February Hike

We've kept up this New Year's resolution for two months!  Woohoo!  Sunday we went to Rocks State Park in Maryland and hiked around a bit.  It's not a very big park - we hiked nearly all the trail they had and probably came in a little over 3 miles, maybe 4 tops.  There's a ridge line in the middle of the park, with trails around it and up to it.  The park had some of the more ridiculous signs I've seen.  Fun fact, part of Tuck Everlasting was filmed in the park.

Multi purpose

A twist tie actually doesn't make a bad hair tie in a pinch...

Poor Camera

My poor camera had to take a trip to the camera hospital last night.  Yesterday afternoon I took my camera out of my laptop bag to discover that the flash wouldn't stay down anymore.  Meaning the camera then wanted to take every photo with the flash.  No bueno.  Fortunately my camera is still under warranty, so fixing it is free, and both the camera body and lens will be cleaned while it's out.  After nearly 3 years in the desert dust it could definitely use a good cleaning.  They quoted me 2 weeks...but a couple years ago when I took a lens in to be cleaned (just the lens, and nothing was broken), and that took an entire month.  So I'm not too optimistic.  But I'd reeeeeeally love to have my camera back before I head to Denver and Santa Clara at the end of the month.  Until my baby comes back, iPhone it is...

NYC

Friday I went to NYC for a quick one day conference at the New York Academy of Sciences, which happens to be located on the 40th floor of 7 World Trade Center.  The views weren't shabby to say the least.  I walked around the freezing cold and absurd wind on Thursday night hoping to take photos, but it was so windy that I literally couldn't stand still enough to take a non-blurry photo.  Even when I set the camera down the wind blew the camera blurring those photos, too.  I'd been to NYC once before, though very briefly, and more around the midtown Manhattan area, not downtown around the financial district.  I'd never want to live here, but it's fascinating how this massive structure with millions of people in a teeny tiny space works.