Cuyahoga National Park

 

Well, it was a nice place to hike and fun to see a large forested area with some waterfalls in and around an urban area, but I see this as a state forest vs a national park. A national park should be reserved for something special. You can see forested areas like this near most urban areas. Not my favorite park. 

Bryce National Park--Out of this World

 

Going through my National Parks folders and picking my favorites. Here are three from Bryce Canyon which struck me as an otherworldly place. I am sure you can see why. It was at Bryce that I decided that I have to see as many National Parks as I can. Now up to 17. Lot more to see. 

Who decided to put Teddy in the back row?

 

I want to know who decided that Theodore Roosevelt should go into the back vs Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln? They stuck him in the corner. He was lucky to even get a spot up there on the mountain. He was such a character. Actually every time I see Mount Rushmore, I am amazed. However, I will relate that I was with a Japanese boss when just out of grad school and we visited Mount Rushmore together back in the 1980s. His comment was, "You Americans have no history." In a sense, he was right. There are buildings in Tokyo older than Mount Rushmore. But it still was an interesting comment and for some reason stuck with me. Insulting, and correct at the same time. 

Badlands National Park--favorite National Park shots

 

I have been playing around and organizing my files and folders here after our long trip to the Badlands, Yellowstone, Tetons, and Wind Cave. I decided to try to find my favorite shots from all the parks that I have been to so far. Well, picking one shot is hard enough, so I cheated and picked a triplet. These are from two different trips of the 4 times I have been to this park. The first two from a trip in 2018 with Michael and the bottom shot from last week with my buddy, Bill Pavlecic. Great area for photography. So many shots. 

Fall is here...like, really, really here

 

Up high, in the Teton's last week, we saw signs of fall everywhere. However, during the day the weather was warm and it didn't really feel like fall. Colors are starting to change here in Chicago, but the weather really does feel like fall. Cool snap to the weather and I get to wear my sweaters again. I see a little hint of red in our bushes in font of the house. Red on some of the leaves in the trees. Lots of yellow in the prairie near the house. So, fall is here. No complaint from me. Love the colors. I will be out looking for shots. Last week in the Tetons, we saw the colors turn early, even as the week progressed. These bushes really were into it. Miss the mountains already. Always too long between visits. 

Norris Basin--an amazing place

 It is hard to get a composite panorama to post on the blog or on Facebook so posting two shots here. Norris Basin in Yellowstone is just amazing and I am enjoying looking through and editing all the pictures. Going to take a long time to get through all the shots but I keep coming back to Norris. Worth the price of the 2.5 days there and another 2.5 days back. You can get there quicker from Illinois but not stay sane at the same time. Anyway, what an amazing place to have within driving distance. Nowhere else like this in the world. 

A road side view in the Tetons

 

A road side view of one of the Tetons. The Tetons were very "fogged out" this past week with the smoke from the fires further out west. Makes it hard to get a sharp picture. I used software to sharpen up the shot but that adds further complications. Your eye sort of "looks through" the smog to see what is there. The camera just sees light and dark shadows. To show you how it looked out of the camera, look at the second shot below. 

Anyway, this is the best compromise I can create between reality and how the shot "should" look in a more normal environment. Oh well, just means I have to go out there again another time!!!

Yellowstone Norris Basin

 

Yellowstone lived up to expectation and Norris Basin, for me, was the most amazing area of the park. You really got the impression that you were standing on top of a volcano caldera, which is exactly what you were doing. Steam was rising from everywhere. Pretty amazing.