bob_flood1

<p><a href="http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Grizzly-bear-injuries-2-hikers-in-Yellowstone-4736764.php">http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Grizzly-bear-injuries-2-hikers-in-Yellowstone-4736764.php</a></p>

<p>Be careful out there!</p>

<p>Les, what white balance setting are you using? You might try several - shoot several shots of one subject with enough red to show the issue, using auto, daylight, and any custom setting you may have, and compare the results. If red is out of wack on all three, you may have a camera issue. If any of them is good, it's probably not the camera.</p>

<p>A little historical trivia: the original and technically correct definition of a zoom lens is one that varies focal length AND maintains focus when zoomed. Use of the term zoom to mean a lens that doesn't maintain focus during zooming is incorrect, but has been universal practice at least since WWII. I am not aware of any variable focal length lens for a still camera made in my lifetime that meets the true and correct definition. A friend of mine who was a TV cameraman told me there are some zooms that maintain focus that are used for filming motion pictures and similar demanding projects, but I've never seen one.</p>

<p>Trivia Part 2: just to show you that your telephoto isn't a telephoto, the original definition was a long focal length lens that is physically shorter than its focal length. The term telephoto has also been used incorrectly since WWII.</p>

<p>We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. :^)</p>

 

<p>A long thread, and I think a significant concept is missing.</p>

<p>A camera like the D4 didn't suddenly appear out of nowhere - it wasn't the result of someone sitting at a desk in a quiet room with a clean sheet of paper and designing the camera, all its capabilities, and the methods to manufacture it efficiently and with quality, so it could be introduced as a surprise. It is the result of designing and building lesser cameras for over a decade, with the capabilities and manufacturing processes evolving as they learned to yield the camera we have today.</p>

<p>We are seeing the same process in mirrorless cameras today. It demonstrates thinking and planning for the long term. Skipping the mirrorless product in favor of exploiting DSLRs because they are doing better in today's market would be beneficial in the short term, but only in the short term. Nikon is not operating solely to optimize this quarter's balance sheet. That practice is a major contributor to the economic difficulties that are proving so persistent.</p>

<p>If long term thinking isn't to your liking, fine. There are plenty of short sighted companies to invest in. You just need to hurry.</p>

<p>You don't say how much time you'll have in the area, so I estimate you'll need something nearby. I think your best bet will be Napa and Sonoma valleys. The vineyards will be fully leafed-out, and a few grape varieties are harvested in August, so there may be activity in a few fields. The strong warning, though, has to be to avoid weekends if at all possible. Napa and Sonoma are very popular among the bay area residents and everything gets crowded on Saturday and Sunday.</p>

<p>You could also take CA37 around the north side of the bay, and then US101 south to the Mill Valley area and Muir Woods. Really nice redwoods, and you'd never guess you're in a large urban area like the greater San Francisco area. Heavy tree cover in there, so bring a tripod for the low light. There are easy trails in the lower canyon among the redwoods, and if you care to do some hiking, there are trails from the back of the canyon that go up into the Marin Headlands, to some iconic views of the city and the Golden Gate Bridge.</p>

<p>Joseph, the road out to the racetrack is a tough one, and don't be tempted to go off the gravel road surface to go around a bad spot. Many of the plants in the desert have sharp points, and sidewall punctures are more than just a problem - they become inevitable. Before I retired, I managed some operations that required offroad travel in the desert, and specialized tires with reinforced sidewalls were necessary. Without them I had trucks that punctured 3, sometimes 4 tires in a day.</p>

<p>Also, expect no cell phone service anywhere but Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells. When you get away from those facilities, you can't phone for help, so you need to be self-sufficient. Make sure someone knows the parts of the park you plan to go to each day, and if you get stuck, stay with the vehicle - you'll be much easier to spot from a distance. If you will going to DV by yourself, call or text someone each morning with your plans, and call or text when you are back to civilization each night. Cheap insurance.</p>

 

<p>I heartily endorse David's recommendations about the thermals early in the day. The thermals are amazing enough by themselves, but the steam fog in the morning adds another dimension. Check out Grand Prismatic Spring at Midway Geyser Basin - when viewed from a position on the boardwalk that puts you just above eye level with the spring, that steam fog takes on the colors of the spring. Fantastic shot.</p>

<p>Given the amount of time you will be there, it is likely to the point of almost certainty that you will encounter snowfall. The good news is that's unlikely that the snowfall will be large enough to harm your travel plans. If you find yourself on a slippery surface, ease over a little to the right and put your right side tires on the loose gravel along the shoulder of the road - much better traction. The secret about driving snow is fairly simple - no sudden moves - do everything gradually.</p>

<p>Glacier - the Going to the Sun Road will be closed somewhere inside the park for construction (a long needed rehab project) and will not allow for you to cross from one side of the park to the other. Check with rangers as to the exact location of construction when you get there. You'll be able to enter the park from both sides on the road; you just will hit the closure at some point. To see both sides, you'll need to go around on Rt 2.</p>

<p>Yellowstone - more famous for thermals and wildlife than scenery, but be sure to get to the Lamar Valley (early is best) - lots of yellow cottonwoods and herds, maybe wolves. Also go to the Lower Falls early - check with rangers as to the best time of day and better side of the river to see the rainbow, and bring your polarizer. Look for elk along the road from Madison Junction to the west gate.</p>

<p>As already said, you'll be getting to Jackson Hole a bit late for the best color. With luck, an absence of strong rain or wind will means leaves still on the trees. And Oxbow Bend may need a crowd control system at sunrise on a Saturday morning, but it won't on a weekday morning. Same for the Moulton barn area. And if the iconic barn is mobbed, there are a number of other barns and a house from that era that can make excellent subjects, too.</p>

 

<p>All good advice. I'll add 2 ideas.</p>

<p>First, the colors at Artist's Palette are amazing, but the get washed out in open sunshine. If you wait until the sun is over the hills in the afternoon and the Palette is in shadow (not darkness), the color will show very nicely. An advantage to this is that you can shoot at Artist's Palette in mid-late afternoon and still relocate to somewhere else to get sunset shots.</p>

<p>Second, Milky Way shots can be difficult if the weather is not favorable. Because of the less than zero elevation in the valley, you will be shooting thru the most atmosphere on the planet to see the Milky Way, and the amount of haze and smoke is a factor. Higher elevation helps a lot. A friend of mine makes a couple of trips a year over to Panamint Springs each year with his telescope because of the reasonable accommodations, inexpensive beer, and good "seeing" there. Something to consider.</p>

<p>Got any friends who could loan you an extra wheel/tire that fits your Tacoma? If you plan to get out to the Racetrack, having 2 spares is regarded as good planning.</p>

<p>I've been to Alaska, Yellowstone several times, various parks in Utah, and others with a 16-85 on one body and the 80-400 on the other. The combination works beautifully, but the 80-400 is heavy.</p>

<p>I've not been on safari, but I know a few people who have. Two phenomena seem to be common to their experiences. First, when shooting wildlife anywhere, the longest lenses you can get won't be long enough for all the shots you want, but it seems to be less of a problem in Africa than AK or Yellowstone. That said, the 70-300 seems like a good alternative that will save a meaningful amount of weight. The other common experience is that the African wildlife seem accustomed to the presence of humans, so they don't run off. But that doesn't mean they want to hang out with us, and as one good friend put it, "it's all too easy to find yourself with a large collection of photos of animal butts." If you approach too close, the animals simply turn and walk away, and that doesn't make for good wildlife shots. So the 16-85 probably won't be terribly useful in close encounters with the animals.</p>

<p>The 16-85 is an excellent general purpose lens and offers a very nice wide field of view. The 70-300 enjoys a very good reputation for image quality, too. But one suggestion: whatever long lens you choose to take with you, get it ahead of time and spend some time practicing with it. If you haven't been using one, trying to learn how to use one while on the trip of a lifetime will probably lead to regrets over shots you didn't get.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Do you have time to practice with the 500 before you go? Your trip sounds like a once-in-a-lifetime gig, so you really don't want to try to learn how to use a lens while trying to get shots you'll never encounter again. If you can't practice before you go, I recommend you reconsider the 500. You face the very real possibility of getting home with no 500 mm shots that you'd want to show anyone else, while using the 70-200 on the crop sensor body can give you images that you may have to crop to get the framing you want, but smaller images with good quality may be a better result than large images you can't use.</p>

<p>I agree with those saying the the 500 is too much for the whales - they are large and you won't be shooting from the shore, so your 70-200 is probably going to work best for whales. However, the 500 could be useful for puffins. They are small, but they are fast - makes practicing with that 500 even more important.</p>

<p>I've never found a tripod useful on a boat of any size - not enough room. But I can't hand-hold anything anymore, so I use a monopod. I rest it on my foot to insulate it from engine vibrations, and that works pretty well. Since mine can adjust down to a pretty short length, I can use it while seated, too. I've never tried a gun-stock assembly, but it might be worth trying if you have time. It, too, would be something you should practice with before you go. Don't find yourself trying to get the hang of it while missing shots of a lifetime.</p>

<p>Higher ISO means the signal from the sensor is amplified more. In low light, the image signal isn't much stronger than the inherent electronic noise in the sensor, and both signal and noise are amplified the same amount. Strong noise shows in the image as speckles. And, obviously, the noise is more prominent in the image the more you enlarge the image.<br>

How much noise is too much to tolerate depends on personal taste. I find that ISO 6400 gives me too much noise for my taste, so I don't go any higher than 3200, but others have no problem with 6400. You should try some "foolin' around" test shots of a subject at different ISO settings, and then view them on your computer at the largest sizes you think you will want to use, and decide for yourself.<br>

The aperture and shutter speed are controlled by wheels near the shutter release button. The wheel on the front of the camera, where your right hand index finger fits naturally, adjusts the aperture. For real estate photos, f8 is probably a good idea if you have enough light. The strong depth of field will help with image clarity. The wheel on the back of the camera, where your right hand thumb fits naturally, adjusts the shutter speed.<br>

The other "foolin' around" test you should try is a series of shots in which you change the shutter speed. Use Shutter priority mode (S on the dial) and start with a shutter speed of 250, and hold the camera carefully and as steady as you can while shooting. After each shot, reduce the shutter speed until you get down to around 1/15 sec. Then look at the images on you computer. You should be able to learn how slow a shutter speed you can handle without using a support like a monopod or tripod. In my case, hand holding is always a bad idea - arthritis has made me a tripod user 100% of the time. That's not a complaint, just a statement of the reality of what I have to do to get sharp images. You could turn out to be one of those "magicians" who can hand-hold a camera for a 1/4 second shot and get sharp images! But you'll have to try it to find out.</p>

<p>Google/Bing Muir Woods - very convenient to the SF area, excellent redwoods, easy walking.</p>

<p>Check out the Marin Headlands, too. That's the land directly across the Golden Gateway from SF and where all those shots of the city through the bridge are taken.</p>

<p>Napa and Sonoma Valleys - the vines will be well developed and picking will start in August for a few varieties of grapes. Winery tours can be very interesting. The large corporate operations like Beringer have well organized tours that are typically free and informative. Some of the small, family-owned wineries don't offer tours, while others have them only on weekdays (too busy on the weekends), and most of them are by appointment. If you go this route, the tour will probably be conducted by a family member. IMHO the Napa Valley is more scenic than the Sonoma Valley, but others disagree. Plenty to shoot in both.</p>

<p>A drive up the coast is a worthwhile trip - once across the Golden Gate, take Hwy 1 to get over to the coast. You'll go thru Point Reyes - a great place for both scenery and wildlife, and Bodega Bay (Hitchcock's The Birds was filmed here), and can go all the way up to Mendicino and Ft Bragg if you want. If you go that far, I recommend looking into the Skunk Train - it goes into the redwoods - but do some checking on availability. They experienced a rock slide or tunnel collapse that is being repaired and cleaned up - make sure they are going to be operating before you set your plans.</p>

 

<p>Others have offered good info on the waterfall issue for future shooting. It also seems to me that, for the waterfall shots you took this trip, you can: 1) open a raw file, 2) adjust the exposure darker during loading to get better exposure for the water, 3) save that file in tif format, 4) open the raw file again 5) adjust the exposure during loading to get good exposure for everything but the water, 6) save this file in tif format, and 7) combine the files using layers to use the better parts of each to get an image that is more to your liking.</p>

<p>For the wildlife shooting, I found the same problem shooting from inside the shuttle buses in Denali National Park. I found that a monopod helps significantly, but it can't be rested on the floor of the vehicle - it picks up the vibration from the running engine. But resting the monopod on my foot damped those vibrations.</p>

<p>I don't know how high you can set the ISO on your D300 and still get acceptable noise, but you should conduct some simple experiments and find out what meets with your approval. You should also test your image software for how it does for improving noise in an image without harming sharpness. You can also look into software specifically for noise reduction. I have a 5 year old copy of dfine that does wonders for me. I can shoot at 1600 or 3200 to get high shutter speeds, and can get what noise adjustment I need (not much) with no discernible effect on sharpness.</p>

<p>You have probably concluded on your own that a longer lens is in order for the wildlife. The new Nikon 80-400 AFS is getting great revues, but its cost is out of my range. Another option is the Sigma 50-500. Known as the Bigma, it's a large and heavy lens, but image quality is very good, and a monopod will help greatly with the weight. My Tamron 200-500 is also very good if the subject is within about 40-50 yards; farther than that and the images get softer.</p>

 

<p>Well, I've done some research and found the outfitters and have gotten an understanding of the gear you folks have recommended - I am much better prepared for this adventure thanks to all of you.</p>

<p>Len - you are right about driving - the shuttle buses run all the time in the summer, and the park doesn't like giving out handicap passes to allow your to drive anyway unless the handicapped passenger requires a wheelchair (because of limited parking). The shuttle system in Zion is very good and riding it to Sinawava is easy.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Joseph - I don't think it's courage that allows me to try it - it's the cumulative frustration that's driving me to try. I live in Las Vegas and can be at the entrance to the canyon is exactly 2.5 hours from my house, so I go there regularly. I've been walking with a cane for 15 years following an auto accident and then advancing arthritis, and all my attempts to get to Angel's Landing have failed (made to the top of the side of the canyon, above the wiggles, but no farther), and I've been to the mouth of the Narrows and stood in the water to get a few shots, but never tried to go in.</p>

<p>Now that I'm retired, and figuring my legs aren't going to get better from here on, if I'm gonna take a shot at it, now's the time. I fully expect to turn back when conditions become too risky for me, but I want to get as far as I can, or at least as far as I dare.</p>

<p>"Oh, but JDM, the CSI are such experts at everything and they solve every crime in minutes ;=))"</p>

<p>And that includes commercials!</p>

<p>"I would recommend not photographing the attractive women in slinky clothing who stand in the aisles in the high roller aisles."</p>

<p>The wisdom of not photographing someone else's slinky woman is not confined to Las Vegas.</p>

<p>The one place where you won't find security cameras is in your room, which has a certain benefit to it, but there's a down side, too. We've had a rash of hotel thieves in the city of late, getting some local headline space in the paper. A room on the strip will typically have a safe in it that you can assign a lock code. Put your valuables in it when you aren't in the room and you'll be OK.If you bring a tablet or laptop that won't fit in the room safe, ask at the concierge desk in the lobby about a place to leave it while you are out.</p>

<p>Carrying camera gear will not put you at risk at all. My son asked me to do a set of black & white shots of the strip that he and his wife want to use to decorate part of their house, so I've spent a lot of time down there with my gear. You'll see lots of others with camera gear, and I've not heard of any problems. Vegas is careful about that sort of thing.</p>

<p>Have fun. Don't try to take photos of the table games - the casinos don't like that, for reasons that escape me, and they'll stop you and will insist you delete any such shots. I've not been stopped from shooting anything else in a casino. A ride on the Deuce, the London-style open top double-decker buses that run up and down the strip, offer a good viewpoint from that upper deck. Night shots are good from the roof of the self-parking decks at Bellagio and Treasure Island. Plan to shoot almost everything without a tripod - you rarely will have enough room to set up a tripod without causing a problem. I use a monopod all the time.</p>

 

<p>I've been to Zion too many times to count and have no plans to quit going. But among my frustrations in Zion, I've never gone into the narrows - I'm partially disabled and had convinced myself that the Narrows was no place for an old cripple like me.</p>

<p>I walk with difficulty - an artificial hip and an artificial knee have helped, but my left ankle and lower leg are held together by an erector set, and there are nerve problems that complicate matters. Nevertheless, I have come to the conclusion that I need to try, even if I don't get all that far in the Narrows. So I'm hoping I can draw on the collective experience of the photo.net community for help with what to expect.</p>

<p>First, I don't see me going into water much over knee deep (subject to a foolish, spur-of-the-moment reversal of sensible planning). Can anyone give me an idea of how far I might get into the Narrows with that kind of limitation?</p>

<p>Second, what sort of shoes should I be using for this hike? Good footing on the wet rocky river bottom is important for someone who doesn't walk all that well. I expect to replace my cane on this hike with a walking pole with a more pointed end (the sort that can be had at REI/ Sportsman's Warehouse, etc), and I'll also have my old D70 on an old monopod, which can serve as additional support in a pinch.</p>

<p>BTW, my aim is to make this attempt around mid-July.</p>

<p>Taking the camera body from an extended period (more than a few minutes) in a quite cold environment into a warm and moderately to highly humid environment will result in condensation, and it may have included moisture condensing on the sensor.</p>

<p>However, while it may be possible, the problem of condensation when taking the camera from winter outdoor use into the home has been around for a long time, and if it could cause this, it seems to me we'd have seen this from many users long before now. Maybe it's just my skeptical nature. In any event, a sensor cleaning is definitely in order.</p>

<p>David, I suspect your Oxbow 150 photographer experience was on a Saturday or Sunday morning. I spent 9 days in Jackson Hole+Yellowstone at the end of September 2011, and the change in the crowding on the weekend was extraordinary. The area is within weekend driving distance of Salt Lake and for some, even Denver, and it really fills up on weekends. I went to Oxbow on two Monday mornings. On the first, there was a small photo workshop group of about 10 plus another dozen individuals like me. The following Monday I was one of about 10 people there. Moulton barn is the same way - I went on a Sunday morning and there were 40-50 people, too many to get a shot without people in it, but on Tuesday, there were a half dozen.</p>

<p>Funny thing about Talkeetna - people there tell us tourists that Northern Exposure was filmed there. Sorry for my inaccuracy - I really did relay unsubstantiated info.</p>

<p>As for one week for both north and south of Anchorage, of course, it can be done in a single week, but I'd never recommend it to anyone. I put a trip like that in the same category as people who visit Yellowstone and see everything through the car window, never shutting off the engine or getting out of the car. I think trying see all of that in too little time will yield a dissatisfying vacation.</p>

<p>With one week to spend, you need to choose between going north (Talkeetna, Denali State Park, Denali Nat'l Park, Fairbanks) and going south (Turnagain Arm, Serward, Kenai, Homer, etc). You don't have time to do both, but that's OK if you intend to go back.<br>

North - Talkeetna is a cool little town (where Northern Exposure was filmed) and is the main place to get airplane rides around Mt McKinley. Denali State Park is small, but offers some spectacular views if the mountain is out. From the south side of the range you can see the mountain from its base at 400 feet to its summit at 20,400 feet.<br>

Look for small glacial ponds along the road going north - moose love them.<br>

Denali Nat'l Park - the Kantishna shuttle is the best viewing IMHO, but it's a school bus ride 12 hours long and might not be viewed with such praise by those among you who are pregnant. If a shorter trip is in order, look into the tours - they are a few hours in duration and much more limited in subject and how far they go in the park. Look on line for specifics.<br>

Fairbanks - North Pole is the name of a suburb on the south side of Fairbanks, and it is decorated year-round. There's a really large Christmas store there that some in your group may like. My wife loved it.<br>

South -watch for beluga whales along Turnagain Arm. If it's low tide, do not be tempted to walk out onto the flats. It's soft mud, you'll get stuck, and the tide will be back shortly. Around the eastern end of the Arm there a wildlife conservancy with a small admission where you can see up close the kinds of animals you can see at a distance in the wild.<br>

Seward has Exit Glacier, small by Alaska standards, but you can walk right up to it and touch the ice. Not easy to do that anywhere else I know of.<br>

There are great day tours from Seward to the Kenai Fjord, but motion sickness should be considered. Catamarans are easier on this than single hull boats. Lots of wildlife, glaciers, scenery is all Alaska - well worth it if there won't be a comfort problem.<br>

Depending on when you are going, there's likely to be a salmon run on one or more rivers, which means those rivers will be crowded with fishermen. The drive on Kalifornsky Beach Rd is really nice, the town of Ninilchik is photo-ready. Homer has great views from the bay's edge north of town looking over to the Kenai Mtns, and eagles everywhere when the fishing boats come into port. Best halibut I've ever found is at Land's End at the end of the Homer Spit.</p>

<p>In addition to the responses so far:<br>

Mt McKinley flights are out of Anchorage (some) and Talkeetna (most). Naturally, they are limited by what the weather will allow, but there are many days where the low clouds obscure the mountain for people on the ground, but the mountain is readily visible from the air. You have to decide if the cost is worth it to you and the family.<br>

Denali - skip the tours and take the Kantishna shuttle. It's a school bus that runs from the park entrance to the end of the road in Kantishna and back in one long day - you have to take your lunch with you - no place to buy a meal out there. The bus drivers are as knowledgeable as the tour guides and will stop any time anyone on the bus sees an animal. It's a long day, and you need to make reservations for it in advance.<br>

There are small, shallow glacial ponds along the road from Anchorage to Denali, and moose love the grass that grows on the bottom. Keep a lookout.<br>

Seward - take a full day tour boat to the Kenai Fjords - glaciers, eagles, sea otters, puffins, maybe whales. Take a catamaran if you can - much less rocking than a single hull (easier on shooting and motion sickness). Don't take one of the short (3 hour) tours - they don't get out of Resurrection Bay. Exit Glacier is north of town - it's a small one, but you can walk up to and touch the glacial ice.<br>

Homer - good shots of the bay and mountains beyond all along the road north out of town. Try the halibut at Land's End out at the end of the Homer Spit - best ever. If you are there when the fishing boats come in, there will be eagles, lots of them.<br>

Kenai - the drive along the coast from Homer up to the town of Kenai is very nice - stop in Ninilchik. Nice little beach restaurant and great shots of the town. The Kenai River will likely be very crowded with salmon fishermen. Look for eagles and moose along Kalifornsky Beach Road.<br>

Mosquitoes - funny critters up there. To survive, the female (the one that bites) has to be able to bite thru the hide of a caribou - they hurt!. But having been bitten, I was surprised to have no more bump and no itching an hour later - nasty bite but wimpy venom. If you get repellant, be careful of DEET - it does bad things to plastic, which is heavily used in cameras these days.</p>

<p>Timing is everything - you missed this year's best opportunity in west Texas. I was stationed at Webb AFB in Big Spring TX in the 1970s, and many of the towns around that part of the state have a rattlesnake roundup each year, some as early as mid-Feb and others as late as April. That seems to be the best time of year for finding the snakes in the open. I recall driving past the National Guard Armory in Big Spring on a Saturday afternoon and being able to hear all the rattling from the road as I drove by! It's all catch-and-release, and the purpose is purely medicinal - the venom collected is used to make anti-venom and is apparently very useful in cancer research. <br>

Most of the towns with a roundup also have a festival, which means publicity and probably a way to contact people in the local area for advice on maybe accompanying those involved in the hunt and even for going on your own. </p>

<p>West Yellowstone - I recommend you look into a facility called the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center. It has pens with excellent viewing positions to see captive grizzlies (typically 2 at a time in the pen) and wolves (2 pens, one pack in each). While the animals are captive, they are not caged and are left to roam within the pens and exhibit the kind of behavior you see in the wild. It's a chance to see and photograph them at distances that one can't realistically hope for in the wild.</p>

<p>Yellowstone - too much to relate here. Lamar Valley is really nice around sunrise, and if you climb the hill overlooking Old Faithful in mid-morning, you may be able to get the eruption with a striking rainbow in the geyser's stream.</p>

<p>Grand Prizmatic Spring has the most amazing colors, but is difficult to see and photograph from the boardwalks around the spring. There's a hill on the far side of the spring that's not accessible from the boardwalks. A bit up the road towards Old Faithful there's a trail that winds its way around the far side of the hill that runs along the back of the spring, and you can climb that hill to a position overlooking the spring - it's even a good shot at mid-day.</p>

<p>Anywhere in the Tetons/Jackson Hole is a good location. Look for black bears feeding in the morning along the Moose-Wilson Road, and for moose feeding along the Snake River's edge at Moose Junction.</p>

<p>School will be out, so the parks will be busy, and get really crowded on weekends. If you have the flexibility, hitting the parks on weekdays and the outlier locations on the weekends should be to your advantage.</p>