Pioneertown, California.

Ron NiebruggeCalifornia, Photos, Travel 34 Comments

Pioneertown Post Office

Pioneertown Post Office in Pioneertown California claims to be the most photographed Post Office in the United States

This morning (Friday) we begin the two days of travel to Pioneertown, California with very heavy hearts, but more on that in a minute.

Pioneertown is almost like a second home.  This tiny Mojave Desert community is actually a former western movie set built in 1946 and used in various old time movies stared in by the likes of Gene Autry.  Today the buildings are actually in use like the one pictured that is an actual Post Office.  Pioneertown is about an hour from Palm Springs has also been the base of our Lower 48 travels, and I actually have numerous wildlife photos grace the covers of magazines that were captured from right within the city limits, most recently was Your Big Backyard.  We have found it to be a convenient place to store our RV as the nearby Palm Springs airport is easy to fly in and out of, and the area is located near I-8 and I-15, making it easy to move on the Nevada, Arizona, Utah etc. in case we aren’t photographing in California.  But the real reason we use this as our base is because Janine’s Dad and Step Mom live there and have made our travels to and from wonderful and enjoyable experience over the years.  Janine’s dad has ridden motorcycles on every back-road from Colorado to California and always has tons of great advice on places to see – really, he always had great advice on everything, I have always valued my time spent with him.  He treated me like one of his own kids – well actually, maybe even better.

This gets me back to the heavy heart.  Unfortunately Janine’s dad, Doug Nelson passed away unexpectedly this week.  It is a huge shock, and has us deeply saddened.  Obviously our travel plans are now up in the air – but I do know over the next week or so, what phone and internet access we do have will be used to keep up on business, so I anticipate little if any activity on the blog next week.  I will sure miss you Doug!

Wild Wolf in Denali

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Denali, Photos, Travel 6 Comments

A member of the Grant Creek Pack, Denali National Park, Alaska.

A member of the Grant Creek Pack, Denali National Park, Alaska.

This is another new image from this summer – I was really fortunate to at least see if not photograph wolves almost everyday I was in Denali this past summer.  I love watching wolves – even if they are hunting way off in the distance beyond photo range, they are still fascinating to watch.

Denali Light

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Denali, Photos, Travel 13 Comments

Mountain light, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Mountain light, Denali National Park, Alaska.

Can you see the Dall Sheep in this image?

Janine has pushed hard to get some of our new images from earlier this summer on the website and has updated our section of Denali National Park photos with new pictures from our two trips up there this past summer.

Bear Glacier

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 8 Comments

Bear Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Bear Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

Flying into the lagoon where we went kayaking last month.  Bear Glacier isn’t a tide water glacier – the strip of land you see in the distance separates the lagoon from the ocean.  I’m looking forward to spending a couple nights here next summer!

Sailing in Seward

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

Sailing under the full moon, Seward, Alaska.

Sailing under the full moon, Seward, Alaska.

I think some of the details are lost in the small size of of this photo.  From my angle, it appeared that the sea otter was kicking back and basking in the moon light, as it listened to the guy on the sail boat play guitar on a beautiful evening.  This was during the full moon this past August 23, at the beginning of what has become an incredible stretch of weather!

Cascade Chaos

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Denali, Photos, Shameless Self Promotion, Travel 7 Comments

Cascade Chaos by William Slusher.

Cascade Chaos by William Slusher.

Since this book arrived in the mail yesterday, I thought it was the perfect time to throw in a little shameless shelf promotion.  🙂  This is the original photo of the grizzly bear from Denali, as you might guess, in the original, the bear isn’t carrying a red rose – the was added by the publisher with our permission.  I haven’t had a chance to read the book, but it is a fictional story about the restoration of grizzlies into Central Washington.  Thanks for the nice signed copy of the book William!

Killer Whales

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Kenai Fjords, Photos, Travel 13 Comments

A pair of killer whales, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

A pair of killer whales, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

I can be difficult to catch these guys as the break the surface and “blow”, but that task was made much easier here thanks to the nice clear water – we could actually see them underwater getting ready to surface!  This was from my trip into Kenai Fjords National Park a couple of weeks ago.  Some people might be surprised to learn that killer whales are actually a member of the dolphin family.

Cute Bear Cub

Ron NiebruggeAlaska, Lake Clark, Photos, Travel 10 Comments

A cute spring bear cub, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

A spring bear cub, Lake Clark National Park, Alaska.

This little guy was a really cute with lots of personality – he was an absolute blast to watch!

Last years Alaska bear and puffin photo tour was such a fun success that I have decided to do two of them next year (2011).  I have had a number of people express interest in this tour, and thought I would bring it up again – don’t wait too long,  we are down to just one remaining spot and I expect it could fill any day.