Winners! (finally)

I wish I had a prize for everyone who played the mystery photo game, but alas...I had to pick just a few.

The lucky winners are the apathetic one, who scored a lovely deck of Alaska playing cards; Danger, who got an Alaska ball cap in Rangeman black; That Chick, who wanted the tacky Alaska magnet; and the Untamed Shrew, who gets an Alaska pen that writes in four colors.

Thanks again to everyone! I might have to do this one again sometime.

Mystery solved!

This contest was more fun than I expected, especially looking back through some of my old trip photos in search of good ones to use. I have been really, really lucky and had lots of opportunities to travel to some really amazing places. And I'm really, really grateful. Yay, life! Anyway, here are the answers:

San Francisco Bay
The boat is heading to Alcatraz Island, off to the left there. This shot was taken from Lower Fort Mason in May 2007.

Gatlinburg Sky Lift
Taken on our honeymoon in August of 2004. The Sky Lift was a pretty cool experience.

cliff dwelling at Mesa Verde National Park
Photo from the two-week road trip I took out West with MacGyver and another friend the summer after my freshman year in college. I've actually visited Mesa Verde twice; my family also went there on our two-week road trip in 1993.

Avebury Henge
I spent 9 days in England shortly after high school graduation. On the way to Stonehenge, we stopped at another henge near the adorably quaint village of Avebury. It was incredible. (I'm the one in the orange and blue jacket.)

Giant Geyser at Yellowstone National Park
I took this shot of Giant in the summer of 2002, when my dad took my sister and me to visit Yellowstone. I got to see it again the next summer when I was at geologic field camp. Yay, geysers! (Even though the supervolcano thing is scary as hell.)

Mount Desert Island, Maine
(Say it like dessert, not desert. Blame the French.) I'm pretty sure this is a view of the Porcupine Islands, taken from Bar Harbor or thereabouts. I was in a "geologic excursion" class where we had to spend a semester writing a research paper and then spent ten days roadtripping out to Acadia National Park and back. Can you believe I got credits for that? Wicked. (I also did another excursion class that ended with two weeks driving around Ontario. Srsly...geology = kickass major.)

Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park
This one is from the ridiculously awesome trip MB and I took to Washington State in the fall of 2006. Moss is awesome, you can't deny it.


Big thanks to everyone who played along! I'll announce the winners very soon.


Reading:  Three Bags Full:  a Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann

Playing:  a little Marcy Playground, a little Tonic, a little Alanis, and a lot of Cowboy Junkies

Mystery Photo #7

Mystery Photo #6

Mystery Photo #5

Mystery Photo #4

Mystery Photo #3

Mystery Photo #2

A dorky little contest

I'm not taking my laptop with me on my trip, but I didn't like the idea of leaving my poor blog bare and alone for an entire week. And so! My blog is going to host a dorky little contest while I'm away.

Each day, the blog will magically post a mystery photo from a trip I have taken in the past. A small disclaimer before we start:  most of these photos were taken pre-digital age, and then I had to photograph the prints since my scanner hates Vista. Just think of it as part of the challenge! Or something! Some of the locations will probably be pretty damn easy, especially if you've been reading this blog for a while. Others will be a bit more challenging, though I tried not to pick anything really impossible. No two photos were taken in the same place, most were taken before this blog existed, and they're not going to be posted in any special order.

Leave comments guessing where the photo was taken, being as specific, as vague, or as humorous as you wish. When I get back, somebody will win a prize brought all the way from Alaska. (Please understand it will probably be a dorky little prize, since I'm a dork and my souvenir budget is already pretty small.) (Also, I don't really know how the winner will be chosen, but I'm sure MB and I will find a way to reward accuracy, frequency of participation, and sense of humor.)

Good luck, and here's the first photo: