View of Geiranger Fjord, Norway (mobile)

Here's a view from our stateroom. Included the full size bus in the bottom corner to give you some idea of the size of the Fjord walls. Can't even see the top of most because of the clouds.

It's like an extra lush Yosemite valley - at least that's how Jen explains it.

Right now there are three cruise ships at Geiranger which is at the terminus of the Fjord.

Geiranger Norway (mobile)

Great fjords on the way into Geiranger.

Lots of waterfalls down the steep cliffs. Simply beautiful.

Nessie Found! (mobile)

Don't know why people say searching Loch Ness for Nessie is so hard. We drove right up and saw her in this pond just off the loch...

I have to say, she wasn't as impressive as I expected.

Pub Lunch - Edinbrough (mobile)

Our guide recommended this pub for lunch. I had the beef pie and a pint of Tennets lager. It was really good.

Jen's brother had haggus - we each tried a small bite... Not disgusting, but I don't see myself ordering it anytime soon.

Didn't know they can't serve drinks till 12:30 in the afternoon. Good thing we sat down at 12:25 - beat the rush too!

Craigmillar Castle, Edinbrough, Scotland (mobile)

First Day in Scotland, first castle.

Lots of rooms and interesting areas to investigate.

Yosemite - Great Place to Visit

I was doing some photo organizing the other day and ran across some shots from a business trip years ago to Yosemite. Yeah, yeah, I know - tough gig. =)

There was a conference there (actually not the best place for a conference, but that's another topic) and we had a long break one afternoon - that was when location really mattered! Off we went to explore the valley a bit.

I thought I'd share some of the photos I took because it really is a beautiful place. If you haven't been, you should go for sure. It has changed a lot of the years since my wife and her family backpacked there every year, but the views and the nature are just fantastic.

So take a peek at my photos. I hope you like them. More to come. =)

My "Nature" photo group on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-ranch/sets/72157622537088000/

More Pyramids in Egypt? Yes - 17 More, Underground! Plus 1,000 Tombs

Ran across this news article (thanks Facebook Friend & 2nd Cousin Austen for posting the article from Yahoo! News) that caught my eye since we were visiting the Pyramids of Giza just last November.

Currently at this site there are 3 full size pyramids and 3 smaller ones. I'm sorry to say that as I sit here now I can't remember the stories behind the smaller ones. I want to say they are for the children of one of the Pharaohs, but I can't recall.

What an interesting use of remote sensing technology. Using what we know about the way the pyramids and tombs were built, they were able to classify the infrared imagery to look for density changes. These structures were built with mud bricks which are much more dense than the soil around them.

Amazing - 17 pyramids, 1,000 tombs and 3,000 ancient settlements.

There will be a documentary on the BBC which follows Egyptologist Dr. Sarah Parcak as she begins to unearth this new find. Keep an eye out for "Egypt's Lost Cities" if you find this topic interesting. I love the title they give the Dr - "Satellite Archaeologist". Cool.

Weird six degrees of separation moment? Dr Parcak was born in Bangor, Maine, as was my mom.

Here's the link to the full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20110525/tc_digitaltrends/infraredsatelliteimagryunveils17lostegyptianpyramids

Here's a BBC article that goes into more detail about the work leading up to the find: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13522957