Re: [Paddlewise] Is this thing working

If I remember correctly, one can purchase a Golden Age pass at any National
Forest office
for $10, provided one is 62 or older, and a driver's license is used to
validate age. The pass
does not expire, although the person may expire, and gives access to the
national parks.
The pass also grants reduced campground fees (you pay half the full price).
I've also been
using the pass in lieu of a Northwest Forest Pass for hiking.

Brad




On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 10:23 AM, Charles Holst <cholst_at_q.com> wrote:

> I know what you mean. I turned 69 a couple days ago. I had intended to try
> to roll 69 times that day over the course of a couple of hours, but I woke
> up with no energy and, the promised high being in the 90s, decided to
> cancel. I did do some rolling the two previous weeks after not doing any
> for
> the previous two or three years, but it certainly seemed harder than it did
> five years ago. It can't be because I'm older; it must be due to lack of
> practice.
>
> I'm currently planning a camping trip in the Apostle Islands National
> Lakeshore next month, and saw that I could get a 50% reduction in camping
> fees if I only had a Senior Pass for federal parks. So I drove over to the
> Mississippi River Visitor Center this morning and bought one for myself. I
> don't know why I didn't do this years ago -- I've been eligible for seven
> years.
>
> Finally tried out my Sony RX100 camera with the Meikon/Meike waterproof
> case
> on the water. The case is about the size of an amateur DSLR with a prime
> lens, has a good grip, and is easy to operate. It floats with the camera
> inside, so on local lakes I don't bother to leash it like I did the old
> Nikonos V. The case is just barely small enough to tuck inside my PFD when
> rolling, and the OP/TECH Fast Cap I put on it does a pretty good job of
> keeping water off the lens when rolling. I've had to reorient the Fast Cap,
> though, to minimize water droplets on it when I'm paddling with it open; it
> now opens to the right instead of down. All camera controls work except the
> wheel on the back, but that affects mainly setting manual exposures, as
> there are workarounds for the other functions. Focusing can be problematic
> when glare and reflections obscure the view screen. When using the no-brain
> multisegment auto focusing, it frequently focuses on the kayak's reflection
> rather than on the paddler, whereas with flexible spot focusing sometimes
> its hard to see the spot to place it accurately on the subject; still,
> there
> are many more hits than misses. Automatic white balance is excellent, and
> with the live view histogram option, it's easy to override the auto
> exposure
> before snapping the picture. Another camera feature I like is the ability
> to
> save up to three sets of settings, including focal length. This allows me
> to
> quickly load different settings for use on water than on land. On water,
> for
> instance, I set a fixed shutter speed to minimize motion blur, whereas on
> land I might use program or aperture mode. All in all, a good combination
> of
> camera and case for sea kayaking.
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