I managed to dodge the rain today by heading northwest to St Cloud, Minnesota. I arrived in good time after an early start so was able to walk round a couple of local parks. I looked through a few different parks to find a sunset location and came across this weir on the mississippi river at the aptly named 'riverside park'. A neutral density filter allowed me to make a long exposure and blur the water to a smooth glide which reflected the sunset nicely. After sunset I drove into the downtown area for a few shots in the blue hour before heading back to the hotel to determine a direction for tomorrow. The main shot is the weir on the mississippi and the gallery has captions for the locations.
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We had a half day left to enjoy Chicago today so we spent it walking along the river to the harbour where we had a coffee and sat watching the world go by in beautiful morning sunshine. We returned to the hotel and packed our bags and went to O'Hare airport where we sat together until Sarah could check in for her flight. Once Sarah was heading into the security checkpoint I caught the tram to the long term parking and picked up my truck (I had left it at O'Hare as it is $10 per day versus $60 per day in downtown Chicago). I made a short drive north on I 94 to Milwaukee Wisconsin just to get the journey home started then stopped at a dodgy hotel for the night. I had a quick look around the riverfront and lakeshore at Milwaukee before calling it a night...still not sure where I'll be heading tomorrow. The main image below shows the lakeshore at Milwaukee (the dark blobs are geese) the small gallery has captions.
Suddenly the week is over and it's our last night in Chicago, we have had such a great time together this week. We started by exploring the wonderful riverwalk and all the bridges, cafes and bars along it. We walked down to Navy Pier a few times and took advantage of the river taxi to get back up to the city centre for our hotel. We've shopped till we dropped on the magnificent mile and found some lovely things for Sarahs birthday before going out to a very nice restaurant for a celebration dinner in the evening. We made the ascent of both the Willis Tower and Chicago 360 for the views from either side of downtown. We walked to the planetarium and then rented bikes to ride back to the city, we rented bikes again to go to the beach and to ride miles along the lakeside trail beside lake michigan. We visited all of the parks and recreation areas we could including the millennium park and the famous 'coffee bean' sculpture. Sarah stayed in the hotel one evening when I cycled back to the planetarium to shoot the Chicago skyline but other than that one time, she walked, cycled and rode every mile with me. We've paddled in the lake on Oak Beach and walked the piers at North Avenue Beach and walked miles and miles on the lakefront and riverfront trails. We sat in shade from the constant sunshine at the pavilion at 12th street beach and ate in different venues every night. It has been a fantastic week and a great birthday for Sarah.
Tomorrow Sarah will fly back in the late afternoon and I will make the 2 hour drive to Milwaukee Wisconsin to begin my journey home, I still haven't decided which way I'll go from Milwaukee but I think I'll just make it up as I go along. I only had a short 2 hour hop on the interstate this morning to reach Chicago in time to meet Sarah at O'hare airport. Everything went as planned and we were soon sharing a taxi to downtown Chicago. After settling into the hotel we walked the riverfront for a couple of hours and had dinner on Navy Pier in the sweltering temperatures, we then walked back along the riverfront to the hotel to escape the heat and get an early night.
I'll make another post from Chicago later in the week when we've had a good look around, in the meantime here's a short gallery of the riverwalk and Navy Pier, there are no captions but I'll put in more effort into the next post. I left Fargo this morning with a 7.5 hour interstate drive ahead of me, it was part of the plan to make up for the dawdling across the prairies, but still not the most exciting of days. I didn't plan any shots for the day as I thought I might be too tired, but after an uneventful journey from North Dakota through Minnesota to Wisconsin I felt surprisingly good. I booked into my hotel and did some quick research online to find some local photo opportunities. I found Capital Springs State Park close to the hotel so set out to have a walk and stretch the legs.
Located at the north end of Lake Waubesa the park is a nice space with good trails but lack of preparation prevented much exploration beyond the 5km forest and lakeside circuit I took. There was an abundance of autumn colour and I managed to find a nice sunset location to end my visit there. As I left the park I discovered a local sports bar so stopped for dinner before heading downtown to view the Wisconsin State Capitol Building. Parking was an absolute nightmare but I finally found a spot and made a couple of shots before returning to the truck and circling Lake Monona to find a viewpoint. I ended up parking on a residential street and humping all my camera gear in the dark through some woodland and across a grass field but I did find a great location to make some cityscapes. I finally made it back to the hotel by 9:30pm tired but ready to write the blog and post some images. It's been a long day and combined with humping camera gear in 32 degree temperatures I was ready for a shower and some sleep. Tomorrow I make the final short leg of the journey to Chicago O'Hare to meet Sarah from her flight. It's been a great journey down here and the weather is looking fantastic for the week ahead in Chicago, we're both really looking forward to it. After a restful night in southeastern Saskatchewan I set out early for the journey across the border to Fargo, North Dakota. I first continued east through 'Gainsborough' Saskatchewan and into Manitoba where a huge moose jumped over the roadside fence and galloped across the highway in front of me. I circled round for a shot but he was a long way into the crops by then, I did still make an image just for the memory.
I could have been forgiven for thinking I was back at home, after passing through Gainsborough I crossed into the US where I continued my journey through York before stopping in Leeds for fuel, then I carried on through Buxton! A fine collection of english towns and cities all strung out across the prairies of north america. I had another great day and though it started wet and cold, that changed as soon as I crossed the border. By the time I stopped to stretch my legs at Kellys Slough National Wildlife Refuge it was 26 degrees. The birds at the refuge were mainly Canada geese which was a bit disappointing but it was a nice spot to have a little walk. I arrived in Fargo in good time and after settling into the hotel I walked out for dinner. Soon after eating I was heading downtown with the camera for one particular night shot that I have planned for quite some time. The Fargo Theatre is a much loved local institution. It was built in 1926 and benefits from the wonderful art deco style which is synonymous with the 1920's/30's. The blazing neon brings a burst of colour to the street and the 15 second shutter allows light streaks of passing vehicles to complete the image exactly as I had imagined. It's been another great day on the road, tomorrow is just a long interstate run to Madison Wisconsin for one more stop before Sarah arrives on Saturday to begin our week in Chicago I was up and out early this morning heading east on SK 32, I knew there would be a sunrise to shoot but struggled to find a topic, then it hit me, the emptiness itself is a topic. I pulled over and walkout out into the highway, crouching in the centre and made a simple but effective Saskatchewan sunrise image (main shot). I stayed with that highway to Swift Current where I picked up highway 4 south to avoid the TransCanada. I followed SK 4 to Cadillac then followed highway 13 east for 470 km. There's something funny about the sat-nav showing the next item as "turn left in 469 km". I made my way to my hotel at White Bear Lake in southeastern Saskatchewan but didn't like the look of the lake itself for sunset so I drove 10 minutes north to Moose Mountain Provincial Park (familiar name) and Kenosee Lake.
When I arrived I had a great fish and chip supper in the Moose Head restaurant and then headed out for sunset over the lake. Unfortunately a storm was blowing through and it didn't look good but I decided to shoot the lake anyway and hope for the best. Just as I was losing hope the sun burst through for a beautiful sunset over the water just as I had hoped. Ultimately I got some nice long exposures with the storm blowing through and a couple of beautiful sunset shots, the 10 minute drive back to the hotel was made in good spirits though a little bleary eyed and ready for some sleep. I started out today on another road trip, this time to Chicago. I'm taking a long route through the prairies first and then meeting Sarah at O'Hare airport on Saturday where we have a week to 'hit the town' and celebrate Sarahs birthday. I took a nice slow ride through Drumheller into Saskatchewan today stopping off at various roadside points of interest along the way. I chose the town of Leader Saskatchewan for an overnight to enable me to revisit the Great Sand Hills Provincial Park for sunset. The trip will be about 5000 km all in (300 miles) depending on my wanderings through the prairies; as always I hope to keep the blog updated along the way. The main today image is an unloved 1965 Plymouth Valiant that I saw at the roadside in eastern Alberta, the small gallery beneath has captions.
We made our usual circuit along the river today to view the autumn colours in perfect temperatures. The mountains are still invisible due to smoke from the 'ever present' wildfires but our skies were clear and smoke free. It was a lovely little wander as always with our usual stop on the corner of the river to sit and talk for a while.
I had a 'photography practice' day with Cecil at Calgary zoo today and though some substantial portions of the zoo are closed for maintenance and/or restoration, it was still a great day wandering around the grounds. The owls were well positioned and enjoying fresh white mice for lunch and the flamingos were their usual photogenic selves. We had a nice lunch in the cafe and sat talking over coffee later on, all in all a really enjoyable day in good company, I'm sure we'll soon be wandering the mountains again in search of our usual landscapes.
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AuthorWe arrived in Calgary, Canada on 29th December 2011 to continue our journey. This blog is intended to keep our family and friends informed whilst we explore Canada.You can use the RSS feed below to stay updated. Categories
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The Shaman, West Texas
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