When I first started to blog in 2007, I picked up a small Sony point and shoot digital camera.  I loved that camera and it worked beautifully till late November 2010, according to photograph number 11 taken with to my next camera,  a small Canon Elph SD1300.  From what I recall, it simply quit working one day and just would not turn on anymore.  I took it to a camera shop and the only thing to do it was replace it.

So I did.  I have been using the Canon since 2010, almost daily and it has been a rock solid performer.  It's been a trooper taking photos by grandkids,

 Marcus, taken by his sister.

Grandma and Cassie, taken by Marcus.  Forgive my vapid look.  It was early and I probably did not have my daily complement of coffee.

Of grandkids, and

generally being sneaked out of grandma's bag whenever there was a chance to take pictures with.

It worked like a charm to and it put up with everything that came its way.  

But it has been dropped a few times over the years, the last time a couple months ago, by grandma herself, at home, with no kids around, no excuses, and it just couldn't do a good job anymore.  

After that last drop, it was noticeably worse, to the point that I almost hated using it. There was a soft grey film over the whole.  Some of the sensors must have been damaged.  It was time for something new.  

Old camera.

New camera, moments apart under the same conditions and default settings.

The new camera is again a Sony but most of the features are  similar to the features on both of the older cameras.  That is fine by me.  I take photos of yarn and kids and occasionally landscapes. This almost makes me wish that I had waited to take photos of all my yarn for Ravelry with this new camera.  Not that I will do that again, but still...

This trip is going to be a once in a lifetime sort of trip and I really want to be able to look back and see where I was, though I know far too well, that the really important memories live in our hearts. Because I am one of the 12 people in the world still actively blogging without trying to make money on it, and because it is a journal of sorts, I want the blog record that I make to be crisp and clear to share with myself and whoever happens to be reading it down the road.