I am so tempted, but I had to replace the water heater last week!

go to your local (not big box) computer store and tell them your needs and price point; they will be more than glad to hook you up with a laptop that meets your needs. My local computer store has never steered me wrong and are always there with knowledgeable advice when I need it.

yeah...until he sees a cute girl! Group photos are almost a part of these type of trips (especially if the group has cute girls in it!)

I took photos when I was 12 and 13 years old using my old film point and shoot; when I was 14 or 15 I began processing my own black and white film. At 19, stationed in Germany, I bought my first SLR and was seldom found without it.

Back in the 1980s the NY Yankees went after little league baseball teams which wore pinstripes and called themselves "The Yankees". A lot of young Yankee fans became Boston fans instead.

I am still awaiting my vitamin supplement I ordered three years ago on Ebay. They were shipped and tracked USPS. Shipment arrived at my local post office and then dropped off the face of the earth. I printed out the tracking materials and went to the local post office. The clerk at the desk told me I had come back and talk to the post master, who only came in mornings a couple of days a week. When I finally talked to the post master (who spoke very bad, broken English, with a heavy accent), she said that my package was sent to the next destination. But, I told her, this was the final destination. To which she told me that the package went to the next destination. I asked where the next destination was and why wasn't it on my tracking record. She again told me that the package was on the way to its next destination; she still had no idea where that destination was and why they didn't put it out for delivery as my town should have been the final destination. I still have not received my package, but the Ebay vendor sent another order which I received in three days.

1. not taking that local photo-car trip I keep saying I'm going to take.
2. only going out when the sky is "good".

I've hooked my laptop up to my old desktop monitor using the cable that came with the original monitor, my laptop has a port for an external monitor.

I'm assuming that your response is to the previous suggestion of using an external monitor.

hmmmm, it seems as if 1776 gets upset when people join in the discussion and goes in a direction he does not like.

Four or five years ago I did some photography in which I turned on my VR. I didn't turn it off and forgot all about it. I went out for some autumn landscape photography that included running water. I used a neutral density filter and shot in aperture priority mode (f/16). I used my tripod. At the end of the long day I had totally useless photographs. I forgot to turn the VR off when using the tripod so all I had were super blurry photos. If I use VR now, I am sure to turn it off immediately.

Have you checked out the prices at Lee Vining, on the eastern side of Yosemite? We were there in September (about 5 years ago). Hotels were expensive (but not in the range you are quoting); meals? Now that's another matter!

Walking Around My Backyard

i like the shoes!

I used to be an SOOC guy, but I got tired of blown out highlights. I started with Picassa and moved on to Photoshop Elements (which came free with my scanner). I started shooting in RAW and now I can't shoot SOOC; I like PP almost as much as I like photographing the scene, but I did do my own B&W processing (including bulk loading my film) back in my analog days.

I suggest that you write to every state that you'll travel through and ask for a free road map (I got the addresses off of the internet). I took two road trips from Connecticut to California (and back) and I used the road maps (as opposed to an atlas) to plot my trips. My goal was to stay off of interstate as much as possible (except for big cities). I was astounded by the photographic opportunities afforded along the way. I did notice that the photographic opportunities expanded exponentially once I hit central Kansas! By staying off the interstate I was able to pass through Chivington, Colorado, near the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site. Col. Chivington commanded the Colorado militia that perpetrated the massacre on the "peace Indians" (who had signed peace treaties with the US Government. The "back road" I traveled had wide shoulders for pulling over and photographing interesting sites -- something I would never do on the interstate!

I agree that it looks like a Manfrotto (at least the Manfrotto that I use). The locks on the legs gave it away for me.