Friday am Sat on porch waiting for Fedex van to turn up with lost luggage! one of our two checked bags 'didn't make the flight' out of London was what the hapless British Airways luggage clerk told us when our big green duffle was conspicuously absent from the reclaim area at Newark. Didn't make the flight? I imagine there are always a few bags dropped off the trolley on their way to the plane and - oh darn it - they were just too late. Ack. But she gave us 200 bucks kissoff and said they's fedex it on. Lucky for us it was just the camping gear which we need Friday night. Unlucky for me it was also my tripod :-(
No matter, Helen picked us up from Charlotte after a packed-like- sardines shuttle from Newark. Up for 18 hours and counting. Whisked around to her parents where siblings and brother-with-babe were waiting with good ol down-home south'n BBQ. To us Brits that means cooking outside on flames. To the Carolinians it means BBQ-tasting food not necessarily cooked over flame (which they call a grille-out). Either way it was delicious. Finally to Helen's house for sleep (just made it through 24 hours on the trot). Thursday and rested, kids off to school (Stefan is on a half-term vacation from UK hence his attendance) and of we go up to the mountain. Nice and quiet, lull before the storm (literally as it rained cats and dogs while we had lunch in the museum restaurant). We looked around the habitats and Stef and Helen photographed while I filmed. Without a tripod you ask? I had a beaten up loaner from Ms Hopper except that it had a ballhead on it which is useless for video unless as a static shot. Well, I struggled on and managed to get some half decent scenics. The thunder storm cleared and we had good light at dusk, some amazing mist in the valleys from across the swinging bridge. Nobody else around. Helen works there so we were privileged to be there after park closing. I was impressed with Stefan's shooting - he always seemed to be pointing his lil Pentax in the right direction! Earlier, in the habitats I got some lovely footage of the otters playing in the water from the big glass window - a bit like a seaworld view - and they danced right in front of me, amazing movement as two of them literally pirhouetted (sp) inches away from the camera. Even Helen said she's never seen them do that and she goes up to the mountain every weekend and most days in the summer. Sunset was pretty non-descript, so we left about 9 and I glanced up towards MacRae peak and wondered if Mark managed his customary Thursday night bivouac on a lonely ledge ready to catch Friday sunrise. I must try that one day. An hour later and a Taco Bell drive-thru and sleep. So we're packed and ready to travel back to the mountain, just waiting for the camping stuff in the duffle, which according to the fedex tracker is imminent (ha!!!). Weather has cleared this monring and is bright and sunny. Still looks like building pressure so could be nice this weekend. Just be glad to get my tripod with proper video head on it. If this sun stays out, I'll be using my big polariser after all :-) -- Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
