Some people may have noticed that we didn't post to the website last night. That's because as we were building the photographs we heard on the news that the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry after its 2-week mission. The Columbia was Nasa's oldest "space-faring" shuttle having undergone 27 previous missions (this last mission would have been 28). The first shuttle was dubbed Enterprise but never flew outside the Earth's atmosphere.
This latest Nasa accident is the 3rd one in which human lives were lost. Apollo 1 in January 27, 1967 had a pad fire which took the lives of 3 Apollo astronauts and on January 28 1986 we lost 7 more astronauts in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. Both previous accidents were the result of gross engineering faults that occurred in the design phase. Speculation at this time is centering on some external foam coming off the main fuel tank that may have hit the left wing of the shuttle at liftoff and that may have damaged some of the insulating ceramic tiles that protects the airframe from the intense heat of re-entry.
We were both incredibly shocked and saddened to hear about this tragedy and our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and families of the 7 astronauts who perished on this shuttle mission.
We spent most of our day back in the Kaz Mountains today. It was an incredibly beautiful place to spend a day. If you get the chance then you just have to go there.
A Little Place in the Sun
Just one of many beautiful homes that dot the ski resort around the mountain.
Incredible Architecture
This home is one of two joint homes in an enclosure
that is built into the downward slope of the mountain.
The boundary of China
If you cross over these mountains you will come across
a very beautiful lake....then China.
Signs
Vitaly made us walk up the road for a bit...not sure why....perhaps he wanted us to lose some weight?
Tree Light
Vitaly told me to take this picture. He
kept pointing to this spot in the road...
very good picture...very good picture; here
here....I think he was right!
The Ski Resort
Here's a shot of the ski resort. This resort is small but
has a nice looking slope. There's a hotel built into the
base along with a ski shoppe and restaurant.
Our Driver- Vitaly
This is Vitaly. He is a great driver and he's
made our trip a sheer joy so far.
Vitaly is also a photographer....
He took this picture of us at the restaurant...
The food here is pretty good.
The Soup O' the Day
This soup tastes better than it looks...
we have pieces of sausage and lemon
and other stuff.....not too bad.
Chicken Ma'Bobs
We also had two skewers of chicken and a great glass
of wine. The wine was a Kazak blend...sort of like an
ice wine....very sweet and nice finish.
Nature Behind Bars
Every so often you get a chance to do a nice creative
shot...Here I ducked behind a gate to capture the Kaz
mountains in a different way.....
The Infamous Ramstore
This is the Ramstore ("P"- is pronounced like rrrrrrrrr in english and "C" has more of an ssss sound....hence "ramstore). Its your basic mall; we have groceries, food
court, movie theater, variety of stores and an ice rink...
Yep...an Ice Rink
Its not very big...but it's alot of fun....
Watcha Upto?
Ethan checks out his dad up close and personal....Check out those cool
eyes....Vitaly says he has "Tiger Eyes"
Mirror Mirror on the Floor
Isabella lookin at her reflection off of one of the toys.
I guess it has to start somewhere
Just Hangin Out
Yep....it don't get much better than this.
Ummmm...how big is our TV at home?
I'm Okay are you Okay?
Whew just managed to calm the little one
down....I'm just a bit frazzled...can you
tell?
Mom and Girl
She doesn't scream with Mommy.....actually she does... I just don't shoot it...
Watch the Birdie
Denise had to resort to a bit of trickery to get Isabella to look up...not a bad
