mikev

And a note since it didn't make it over... the ceramic tint (GWF's Premium automotive tint) is $100 more. Ceramic tint has much higher heat reduction than metallized tint, and also won't affect RF signals like GPS and cell phone.

This can be un-stickied since it's a week past now.

The forecast still has the four letter word in it on most of the sites I checked (I actually did find one that didn't have the four letter word in it). Some are pushing the snow a bit more into the afternoon, though. AccuWeather lists a 35-40% chance of snow for a good part of the day, but in their hourly forecast, they only list flurries in the 9:00-10:00 and noon-2:00 timeframes. Forecast.io pushes the snow window more into the afternoon, with light snow noon-1p, and more snow later, 3-5p. NWS still says 70% chance of snow. The area forecast specifically for SW DC says mainly between 9a-4p, and about 1/2 inch of new accumulation. weather.com seems to side with NWS here... their hourly forecast has snow in it from 9a-5p, with 30% chance from 9a-noon and 50-70% chance from noon-4p. From a TV perspective, WUSA9's future forecast map shows snow tomorrow afternoon, 1-5p or thereabouts. Weather Underground's BestForecast is the one that simply says "Cloudy." I'm hoping to find a touchless car wash tomorrow morning to get an OK wash, and will bring some Griots waterless car wash with me to clean up a little more.

Given the consensus across the forecasts that there will be an inch or less of snow, I would still come out, and will likely join in for lunch. Timing seems to be coming together... the two sites that gave specific times seem to now have an hour of difference, with one site saying 10-noon, the other saying 9-noon as best chances of flurries/snow. Looking directly at the model data, two of the models correspond nearly perfectly with this timing (the models work in 3-hour windows, and show best chance of precip between 10a-1p, with a small amount between 7a-10a). NWS has upped the chance of snow to 70% now... other sites are still lower, around 50%. NWS' forecast for DC now just says "Snow likely. Total accumulation around 1 inch possible" for tomorrow.

Chances of snow are increasing... 40-60% depending on whose forecast you read. Amount seems to be in agreement... less than an inch. Timing is where all the forecasts vary... NWS says "Snow likely in the morning, then rain and snow likely in the afternoon", and also has the highest percentage chance that I've found... another site gives a window of 11-3 for light snow... a third gives chances of flurries between 9-11... a fourth says "intermittent snow showers and flurries becoming a steady light snow later." That's where we are as of now in the forecast department... I'll try to give an update tomorrow during the day, if I'm not too busy at work.

I think we'll be able to get it done... the various forecasts I'm looking at seem to all put some precipitation for Saturday evening. The only one that doesn't is the National Weather Service, and their forecast puts a low 30% chance of rain for Saturday. Don't expect any sun... it will likely be a cloudy morning... but I think we'll get it done. Obviously the forecast is subject to change between now and then... but as of the time I'm posting this, it's looking good.

The area bordered in red is where most people parked last time.

Since no one has contacted me about any additional video footage, here's the video. Yes, you may have already seen some of this since Craig posted his stuff separately... I've added some rear-facing video from my own camera, as well as titles, credits, music, and one of the WTOP traffic reports that mentioned us. Clicking the link will take you to Youtube's site, where you can watch it in the full glory of 720P HD. But I've also embedded it below for convenience. http://youtu.be/sZrIyIZTTwg

Not pictures, but video! Yes, you may have already seen some of this since Craig posted his stuff separately... I've added some rear-facing video from my own camera, as well as titles, credits, music, and one of the WTOP traffic reports that mentioned us. Clicking the link will take you to Youtube's site, where you can watch it in the full glory of 720P HD. But for convenience, I've also embedded it below. http://youtu.be/sZrIyIZTTwg

BIG thanks to Lona and the others that helped for planning and organizing this event! Aside from a minor detour getting out of the mall, everything went great and I had a blast! The WTOP traffic updates were great... the WTOP news story following the event - which I heard at 1:05p heading up a number of veteran-related stories - was totally cool. I'm working on an event video, starting with video and time lapse pictures from GoPro cameras belonging to Craig and I. If you had a GoPro or took video clips using another camera and would like to share some of your video with me for possible inclusion, please send me a PM or email. If you want to share a large amount of video (of which I'll only likely use small clips of), I can set up space for you to upload it to. Just let me know. I would like to have it done by next weekend at the latest, and I'll only really have evenings of this upcoming week to work on it, so please contact me when possible.

I'd be happy to take some of the housings off your hands, like if you have a skeleton housing or whatever... already have a GoPro Hero 2 with WiFi Backpac though, and not really interested in 3D stuff. I didn't realize you had that many housings available or I would've asked sooner! I was thinking like 2 or 3... not 12!

If you don't have a costume, at least bring your EyeShade if you have one.

Invisible Glass is one that I've been told is safe for tinted windows.

The channel is FRS channel 7, with sub-channel (or privacy code) 21. FRS radios will work, as will the GMRS radios made by Midland, Motorola, and others (most GMRS radios made today include the FRS channels).

If you're trying to plan for food, this site has the lunch/dinner menu for the Big Meadows Wayside stop: Go Shenandoah - Food stops along Skyline Drive

I also have a free passenger seat if you need it.

The weather for Saturday is looking beautiful, but it will be cool. The temperature keeps going down, and the Saturday forecast for Skyline Drive right now looks for high temps to be in the mid 60's. A light jacket or fleece would not be a bad idea. The Sterling NWS office has a specific forecast for the mountains and Skyline Drive, because of the higher elevation. You can find it here.

Took a drive around today... got a wave on 340 just outside of Boyce (could've been Nick, I think it was a Black hatchback)... saw 3 other MINIs on the drive, including an all Chili Red (body + roof) with Union Jack mirror caps on the Bypass in Leesburg, but no waves from any of them.

It looks like it's the lot on the northeast side of the Tidal Basin, between Maine Ave and Independence Ave, entrance on Maine Ave. Google Maps Link

Unfortunately, time lapse videos have a tendency to do this. the very low frame rate (pictures were taken at 2 second intervals) that is then sped up significantly (both videos were 15 frames per second)... you're going from 30 pictures taken in a minute to 30 pictures shown in 2 seconds. Varying exposure rates due to different amounts of light don't help either, though the GoPro software does smooth that out a little bit. Obviously this is where video would shine (just speed it up a bit), but the battery wouldn't likely last the whole length of the run (as it was, my battery only had a few minutes of life left after the 2 hours it was on taking over 3300 pictures that made up those two videos). Of course, I could slow the frame rate down a bit... but then it looks more like a high-speed slideshow than a video.

And the Virginia portion of the run... No ad on this one.

Video of the Maryland portion of the run... This was easiest for me to put together first, as the timing of the resulting time lapse video was practically even. And I was able to hack up the music perfectly to fit. (fortunately, techno music can be easily hacked without messing up the beat!) Unfortunately, the Youtube ad is required since I'm using music from a published album, rather than my generic royalty-free stuff.

Ali, The combination of backlighting and reflected light from the front gives a unique, almost ethereal, effect, especially on the upper part of the photo where the backlight is so strong.

Plenty of food nearby... If you turn right (North) onto Davis Drive, and go for almost 3 miles, you'll run into the Dulles Town Center mall, which has plenty of restaurants in and around it. They include The Cheesecake Factory, Longhorn Steakhouse, PF Chang's, Red Lobster, Red Robin, and more. You'll also pass a Chili's before the mall, in front of Best Buy. A DC area pizza chain, Paisanos, is in the same shopping center as Best Buy, on the other end of the center. Wings are also an option... the Buffalo Wing Factory is hidden away in a smaller shopping center before you get to Church Rd... or Buffalo Wild Wings is on the other side of Rt. 28, near Wegmans/Target. And plenty of fast food too... KFC/Taco Bell and McD's if you turn left onto Sterling Blvd... there's another McD's in the same area as Best Buy, and a Chik-Fil-A in front of Lowes, across the road from the Best Buy shopping center. I'm sure there are also numerous small delis and sandwich shops too... probably at least one in the area where the detail shop is.

So since the 4th is tomorrow, here are a couple of simple fireworks pictures. These are from a Town of Herndon 4th of July fireworks show a couple of years ago. Full EXIF details are available for them, so you can see the settings I used. Click picture for (slightly) larger version and detailed info...