Anyway, I decided way too late into my Spring Break trip down to Dallas that I wanted to document the trip with iPhone Polaroids.  I wish I would have done it the whole trip, but I was probably too brain dead from all the driving to remember.  Here are a few of the favorites that I did get.  These are all straight out of the phone…  Sometimes it is just fun to play:

Robotic Lady Liberty “waver” outside a tax prep store in Joplin, Missouri

Gentoo penguin swimming at the St. Louis Zoo

The skyline of Dallas, Big D.  I kind of miss it.  But I don’t miss its traffic…which I was sitting in when I took this photo….

Easter brunch at Whataburger.  Oh how I love Whataburger. Contrary to their marketing slogan, there is NOT one near me.  But,  I make a point to stop there every single time I go back to Texas.

I am always amazed at how big Dallas’ overpasses are.  This is the “High Five” where 75 and 635 intersect.  It is apparently the first 5-layered interchange in Dallas and the highest ramp is 120 feet in the air.  They were building this monstrosity when I was a Junior in high school and I first saw it when I went down to visit SMU.  I don’t think they completely  finished it until my Senior year in COLLEGE at SMU.

Harry Weitkemper will turn 90 in April but he certainly doesn’t sit around feeling sorry for himself.  Instead, he spends his free time helping others.

Twice a week, Harry attends a local auction in Columbia looking for items he can fix up and donate to local charities.  On the days when he doesn’t attend the auction, he is repairing these items in the basement of his Columbia, Mo. Home.  “This is my recreation,” he says. “This gives me something to do… I can’t just sit around all day.”

While Harry mainly looks for old wheelchairs, walkers, and sewing machines, he is always keeping an eye out for other items, such as soup bowls, which can also be donated.  ““I buy whatever I think I can give to somebody,” he says.

“My body is old, but I think my mind is as active as it was when I was 47 years old,” says Harry.  “I enjoy what I do and if I die tonight, I’ve enjoyed it all.”

So, I am digging back into the archives and posting a couple of the panoramas I took while driving home from Reno this summer.  In 5 days, I made it to the top of 4 peaks in 3 different states.  Although I have to admit I cheated with one peak– Mt. Evans– and was able to actually drive my car all the way to the top and hike the last 100 yards…  Anyway, I took a panorama at the top of each peak I made it to and this is the result (Click on the images to see them bigger):

Mt. Tallac, 9,735 feet, South Lake Tahoe, CA

Mt. Wheeler, 13,063 feet, Great Basin National Park, NV

Top of Mt. Wheeler, 13,063 feet, Great Basin National Park, NV

Mt. Evans, 14,264 feet, Clear Creek County, CO

Mt. Democrat, 14,148 feet, Lake County, CO

If you want to get in on the judging, you can watch it from anywhere in the world via our live judging link!  And, you can see the winners which are updated daily on our website  www.POYi.org

POYi director Rick Shaw (white shirt) prepares the judges for another round of judging.  This will be my view for the next 3 weeks…

It takes 5 computers to run the Pictures of the Year judging process– 1 computer to run the  slide show, 1 computer to mark the votes, 1 computer for the caption reader, 1 for moderating the live viewing online, and 1 for the In/Out machine.

This little box decides the fate of tens of thousands of photos every year.  Originally designed in the 1970′s, the voting machine received a complete makeover this year.  But, we kept the very non-ergometric design.  I think these things could have launched nuclear missiles in the cold war…

Left to Right, week 1  judges Scott Strazzante (Chicago Tribune), Kathy Anderson (formerly New Orleans Times-Picayune, now freelance), Scott Mc Kiernan (founder ZUMA Press), and Pedro Ugarte (Agence France-Presse) do the “cool band” pose in the lobby of the Reynolds Journalism Institute.

Chicago Tribune photographer Scott Strazzante bathes himself in brilliant golden hour light during a break in the judging as ZUMA Press founder Scott Mc Kiernan adds an award-winning silhouette.

A group of wiener dogs in the “Ballpark Franks” division sprint down the track towards their coaxing owners.

While some owners simply yell to coax their Dachshund down the track, others resort to treats, toys, and tennis balls to get their dog across the finish line.

In one of the fastest heats of the day, Dachshunds sprint down the makeshift race track.  While most dogs emerged from the gates with confused looks, this heat ended with all 6 dogs sprinting across the finish line.

Unable to find her way off the race track, “Lucy” the Dachshund relieves herself mid-track before being scooped up by her owner.

Pat Moeslein proudly holds her dog Emilie after being declared the “Wiener” of the final race of the day in the “Cocktail Wienies” division.

Somewhere along I-35

The “Holidazzle” parade in downtown Minneapolis viewed from one of the many skyways.

Truck stop… and home to some really good beef jerky…