Wrapping up the year

Happy New Year!

2008 was a good year for us. We had a great time exploring the city, work was good for both of us and we even got out of town. We took a trip to Disney World. It's a fun trip for us and as you will see from the pictures we had a great time. Mom and Bill were nice enough to apartment and pet sit for us. It was a grand adventure for them and we really appreciated their being here for the pets.

We took Mom and Bill out to Lunch to show them the ropes. We showed them around a neighborhood in The City that we like and showed them how to use the bus.

We got up early for our flight and flew all day. We have 3 legs. It took a while but we had fun. Here was a shot I took out the window at sunset on our way to Charlotte (our last leg).

We went to The Magic Kingdom the first day. Donna posed with the Evil Emperor Zurg.

The cleaning crew sprays window cleaner in the shape of Mickey Heads as they clean the windows.

I likes this one of The Pirates

I liked it so much I took another one once it got dark.

Here is a shot of the Main St. Station all lit up.

Here is a shot of a toy train. I used a low shutter speed to blur it and make it look less miniature.

Here is Darrin (the friend we went with) trying on Official Astronaut Helmets.

Here is all of us in my favorite. A mirror.

A shot on Test Track


Another of us on Test Track

We went to all kinds of restaurants out there

Here is a shot of the newish ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom, Expedition Everest.

Donna and I just off of Everest

They have an area at Disney's Hollywood Studios that they deck out with Christmas Lights

It was amazing but way too loud

I liked these benches on The Disney Boardwalk

Darrin getting us into Epcot. He got us into each of the parks each day. We appreciated that very much!

My fake tilt shift shot. It's me faking a miniature to look like real life looking miniature.

Donna and Darrin going over some of her shots

We ate at a great place for lunch in Japan at EPCOT

Our waitress was great and even posed for a shot.

Lucky Cats in Japan

Donna on our The Land Tour. We saw Green houses growing plants hydroponically. I think they do that in San Francisco but they don't give tours.

Another shot of Donna on the tour. They were raising fish and they filtered the sunlight red to keep the algae from growing.

Gingerbread men and pretzels in Germany at EPCOT

Darrin eating again. He isn't as used to having his photo taken constantly as Donna is.

All of us in another mirror

My favorite of the trip. Donna taking a picture of herself

A lighting fixture at a fancy restaurant we went to called Blue Zoo.

The oyster bar at Blue Zoo.

The Bar at Blue Zoo.

We had a very nice hotel room. We could watch the EPCOT fireworks from the balcony.

Darrin and I finding out how hard Speeder Bikes are to ride.

Me posing with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for sale at Disney's Hollywood Studios

A bucket of Kermits

A wall of Mickey and Minnies

Disney owns The Nightmare Before Christmas and sells quite a bit of merchandise.

We had a beer at The Rose and Crown bar in England at EPCOT

Donna and I on the paddle ship

The three of us eating dinner in Germany

Donna and I went to The LucasFilm Holiday Party. It was a lot of fun.

They had great spreads of food there

And they lugged in a carnival ride. This is indoors in a giant cool warehouse.

It's not Christmas if you don't go to EJ and Sue's Cookie Making Party. It was a great party with kids and dogs and cookies!

Ya aren't supposed to eat the frosting but I couldn't resist.

That's it for 2008 but check back soon for some of the early shots of 2009

Hoping you have a great 2009,

Jon and Donna

Our November in San Francisco

November was a fun month for us. We got to head out onto the Bay twice, we got down to China Town for Thanksgiving and we were surprised by the USC band when we were down in Union Square. Work has been good for both of us and the weather has been fantastic.

Now pictures!

We went down to Hyde Street Pier again but this time we got to sail on the Alma. The Alma is a 4 mast Schooner that you can book. For a small fee you can sail The Bay for 3 and a half hours (which is half an hour more than the Gilligan's Isle crew got). Here is a shot of Donna raising the sails.

Here the sails are almost up. I was lying on the deck while Donna did all the hard work.

The last sail going up

Land Ho!!!

Here is a cool boxing game at the Arcade Museum

We got to watch the USC band play in Union Square

I love college bands!

Another shot of the band

Here is a cool looking Obama poster placing in The City

I took some night photos and caught this cyclist

Fresh fruit in China Town

We bought our Thanksgiving turkey in China Town on Thanksgiving morning

That's our turkey being cut in half. It was CHEAP! Only 10 bucks for half a turkey

This is how you do Thanksgiving Dinner in a small apartment in San Francisco

This appears to be the most dangerous foliage in The City

I liked this shot of the Powell St. Cable Car

We got to take a night tour of Alcatraz. We arrived at Sun Set

Another shot on the way in

A water tower on the shady side of The Rock

These cells might be bigger than our apartment

Cool natural light

Donna and I took the audio tour

They open up the Hospital Ward on the night tour

The Hospital Ward has creepy artifacts

and creepy lighting

Our self portrait on Alcatraz Island

Well Donna and I are off to Florida for 10 days so I will have some Disney World pictures for you next time.

BTW sorry the photos are so small. Something changed with Blogger and when I post them normal size (the size I used to) they aren't displaying properly. If anyone knows how to fix this issue let me know.

Thanks for stopping by,

Jon and Donna