K.C.'s Garage

There's only one rental car company at Sedona Airport:  Sedona Car Rentals Their website only listed two classes of available cars:  "Economy" and "SUV".  I didn't need an SUV to shuttle the three of us to / from the AirBNB and hiking trails, so I opted for the economy car.   Here's the reservation confirmation I received: Thursday, upon arriving at KSEZ, the FBO ramp worker retrieved the car and brought it plane-side for us (awesome!).  FIRST CAR: The car was a 2011 Ford Focus with 152200 miles on it (and a TPMS warning light.)  I noticed immediately upon leaving in it that it drove like a broken shopping cart:  Vibrated, and pulled left.  The transaxle made a loud whining noise that varied with the automobile's speed (not the engine RPM.) On our way to the AirBNB we attempted to take this vehicle on the highway and it immediately revealed that it wasn't suitable for highway use.  At 55 MPH it began to shake violently.  It wouldn't...

We set out on a trip to Sedona, AZ (KSEZ) with the two schnauzers for Spring Break.  I'd always wanted to land at KSEZ, since the airport is set atop a 500' mesa surrounded by the famous red rock formations of the area. As promised, the airport was nothing short of breathtaking.  We rented an AirBNB that was too far away in Munds Park (closer to Flagstaff than Sedona) but it was a nice place, affordable, and dog friendly. We rented a car from Sedona Car Rentals and had such a bad experience with them that I'm writing a separate post just about them . Anyway, here's Wonderwall some pictures: Miles flying Ivanpah Solar Power Facility Arriving in Sedona View from the airport mesa Luna prefers the shade.  She stopped in shadows on every hike. Montezuma Castle cliff dwelling (Sinagua, 1100-1400 AD) A cliff dwelling at Montezuma Well Montezuma Well View from Hwy 89A Tuzigoot National Monument Tuzigoot National Monument Tuzigoot Tuzigoot Luna thought this was an "extra l...

Kim and I went to San Francisco for a few days. It turns out Kim's Birthday fell on Fleet Week this year, so in addition to touring a cool city we got to watch some airshows, too! The panorama shot below was taken from Alcatraz Island.

Kim, Willbob and I went to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica on vacation. We stayed in a lovely house in the jungle outside of town. My pictures are below. You can also check out Kim's photos on her Picasa Album

I took Kim to New York City for her birthday this year. We stayed in an inexpensive hole-in-the-wall (read: cash only, up front) hotel in the East Village. It was a lot of fun! Here's my photos from the trip: Kim's photos can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/nonfucious/NewYorkCityOctober2008

I went back through my photos of Japan and came up with these unpublished ones. Beyond these I have some more from my last day and one other Kyoto temple that I never posted, so I might do yet another posting later on. Enjoy!

My second temple visit in Kyoto was Kinkaku-ji, "The Golden Pavilion." Kinkaku-ji is the informal name of Rukuon-ji Temple, but even the bus stop and tour guides have it marked as Kinkaku-ji. The pavilion at Kinkaku-ji is covered in actual gold leaf, making it quite a sight. The pavilion was burned down several times in its history, most recently in 1950 by a mentally disturbed monk. It was getting close to sunset, and the intermittent cloudiness had now turned to dark overcast and a fairly steady drizzle. This, combined with the "no tripods" rule, made photography difficult... but I managed. 1 Kinkaku-ji was a lot more serene than Kiyomizu. The pavilion is set in the woods, surrounded by a tranquil pond with small islands decorated with small rocks and trees. The darkening sky and gentle rain made it a suitably relaxing setting. Flickr link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/phreakmonkey/sets/72157655003660846

On Thursday I took a bullet train (Shinkansen) to Kyoto. The train-ride itself was fun, as it's not often that I get to travel at 180 mph on rails. The route takes you through mountain tunnels and past the breathtaking Mount Fuji. I would have snapped a photo but given the speed of the train and nearby obstacles (telephone poles, wires, stations &etc) whipping by I never really had a clear shot. After dropping off my stuff at the hotel in Kyoto, it was off by bus to the first temple I wanted to see: Kiyomizu-dera. Kiyomizu-dera was founded in 788, but the current structures were rebuilt in 1633 after a fire. The temple consists of several structures and is named for a waterfall that runs through it. Kiyomizu-dera is built high up on a hill overlooking the entirety of Kyoto. The scenery was breathtaking. Flickr set: https://www.flickr.com/photos/phreakmonkey/sets/72157655006816216

After wandering around Akihabara a second time, I decided to also spend a second evening in Shinjuku - this time with my camera. Lugging a DSLR camera and tripod around in Shinjuku provided the distinct advantage of warding off the strip-club barkers. (After all, no strip club is going to let in someone with a camera and tripod.) Shinjuku has been called the Times Square of Tokyo. It is similar, with the bright lights, the restaurants and clubs, and the constant hustle of tourists and locals alike wandering about. That being stated- Shinjuku is huge , even in comparison to Times Square itself. Flickr set: https://www.flickr.com/photos/phreakmonkey/sets/72157655007379886

Anyone familiar with Tokyo will find that title amusing - as Ginza and Harajuku are both shopping districts, but they are as far apart culturally as they are geographically (on opposite sides of Tokyo.) Nonetheless, I happened by both on this day. Hey - I had an unlimited 1-day rail pass so why not? Ginza is the Fifth Avenue of Tokyo, with such high-end shoping as Hermes, and Dolce & Gabbana, etc. The Sony HQ building is there, with a showroom I had to see. (It had a 100" flat-panel television!!) I went into D&G, and they treated me like royalty - offering me a seat and rushing to/from racks to pick out clothes for me to look at! And they didn't even seem offended when I didn't buy anything, offering me the same enthusiastic smiles and bows as when I came in. I also ran across a Japanese local with a very nice Canon DSLR camera and huge image-stabilizing (IS) telephoto lens practicing his Paparazzi technique. He was literally perched at the end of a blo...

Along the Sumida river near Tokyo Bay lies the district of Tsukiji, home of the largest fish market in the world. The Tsukiji fish market handles over 2,000 tons of seafood daily. I've been told you have to get there around 6:30am to see the wholesale tuna auctions. I was fighting jet-lag and exhaustion from over-exuberant sightseeing, so I didn't make it there until close to 8am. As such, I missed most of the auction action, but did have fun exploring the surrounding markets. Some of the warehouse-alley streets had tiny restaurants nestled within them. I picked a small back-alley sushi place based on the pictures of the food, the price, and the fact that it was nearly full of Japanese people who all looked happy to be there. :) Thankfully, the menus had pictures on them. I chose a sushi-assortment and added a couple of extra pieces at the end that I really liked through a series of pointing and gestures to/from the sushi chef behind the bar. The sushi was amazing ...

Akihabara, or Akiba for short, is the well known electronics shopping district of Tokyo. Akiba's streets are lined with computer stores, electronics stores, DVD & music stores, and comic book stores. It's truly a geek's paradise. Where else can you find vendors putting milk crate "discount bins" on the sidewalk with such treasures as USB hard drives and AGP video cards? The pictures below are actually from two trips to Akiba, I went back in search of Playstation 3 "Dualshock 3" controllers for some friends.