R. Doug Wicker's Blog, page 176
March 20, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — Favorites of Sunspot and the NSO
White Sands Panorama
Hope you’re having a really great friggatriskaidekaphobic Friday the 13th, Part 2 (Part 1 was last month). Here are a few favorites from our road trip to Sunspot, New Mexico, and the National Solar Observatory:
By the way, if you’re reading this and other material authored by me on The Destinary website, this post was not “Posted on (fill in the date) | By destinary” as they’ve been erroneously claiming; this material was in fact reposted. The Destinary have also bee...
March 18, 2015
Hiking Around the National Solar Observatory
Dunn Solar Telescope
The hike begins as you leave the Visitors Center and start heading uphill. The first structure jutting above the landscape, and the tallest one around, is the Richard B. Dunn Solar Telescope pictured above. Inside the Dunn building you’ll see some this:
Dunn Solar Telescope
Very near the Dunn structure is another building — The John W. Evans Solar Facility. Inside the Evans facility are two telescopes — a 12-inch/30.5-centimeter coelostat and a 16-inch/40.5-centimeter cor...
March 16, 2015
One-Day Road Trip — Sunspot, New Mexico
Welcome to Sacramento Peak
A nice day trip out of El Paso is up to Cloudcroft, then hang a right southbound to the National Solar Observatory in Sunspot, New Mexico, atop Sacramento Peak. Ursula and I have lived in El Paso for over three decades, but this was our first visit to Sunspot.
Visitors Center
As you drive south from Cloudcroft you pass signs along the way that are distance-wise proportionally to scale with our solar system, with the entrance to the National Solar Observatory represe...
March 13, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — Sunsets, Snow, and a Marriage Proposal
December 21 Sunset
It’s been an interesting winter here in El Paso. On December 16 we had a spectacular sunset.
We had another on December 21.
December 21 Sunset
Then we got hit by snow on December 26.
Snowfall December 26
And again about a month later.
Snowfall January
Then, on Super Bowl Sunday, it started raining marriage proposals.
Super Bowl Sunday Marriage Proposal
Which brings us to today’s gallery of winter events:
Filed under: Fun Photo Friday, Photography, R. Doug Wicker Tagge...
March 11, 2015
Crazy Cuisine — Carefully Crock Cooking Carnitas
A plate of tempting carnitas
We have here in El Paso an absolutely marvelous local restaurant chain called Carnitas Queretaro, which oddly enough specializes in carnitas. And we do love our carnitas, or “little meats” as that translates. Traditionally this is done with chunks of fatty pork deep fried, but today I’m going to present a delicious and hopefully healthier alternative that I think comes out even better. Here’s what you’ll need:
One large Boston Butt (pork shoulder) cut in half. It’s...
March 9, 2015
Firearms — Television Westerns from the 1950s
Model 1892 Pistol (Wanted: Dead or Alive) and Model 1892 Rifle (The Rifleman)
American television in the 1950s were rife with thirty-minute black-and-white Westerns. Among the more famous and enduring: The Lone Ranger, Have Gun — Will Travel, The Deputy, and Gunsmoke (yep, originally only 30 minutes for the first six seasons). And that’s just some of the more successful ones. There were many, many more because they were cheap to produce, fun to watch, and in demand. Two of the more successful...
March 7, 2015
A Preview of Monday’s Special Blog Post
On Monday I’ll be posting one of the most fun blog posts I’ve done in quite some time. It was a real hoot putting it together, and it will even feature my very first YouTube video. I’m hoping to produce more YouTube videos in the future to incorporate into my blog, so please let me know if you enjoy this one. Anyway, Monday I’ll be presenting an article on some very famous Western weapons that starred in late ’50s thirty-minute black-and-white Westerns, particularly the highly modified Winche...
March 6, 2015
Fun Photo Friday — Favorite Photos of Hurricane Ridge
Drama in Rock
Today we say farewell to my series on our transpacific adventure from Sydney to Seattle aboard Holland America’s MS Oosterdam. Click on any image below to bring up today’s gallery.
By the way, if you’re reading this and other material authored by me on The Destinary website, this post was not “Posted on (fill in the date) | By destinary” as they’ve been erroneously claiming; this material was in fact reposted. The Destinary have also been claiming the right to do so, without links...
March 4, 2015
A Blizzard in the Middle of a Hurricane
Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park — Elevation 5,242 feet/1,598 meters
We found a winter wonderland awaiting us when we reached the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center. A light snow had started falling even before we hit the parking lot, and things got worse from there.
Picnic Table Under Snow
Fortunately the heavy fall ended almost as abruptly as it started and after only a brief spell, replaced by a return to the lighter snowfall that preceded it.
Snow Falling on Fir
Fortunately the roads remaine...
March 2, 2015
From the Tropics to the Snow — Hurricane Ridge
Hurricane Ridge
On October 22 of last year I began this lengthy series on our transpacific cruise which originated in Sydney, Australia, after a four-day visit, and finished up in Seattle, Washington some twenty-eight days later. Our last stop prior to disembarkation in Seattle was Port Angeles, Washington. This week I will finish up this months-long series with our last sightseeing excursion before cruise end — Hurricane Ridge in Washington State’s Olympic National Park.
Snow Line
The funny thi...
