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From May 22nd to June 6th, I was in Vietnam. I went with a coworker named Huy who is on my current project. He was born in Vietnam, and came over to the U.S. when he was a kid, some time after the war. He had not been back since, and he asked if I wanted to join him. I wasn't about to pass up the opportunity! He also brought his parents along, and another coworker sent his sister Mina with us. Additionally, we met up with Huy's cousin in Saigon, and also the cousin's daughter.

We spent the first few days in Saigon, and afterword we toured the entire length of the country, all the way up north to Hanoi and Halong Bay. The sights were wonderful, and I always enjoy experiencing new cultures. As this was my first trip to Southeast Asia, it was truly an eye-opening experience. As one of very few caucasians, the locals certainly paid a lot of attention to me. We also met Huy's family in the town of Hue, where his aunt and uncle put us up in their hotel. They pampered us incredibly, and we had a grand time there. The town itself was also quite nice, with plenty to see. It was easily my favorite city that we visited.

All the attention I received, of course, had its up sides and down sides. Everyone there was very friendly to me. I even had one couple ask to take a picture with me. On the other hand, though, it was painfully obvious that the locals were always trying to overcharge me for things. Negotiation is a must, but a white guy in Vietnam can only get the prices down so much. Of course, even with the white guy tax, everything there is still incredibly cheap for someone travelling from the United States, so I didn't mind terribly. Even the government gets in on the action. Most government-owned sights and parks have a "foreigner" rate, which is usually double or triple the normal charge. With Huy's cousin Khan buying most of our tickets for us, we did avoid it some of the time, but sometimes the guards at the gate sent us back to the ticket booth. This annoyed me much more than getting overcharged by some local.

Overall, though, the trip was absolutely fantastic, and definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Huy certainly showed me a great time! Also, I of course took many photos. I have them all posted now, along with some from a recent stint in San Diego, and a short excursion to Red Rocks and Mount Elbert.

Yesterday I decided to make a quick trip up to the mountains in an attempt to get some photos of the aspen trees in their fall colors. I had been thinking about doing this for the past month or so, as one of the guys at work was wanting to come out to Colorado to see it. I figured we had plenty of time, but I didn't think about the leaves changing earlier at the higher elevations. I looked into it Friday night, and the US Forest Service's site made it look like it was already too late. I decided I would try anyway; it's not a terribly long drive up Boulder Canyon, and I don't remember the last time I was up there anyway.

The Forest Service web site was, for the most part, spot on. Most of the aspen along the beautiful Peak to Peak highway were already well past their prime, many of them with no leaves at all. However, the highway is mostly downhill between Nederland at the south end and its terminus at Highway 7 to the north, and I did manage to find one particularly stunning grove, making the whole trip worthwhile. I also found another cluster of trees on Highway 7, though there were other threes besides the aspen in this grove. Regardless, the pictures still turned out well, and I already have them posted.

Two weekends ago, I managed to finally make it up to Rocky Mountain National Park. I have been there a few times when I was younger, but I had never been with an SLR. The park did not disappoint me; the Continental Divide is quite beautiful there. I also visited a few lakes in the park, and I also had the good fortune to see some animals. The elk were in velvet, and there was a group of just under a dozen bulls grazing and sitting near the road. Needless to say, my super-telephoto paid off quite well. And if that wasn't enough, I was rewarded with a mother moose and her calf at the Grand Lake entrance station, making me very glad I decided to take the road all the way through the park, despite the lengthy drive home.

Last weekend, I stayed in California instead of going home, and did a road trip of sorts. Though I invited quite a few people, I ended up going by myself, which I certainly didn't mind. I planned out a bunch of small hikes using the excellent resource yosemitehikes.com. On Friday, I did most of the Yosemite Valley hikes I wanted to see, as well as those along Glacier Point Road. I even stayed for sunset up at the top. I was a little disappointed in the sunset; there was just the right amount of clouds, but they didn't light up as much as I was hoping. I was still glad I stayed though, even if it meant I had to drive down to Fresno in the dark. Luckily not many others were doing this, so I made it down in decent time.

The next day I went back up to see the sights along Tioga Road. Everything was beautiful, from Olmsted Point to Tenaya Lake to Tuolumne Meadows. Because I went back down to Fresno a little earlier that night, though, there were plenty of annoyingly slow drivers on the road, at least after I got off of Tioga, so it took me a while to get down.

I had originally planned on spending Friday, Saturday and Sunday in the park, but I was apparently too efficient in my sightseeing. The only hike I had left that I wanted to do was the Mist Trail, but I'm planning to go back with friends to climb Half Dome, and this trail is part of that hike. That coupled with the fact that driving up and down the mountains is so painfully slow, I decided to cut out a day early and drive through Santa Cruz, and then up the Coast Highway a ways. I spent some time on the beach, found a few lighthouses, and enjoyed the coastal scenery before finally heading back to San Jose.

Photos from both trips, as well as a visit to Bocci's Cellar, have been posted.