Thursday, April 21, 2022

Random Post - MyShadowProductions # 95

 Hi everyone!

Like the heading says, this is a “random post”. No, it’s not a blog about a “random post” in a fence line somewhere, but that might be an idea for a future adventure? Kind of like a man outstanding in his field :)

Actually, while I was looking into and learning how to Upload one of my longer movie/videos onto YouTube I happened upon some videos about a guy visiting all 77 provinces in Thailand. His name is Paddy Doyle and I believe he is from Australia? (Ireland/England?? edited 4/24/22) He taught English (Home Room, edited 4/24/22) for a few years in Chumphon and Chiangmai before starting his trek by small motorcycle to visit all 77 provinces, which he just finished. I believe it took him about 55 weeks.

Here is a map of Thailand’s Provinces: (the ones I visited outlined in red)

When I was there I visited about 13 of the Provinces during one trip or another. The ones I visited were (In no specific order):

Singburi, Lopburi, Saraburi, Ang Thong, Ayuttaya, Chonburi, Rayong, Mahasarakham, Khon Kaen, Bangkok, Chai Nat, Chiangmai and Roi Et.

Anyway, his YouTube videos just caught my interest and for me were easy to watch and enjoy (different than my experience with other YouTube vloggers).

I want to share a link (below) to his most recent video as he celebrates the “finish” of this journey. He does a great job of mentioning all 77 Provinces in his summary with an appropriate snippet of video. It might take a few views but maybe you can spot the Provinces I listed above as he summarizes. If you are at all interested in his videos, I highly recommend googling Paddy Doyle YouTube videos and watching as many as you can.

Now for the end of this “random post” you can watch the video that Paddy Doyle posted to celebrate the conclusion of his journey, just CLICK HERE!! (Be patient with the ads and click “skip ads” when you can to make sure you see all of his video)

Hope you enjoy it!!


Monday, April 11, 2022

Steamboat Springs - MyShadowProductions # 94

Hi everyone.

Well, it didn’t snow but it was windy and cold on Tuesday so it was kind of a screwy day to explore. I think Steamboat in the Fall is probably very pretty because there are a lot of aspens everywhere and other trees along the Yampa River. Tubing or rafting is probably fun in the summer as well as fly fishing. The Yampa River is fast flowing and fairly wide.

I am definitely disappointed that I wasn’t able to experience skiing on the snow here that has been compared to Utah’s snow at Alta, but that is due to waiting so long in the ski season :)

The moose and elk around here really aren’t shy about posing for photos!!

Did you notice this photo in the previous post’s movie/video? Verrrry large stockpile of harvested pine tree trunks from trees killed by the pine beetle. It appeared they were processing them and making pallets.

Here are a couple of movie/videos created from my photos:



                         Happy April !!


Monday, April 4, 2022

Steamboat Springs - Ski, Hike, Explore - MyShadowProductions # 93

Hello everyone!

Sunday afternoon I took the Bustang Outrider bus from Denver’s Union Station to Steamboat Springs. The route is I-70 West to US 40 with some stops in Idaho Springs, Empire, Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash, Granby, Hot Sulphur Springs and Kremmling. After Steamboat Springs it goes on to finish at Craig, CO.

It is a little over a 4 hour drive and the bus is very comfortable. The scenery changes quite a bit over the journey, wide valley vistas, sheer cliffs, switchback roads, briefly follows the Amtrak rails, some barren, high desert like areas, evergreens and snow, deer grazing (their colors of light tan blend in perfectly with the sagebrush) and the not too appealing small mountain towns mentioned above. Also goes through the Arapaho and Roosevelt and Routt National Forests.

The bus crosses two passes, The Berthoud Pass and Rabbit Ears Pass (covers several miles of road at near 10,000 ft and has both an East and a West summit). Oh, and my hotel is named after the pass, Rabbit Ears Motel (very nice, family owned hotel, well located in Downtown Steamboat Springs and steps away from the bus stop for a trip to the Steamboat Ski Area).

The bus arrived in Steamboat Springs a little before 7:30 pm and I decided to walk the approximately 1 mile to the hotel along the Yampa River Trail. Believe it or not, they have sunsets in Steamboat Springs too :)


Here is a short movie/video of the bus trip and walk to the hotel. Not the best of photos, oh well:


This morning, Monday, the sun was out and I made it to the Ski Area, got my rentals and was on the gondola around 9:30 am. Sometimes the early bird doesn’t get the “worm”, he gets hard snow (icy) conditions and what felt like no control, on a green run mind you. The long green run down from the gondola is named “Why Not”, sounded good to me but by the time I reached the bottom my knees and ankles were done. Never had this happen before. I talked to one of the lift guys and he said things would “soften up” around 11 am but the longer I waited it just felt like it was best to surrender and live to ski another day :)

I did get some photos on the “run of the day” just for the record:








After lunch the clouds are moving in and the weather report is calling for wind and snow tonight and tomorrow so it could get interesting. With that in mind I am going to explore for the rest of the day and see what tomorrow brings when the sun comes up.

I will head back to Denver on the bus at 7 am on Wednesday.

Oh, on the way here, there are some yellow signs with black lettering along US 40 about every 5 miles or so that advertise for a store called F. M. Light and Sons in Steamboat Springs. I think it is a store for rancher/cowboy clothes and supplies??

One of the signs said “Use your head when buying a hat”

Fair warning, I will hopefully have some interesting photos from this evening and tomorrow to share later.

Adios for now.

P. S.

I have been playing with making some longer movie/videos with the iPhotos albums and the “Memory Video” tool and then uploading them to YouTube. Normally these would be too large to upload on Blogger but by going through YouTube first I can then download on the blog. Plus the iPhotos “Memory Video has better music selections.

Try this test video and see what you think??

 https://youtu.be/kGLM_mIc0uI