Out West 2006

In May of 2006, I went Out West. Yellowstone and Grand Teton were the highlights, but I also visited the Black Hills. Here is a link to that trip's main page.

http://www.eriksmith.com/OutWest06/OutWest2006home.htm

Uluru

Located in Central Australia, Uluru is one of Australia's most recognized symbols. It for years was known by the name Ayers Rock, until the original Aborigine word was adopted in 1993. It located 200 miles southwest of Alice Springs and is a World Heritage Site. Uluru is an inselberg, literally "island mountain", an isolated remnant left after the slow erosion of an original mountain range. The formation is known for it's color changing depending on light and cloud conditions. It is an important holy place for the Aboriginees.

See more photos and read my Uluru article at
http://www.eriksmith.com/Australia/Uluru-KTNP.htm

Saratoga NHP

Saratoga National Historical Park is located along the Hudson River in upstate New York north of Albany. It is famous for the being the site of the first significant American victory in the Revolutionary War.

http://www.eriksmith.com/PANY/saratogaNHP.htm has more pictures.

Arcadia Sunset

People always ask me where the most beautiful place I've ever been is. It's a hard question to answer, but Arcadia, Michigan is where my thoughts always come back to. I was lucky enough to work two summers at Camp Arcadia, right on the shores of Lake Michigan. The photo above is just one example of the gorgeous sunset we had there.

I am sure I will post more about Camp Arcadia later, but here are some more photos.
http://www.eriksmith.com/Professional/arcadia.htm

The Teacher

This is a photo of me teaching during Geography Awareness Week in 1995. I was teaching at Immanuel Lutheran School in Houston, Texas. The game shown here was called "Where in the World?" and involved me showing the students a picture and having them try to identify where it was from using a list of choices. I enjoyed teaching the students I had at Immanuel.

Here is a link to more pictures from my two years at Immanuel.
http://www.eriksmith.com/MyBio/immanuel.htm

Korean War Veterans Memorial

This stirring monument is located on the mall in Washington, D.C.

See more pictures here-
http://www.eriksmith.com/VADC/koreanwarmem.htm

Smith Family 1981

This is a classic photo of my family from 1981. I was nine, Troy was five and Lindsay was less than a year old! This was one of the many photos in the slideshow my brother-in-law Adam did such a fabulous job assembling for the Surprise Party last weekend.

There are more pictures from the party on my brothers website- http://web.mac.com/troyjacobs/Smith_Family/Whats_New/Pages/Mom_and_Dad_40th.html

Smith Family

I know it's the second post of the day, but I love this picture and didn't want to wait posting it. This is from Sunday night, not the Anniversary Party, but it's still great.

Iceland

This picture is from Thingviller National Park in Icleand. It is located on the site of Iceland's first Parliament and is a couple of hours outside the capital of Reykjavik.

See the rest of the photos from this tour, called The Golden Circle, here-
http://www.eriksmith.com/Europe/GoldenCircleIceland.htm

Surprise!!!!

We had a surprise 40th Anniversary Party for my parents on Saturday, and it was truly a surprise to them. The photos above show how surprised they were to see everyone standing outside my brother's house when they showed up. The top two are their initial reaction, the third one is them with their Grandson, Colin, and the bottom photo is a whole group photo.

http://www.eriksmith.com/M&D40thAnnivSurpriseParty.htm

Death Valley National Park

This is the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere, Badwater Basin, in Death Valley National Park. It's in May at 10:30 am and it already over 100 degrees.

See the Death Valley NP collection at

http://www.eriksmith.com/SW04/deathvalleyNP.htm

Don't Try This at Home

This photo is from the Hofbrahaus in Munich from the Summer of 1998.

http://www.eriksmith.com/Europe/Munich.htm has the rest of my photos from Munich.

Fluffy, The Driving Dog

This was my Grandparents favorite photo of Fluffy. They had it posted all around their nursing home room.

Key West

Keath, Tone and I took a trip out to Key West in January of 2004.

Here are all of those photos from three crazy days.
http://www.eriksmith.com/FLA04/keywest2004.htm
http://www.eriksmith.com/FLA04/keywestbars.htm
http://www.eriksmith.com/FLA04/FortZTKW.htm

Budapest

I call this photo "Contemplative in Budapest". This is from the summer of 1998 when I was on my tour of Eastern Europe with a company called Contiki. Budapest was a great city, the part I really liked was the Castle part of the city where this picture was taken.

Here are more Budapest photos (I will scan more soon.)
http://www.eriksmith.com/Europe/Budapest.htm

The Guys

This is a photo from my wedding day. These are my ushers and groomsmen. From left to right- Ken Tedford, My brother Troy, Kirk Stueber, Mike Johnson, me, Matt Jackson, Keath Patterson and Martin Becker. Ken and Kirk I have known since high school, Mike, Martin and Keath from college, and Matt from my years in Mount Pleasant. I really like this photo.

Stonehenge

This is my brother, sister and I at Stonehedge in July of 1986. My familt spent two weeks in England visiting our friends, The Ollingers.

Carnegie Deli, New York City

This is a sandwich called the Woody Allen, corned beef and pastami on rye. I'd love to say he finished the whole sandwich, but.... (In his defense, it was 9 A.M. and that's awful early to eat a pound of corned beef and pastrami)

Here is a link to the New York City main Page-
http://www.eriksmith.com/NYC2008/NYC08main.htm

The Dam, Amsterdam

This is a photo from the Dam in Amsterdam. I like this one because it is sunset and the clouds are so beautiful. Plus, it's Amsterdam and it's not raining or overcast, which is rare for March in Amsterdam.

Here are the main page for that trip-http://www.eriksmith.com/Am2004/amsterdam2004main.htm

Dry Tortugas National Park

Dry Tortugas is a National Park 70 miles west of Key West, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. It preserves a Civil War era fort, Fort Jefferson, and the surrounding coral keys. It was built to protect the mouth of the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico, but it never saw ant action. It did serve as a prison for Dr. Samuel Mudd, the doctor who repaired John Wilkes Booth's leg in the days following his assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

See the rest of my photos here-
http://www.eriksmith.com/Florida03/DryTortugasNP.htm

Yankee Stadium

This is Matt and I on a sweltering New York day at Yankee Stadium last weekend. I wasn't all that impressed by the stadium, but it was remarkable being in a place with such a rich baseball history. We were able to see the New Yankee Stadium being built next to the old one

Lisbon, Portugal

This photo is from Lisbon, Portugal in February of 1999. My Mom, Dad & I did two weeks in Spain and Portugal, and were blown away by Lisbon in particular!

Lisbon page-
http://www.eriksmith.com/SpainPortugal99/Lisbon.htm

Lindsay & Adam's Wedding

This is a picture of my family at my sister's wedding on Mackinac Island in May of 2005.

See all the pictures here-
http://www.eriksmith.com/LinsWedd/LinsAdamWeddingmain.htm

Crater Lake National Park

This Picture is from August 0f 2005. Crater Lake is one of my favorite National Parks. There is a drive around the rim of the crater which ranks right up there with any of the scenic drives I have done anywhere. I especially like the color of the water, it is a shade of blue I have a tough time describing, and it seems to change with the angle you view it at.

See more of my Crater Lake Pictures at http://www.eriksmith.com/Pullman05/craterlakeNPp1.htm

New York, New York

I am spending the next three days in New York City with my friend, Matt. This is a picture of my family from December of 1999, from Liberty Island. The most striking thing is not how much younger we all look, but the World Trade Center towers in the skyline.

Here is a link to more of the 1999 NYC photos-http://www.eriksmith.com/NYC1999/NYC1999.htm

Here's a lyrical tribute-
Start spreadin' the news, I'm leavin' today
I want to be a part of it, New York, New York
These vagabond shoes are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it, New York, New York

I wanna wake up in a city that doesn't sleep
And find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap

These little town blues are melting away
I'll make a brand new start of it, in old New York
If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you , New York, New York

New York, New York

I want to wake up in a city that never sleeps
And find I'm A-number-one, top of the list,
King of the hill, A-number-one

These little town blues are melting away
I'm gonna make a brand new start of it in old New York
A-a-a-nd if I can make it there, I'm gonna make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York

Our Kids

These are Our Kids. Fluffy, on the left, is a Shih Tzu. She was my grandparents dog until they died in 2005, now she considers herself my wife's little princess. Bear, in the middle, and Gizzmo, toward the back, are Bichon-Poodle mixes, and have been with Janeen for their whole lives. Boy, do these dogs love their Mama!

Melbourne, Australia

Two days in a row of photos from my Australia trip. I didn't want to wait on Melbourne, since I easily had as much fun there as I did in Sydney. That would mostly be because of my friends Mark & Sue, who took me out for a fun night of the best Melbourne has to offer!

Melbourne isn't a physically beautiful as Sydney is. The Yarra River runs through it's center, and is a muddy brown color, which is a result of the river being redirected to fit the city's layout. It also lacks a signature building like the Opera House, but Flinders Street Station (The yellow building over my shoulder in this photo) is pretty unique. Melbourne is the nation's sporting capital, where the Australian Open is held every year. Also, located on the Yarra's south bank, is the Crown Casino, Australia's largest casino.

Despite it's lack of physical beauty, Melbourne is a very fun city. The night I spent out with Mark and Sue is the favorite night of my whole trip. We had a great meal in Chinatown and then hit the clubs. What a safe city, too, as I walked home from the last club at 2 a.m. and never felt remotely in danger!

I did a couple of interesting excursions from Melbourne, Th Melbourne Zoo and the Great Ocean Road, descriptions of which I will save for later posts.


Check out the rest of my Melbourne photos here-
http://www.eriksmith.com/Australia/Melbourne.htm

Sydney, Australia

This is my favorite travel photo of me I've ever had taken. It was the second photo taken on my two month trip to Australia late in 2001. I suppose you could guess that it is my favorite since I use it on the front page of my website!

Sydney is one of the most beautiful cities I have ever visited. It is located on one of the world's great harbors, one that was discovered by Australia's first colonists by accident. The city also abounds in great museums and cultural sites, as well as great bars and restaurants.
I spent one week wondering around Sydney, taking excursions to The Blue Mountains and Sydney's Beach suburbs of Bondi and Manly. I also climbed to the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge (the bridge in the photo) on a guided tour that was given to me as a birthday present from my brother & sister. I am sure I will do another post about that experience later.

Here is a link to my Sydney page- which has photos and the article I wrote there-
http://www.eriksmith.com/Australia/SydneyAus.htm

Keath Patterson

This is a classic photo of my friend Keath at a fountain in Washington DC in late July of 2002. You can't tell from this photo, but it was 101 degrees and very muggy!

http://www.eriksmith.com/dc02/washingtondc2002.htm

Michigan State vs. UWGB

Janeen got my Dad & I these great seats to see Michigan State beat Wisconsin-Green Bay 93-75 in December of 2007.

See the rest of the pictures here- http://www.eriksmith.com/Family/MSU_UWGB_Game1.htm

Hong Kong

As the caption says, this picture is from Hong Kong, the first stop on my family's 1996 cruise of Asia. You can see our cruise ship docked in Kowloon on the left side of this photo in the middle. Hong Kong was quite a culture shock to me- I hadn't been out of the country since my family's 1986 trip to Europe and few things can adequately prepare someone for the chaos of Hong Kong. When we visited it was still under British control, that would change almost one year later.

This photo and a few others are at my Hong Kong page- http://www.eriksmith.com/Asia/HongKong.htm