Merry Christmas 2009

First posted
Dec 1, 2009

Photo by Adam Kirkpatrick

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year


We hope this card and CD finds all of you well.

It has been a fun year, well...most of it.

Tom started out the year by being foolish. He loaded food into our trailer in late January while it was icy and fell, breaking two ribs.

We actually did leave a day later, broken ribs and all, but Frank had to do all the driving. Soon we hit good weather, but it took two months for Tom's ribs to heal. A month after the fall, Tom started helping on the driving and things improved thereafter.

We had a great time touring the southwest as you can see on this year's Christmas CD. We again enjoyed seeing many National Parks such as Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Canyon Lands, Arches, and Colorado National Monument. This country is blessed with many beautiful National Parks...and it is not by accident. Dedicated men and women worked diligently to make this happen. We applaud them.

In November we left the trailer in Denver and flew to Toronto for IGRA Convention, then flew home for the holidays. We plan to fly back to Denver on January 2nd, pick up our trailer and return to the southwest.

We plan to attend IGRA University in January in Las Vegas; then the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko, Nevada in late January; then the Phoenix rodeo in February.

After that, we will turn east and drive through the southern states heading to Florida and their rodeo in the spring. Then head north along the east coast and come home.

Last Christmas, Frank received a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver for his camera. It embeds the actual coordinates where the picture was shot into the file. He has been having loads of fun playing with this gadget, so we have a new feature on our Christmas CD this year. On many of the photos on this CD you will see a small Google Earth icon ( ) in the lower right corner of the popup image. If you click on those icons, they will open Google Earth and fly you down to where the photo was taken. You must have Google Earth installed in order to use this feature. (If asked, chose "Open") You can get Google Earth for free and it is an amazing program.

Again, Merry Christmas All

Tom LottFrank Harrell


Important note for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 users
If the popup windows don't work, or you get warning messages when the large images try to open, you will need to change a setting in Internet Explorer.

At the top of this screen, click on Tools, and chose Internet Options,
Then click the Advanced Tab.
Scroll down to the Security section and check the first box labeled
"Allow active content from CDs to run on My Computer"

This option is a security plug Microsoft implemented with Windows XP service pack two. When you click on the small images to get a larger image, it runs a JavaScript on your CD. JavaScripts normally only run from websites, so Windows considers one running from your CD to be highly unusual and blocks the script.

After finishing with our Christmas CD you may change this option back if you are really concerned about security; however, it is extremely unlikely you will find another instance of this function until you get our next Christmas CD.

Who, but a webmaster, would send you a website disguised as a Christmas Card?


See our entire trip using Google Earth.
Spring       Fall

(Hint, if you Un-check the box that says "Always ask before opening this type of file" you won't have to approve opening Google place marks each time.)

This year's photo travelogue

Part one         Part two         Part three         Part four         Part five         Rodeos

 

If you are connected to the Internet, click for a live image of our tree.

Visit our Webcams page

Our current E-mail addresses

ThomW@cox.net       Cowboy2010@CowboyFrank.net

Frank's e-mail address changes from time to time so check our website for the latest updates


Websites and other related items Frank manages

Frank's primary websites
CowboyFrank.net Frank's primary personal site
Nps-Vip.net Civil War history, telephones, and local weather
International Gay Rodeo Association The parent organization of 27 regional associations
Atlantic States Gay Rodeo Association Frank's local rodeo
Heartland Gay Rodeo Association Omaha Nebraska
Historic Clifton The small town where we live
Manassas Battlefield Pages History
Past Christmas CDs From Us Some limited functionality
Rodeo Photos All the rodeo photos Frank has ever taken

Sub sets of our main website
Our Online Calendar When, what, and where
Our Travels the latest news on our camper travels
Horses and stuff Frank's adventures as a cowboy
Cowboy Music Some of our favorites and a 24-7 Internet radio station
Horse Breeds More than 146 with photos and descriptions
Webcam Reviews The world's most popular webcam hardware review site
How To Set Up A Webcam, another extremely popular page
How To Set Up An Internet Radio Station
Our Webcam Page 12 different cameras, give or take a few
Daily Crossword Puzzle A new puzzle every day
Historic Rose Garden Of Ben Lomond Manor House

Other websites Frank manages
Horse Hints A good friend and web student who manages her own site on horses
Golden Feather Press A series of gay cowboy novels
Chapman's Mill An historic grist mill 30 miles west of Washington
Friends Of Manassas Battlefield Raising funds and concerns for the Battlefield
CowboyChuck.net One of our best friends
Vlad Pup A friend who passed away in 2007
Adam Kirkpartick Our friend Ron who designed and manages his own site, Frank taught him html