Major Website Overhaul & Sony Vegas 8.0

It's been a very long time in the making, but I finally have most of my website completely overhauled with a fresh new look and cool functionality. You may have noticed a new look to the blog. It's been kinda embarassing since I did web development and application programming as a profession. But, when you do it 8-5, it's tough to get motivated to do alot of the same work in your free time. In fact, it just wasn't possible for me other than this blog stuff and a couple of other efforts.

But, it's finally done and I'm pretty pleased with it. It's finally compliant with both IE7 and Firefox 3...with the exception of the old Stormpage. I've spent ALOT of hours the past few weeks getting it done and I think it was worth it. It's a sense of accomplishment to be certain. The two projects I have remaining is getting my chase reports page done and revamp the Stormpage which was my menu-driven data analysis page. Those two projects will be accompished over the winter months at a lower level of priority...but it will get done.

Other than that, it's just tweaking and fine tuning stuff. I want to rework some video clips, like the intro for instance too. I've got a few other things I want to take a swing at, but that will come later.

In the meantime, please browse through the site and see what you think. I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions as I truly need a fresh pair of eyes on it to offer an impartial perspective. Take a gander at my gallery and humor sections too! :-)

In addition to ALL of that, I've been very busy using Sony Vegas Pro 8.0 to put together some video projects both in preparation for my chase reports AND for my annual contributions to the National Weather Service. I dropped off a disc of images and carefully edited video to the Amarillo office and sent copies to Fort Worth, Lubbock and San Angelo. I think I've got some good stuff on there that they can use for their training and education purposes.

Back to Sony Vegas, I'm pretty pleased with it so far as it works well for me. The tutorials are great for anything I need help with. But for the most part, it's all pretty intuitive with only a little learning curve. I personally like it better than Premier I guess in part because it's easier to me to use and yet packs a punch with all of the tools at your disposal. The input media formats are awesome and there's hardly anything it doesn't import or export for that matter. The ONLY drawback is it doesn't do flash files, but I understand why because of licensing and proprietary issues.

One of the things I like is the multitude of media FX with many different ways to enhance the video. You can stack them too which I do often with brightness/contrast and unsharp mask and a few other controls. You can tweak the settings while the video is playing which helps a great deal...and even flip each on on and off to see the effect. However, doing so can start to eat at the RAM on your computer. It's a great excuse to go add another gB. :-) Even with 3gB, it works very well. I just have to make sure everything else is shut down or even do a fresh reboot. I have not run into any errors or problems running this under XP on a Pentium 4 3gHz processor. I must note though that some of my more complex editing with lots of FX and envelopes, the rendering can be excrutiatingly slow. But, it has never once errord on me or dropped frames or any other glitcy rendering...which I have had with Premier.

One of the great features is the highly customizable workspace. Move, shift, add, remove, and rearrange everything to your liking.

So far, the only complaint I have is with trying to do timelapse. Although it's easy by simply doing CTRL+drag of the video track, it limits you, but stil about 10x speed I estimated and read on a forum. You can add a velocity envelope to eek out some more to obtain about 12-14x playback which for most efforts is adequate. Adding the velocity is easy.

It comes with DVD Architect Pro which I have not used yet, but have just completed skimming through the users manual. My first impression is a very good one. On the surface, it seems easy to use and highly flexible so you can do your own thing. I'm looking forward to taking it for a drive soon.

If you haven't given it a try, you can get a 30-day trial from Sony's website.

I've also taken some time to become better versed in matters of copyright and trademark laws with a couple of good books. One that I highly recommend Carolyn "Photo Attorney" Wright's book as an outstanding primer. It's concise and well written and packed full of good information for an idiot like me. Read her blog too....excellnt info!!

With that in mind, I just finished putting all of images on disc for the past 3+ years to send off to the Copyright Office this week. It was a daunting task, but I am so glad to get that out of the way. Now I'm just waiting for somebody to steal something. BWAHAHAHA!!! >:-)

Anyway, that's it for now. I will certainly have some more time freed up to jump into some other pressing matters of a business-related variety. So, if you haven't heard anything from me in awhile or I haven't responded to emails, now you know why. :-) I still anticipate having little free time in the future. But, it's all good though. Just be patient with me if I seem to have fallen off the face of the earth. I'm looking forward to a little break though this Saturday night. ZZ Top is performing here and Jay McCoy and I are going to go rock out!

Forecast Bust

If forecasting could be compared to football, mine was certainly the equivalent of the Cowboy's performance last Sunday. LOL!! I totally missed the mark about the warm front.

I watched several strong towers erupt and dissipate around Elkart, KS yesterday. Just as they seemed on the verge of producing a storm, the thick cirrus shield moved in and helped ruin the show. In addition, dewpoints mixed out into the mid/upper 40's in this area. The surface low was late getting organized due to the slower arrival of the upper dynamics which I was afraid of happening.

I ran into Wesley Luginbyhl, so we chatted for awhile and shared stories until we saw one cell finally going up west of Ulysses, KS towards sunset. Based on the storm motion away from our current position and waning daylight, we gritted our teeth and waved to it as it departed. So, technically, my forecast wasn't that bad really of a target being Springfield, CO since initiation was not too far east of there.

I really think if the jet dynamics would have been a couple hours earlier in arriving and a little further south, and along with the lack of a thick cirrus canopy, I would have been having some fun. I don't really regret the drive up there as I needed to get out of the house. I did get some decent sunset photos though below. Now, as I write this, the winds are howling out of the north with temps are in the lower 40's. The mercury won't rise beyond that today. I'm looking at the first frost of the fall season overnight. Bye bye 2008 chasing.

Ok...some pics.

Chasing Today & Discovery's "Stormchasers" Review

Pouring over the data this morning, I'm starting to zero in on the area around Springfield, Colorado. RUC forecasts a surface low to develop there with strongly backed flow in the boundary layer to the east of it along a warm front. In addition, the convergence is forecast to really tighten up as SW winds clash with the SE and E flow. I love these types of setups as the helicity in a small area is really enhanced along with focuse, surface-induced horizontal vorticity. The 0-1 and 0-3km profiles are awesome looking.

RUC and NAM both are very good with the instabilities of 1000j/kg and above. LCLs will be favorable. The only problem is the forecast weak 700mb flow across SE CO. It is better a little further south along I-40. Aloft, very strong divergence and moderate diffluence will aid in vigorous updrafts as a strong punch of energy dives into the southern Rockies. Although the best part of this energy will spread out into the area towards dark, enough will be there late this afternoon in my opinion for some stout storms. Just after dark and towards midnight, storms should actually intensify and could put on a good lightning display. By that time, they should go linear, primarily from forcing along the cold front.

I think it is a setup where one storm will produce a couple of bonafied, visible tornadoes early in the event followed by more rain wrapped and dopplar-indicated tornadoes, but in a pretty small area near the surface low and along the warm front. Everything else will qucikly cluster into line segments and produce a wind and hail event.

I'm hanging my hat on the RUC because I believe it has a good handle on the expected surface features by 23z in response to the approaching upstream energy. It makes sense. However, the warm front is still down south near Lubbock, so it will be interesting to see if it ends up further south this afternoon than the RUC forecast....or....we have a double-warm front scenario. If this were to happen, and I'm looking at this possibility, then areas around I-40 might be in play too.

So, headed to Dalhart shortly and adjust as needed along the way as I continue to digest data on the road...and whatever else I can scrounge up. ;-) Keep an eye on my live chase page...link to the right.

Sunday night, I watched the new series on Discovery Channel called "Stormchasers" in it's 2nd season now. This year, Reed Timmer, Joel Taylor and Chris Chittick are cast alongside the TIV2/DOW teams. The first episode I thought was very entertaining and fairly well produced. Although there is the usual moaning concerning the use of unrelated footage to the portrayed day in the episode, that is what TV shows do to make the best possible product for their customers...the audience. I seriously doubt the "stormchasing community" is even a blip on the radar concerning their target demographic. Some chasers just don't get it. We really aren't as important as some people think we are. LOL!!

In any event, I found Reed and Joel along with Chris to keep my attention as well as give me a chuckle or two. They are genuinely funny in being their natural selves. The baseball test in the sporting goods store was priceless! Their extreme enthusiasm and desire to get up close and personal to their prey is fun to watch and even produces an air of suspense.

The DOW/TIV scenes are interesting from a more scientific aspect. There is some drama there as well since they are behind schedule in heading out. The TIV axle breaking down though was embarassing though. It was plainly obvious to me that the axle was far from being able to support all of the weight from the armor plating including the load balance and torque strain which must be tremndous. Somebody didn't do their homework and use a calculator. But, hopefully they'll figure out how to make it work. I know I saw them a couple of times this season, so they did something.

Sean's brand of humor doesn't jive with me personally though. It just never seems appropriate to the situation at hand and comes across awkward. I can hear some eyeballs rolling in the background. ;-) But, that's who he is and I won't fault him for that. Heck, not everybody appreciates my brand of humor either. The TIV2 is definitely a nice piece of work other than the axle issue. The deployable hydraulic flaps to greatly reduce any wind from getting under the vehicle to flip it is a great idea and they seem to work well. Maybe one day we'll see if it actually works if a tornado hits it. I certainly hope that they achieve their ultimate goal of getting that one shot they are wanting so badly.

I found myself at the end of the program wanting to see more and anticipating the next episode. I found it "ENTERTAINING" to watch. That's the whole point. Don't miss it.

In honor of Reed and Joel's debut, I created this little gem just for them...all in some good-natured fun. :-)

Possible Chasing Tuesday?

Before I chat about the upcoming severe possibilities this week, a little business first. Here is something I put together using diy.despair.com which I thought appropriate.

Just when I thought they couldn't play any worse, they surprised even the most staunch of pessimists today against the Rams. Dismal, sloppy, incompetent are understatements. Granted, the injuries hurt, but it's no excuse for playing like they did today. I wonder when everybody else starts seeing the core of all of their problems resting on the shoulders of the coaching staff?

Okay, with that out of the way, there is an interesting scenario shaping up for Tuesday. A strong shot of energy punches into Colorado/Kansas with some moisture and a little instability to work with. Throw in a triple-point surface low with a nice warm front, forecast low LCLs, good 0-1 and 0-3km veering profiles...and you have the ingredients for a very interesting setup. The only negative to it is the very rapid evolution and movement of the upper dynamics. So, the window of opportunity maybe a small one, but at this point, looks like a favorable time of day.

I'm basing alot of this off the GFS as the NAM/WRF is handling the upper dynamics differently. The GFS has been remarkably persistant for several runs now. We'll see what consecutive model runs hold in store. At least the SPC is looking at it with their Day 3 outlook. We should get at least one decent chase opportunity this fall.

That's it for now. Stay tuned!

Taste O' Winter, Website Update, & Cowboys Rant

The first real good cold front of the season has blasted into the area. All day long, temperatures have been in the 40's with breezy north winds, low ceilings, and drizzle. For the first time since April, I'm eyeing those winter clothes packed back in the closet. Soon, the true arctic airmasses will start plunging south as the sun angle continues to lower. I always enjoy winter and the snowstorms it brings around here, but the season just drags on too long for my tastes. But, when the supercells start rampaging around these parts, it always seems worth the wait. :-)

I continue to make progress on revamping my website. If you haven't checked it out in awhile, take a gander at it and see what you think. I'm just about ready to start on the big task of getting the chase reports section revamped. That's up next after I complete my "resume" page. I'm pretty happy so far with what I've come up with after testing and tweaking the look and feel.

Now for the Cowboys....ugh. Their former brilliant coach, Jimmy Johnson says that a really good football team gets better as the season progresses. Dallas is NOT a good football team. Granted, they have a couple of key injuries, but I won't give them that excuse for such progressively poor performances in the past 3 games down to the embarrassing exhibition yesterday.

First and foremost, the offensive line is becoming a serious detriment. Poor Romo scrambled for his life all day yesterday as soon as the ball was snapped. I got tired of seeing the linemen get beat as the opposing players would just maneuver around them on the outside and attack Romo from behind. It was clear to me that Romo and the offensive line were rarely on the same page...totally out of sync. How many times did the center misread or seem oblivious to Romo's snap calls? Heck, one lineman stood there and watched a loose ball (courtesy of Romo) roll around in front of him before he finally made an attempt to recover it. Romo of course shares alot of blame for not protecting the ball more and making better decisions.

My next rant is with the offensive play calling. This is another area where whoever was sending in the plays was oblivious of reality. Down 10 points with about 8 minutes left in the game with 1st and 20. You call three little dump passes in a row for a few yards? 3rd and long and you call for a running play where you've struggled all day long? The passing plays were too few and far between (likely because of the unrelenting pressure on Romo) and never called when we really needed them. Me thinks that Romo is becoming paranoid of making the tough throws because of his tendency to throw to the other guy. TO? What a joke. He's no better than an average receiver...if that good. Way too many dropped balls that should have been easy catches the past few games.

Defense. What defense? LOL! Sure, we've got some injury problems in the secondary which I will give them that excuse. But, poor tackling? I gave up counting all of the poor and missed tackles. There is little pressure at all on the quarterback. I haven't checked, but Dallas as got to be at the bottom of the pack when it comes to forcing turnovers.

Don't get me started on special teams. High school teams perform better than that.

I'm putting most of the blame on coaching. The players are not focused and playing in sync...as a team. Play calling is terrible. Player motivation is sorely lacking. As a result, they are one of the sloppiest teams in the entire league considering they are among the most talented. Talent doesn't mean squat if there isn't good coaching. As we saw yesterday and with the Redskins, good coaching is an absolute necessity in winning a game versus totally blowing it.

Time for Dallas to do some very serious soul-searching and a deep gut check. Wade Phillips needs to start being a coach and stop being a mentor and a buddy to everybody. That or the Boys will be sitting at home come playoff time.

Another No-Go

The latest 1630Z SPC outlook pretty much sums up my thoughts. The thermodynamics are terrible and with extensive clouds and precip in the area, I'm content to stay home and watch football. The upper level system out west is just hanging back a bit too far west. The result is pumping up the heights even more today resulting in about a 2C warming at 500mb. So, just like yesterday, nothing but rain, a few showers, and perhaps an embedded rumble of thunder.

E third of NM might get some stronger storms with enough insolation, but nothing to get excited about...just like yesterday. :-)

I'm hoping that tomorrow might present a better opportunity. We'll see.

Today's Outlook - 10/11/08

This is a good time to point out one of the major problems with fall storm systems....warm mid level temperatures. Throughout the summer, all of that convection around the globe aides in really warming up the atmosphere. When the cooler surface temps arrive in the fall, the mid levels of the atmosphere are much slower to respond to the decreasing sun angle. The result is a a 180-degree reversal of the thermodynamic profiles we enjoy in the spring and early summer. Then, the mid levels have cooled off from winter and the surface temps start increasing rapidly thus outpacing the mid level response.

So, it is no surprise then to see the forecast models indicate rather pitiful instability forecasts regarding the current system impenging on the plains. A look at the upper air soundings reveal 500mb temps from -7 to -10C across NM and the W parts of TX. Heck, even Denver is only -12C. With surface temps only expected in the 70's today with lots of cloud cover and elevated showers, the resultant lapse rates will be pitiful and meager instability remaining below 1000j/kg....and we'll be lucky to see even 500j/kg. If the model forecasts are correct in further increasing the mid level temps as heights increase, the surface based instability will practically be non-existent. Elevated instability will be there, but that too will be meager. It's enough though to pop off some weak elevated convection.

With a lack of any surface convergence even into E NM, I just don't see how any surface-based storms will form today in E NM or western parts of Texas in my "chase radius". With the extensive moisture pouring into the area at the mid and upper levels from Hurricane Norbert from the Baja region, combined with impulses in the upper levels, we are only going to see alot of light/moderate rain and a few heavier showers with isolated embedded thunder. Definitely NOT a good day for stormchasing. Being the eternal optimist though, I'll keep checking on things though just in case we get a good break in the cloudiness and something very close to home pops up. Hmmm....maybe that's more as a delusional SDS patient than an eternal optimist. LOL!!

Tomorrow, things might be a slight tad better as we should see some surface convergence and perhaps a bit more insolation. More on that tomorrow morning though. :-)

Yesterday's Report & Week Ahead.

My forecast was really off yesterday...stupid RUC. :-) The better storms popped up in Oklahoma where the shear was marginal. However, the 0-1 and 0-3km veering was great. Surface obs had a swath of moderately strong SE flow into the storms which also created strong convergence. I was encouraged by that and pressed onward.

The low-topped supercells were pretty intense for abit. At one point, one really got it's act together east of Lawton with a nice hook and radar-indicated meso. The velocity couplet was pretty good for a few scans. I was well positioned at the time looking right into the notch. A well cloud had developed and was exhibiting weak to moderate rotation with decent organization. I called it in to OUN.

The hook echo on radar became more pronounced. I continued to track it eastward towards Malone. At one point, the visible hook wrapped up more and created a tight notch. Lots of rapidly rising scud into the small wall cloud. It was cool to watch.

However, the storm, like all of the others, would become outflow dominant. I called it a day after the second storm approached Malone and was heavily outflow dominant. The show was over.

In all, it wasn't a bad chase trip, but I had hoped for a little more action and structure shots. In fact, I fired off only ONE photo during the whole event. It's not even worth posting. I did have one opportunity to get a good one, but trees and the fact I was navigating resulted in a lost opportunity. I made it back to Amarillo close to midnight.

Now for the week ahead....

Models are settling down now from yesterday. I had thought we sould see a very strong cold front plow into Texas by Saturday if not earlier. Today though, decent model consensus argues for a big, upper low to carve itself out west. If the GooFuS is correct, then we could indeed have at least a couple of days of good chase opportunity this weekend. I'm actually liking the looks of this system as the big, strong over-powering dynamics remain further west. Instead, we'll have SW flow aloft likely with embedded weaker impulses. With a dryline and increasing boundary layer moisture in place, it promises some action. Stay tuned!!!

Looking At Chasing Today

UPDATE: I'm going to head that way and monitor things. I'll keep evaluating whether to keep going or turn around and come home. :-)

Although there were a couple of good supercells yesterday around my target of Midland, it was pretty much a strong linear event and lots of rain. I'm glad I stayed home. :-) However, today is a different setup that just might get me out the door.

My focus will be around the Red River Valley between Childress and Wichita Falls and about 2-3 counties to the south. I'll draw a boundary from Childress to Guthrie to Seymour to Wichita Falls, to Altus, OK. I'm keeping a little more westward componant as I'm not sure if the boundary will move too far east along with convective initiation may be early around 20z.

Here, very steep lapse rates of 7-8C/km will prevail. A nice hybrid type boundary will setup here in conjuction with a weak surface low. The most impressive parameter I'm watching are the 0-3km CAPE profiles which according to the RUC approach 300j/kg. The overall CAPE will be 1000-1500j/kg. The NTSP index bullseyes this area too of 1.8 around Electra.

The main drawback is relatively unidirectional flow from 850mb on up. But, there is decent speed shear and forecast hodographs suggest possible splitting cells. The important 0-1km veering could be pretty sharp near the surface low which is what I'm hanging my hat on for today.

With the "doomsday" economic situation looming today, I need to get away from the computer. I can't think of a better excuse. :-) Plus, in looking at the models, this could very well be the last good chase opportunity until next spring. A MAJOR cold front is aimed on Texas this weekend.

I'm not totally sold on the idea of going just yet, but I'm leaning towards that possibility. If I do, I will be streaming today on my live chase page (link to your right.....no...your other right..lol). I'll update here if I do hit the road. My target pick of the day is Lockett, TX.

Chasing Today?

UPDATE 17Z: I'm staying put. If I lived closer, say Lubbock, I'd venture out. I find more comfort in the idea of staying home on a rainy day, ordering a pizza and watching football. :-)

As I continue to analyze data, I'm really perplexed in making a decision to go today. I think the SPC outlook is a good one. My target would be Midland, TX. That is a pretty decent drive from Amarillo. The main thing keeping me from going right now is the fact that this is such a strong system with excessive amounts of UVV and practically no cap. I'm inclined to believe that there will be too much convection and the good stuff that does form will quickly go linear. In short, it's a long shot to get anything develop worthy of the time and gas to drive down there.

However, there will likely be a pretty strong thermal boundary as well as potential outflow boundary thanks to a massive, moderate/heavy precipitation shield further north in the TX Panhandle and most of W TX. Insolation should be prety decent in the warm sector south of that shield along with dewpoints into the 60's. This will result in favorable LCLs. If the models are correct in backing the boundary layer flow, vertical wind profiles will be pretty good. So, anything that can remain discreet, especially if the cap ends up being abit stronger than forecast, then I'm sure there will be a pretty good tornadic supercell to be had.

As of now though, I think the odds are pretty long as I mentioned. The little formula in my head of
(DISTANCE / MPG * GAS$ + TIME * ODDS%)
combined with driving through LOTS of rain just to get there isn't meeting the threshold of jumping in the vehicle. I'm pretty certain I'll be sitting this one out today as the time to make a permanent decision is approaching in the next hour.

Blog Is Growing Mold Again

I've been pretty busy to say the least over the past couple of weeks since returning from chasing Ike. After taking a nice break to do some camping and fishing with David Drummond and Jay McCoy recently, I'm focused intently now on aggressively moving forward with a business plan. It's taken me some time to do alot of assessment and reflection as to which path I want to take.

Now that I'm moving forward, a DBA and LLC along with obtaining tax and legal resources is in the works. This will allow me to start off on the right foot to initiate my desired plan of business. Wish me luck. I'll need it with the current state of the economy. My timing for such major decisions always seems to suck...just like selling my house.

I'm also initiating a major overhaul of my website. It's way overdue to say the least. Watch for the new changes at http://texastailchaser.com. I'll also be working on my photography site (Caprock Photography) which will be a winter project.

As far as the fishing/camping trip at Lake Alan Henry, it was a good one. David whipped all of us in every category including a nice 4-5 pound catfish which according to him, was quite a tasty treat. He caught a couple dozen fish at least...most all of them crappie. Jay was the "red-headed stepchild" with some unbelievable bad luck which of course did not go unnoticed nor unrewarded by his buddies. :-)

I tried fishing for bass, but they just weren't cooperating very much at all where we were at on the lake. I did help with "technical support" by unraveling horrid entanglements, surgically removing hooks from fish (almost had to remove a hook from Jay..twice..lol), and most importantly, slaying all the spiders on the fishing pier. That's right, I had to eradicate the offending arachnids from the guys' fishing spots. I had not seen arachnophobia before first hand. It was the equivalent of Kryptonite to Superman. There is talk of taking cans of hair spray and a lighter on the next trip...used in the same manner as napalm. LOL!! Seriously though, we had a good time and I look forward to another trip.

After the camping trip, my dad and I embarked on an official historical tour of West Texas from Levelland to Whiteface to Morton to Bledsoe to Bronco aboard a tour bus. It really was a fascinating trip and I learned alot. There is ALOT of history in these parts. It is important to note that many of the towns in these parts were established only in the 1920's. One of he most fascinating facts I learned was that the military signal corps based it's various signals from the Indians out here. The American sign language was based off of them too! I won't regurgitate all of the historical details, so check out the links below for a good overview:

Cochran County
Hockley County

The highlights were visiting Bronco, Texas and learning about it's founding by H. "Gravy" Fields. His daughter was there all dressed up to greet us and tell us some stories...along with her brother. We also visited the closed school in Bledsoe which is well maintained by the alumni there. It was built in 1927. We moved down the road a ways and toured the original headquarters of the massive Salughter Ranch where original bunkhouses are still maintained.

Aftwerwards, we went to Morton, my birthplace, and got to see a reenactment of the famous (and only) bank robbery. As we were at the courthouse and county jail, I recalled childhood memories of sitting in the sheriff office with my grandad who was a deputy at that time. I can even recall feeding the prisoners and going on patrol with him. LOL!! We also got to witness an Indian ceremony to pay respects to some ancient Indian bones that were found in a museum there and buried later in full Indian custom. The Morton cemetary also has memorial markers of four Buffalo Soldiers who parished from lack of water tracking Indians. I thought it somewhat ironic to have both on the same cemetary grounds.

To wind things up, we had a big, good ol' fashioned BBQ in Whiteface after touring the museum there. I took particular interest of the old newspaper clippings of the tornado which devestated the community back on April 17, 1970. Ironically, less than a month later, the infamous Lubbock tornado would ravage that city on May 11th.

Okay...some pics!

David shows off his prize catfish at Buffalo Springs Lake...a 5-incher! LOL!! He's just getting warmed up.....


At Lake Alan Henry, he astonishes even me with a 4-5 pound whopper!


This lady fishing next to us catches a real barn-door crappie...16 inches!


Daughter of H. "Gravy" Fields, founder of Bronco, Texas, shows off her attire and snazzy hand-made boots circa 1914.


Her brother sharing a story with the crowd. That's about the best picture of a Texan's swagger I've seen.


The old Bledsoe High School.


Inside one of the halls on the second floor. As you can tell, it is well maintained for being "abandoned".


The cafeteria kitchen and serving line.


Restored bunkhouse at the headquarters of the Slaughter Ranch.


Back in Whiteface.


An authentic chuck wagon campfire. Everybody is enjoying some sourdough biscuits. Yum!


Lots of hungry folks chowing down on some bodacious BBQ!


The local sheriff is keeping an eye on things.