Why I haven't posted more lately...

Our Loving Room after "the move"
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

This photo is taken today, September 4th from the far end of our new living room.

In late July the opportunity came up to move into a bigger apartment in our current complex.

In the past month we have been going through everything getting ready for a yard sale we are planning to have on September 12th.

Hopefully in a couple of weeks this scene will be gone and our living will looking livable. Sorry for not posting more but I plan to get back in the game this week.

Venetian Pool in Coral Gables

Coral Gables Venetian Pool
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

I took a trip down to Miami, Florida in November, 2007 in order to make a presentation to Railvolution that was being held in Miami Beach that year.

On one of my free days I rode the Miami Dade County transit system to sights around the area. On top of my list was the Coral Gables area that I heard a lot about.

After getting off a Metro Rail train, I took a bus and got off in front of the Biltmore Hotel which is a beautiful hotel. I then walked over to the Venetian Pool which was only a few blocks away.

The Venetian Pool is a historic landmark and is a popular spot in the area. The water was looking very temping considering it was in the high 80's and humidity that match if not higher.

Marlin Hotel in Miami Beach

Marlin Hotel
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Remember in the film days, you would have that roll of film that you meant to get develop for some time but it just seemed to sit and sit way beyond the expiration date?

Well with digital photography we do not have to worry about expiration dates anymore but there still seems to be those photos that just sit and sit and then one day after much procrastination you finally decide to do something with them.

Well that is where this photo comes from. In November, 2007 I did a presentation at Railvolution which was being held in Miami Beach that year. I did my presentation on Saturday November 3rd and by noon I had the day to myself.

My hotel was outside downtown Miami so since I had taken the bus over to Miami Beach, I figured I might as well just take a nice walk around the area and get some pictures.

First of all I look way out of place because I did not bring a change of clothes with me and I was still in my suite (at least I was smart enough not to wear the coat!)

Here is one of the pictures I captured that day which is of the Marlin Hotel that sits on Ocean Blvd. As many of you probably know I love to take pictures of transportation but one of my other interest is architecture and Art Deco has to rate at the top so I was in heaven during my Miami Beach stay.

You can see more of my photos on my Facebook or Flickr pages (there is more on Facebook).

A classic McDonald's...

McDonalds in Downey California
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

It is no surprise that car loving Southern California was the birthplace of many of the fast food places we know so well today including McDonald's, Del Taco, Taco Bell, Carl's Jr, Wienerschnitzel, and In 'N Out.

For many, it may surprise you to find out that McDonald's did not always have those big restaurants with the play rooms and inside seating. Instead they started out like many fast food places of the time with just walk up windows and outside seating.

This paticular McDonald's still retains its classic 1950/1960's styling. It is not a retro restaurant but a authentic time machine to the past. The sign at the intersection of Lakewood Blvd and Florence hasn't changed in decades. It is a throwback to a time when McDonald's weren't the generic, boring, poor quality (OK, personal opinion) fast food place we know today.

It has been many years since I had driven by this restaurant but since my wife and I were in the area we decided to drive by and see if it was still in its original form and sure enough, there it was.

So if your driving through Downey, California be sure to get off the freeway and take a quick trip to this relic of the past. You never know when it may disappear.

A photo turns special

Ross Dress for less and Metro Hybrid
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

In my last entry I mentioned the day my wife and I had in Seattle while visiting a friend between taking different Amtrak trains. After visiting the Pike Place Market my wife and I headed toward Seattle's bus tunnel in order to catch a bus down to the International District in order to find some Chinese Food (we were not impressed with the Chinese Restaurant at Pike Place on a previous visit).

My wife decided to run into a Rite Aid for a couple of things so I decided to get the camera out and take a couple of pictures hoping I the Seattle Police department wouldn't arrest me (there was an incident with a photographer in Seattle shortly before the trip).

I took this picture of a Metro Articulated Hybrid which were still fairly new at the time in front of a Ross Dress for less store which I used as a background because of the design.

Later when looking more carefully the building look as though it could have been a former Woolworth store which was confirmed my someone on Flickr.

My father worked for Woolworth's for many years and would supervise their construction projects across the west. It then hit me that this was the very store that my father was working on when I was born which is another funny story in itself.

I was way over due in the days before they induced labor. My mother had to return to California so at the last minute she hopped a Greyhound bus for Los Angeles (yes Greyhound used to be respectable and safe to ride).

I was born about a week after my mother arrived back in Southern California and for some strange reason the buses arrived early at every driver change point.

You never know when a random picture might turn into something special...

Pike Place Fish Company

Pike Place Fish Company
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

Here is another picture from the vacation my wife and I took back in November of 2007.

We flew down from Salt Lake City to Long Beach on Jet Blue, spent a couple of days with family, then took Amtrak's Coast Starlight up to Portland then the next day we continued onto Seattle via Washington State's Cascade service Talgo.

The day after we arrived in Seattle, we took Sound Transit buses to downtown and spent the day in the area until our next train depart at 4:45pm to Seattle.

We took a long walk around the downtown area before ending up at one of my favorite places Pike Place Market. We look around before I stood in front of the Pike Place Fish Company for a few minutes taking pictures.

The Pike Place Fish Company is famous because of the way they throw around the fish when someone buys one. Well I waited several minutes but was not able to get a picture of them throwing the fish. My wife was getting hungry so we left and headed back towards King Street Station and the International District in order to have lunch.

Here is the best of the fish company pictures. You can see several people looking at the fish but none of them bought any while I was there.

Long Dead but still around

Fedco Sign in Colton, California
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

In November 2006 when my wife and I were on extended vacation in Southern California to visit family plus hit some sights, we passed this sign but we did not have the opportunity to stop since we were on our way to visit my Uncle.

In October, 2007 we made another trip down there before taking Amtrak's Coast Starlight up to Seattle so I made sure to have a few minutes to get a picture of this sign.

So what's so special about this sign.

Well for those that are not familiar with the company, Fedco was a chain of stores (I think there were similar to a K-Mart of the time but I am not sure since I never was in one). However, this chain died probably 20 or 25 years ago.

So the fact that this sign which is near the San Bernardino/Colton on Mt. Vernon along what was US Highway 91 is still around is amazing. A friendly reminder of retailing history much like the old Woolworth store in Bakersfield, California that is now an antique store but still has the Woolworth sign and trim.

Back in the days...

RTD 6100 in Pasadena
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

The first camera I started taking pictures with was my dad's old Polaroid Instamatic that he used for his job but was also our personal camera.

It wasn't long before I got my first camera to call my own which was an old 110mm with no built in flash (yes you actually had to buy disposable flash bulbs for it). My second 110mm camera did have a built in flash and I used that camera until graduating to a SLR in High School.

With those old 110mm cameras I mostly took pictures of buses and trains.

This photo was taken across the street from the Plaza Pasadena mall that was under construction. The company my brother worked for at the time (Ernest Hahn) was the one building the mall.

The bus is a 1968 Flixble 40-footer with a/c. These were the first buses ever ordered by the RTD with A/C in them.

While those old 110mm cameras may have been nothing special in the picture department, a picture is still worth a 1000 words...

Would you eat at this restaurant?

Chinese Buffet in Ogden
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

In my last entry I showed I picture I took in Ogden just before getting back on the commuter train in order to return to Salt Lake City.

This picture was actually taken a little earlier in the day. After arriving in Ogden I caught a couple of buses in order to get up to the Ogden sign which crosses Washington Blvd where the street crosses the Ogden river.

After taking pictures of the Ogden River area I started heading south on Washington Blvd taking pictures. It was about an hour before I was going to eat lunch but was looking for someplace that look appetizing. Some of my favorite foods are Chinese and I like buffets because I can get the items I want.

Well, during the walk I encountered this buffet place which sits across from the LDS temple. Well it was Chinese and it was a buffet but....

If you take a close look at the picture part of the canopy is falling down and the building is in bad need of a repaint. Finally all the vegetation around the building is dead or dying.

Needless to say I kept walking...

Mighty Engine of the Past...

UP Gas Turbine on Display in Ogden
Originally uploaded by Dornoff Photography

This photo is of a Union Pacific Gas Turbine engine that UP used sometime in the late 50's through the 60's. UP was looking for massive horsepower in order to pull its trains along its main line especially through Wyoming.

These engines only had one minor little problem. Or one big problem if you lived near the tracks as they were extremely noisy. So noisy in fact that many municipalities banned the use of the locomotives in their area (of course didn't that interfere with interstate commerce so became a federal issue?).

I took my first revenue ride on Front Runner one day then rode some buses in order to get pictures of the area. Finally I came back to Union Station before heading back to the transit center in order to ride Front Runner back to Salt Lake City.

It was a very hot and unusually humid day with temperatures reaching 95 degrees and the humidity level following close behind. While I may have lived in Charlotte for a couple of years that as several years ago and I was not used to the heat and humidity anymore. I was glad to get back on that nice cool Front Runner train.