random reflections

Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt: August Edition

At the end of July, I had just two photos (an elaborate door knocker and a turtle) left to find for Rinda's Summertime Photography Hunt. I knew I'd be able to find both, but I got a bonus photos as well.

I expected to find the door knocker on East Ave. in Rochester, but I didn't have to wait until we got home. One of our last days in Chicago, Tracy and I took a walk through a beautiful neighborhood in Evanston, not far from Sarah's new house.

Here's a closer look:

One of my favorite places to visit in Highland Park is the Lamberton Conservatory (especially in the winter). There are several small ponds scattered among the plant displays where turtles happily swim about and rest among the plants. I walked up there a week or so ago, and here are three turtle photos.

And my favorite:

But actually, the find of the month was the three flags on a pole. I'd found an acceptable version at the Calgary Stampede, but the photo below is what I really wanted. I first saw it in June as we drove home from Chicago after helping Sarah and Adam move. We were zipping along the Ohio Turnpike, and there was No Way I was ever going to have captured it. In early August, we were (once again) zipping along the turnpike at 70 mph when Tracy said, "Quick, grab your phone! The flags are ahead." I'm amazed at how clear this photo came out. I had exactly one chance to get it as we flew by.

And, lucky me, the wind was blowing so all three flags are flying in the breeze!

You can find all my Summertime Photography Photos for 2015 by clicking on the logo on my sidebar. It will take you to my SmugMug album with all the photos. Thanks, Rinda, for another great summertime photography hunt! It's one of my favorite activities every summer.

Summer Trip: Part 2

When we left Calgary, we returned to the United States and Glacier National Park in Montana. Our first two nights were at the Many Glacier Hotel, the only hotel on the eastern side of the park. It's quite a few miles inside the park, and there are multiple hiking opportunities nearby.

The hotel opened in 1915, and although some renovations have been made over the years the original rustic nature of the hotel and its rooms remain. When we reserved a room last October, we got the last room in the hotel, but were told to call back two weeks before our arrival to see if a lakeside room opened up. Luckily, it had, and we had a lovely view of Swiftcurrent Lake. Sadly, it was too chilly and windy to make use of the balcony. The room was very small and quite basic, but the hotel itself has a wonderful air of elegance.

We hiked around Swiftcurrent Lake as well as two adjoining lakes--Josephine and Grinnell. My favorite hike here was to Apikuni Falls. It was a cloudy, misty morning, but great for photographs.

The main attraction at Glacier Park is the Going to the Sun Road which crosses the park east to west. The highest point is Logan Pass.

We stopped there to hike to Hidden Lake. No one was allowed to hike down to the lake since grizzly bears were feeding on the fish in the area. 

Unlike most of the trails we hiked, most of this one was a boardwalk, created to protect the delicate alpine environment.

On our way up we spotted some mountain goats.

But when we got to the end of the trail there were quite a few goats very close to the trail. You'll notice their collars. The goats here are part of a research study tracking their movements.

Hidden Lake from the top of the trail. Although I'm sure the trail down to the lake would have been lovely, it would have taken the better part of the day to have done the whole trail. We went on to hike two other trails off the Going to the Sun Road.

We spent that night in Whitefish, Mt. which we loved. It's a ski center in the winter. The next day we drove to Missoula, Mt. It's a beautiful drive past Flathead Lake, the largest fresh water lake west of the Mississippi.

We spent the better part of a day back in Glacier at Two Medicine hiking to Aster and Rockwell Falls, and then driving on to Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada. Waterton is actually an extension of the same mountains as Glacier but on the other side of the border.

One of the most striking hotels we saw was The Prince of Wales Hotel in Waterton. Like Many Glacier it was built in the early 1900's.

This is the amazing view from the hotel. We couldn't afford to stay there, but we did have a lovely dinner in the bar sitting at the window looking out at this view.

We also took the boat tour to Goat Haunt which is actually back in the United States. You can see the boat in the photo above. It was a fascinating tour, and we learned a lot about the geography, climate, and plant and animal life in the area. One of the most interesting things we discovered was the cut line.

You can see a stone marker just above the shoreline. It indicates the 49th parallel which forms the border between the United States and Canada. A cut line is maintained from the Pacific Ocean to the Great Lakes marking this border. About every 15 years a crew goes through and recuts the line. Who knew?

 

 

Pairs: Photographed and Altered

I've been admiring Honore's Waterlogue Wednesday* creations for several months, and although I've owned the app for some time, rarely remember to play around with it. Yesterday my friend, Mary, and I had a lovely lunch at the cafe at the George Eastman House and visited the current exhibit, "In The Garden." Before we left, I took a photo of the real gardens at the George Eastman House from inside the conservatory, and thought I'd give Waterlogue a try. I'm quite happy with the results.

You can find this week's offerings of Pairs at Helena's blog.

*Edited to add a link to Miriam's Blog where I first saw Waterlogue! You can find many lovely examples there.

Calgary Stampede & Our Trip in Numbers

It's time for a few posts about our fabulous trip to Calgary, Glacier National Park, and the Canadian Rockies. It was a trip we'd planned a few years ago, but we really didn't have any idea how much we'd enjoy it.

After a few days with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb we flew to Calgary. I was very excited about being able to go to the Calgary Stampede, one of the largest rodeos in the world. I've never been to a rodeo, so it was all new to me. And it didn't disappoint!

There's a lot of pageantry involved. Some of the prominent riders were "dropped" into the stadium via cables from above. None of my photos of that were clear enough to share!

This is one of two large, and excellent, bands that performed before the rodeo and during intermission.

Of course, it's the bronco riding that folks come to see. Actually the most exciting event was the calf roping where world records were set. We were too far away from that end of the stadium to take good photos, but the video screens around the stadium made it easy to see every event.

The Stampede is much like the state fairs here, with midways and lots of exhibits. 

 

I always knew the Clydesdales were huge, but seeing the groomers on stools really brought it home.

I loved this image of the sheep in the wagon, off to a different venue.

One of our favorite exhibits was that of the First Nations. We spent quite a bit of time there. There were traditional tepees to visit, and my favorite, dance competitions.

I've always admired bloggers who can keep track of numbers during the month. I've never managed to do it successfully, but made a big effort to keep track during our trip. So here they are---our trip in numbers.

    2, 585 miles driven (in a rented Ford Escape, which we loved)

    76.5 miles hiked on 23 different trails

    14 (unusual for us) animal species, including 4 bears, 4 elk, many loons, mountain goats, and 
    big horned sheep, 2 coyotes, and 2 spruce grouse

We always keep an eye out for license plates as we drive along. This year we spotted 45/50 states, 7/10 Canadian provinces, and 1/3 Canadian territories. We drove in five different states and 2 provinces (Alberta and British Columbia).

I took 1,177 photos, about half with my DSRL and half with my iPhone. I edited about 130 to share with friends and had 70 printed to add to an album.

We're already planning another trip to the Canadian Rockies. There were hikes we didn't get to, and an aborted trip from many years ago up the coast of British Columbia we'd like to do. 

   

Pairs: Zoom In, Zoom Out

We walked through Highland Park this week after dinner, and I was surprised to see how differently it has been planted since the Lilac Festival when it was all pansies. The colors are gorgeous. And I'm including two Zoom Ins, because I couldn't decide which one!

Zoom Out:

Zoom In #1:

Zoom In a Little Closer #2:

I love the colors in this flower!

You can find more Pairs at Helena's Blog right here.

A PAIR of Anniversary Cards

I'm finding it more difficult than usual to get back into the usual routines after being away for so long. There are a lot of big projects that need to be tackled, as well as many smaller ones, and it all seems a bit overwhelming. I did take time this week to make an anniversary card that needed to go in the mail. I had planned to do some posts while we were away, but the internet was often very slow, and frankly I didn't spend much time on the computer, so those never happened. That means I have a pair of cards to share.

Our last night in Canada was our 42nd wedding anniversary. I had made my card for Tracy before we left and gave it to him over dinner at The Cattle Baron, a restaurant recommended to us by a delightful young man sitting with Tracy on the flight to Calgary. We had excellent Alberta steaks at a quite reasonable price. 

All the supplies for this card came from the Simon Says May Card Kit. 

It's not often that I make a card with no stamping on it, but everything I needed was in the kit.

The card I created this week is for my daughter's in-laws who will be celebrating their anniversary next week with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb who fly to Washington tomorrow.

Both the confetti stamp and the "Celebrate" diecut are from a new Papertrey Ink set called "Good Times." The card is a premade one from Memory Box that's been in my stash for years. The gold cardstock is from Paper Source, and the enamel dots from Simple Stories. 

It was good to get back to crafting, and I have several more cards to make that should be in the mail shortly. I'm linking these up to Helena's lovely weekly meme, Pairs.

 

Pairs: Traveling

One more set of photos from our trip. We're now back at home after spending a few days with Sarah, Adam, and Caleb as well as stopping in Toledo, Ohio to have dinner with my three cousins---one of whom I hadn't seen in 24 years! It was a fabulous trip, and we're finally beginning to feel a bit settled. We're at least unpacked.

On the Ground and In the Air

Calgary and Chicago

Canada and the United States

I have several things to post and hope to get back to some semblance of a schedule in the next week or so. I have a presentation to make a week from Sunday so that's the next priority, and then the schedule is looking pretty clear. 

Check out the other Pairs at Helena's blog.