Getaway Vehicles

"Colorful Motorbike" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO1600
“Colorful Motorbike” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは!How’s it going?

Today’s photo is of my motorcycle, which is set up as a long-distance mile-eater. If you want to read more about it, you can check out my other blog. But after I took the photo, I started thinking about what kind of vehicles I like, and why.

As someone who loves to travel, I love vehicles that have a go-anywhere, self-contained feeling.

For instance, one of my dream cars when I was younger was a Toyota Townace 4×4 Van. They were so bizarre but I thought they were really cool. Plus, it would make an awesome camper. Pair that with Toyota dependability and it seemed like a perfect vehicle.

I still want something like that to go camping in! Long road-trips are so fun. I love them.

Right now, I drive a Honda Minivan, which is excellent. It is so versatile and can hold a ton of stuff, so it is great for camping. But it doesn’t have that walk-in feeling like a VW camper or full-size van. It’s kind of just a big car. Also, it only gets 20mpg. 😒

In the ’90s I had a really fun vehicle – a Toyota 4×4 truck. That was an awesome vehicle for camping and getting to those primitive sites. We’d take it off-road on some fairly gnarly trails, with the bed filled with camping gear. That’s another vehicle I’d consider buying again, but the fuel economy just sucks… even worse than the van.

Anyways, back to my motorcycle… it sort of fits the bill because it’s set up to go off-road (although it’s pretty heavy), can travel long-distances (I’ve traveled out of Texas on it), and gets great gas mileage. On the downside, the comfort level is lacking… especially in the Texas heat.

I guess there isn’t a perfect vehicle out there for me at the moment, so I’ll stick with the two extremes… a large car and a small motorbike. Maybe one day a hybrid 4×4 van will come along. Until then, though, I’ll just have to dream about it. 😄

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

Secret Spot

"Secret Spot" Texas, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/450 sec, ISO400
“Secret Spot” Texas, 2016

こんばんは!

If you’re a regular reader, you know that I’ve been on a fishing kick for the past few days. 🎣 Well, today was no different!

I’ve been doing some research about where to go fishing around my neighborhood, and in a couple of the forums, I’ve come across the term “C&R Pond”. I was wondering, where is the C&R Pond that people seem to be catching fish at? It turns out that C&R means “Catch and Release” and that these ponds are kind of secret locations. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it?

I guess that if you find a nice pond, you don’t want to share the location with the world because it might get over-fished, so you keep it to yourself and your fishing buddies.

Today I actually stumbled upon one of these secret spots! There were a couple other anglers there, and they caught a nice bass, so that was super-encouraging! I didn’t catch any bass, but I caught some bluegill which was still fun. I can’t wait to go back to this spot. 😀

"Reflection" Texas, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/800 sec, ISO400
“Reflection” Texas, 2016

I hope you had a nice day!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

Sunday Morning

"Morning Light" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec, ISO1600
“Morning Light” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは!How’s it going?

This morning Koa and I went out fishing at a couple locations nearby our house. The first location was a small lake that has a lot of bank fishing, but not very much action. When we started, we were one of the only people fishing but after just a few minutes people started arriving and joined us.

Koa and I both had bass setups on our poles, and I knew our chances were pretty low of catching anything, but it was fun anyways, and Koa really improved his casting skills. It is maybe two years since he has gone fishing, so he has grown quite a bit and his motor skills have definitely grown! He has a lot more control and power too, casting out consistently farther than before.

"Morning at the Lake" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/9, 1/340 sec, ISO400
“Morning at the Lake” Cedar Park, 2016

One of the people who arrived was having a terrible morning… After he got situated, his first cast went into the tree and he started cursing and swearing. Not loudly, but still it wasn’t very good to hear, especially since there were others around… and Koa is still a kid! Then, this person tried again, but got stuck in another branch! 😯Ugh…

He finally got his line out, and I chatted with him for a bit about fishing. He had a few tips about the kinds of fish in the lake we were fishing at, and I filed that information away for safe-keeping. After that, I chatted with another couple who had their lines out and were enjoying a couple of sandwiches. They were more laid-back and friendly, and when I asked them what they were trying to catch, they just said, “Anything that wants to bite our line is welcome!” 😄

Koa and I fished that spot for maybe 45 minutes, and then headed to another small pond that is in our neighborhood. It’s kind of a run-off reservoir with a fountain – the kind that you see at the entrances to neighborhoods around here. When I used to run more regularly, I saw people fishing the pond and I talked to a couple of them. They said that they’ve caught small bass, bluegill, and even catfish in the pond. It surprised me! The man said that he’d just stop by the pond on his way back from work and fish for a few minutes. I liked that plan. 🎣

"Nearby Pond" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/9, 1/600 sec, ISO400
“Nearby Pond” Cedar Park, 2016

Anyways, the water level was kind of low in the pond today and we didn’t get any nibbles. As I mentioned earlier, our setups were for bass, and we probably should have switched over to some kind of bait and went for bluegill. But, it was fun anyways. After about 15 minutes we decided to just go home and get some breakfast.

It was a good morning!!!

Speaking of morning, the picture at the top of the post is of the morning light coming into our kitchen. We keep salt and sugar on the small window ledge which is very convenient for cooking. Plus I think it looks great because you have instant bokeh when looking at the items there!

Hope you had a great day!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

Fishing Time

"New Tackle" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/9, 1/8 sec, ISO6400
“New Tackle” Cedar Park, 2016

Hello!

Today’s photo is of some new fishing bait that I bought at the sporting goods store. These are used to catch bass, of which I have only caught a couple in my life. When I was growing up, my parents took us fishing a lot, but almost all of the freshwater fishing was done for trout. So, bass fishing is new and exciting! 🎣

There are a couple lakes nearby here, but the bass are not very aggressive and the closest lake has a reputation of being very difficult to catch fish in. But, fishing is not all about catching the fish. I enjoy being in the outdoors, seeing the water, and just relaxing. 😎

I bought a new fishing license tonight so I am set for the next year (for freshwater). There is a neighborhood pond just a minute drive from our house that people fish from so I am excited about giving that a go!

Take care!

おやすみなさい!

– B Barron Fujimoto

Through the Viewfinder, Backwards 📸

"Through the Viewfinder, Backwards" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: SONY SLT-A77V, 35mm, f/3.5, 1/6 sec, ISO800
“Through the Viewfinder, Backwards” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは!

I am very tired and falling asleep, but I wanted to post this photo, which is of my Pinky:St figurine, as seen through the viewfinder of my Fujifilm X100T camera, but backwards. As if she were the photographer. If you are on Instagram, feel free to follow me there!

I hope you had a nice Thursday. Can you believe it’s already September?

おやすみなさい!

– バロン Barron Fujimoto