tribe tubbs

Woke up with a work dedicated to God in Niland, CA on easter this weekend.  A man named Leonard Night spend about 25 years painting that mountain in the middle of nowhere.  We got to hang out with the local slab city fold at the range the night before which was quite an experience.  Slab city is filled with a bunch of squatters that live in makeshift homes just beyond Salvation Mountain.  An interesting mix of people and action there on a saturday night at “the Range.”  All in all, an interesting and fun way to spend the Easter weekend.  I love God and all of his unique creations

(Click for photos…)

Dereck invited me to tag along on his business trip to Japan, or I invited myself…..I can’t remember!!!   Anyhow, I found myself on an awesome adventure with him last week around the Tokyo area. Highlights of the trip was our very first adventure to the Tsukiji wholesale tuna auction and fish market the very first morning at 5 a.m., the fabulous sushi (including delicious whale!), Tokyo tower night views, and our end cap to the adventure…….genuine Kobe steak tempanyaki dinner which was incredible beyond words!!!  I had an amazing, fun, exhausting time.  I think I could best describe Tokyo as a clean New York city with really nice people.  I am definitely going back with my wife in the future.  I just loved everything about the culture, the people, and the uniqueness of everything there.  Sorry for the plethora of photos, but I couldn’t decide what to take out!  Remember, you can just click in the middle of a photo to advance to the next one.

(Click for photos…)

We gathered a couple of cousins and headed to Jerome, AZ for a weekend road trip.  Jerome is an old copper mining town established in about 1876 and has tons of charm.  It’s populated with an artsy hippyish crowd, but they are a very warm and friendly bunch of people.  We stayed right downtown at the Conner Hotel which was built in 1898 and had tons of old hotel charm which included very wavy floors and drafty windows.  We loved it!  The highlight of the trip was a stop at the Gold King Mine and Ghost Town which is operated by a friendly old guy named Don who enjoyed showing us around and showing off his 1928 studebaker race car.  He started that thing up cold with 1/4 crank-impressive!  We also loved Pedro, his friendly pet burro

You can click on photos to easily advance to the next one.

(Click for photos…)

Shad took me on a downtown night photoshoot.  Got a couple of good shots of the Midway.

My good friend Greg Lawler invited me on an overnight trip to the famous Alcatraz Island.  We landed on the island at about 2:30 on Saturday and stayed through the night-sleeping in cell block D where inmates would go for isolation and 23 hours per day cell lock up!  We had an awesome Ranger in George who led us through every nook and cranny of the entire place.  We got to see the old dark hospital wing, the underground fort area which the cell house was built upon, and an insiders access to many other areas.  This was an absolutely amazing trip which I will never forget.  Having an essentially behind the scenes in depth tour was amazing enough and then the opportunity to sleep in a real cell, spending the night in alcatraz prison was truly a full experience.  Greg and I were up till 1:30 shooting the place until we crashed into the cells for the night. I think I caught some ghosts in a few of my photos…….  Big kid fun!  (complete photo album below)

(P.S. You can click directly on the photos in the album below to advance to the next one)

(Click for photos…)

We had a great time a Sophia’s house and then ran up to see the best people that exist up in Santa Barbara.  A great weekend spending time with those we love.

(Click for photos…)

We joined Shad and his two girls for a weekend at Sequoia National Park.  We drove over to the General Grant tree which is the widest in the world at the base at 40 feet and then spent some leisurely time down at the river where we were surprised with nice little black bear waiting for someone to leave their cooler alone.  Those sequoias never cease to amaze me……..the bark is sometimes 5 foot thick to protect them from forest fires and their pine cones don’t release their seeds without heat from a fire.  God made these trees to survive a fire which would be death for every other tree around them.  Super cool stuff!

(Click for photos…)

Jo and I went on an ambitious 6 day tour of the southern half of the country.  Driving on the left is quite an adventure, especially when going into the busy large cities, but it was all well worth it.  We drove about 100 miles per day and were able to see tons of countryside and bunches of small cities.  What a gift to be able to go on a couples trip!  Thanks to Laural & Rich and Joan & Mike for taking great care of the kids!!

(Click for photos…)

My cute niece Cora…..

Rich, Shad, Kyle, Jon and myself went out to Utah for this main event.  Some of the other things we did are posted below.  The Neon canyon hike is a 13 mile trek which is technically challenging and also tests anyones ability to give in to hypothermia.  The main event of the hike is a 2 mile stroll down the slot canyon which is mostly full of water anywhere from ankle deep to unknown depths one has to swim through.  Even with wetsuits, it was cooooooooooold!  By the time we rappelled down the famous golden cathedral at the end, we were all shivering and anxious to put our dry clothes on.  All that said, the experience and beauty was all worth it.  The trip was awesome, we laughed tons and enjoyed God’s amazing handywork.

(Click for photos…)