California
Bolsa Chica: 777 Motor Inn Huntington Beach
——————————
Video Channels & Notable Blogs
Cody Mitchell - Desert Drifter - Fayence Soaring - Fix Old Cameras - Foresty Forest - Ghost Town Living - Glider Guy Ben - grainydays - hachimmero - Isabel Page - KitemanSoham - Liz Kidder - Maarten Heilbron - Mallory Davis - Matt Guy - Nathan Florence - Neural Frequency Sounds - NirvanaGuitars - Over the Hill Hiker - Richard Haw - Sam Eckholm - SamCambetis - Sap - Sawagurui - GENRYUIZAKAYA - Hansenaz
2026
April 25: Ahh, it’s a return to grainydays. I’m so impressed with the drive in photography in this channel. This time he is shooting 16mm. There is a bit of a trip through AZ (motorcycle) on the I-40 with some mentions to the mother road Route 66. I’m in a bit of a downbeat right now in my own photography. I did invest in something that really helps, AirPods Max, music helps me so much to be inspired. Anyway, grainydays to the rescue! I’m inspired to get the Mamiya 645 out in the morning and grab a few frames of the house and neighborhood.
February 26: I often want more than I possess. This desire is created by myself. Without going more into this, I want to present this video.
February 14: Recently, I have been concentrating my efforts on Tempe Butte. it’s close to home and largely undocumented however many people talk about how they did this or that there, I’ve yet to see anything more than a couple of pictures.
This Arizona petroglyph hunter is prolific. I tried contacting him through his YouTube channel, he was polite but aloof, I understand. His videos are inspiring but again, the collector comes through, showing you his prowess.
I know I’ll never be able to be like a Pokémon master and catch them all but I do know that the most basic rock peck stick figure man is equal to any ornate delicate and intricate panel. …and I have never taken one single piece of pottery or arrowhead into my possession. I am a visitor, a respectful admirer. A protector, a warrior of the past.
Anyway, the Hansenaz YouTube channel is worth a look.
2025
November 27, 2025: I now own a Nikon F6, arguably the best 35mm film camera. The F6 Project is a notable site dedicated to this camera.
November 22, 2025: Every once in a while I come upon a blog that is a stunning effort. At the moment, I’m researching an approach to particular Tapamveni and the area I’m looking for, as a matter of fact, more than I’m looking for is in the Kay Plaza site. I am simply astounded at the amount of work that goes into her blog. It is nothing less than amazing. Her travels are far and wide and the content is to my likening. If you are into rock art on any level, her site should be in the conversation, other topics as well.
August 29: I remember You Tube in the beginning. It was a place where you uploaded the videos you made and inserted them to use at the website you made, like I’m doing here. It was a video storage place that was free. But YouTube is/was much more, it is a place that people make money at. Monetization is what it is all about. Now, YouTube is a stand alone for entertainment. I follow a bunch of people there.
This was a find, like many others. I’ve only watched this one video but I subscribed. This guy is blogging his experience at Burningman and this video is his Day 1. Every year at this time my YouTube experience is filled with Burningman videos.
This, like many other channels is about a guy that lives in his car, a Subaru Forester. I own a Forester myself and I would not live in it however, it is interesting.
So I subscribed, I’ll post this video and maybe check it out again.
At one point I thought it was something I wanted to do but the fact of the matter is, I don’t need to go to Burningman to find myself. When I was a kid, I would dress up for the night to go see a band. That’s out of my system now…
August 2: Desert Drifter channel is excellent but, there will be no more. Andrew has passed away. I watched and rewatched many of the videos in awe of his kind gentleness on topics that I love. If you like Ghost Town Living, you will really enjoy this channel.
July 12: Probably my favorite YouTube Channel, “Ghost Town Living” is made by a seemingly hipster guy from Austin, Texas, Brent Underwood. In short, he bought a silver mining ghost town in the Inyo mountains of the Owens Valley of California. My attraction to this area is from my big mountain flights in my hang glider at Mingus Mountain in central Arizona. The old mining town of Jerome and my interest there. At the time, I was reading about the XC Classic hang gliding competitions from the 1980’s in the Owens Valley, that area being the next step for me. Like Mecca for religion, the Owens Valley was something I trained for. Desolate, sky sucking thermals stronger than anywhere… Wait, so Brent makes videos about his ghost town and the surrounding area. This video was about a guy who was legend in the Inyos. One of the most interesting videos Brent has made and he has made years of videos. Noah and I travelled to Cerro Gordo and meet Brent about the time of the Corona Virus Pandemic, we got the selfie below. I’ll take our family to Cerro Gordo to stay at the American Hotel once it is finished. But for now, the link to video about Marion Howard, a legend of the Inyo Mountains.
By a good margin my favorite video yet, of all of YouTube. Brent’s introspection after an epic hike to understand Marion Howard, “Because stories like this do not have to have meaning to everyone, you get to decide what you assign your purpose to.” What an amazing story.
June 29: I am a fly fisherman with a specialty in Japanese style fly fishing. Much of my study on the subject has been through the Internet. Books, magazines and meeting people. Often I make friendships and then interview them. It helps disseminate the information (I am an early adopter) and provides a resource. Enter Shouetsu Goto and Yoko Goto of GENRYUIZAKAYA. The video is not about fishing, it’s about the acquisition of their Land Cruiser and a little bit about their old house that they are turning into a Japanese fishing bar.
June 27: Not really sure why I’m adding this here, maybe because I’m feeling melancholy. But I like the grainydays channel. His humor and affect are down tone , even monotonous at times but I keep coming back for more. I like his photography in a vanilla way.
June 22: The Angry photographer! This is a classic video on “cucumber cost, Rolls Royce performance” Nikkor lenses. I rewatched it today and enjoy his advice, it’s solid although he is a bit odd…
June 7: My wife listens to murder and mystery podcasts, I watch video blogs. I’ve been watching Liz Kidder hike the PCT. This is about an average day entry but they are crossing alpine passes in early season, lots of post holing.
May 31: Being an old surfer, I still enjoy good content and the Florence bros provide the best. I particularly enjoy Nathan’s YouTube channel. In his latest, he boards John John’s catamaran and sails to surfing destinations. What I like about Nathan’s photography is that it’s raw. He films the paddle out and does not edit, just runs the camera, all the good stuff, it’s all good and this video is particularly good.
May 26: I’ve been following Simon Lamberts for many years. He has definitely evolved as a video blogger. I started watching him when he was doing these epic long distance camping rides on his fat tire bike. I actually bought one and rode it for some time and really enjoyed it. He lives in his van touring Canada (his home country) and into the USA. He has a Jack Russell Terrier (Rocco) that he takes on his mountaineering adventures. His videos are filled with epic drone vistas. This is one of his best videos and it is a shared video of other v bloggers.
——————————
 |
| Tom Sneva and I |
 |
| Brent Underwood of Ghost Town Living YouTube Channel |
 |
| Getting advice in finding a sister wife from Kody |
 |
| Kate Gallego and I - Mayor of Phoenix |
