with spring break. Everyone got to go to the second meeting.


First one was in Keystone. Nice to be high in the Colorado Rockies. But the air can get thin. Loveland Pass, at 11,990.


Not much snow in the mountains. The skiers won't be happy.


Had to leave Keystone Colorado early to meet up with the family for the second Keystone meeting in Whistler, British Columbia. But there were a couple days before the meeting started so we had fun in Vancouver.


We went to the Vancouver Aquarium. It was wonderful. The Beluga whales were fun.


What are you looking at? The Arctic Char had a bad attitude.


The dolpin show was great. They did some amazing jumps in the small enclosure area.


I always love the jellies. So photogenic.


Thats a big scary fish.


The next stop was Squamish. Amazing little town half way to Whistler on the sea to sky highway. The Chief towers over the town. Its the second largest granite face in North America (second only to El Capitan in Yosemite). To the right is Shannon Falls. The third largest waterfall in BC.


The family hiked up to the base of the falls. Wish it was a sunny day. Didn't see much sun over the whole week.


Tom and Diane at the falls.


Once we got to Whistler, the boys got to snowboard. They were very happy.


This area, next to the lifts was just outside the hotel. Very nice place to stay. This picture documents that the sun did show up a couple times during our visit.


One day while the boys were shredding the mountain, Diane, Ed, and I took a hike in the woods.


Bart wraps up another fun day on the slopes


It snowed (and rained) every day. Here you can see the layer of snow that fell on the last night we were in Whistler.


The weather was the worst on the drive out. We had wanted to hike under the Chief on our way back but it was cold and raining. We found a small place for sushi and had lunch instead.


Bart and Alex with a bear at the airport. I think I have a similar picture somewhere from 5 year ago. Everyone agreed it was a great trip. Rain and all.


Turns out snowboarding all day will tire one out. Some pictures speak for themselves.

Orchid Celebration

After years of careful care, one of Diane's Orchids decided to bloom. BEAUTIFUL!

Green Tree

I had to go to a meeting sponsored by the United Nations on HIV. It was held at the UN version of CAmp David called Green Tree. Its the old house and grounds for the Whitney Family.


The house was like a museum of tchotchke. This is the hallway to my room.


Here is a collection of stuffed pretty birds. Overall the meeting was interesting and stayiong at Green Tre was a unique experience.