Day 3 of Photo Safari was centered around WordCamp Denver. We got up early and took the free mall bus to the downtown drop off point and then walked the 2-3 blocks to the Denver Art Museum. We checked in, said hello to some people we knew and then took our seats to listen to Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress, do his presentation, “State of the Word.” As usual, he dishes out a lot of information about WordPress related stats. As a WordPress junkie, I could listen to him go on all day long.
After the morning session concluded we went to lunch with Micah Baldwin from Lijit and Ben Huh, the guy behind the LOL Cats and Fail Blog. I’ve been a fan on both for quite some time, so it was nice to meet and hang out with him. It didn’t hurt that, like Micah, Ben was a ridiculously cool guy to hang out with.
Some lady, Micah and Austin on the left, Jeana, Andrew and Ben Huh on the right.
After the conference wrapped up we went to the after party for a few hours, had dinner and then walked for a few hours taking photos along the way.
Walking to lunch
Jeana & Austin riding back to their hotel
Steam vents and derailing trains
The Clock Tower at night
Preaching through the bus
I had an awesome time at WordCamp and walking around with Todd and Andrew shooting all evening. I’m sad that the photo safari is coming to an end, but it will also be nice to get back home.
john John Hawkins #wordcampdenver, Colorado, WordCamp
Friday was another big day on the road. But, this time we had an actual destination. We needed to make it in to Denver where we had already booked hotel rooms. We got an early start and made several stops along the way to take a ton of photos. As we made our way to up the mountains we met with some pretty chilly temperatures. At the coldest point it was a brisk negative 5 with a fair amount of snow on the sides of the road.
One of our stops was in Silverton, Colorado where we took a stroll down main street. Andrew and I split a pizza that, as Andrew said, was “Worth moving here.” I couldn’t agree with him on the idea of moving to a snow covered town that was roughly 10 square blocks in total size, I definitely agree that the pizza was stellar.
Our drive was filled with amazing scenery on all sides. The drive through the mountains was full of twist and turns. Around one of the corners we found a group of people doing ice climbing, which was amazing to watch.
This truck looks like it has been parked here a while. The stove was inside the Brown Bear Cafe where we had lunch.
I have no idea what this structure is. It’s not a bridge. It’s not a mine shaft… I got nothing.
That’s it. More tomorrow.
john John Hawkins Colorado
We spent much of the day on the road. But, we threw in plenty of photo stops along the way. Our first stop was at a bridge across the Colorado River. Wanting to find a name to attach to the post, I asked a lady “Pardon me, do you know the name of this bridge?” She says, “No, but that’s the Hoover Dam.” I’m not sure if my jaw dropping made an audible noise or not, but I’m sure she saw it Realizing that there was going to be no polite way to explain that she was a few hundred miles away from the Hoover Dam, I simply thanked her and moved on.
Andrew and Todd cross the bridge.
Next we stopped at an abandoned rest stop. There were a few buildings that were all in bad, bad shape. We happened on the place by chance, and it ended up being a really cool place to shoot.
A light fixture in a place with no roof
We stopped off at Four Corners and took some shots of each of us standing in different states. Todd had wanted us to each dress in character as a native of each state, but we couldn’t figure out what that would be, so we skipped it.
Andrew checking out Four Corners monument, Doug checking out his iPhone
We stopped at some tourist spot with gigantic arrows sticking in the ground as if we missed an attack by 1000 foot Indians. Everything was closed but that didn’t stop us from snapping some shots.
The Blue window frame with a bad view
We ended our day at a pub in Durango, CO. The place was cool, the food was OK and they had one hell of a selection of tequila. Sadly, we didn’t sample any of it. But, apparently the place is pretty tough. So tough they have to bolt their urinals to the wall.
The urinal at the Lost Dog saloon
Stay tuned. More to come.
john John Hawkins Arizona, Colorado, Four Corners, utah
Andrew and I woke up early while Doug and Todd slept until about noon. While waiting for hibernation to end, Andrew and I took a walking tour of the town. 15 minutes later we were back at the hotel. We headed downstairs for continental breakfast where we got to make our own waffles. That was a first for me. Normally at a hotel they make breakfast for you, right?
When I saw the sticker (pictured above) on the window of our hotel, I questioned Doug on why he chose this hotel. We did get a nice discount, so who am I to judge?
Here’s some shots from our tour of Kanabe, UT. Oh, be sure to stick around for a shot of Doug tea-bagging Todd.
john John Hawkins utah
Our first stop on the photo safari was in Zion National park. The only problem is that at 11:00 pm, it’s pretty dark. So instead of taking photos of the beautiful landscapes, nature and occasional wildlife, we turned our cameras towards the sky took some long exposure shots of the stars.
Here are a couple shots. You’ll notice something that looks like a shooting star in one of the shots. I wish I could tell you that’s what it was. It’s actually a plane flying through my shot. Cool nonetheless.
More soon.
john John Hawkins Long Exposure, stars, zion
When my Mom found out I was heading to Denver, she says to me, “I have a friend who works at a Starbucks in Denver. You should stop by and say hello.” After a quick bit of Google mapping, I found that his Starbucks is 1.4 miles away from where we are going to be for WordCamp. So, why not stop in and say hello and maybe take a picture or two.
This got me to thinking, “Where else should we stop along the way?” We already know that we plan on stopping to take photos, but why not let our rabid fan base (hi mom) help us out with some suggested places to visit along the way. Do you know of a place on our route that would be cool to photograph? Do you have a friend who wants to offer us free coffee or food along the way? Do you work somewhere along the way and want to give us free food or drinks?
Leave us a comment and tell us where. We’ll do what we can to stop in and say hello. Don’t be shy if we break out the cameras. You WILL be photographed and you WILL be on the site!
john General places to go
The Vegas Sign
Shots from the road
john Featured, John Hawkins