12.30.2009

Hoya de las GuaGuas
Mexico Caving Day 8
Went to bounce Hoya de las GuaGuas (668 feet) again. This was the morning view of the valley below when driving up to the cave.

Hoya de las GuaGuas
People tandem climb out of the entrance pit.

Hoya de las GuaGuas
Here’s me topping out at the lip after climbing the low side.

12.29.2009

Las Pozas
Mexico Caving Day 7
We decided to take a day off after bouncing Golondrinas the day before. So we visited a Mexican rainforest gem, it’s in a remote mountain village called Xilitla, and is the home to the extraordinary surrealist architecture of Edward James called Las Pozas. This is a photo of me there.

To see more photos from a couple of years ago from a visit there look here — http://www.nikkifox.net/blog/11-21-2007.

Las Pozas
Think M. C. Escher meets an elvish city. Very cool architecture with mysterious paths and illusions that come to life.

Las Pozas
Shapes and visuals to please your eyes!

Las Pozas
Even though this photos looks like the place had no people, our experience was not the same as it was a couple of years ago. Since then, a snack bar has been added, the ticket price has increased, there were busloads of tourists there and many of the places we could go before were blocked off “for your safety.”

08.21.2008

JMU President Rose

It’s not everyday a university doesn’t take themselves seriously. Like here, JMU President Dr. Linwood Rose had no problem sitting in grass surrounded with studnets on the Quad, which is one of his favorite places on campus.

01.24.2008

Southside Diner
Goldie Bennett, who just turned 89 years old last December, looks out from from the kitchen for new customers. She has worked the graveyard shift, which is midnight to 8 a.m., as a waitress at the Southside Diner. “You never know how the night will turn out,” she said about customers and the snow-covered streets.

08.10.2006

Chinquapin Oak

Ed Strickler and his Chinquapin Oak, which is the largest in the state, on the bank of the South Fork of the Shenandoah River. The Virginia state champion Chinquapin oak is one of several area trees that have been nominated to be included in a book, “Remarkable Trees of Virginia.”

It’s outlasted two mills that operated beside it. The Riverbank Roller Mill burned in 1901 and the Waterloo Mill burned around 1929, says Strickler. It was last measured in 2002, its circumference was 256 inches, its height was 78 feet and its crown spread was 102 inches.

06.01.2006

Verona Carnival

Sometimes going to the mundane assignments, like this one at a fundraiser for a local fire department, can be grueling. But sometimes, just sometimes, you can get a gem of an image like this one.