Welcome to our April newsletter. We hope you'll find it refreshing and fun! Your feedback is always welcome.

Happy travels,

Dan Parlow and the MyTripJournal team

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DESTINATION: southwest USA

STORY: 'Just Another Day in Paradise'

by Carol White

Moab National Park (courtesy Carol White)

Another beautiful day here in paradise!! We were up early and heading for the Park. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison is not the deepest canyon in the US or the narrowest, but it is one of the most spectacular for the combination of factors, and that the Gunnison River drops so precipitously through the crevice. With my fear of heights, I was a nervous wreck the entire time in the park. The road runs right along the rim much of the time, and it is awesome -- but sooooo scary! more...

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PHOTO: 'Dorothy's Farmhouse - There's No Place Like Home"  '

by Keiren Hale

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We were about 15 miles off Interstate 15 heading to Bryce Canyon, just entering the valley and the weather turned dark and rainy.  We saw this farmhouse isolated and alone amidst miles of farmland.  The sky looked threatening and ominous as thunder clouds hovered above.  What struck us most was the stark contrast in colors of the bright red farmhouse, the emerald green of the valley and the blue-gray hues of the stormy sky.

- Keiren Hale

Want your photo considered for a future newsletter? Send it to us with your interesting description. If featured, you'll get 3 months of complimentary MyTripJournal service.

MYTRIPJOURNAL FEATURE: Print-quality photos

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When your photos are displayed on a computer monitor, the images you see will not make for good quality prints. This is because the MyTripJournal.com system optimizes your photos to make loading times much faster for your visitors. This doesn't affect the quality of what your visitors see, because computers cannot display nearly as many bits of information as paper.

If you have Premium service, our system preserves your photos in their original quality (we actually keep two copies of every photo you upload, in different locations -- just in case). Assuming your original uploaded photos were not already optimized for the internet, they will make much better prints than the images displayed on your website.

Most people take higher-resolution photos than they need. This is because of camera company advertising, encouraging everyone to buy 8-megapixel cameras.

According to Hewlett Packard, if you print out 4x6's, you need only 640 x 480 pixels to make a beautiful printed photo. This is less than one-third of one megapixel! Even for 5x7 photo greeting cards, you need 1152 x 864 pixels, still less than one megapixel.

Of course, the higher your photo's resolution, the longer it takes to upload. You can upload 10 excellent 4x6 quality photos in the same time it'd take you for just one photo if your camera was set for 3 megapixel photos. Imagine how much time you could save uploading photos to your Personal Travel Website just by lowering the 'quality' setting on your camera!

Our Image Preparation Guide will help you make the best decisions about your photos. You can consult it at any time, directly from your photo entry editor.

Hewlett Packard's recommended minimum image resolution for photos. Have a question about a MyTripJournal feature? Email us.

QUICK SURVEY: Advertising on MyTripJournal?

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Some users have asked if we could offer an unpaid version of MyTripJournal, which would include advertisements. We'd love to have your views on the subject; we'll draw from the entries for 6 months' complimentary Premium service (no ads!).

The fact that a personal travel website/blog product has no advertising is a VERY IMPORTANT or NOT VERY IMPORTANT factor in my decision as to the one I would choose.

IN THIS ISSUE
FEATURED TRAVELERS

Keiren & Doug Hale

Residents of:
Alta Loma, California

MyTrIpJournal Websites:
Hale Mail From the Trail

Travel Tales from the Hales

Where the Hale Are We?

Members of:

Good Sam Club

Recently passed through:
Destin, Florida

States visited by RV:
27

Travel Recommendation:

Zion National Park

Quote:
" Do it,  don't wait!  So many people put off travel thinking that when they are older or retired, they will have the time.  We believe it is important to get out on the road immediately because you don't know what lies ahead, around the next corner.  [Get] out on the road to enjoy and explore all the exciting sights and locations this great country has to offer! "

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...and many more.