ƒ(billwil) » Travel

Some Oshkosh 2010 Pics

Bill Williams — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 06:38:31 +0000

Not sure why it took me so long, but someone on Twitter today was asking about my pics from Oshkosh 2010 (last year), so I finally uploaded them to my Skydrive. Take a look and enjoy. There are some good ones in there.

A little nostalgia for Todd T–Famous New York Pizza

Bill Williams — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:19:14 +0000

Another Quick Take. I know…the joke is a little inside, but I will point out that TT and I did it originally before Michael Scott did. Now, if I could just find that old video.

In the meantime, here’s the homage from TC. Notice the cat calls for the Manhattan hotties against the wall in the background.

Quick Take at Oshkosh, Day 1

Bill Williams — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 05:51:50 +0000

Arrived at OSH, but no Camp Scholler yet. Quick day 1 video from the RV.

OSH10 Quick Take Day One

Sloshkosh Start

Bill Williams — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:22:17 +0000

Some of my friends and I arrived in Oshkosh last night…unfortunately the grounds at the airport are soggy from 10 inches of rain last week, so we’ve been relegated to a hard parking lot a few miles north of the airfield…along with a bunch of other people. I’m being told there are about 5 more of these lots that EAA is setting up until the grounds dry out…along with a couple hundred parked on the road near the entrance to the camping area at the airport. Good times.

Here are a couple of pictures…the last one is our rig for the week, along with a map of where we’re at (hopefully temporarily).

RVs Up the Coast of California

Bill Williams — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:01:33 +0000

Okay…there should be a lot more coming on this, but I wanted to at least post a few of the pictures. In late June an early July of this year the Cederstroms and the Williams families headed out to California, rented a couple of RVs, and headed up the central coast and back. It was a blast!

We did get one dive in at Monterey…but it was nothing to write home about. I got to use my drysuit in the ocean for the first time, but that was the highlight of the dive…and no video or photos from that one. More on that later.

Like I said, I’ll get some more details here at some point when things get a little less crazy and travelling has slowed down, but here are some of the pictures from the trip. I have more, of course, and Rachel took tons as well, so at some point maybe we have to do some pic swapping. Enjoy.

California RV Trip 2010

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Headed to Oshkosh!

Bill Williams — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:19:50 +0000

Many of you know that I am an aviator, a pilot…and I take having fun flying very seriously. I am also a podcaster and have a couple of shows about aviation that I host and produce. Part of what I do as both an aviator and podcaster is make an annual pilgrimage to the Mecca of general aviation, EAA’s Airventure in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. This show is indescribable, so I won’t really try. I will, however, say that it’s amazing! The best part, of course, is meeting all of my old friends and making new ones every year. Well, that time has come again…and in about a day and a half I’ll be heading up to Osh for a week of airplanes, airshows, interviews, fun, hanging out, rain, heat, humidity, camping…and an all around good time.

I do official coverage of some of the show on my two aviation websites, StudentPilotCast.com and pilotcast.com, but I may chronicle some of the adventures here through pictures, video, and writing…but it all depends on how much time I have (which is usually not very much). I may at least do some cross posting and get some of it here even if I post it on one of my show sites as well.

For some of the information and coverage that I’ve done at past Airventure, you can see some of it here. I’m getting excited…as usual, it’s gonna be great!

Some Grand Cayman Diving

Bill Williams — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Last month my wife, Crystal, and I took a whirlwind vacation with some of our extended family to several great diving destinations including Cayman, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel and Ft. Lauderdale. I’ve got a lot of video footage and some still photos from the trip, so I put together a little sample from Grand Cayman. More to follow.

We dove with Casey from Neptune Divers and it was fabulous. No big animals on our two dives this time, but the terrain on the wall was amazing, and the life around the wreck and reef we did on the second dive was fantastic. My sister, Brenda, shown here in this video a few times, was on her first dive as a certified scuba diver (see her using her arms? ). Her husband, David, is featured here too, along with Crystal and I.

I’ll also have a review/recap of our trip shortly. For now, here is a quick view into the underwater world of Grand Cayman, featuring their world class wall that dives into the abyss just off shore. Enjoy.

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Quick Flip 6 – California Trip #1

Bill Williams — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:01:20 +0000

Today’s daily flip is some clips from our first day in California this summer. We started by renting a quaint little house in Hollywood and spending our days at Universal Studios. This is our first afternoon there after travelling. The intro, done by my kids, was in our rented house. After a couple of days here, we’re off to La Jolla to our favorite family vacation spot.

Flying Over Hana

Bill Williams — Tue, 26 May 2009 11:53:00 +0000

For today’s video, I’m just referencing an episode that I released yesterday for my podcast, The Student Pilot Cast. This is a flight that Crystal and I took (separately, since it only has two seats) in Hana, Hawaii on Maui back in the summer of 2007. It was one of the best vacations that we have ever taken, and this, at least for me, was one of the highlights of that trip.

I hope you enjoy SPC Video #4, Flying Over Hana. Let me know what you think.

I’m including the video here, but for the original post on the podcast site, you can go here.

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Daily Flip 5 – SGTRI

Bill Williams — Thu, 14 May 2009 11:48:00 +0000

Well, I did another triathlon last weekend, the SGTRI. Actually, while a different race, it was the same venue from my first full tri which got cancelled due to weather after the swim. This time wind and waves got the swim start delayed, and then cancelled as well. I’m not having good luck at this venue. So, the race organizers turned it into a run-bike-run event. It turns out this was a really hard course, both the bike an the run. They were much harder than I had expected. I bombed on the last run, but finished, so I guess that’s something.

I did the tri with my friend, Matt, and my brother, Cory. Matt lives here in Mesa and Cory lives in Park City, UT. Matt and I had planned on having me fly us up to St. George, UT, where the event was. That would turn an 8 or so hour drive into a 2 hour flight. Then my brother asked if I could come pick him up near Park City…so of course, I agreed. After dropping Matt and our gear off at St. George Airport (KSGU), I got back in the plane and flew up to Provo, UT (KPVU) and picked up my brother. Then we both flew back to Hurricane, UT (1L8) where our rental home was as well as the actual triathlon (Hurricane is about a 20 minute drive from St. George). Matt and I got to fly over the western edge of the Grand Canyon both ways. Here are a couple of pics from that.

We stayed in a great house that was only a couple of miles from the start of the race, so we were able to ride our bikes in on the morning of the tri…no parking or waiting in long car lines necessary. It was great! My friend, Jen, from high school and her husband, Marcello, drove up from their home in Las Vegas to cheer us on and take some great photos.

We had a great time. I wasn’t happy with my performance, but that just gives me some additional motivations in my training…I’ll improve for next time. Even so, I got to hang out with a lot of great people, got to race in a triathlon, and got to do a lot of flying! A great weekend, indeed, despite Sandy Hill.

I dedicated a daily flip video to the experience. It’s a little long for a daily flip, but I hope you enjoy it.

Hold on for a Second-Gotta Grab a PSP Before my Flight

Bill Williams — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:16:00 +0000

I know these have been around for a while…but I have never seen one, until this week. I ended up in Las Vegas a few days ago on business, and ran into my first Sony Vending Machine in the airport. I could not resist snapping a quick picture of it. While music videos looped on the LCD display, a myriad Sony electronic gadgets and accessories attempt to lure you into parting with your money. Look, I’m all for not having to talk to lame, pimple-faced teenager, uninformed store salesmen that you find in most electronic stores, but this takes half the fun out of shopping, or more accurately, returning, electronics. Who are you supposed to yell at? Additionally, this was in the Las Vegas airport, inside the terminal (i.e. the business side of the ever-so-vigilant TSA). Even if you could drum up the gumption from deep inside yourself to come back and yell at the machine, you’d have to buy some sort of airplane ticket for the privilege. I suppose there’s a phone number you can call if you have problems, but that’s not face to face yelling, so it’s not the same.

On the other hand, if you’ve just paid $5.00 to United/US Air/Delta/[Insert your dysfunctional airline here] for a $0.20 replica of a pair of headphones on your flight (along with $3.00 for a water and $7.00 for some crackers and cheese), you may be inclined to buy a pair of Sony Noise Cancelling Headphones from the vending machine (which they prefer to call a robotic storefront, but let’s be real) for $200. This is worth it because you get a return of $100 over your next 20 flights by not having to buy the crappy earphones that they are selling every time, and the other $100 of value comes from not having to listen to any of the announcements from the cockpit or the flight attendants asking you if you want to buy a $3.00 water. After all, these cancel noise, and that’s what you want. Another thing…what do you think the chances are that they pre-charge the electronic devices that need batteries. How disappointing to buy your new PSP for the 3 hour plane ride but you have no juice. This just helps prove my theory above…it’s for the disembarking airline spit-outs, not those all fresh for their travel. They expect your defenses are down AFTER the flight.

So, the next time you step off that plane all hot and bothered about just getting mugged by the airline, pull out the credit card (if you have any money left), and keep your eyes out for one of these Sony vending machines, and purchase your headphones/PSP/MP3 player/etc. Trust me, you’ll feel better. Or not.

Friend not Fish dive tour T-Shirts are ready to order

Bill Williams — Wed, 28 May 2008 05:42:00 +0000

Everyone who is participating in the 3rd annual Friend not Fish dive tour in the Channel Islands can now purchase the official shirt of this years trip. See the panel below, and what you want. Let me know if there are any questions.

Also, don’t forget the dive trip checklist that I’ve posted before.

create & buy custom products at Zazzle

Davey Dance Blog

Bill Williams — Sat, 17 May 2008 02:53:00 +0000

This just might be the best use I’ve seen yet of a video blog. Unfortunately, you have to watch these online (not a podcast for downloading automatically from the RSS). Worth it though. This is the latest episode.

“Davey Dance-BLOG. A project started while traveling Europe during Spring 2007. Armed only with an ipod and a Canon PowerShot, Davey picks a location and a pop song. Then Davey records an improvised dance.”

Davey Dance Blog -47- DUBLIN – Talking Heads “Houses in Motion” from Pheasant Plucker on Vimeo.

Dance on.

SCUBA Diving Checklist

Bill Williams — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 06:06:38 +0000

A couple of years ago, as we began the preparations for what would become the “Friends, Not Fish” annual dive excursion, I created an almost foolproof checklist for dive trips. The idea was to create a checklist that would work for most dive trips, and would not get confusing if conditions or needs changed (i.e. warm vs. cold water). I’ve sent this checklist out to many friends in preparation for trips, but decided to post it here for everyone…and for future reference for my dive buddies…current and future.

It’s fairly self explanatory, but here is an explanation anyway. Each line on the checklist needs to be checked off in some way, wether you have packed the item (TAKE column), wether you are going to rent the item at your destination, or its provided by the boat/dive operator (RENT column), or wether you won’t be using this item on this trip (LEAVE column). This way there is no ambiguity as to wether you’ve got a particular item. If each row is checked and crossed off, you are good to go. I usually decide before packing what I will be taking, renting, or leaving behind and check those boxes. Then I cross off each line that is checked as RENT or LEAVE. Then I proceed to pack my bags, and as I pack each item, I cross of that line. I only have to worry about lines that haven’t already been crossed off. Simple. Foolproof. I’ve even left blank lines in each section to account for last minute or unique items. Finally, since the checklist is in Word format, it can be customized for each diver (or even type of trip). For example, if you are a hunter, items can be added such as ‘pole spear’, ‘cleaning knife’, etc., or if you are a pro photographer, maybe even a separate checklist for each piece of camera gear.

Anyway, no one wants to show up to a boat and realize 12 miles out to sea that they forgot their fins, regulator, or whatever…so use a checklist that is hard to mess up.

Okay, so here it is. This document is in Word 2007 format. If you have an earlier version of Microsoft Word, make sure you have the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack installed, and you should be good to go. If you don’t have Word at all, you can download and install the Microsoft Word Viewer for free (you won’t be able to edit the document…but you can view it and print it out).

If you have ideas for additions, changes, or come up with new ideas, please post them in the comments below and/or contact me through my contact page.

Enjoy.

San Carlos Diving

Bill Williams — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 19:46:00 +0000

Crystal and I just got back this past weekend from doing some diving in San Carlos, Mexico. We went with Saguaro Diving and Sport on their last organized trip of the year to San Carlos. While the bus ride was absolutely brutal (I’m not doing that again), we had a good time. Eight hours on the uncomfortable bus seats down to San Carlos without stopping, and over 11 hours back with lots of border and drug checks, is enough to cure one of the need to ever see a bus again.

We went with our friends Melissa and Reed, and we had a great time diving and sleeping (a lot). I’ve included a link to some pictures, mostly wet, from the trip.

Highlights included seeing and swimming with lots of seals, a medium sized green sea turtle, many tropical fish on the rocky reefs, including Angels, Damsels, Butterfly Fish, Puffers, etc. We also encountered many moray eels, and some very interesting invertebrates. Clicking on the pictures below will take you to the full gallery.

Maui Diving Pics

Bill Williams — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 08:13:00 +0000

I’ve finally posted some of my Pics from Maui, including many diving shots. Click the image below to go to this gallery.

Channel Islands 2007 Dive Trip Photos

Bill Williams — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:28:00 +0000

So, the 2007 “Friend, not Fish” dive trip has come to a close. For the second year a bunch of buddies have gotten together on the Truth Aquatics “Conception” for a 3-day live-aboard dive trip in the northern Channel Islands off the coast of California. Good food, decent diving, and good sleep pretty much make up the whole trip, and it was once again a nice break. I’ve got some video and some photos from the trip. I’ve completed the initial gallery of still photos, and have a link in this post. The video I haven’t had a chance to work on yet, so that will be coming later. For now, enjoy the photos.

Slideshow of the 2007 Channel Islands Dive trip Gallery.

Browse the images of this gallery.

A few of the selections from this gallery (click one of the links above for more images):

Goliath Grouper Video

Bill Williams — Mon, 21 May 2007 20:38:00 +0000

Last summer my wife and I dove off of Fort Lauderdale, FL, and this is a bit of the video that I took. This shows a very large grouper (one of two in the area) on a wreck just offshore. Big fish.

Video: Goliath Grouper in Ft. Lauderdale

A New York Slice

Bill Williams — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 03:28:00 +0000

Todd, after spending a decade and a half away from New York City, needs an authentic pizza pie and chooses a local favorite. No more intro is needed…although if you are a fan of the TV show, “The Office”, you may see some parallels to an episode. Enjoy.

Video: New York Slice

Pictures from New York

Bill Williams — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 12:15:00 +0000

Recently I had to take a trip to New York, and my friend Todd came along with me. I’ve put up an album of some of the pictures I took during the trip. A couple of videos are coming soon.

Gallery

Slideshow