Photographer Russ Carmack and I were out at the Yakima Training Center last weekend, and Russ came back with some fantastic photos. A few of them required some pretty nifty techniques.

We were riding along in a Humvee during training with the .50-caliber machine guns. The original plan to open up the back of the vehicle and let us stand behind the gunner was quashed by the safety guru on site (and for good reason, in retrospect). Still, that didn’t stop Russ, who used a remote control, a tripod and some duct tape to get these shots:

Click below to find out how he got them:

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I found this update on Tribal Journey 2008. Worth reading if you enjoyed our article on it.

I haven’t heard if the disabled veterans have made it to the top of Mount Rainier, but one of the organizers, Beth Wolfe, sent these pics along:

So where is the influx of visitors to Vashon Island coming from?

Apparently not from the South Sound. Or at least not in the totally nonscientific poll I just took.

My sample set consisted of the eight people sitting at three outdoor tables at Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant in Vashon.

I managed to ask where they were from while they chowed down on enchiladas and other good stuff. Three are from Bellevue, three from Seattle, one from Kirkland and one from White Center.

So, South Sounders, where are you?

(Of course, if one

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It looks like a serious activity, but for many it’s a fun day in the sun.

"We’re just playing around on tractors today," Montesano’s Al Gillman said with a laugh. "I like to call them big-boy toys. It’s just a way to have a good time."

Gillman’s big-boy toy is a 1955 Oliver Super 77. And he was showing off his green, rumbling machine during a tractor pull Saturday at a festival at Wilcox Family Farms in Roy.

The best way to show off a tractor, he said, is by dragging a

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Joe Barrentine and I covered the arrival of several World War II-era aircraft yesterday.

On the way back from Pasco, I rode in a B-24 Liberator. Joe rode in a single-engine plane to take some photos. This was the view from my plane with a point-and-shoot camera:

And here is what Joe, using a nice lens, shot of the B-24.

Not too shabby, eh?