A Personal Amateur Photography Blog
Sunday morning at O’Saughnessy Reservoir.
With a lack of rain the dam wasn’t allowing any water to flow downriver, giving an unusual view of the rocks.
The nature preserve was busy.
The marina was just coming to life for the day.
The sunflowers are in bloom.
They attract the colorful Goldfinch that unfortunately destroys the flowers pecking at the petals.
Continuing to stay close to home doesn’t mean you can’t find subjects for photography. Sitting on the patio on a Saturday morning checking out the birds and buds of the backyard.
It has been 4 months since returning from Argentina. With ‘nothing else to do’ I, like many people around the world, have taken to gardening – a new skill for me.
Everything has been grown from seeds. All of these buds are from the same ‘family’.
The first couple sunflowers have fully bloomed – guessing many more are soon to appear.
As a new gardener I made the mistake of planting seeds in the small planter on the right and throwing away the packaging – the mystery plant has yet to be identified via the apps on the phone. I could be carefully cultivating weeds for all I know.
We have reached the end of the trail – the Oregon Trail. Welcome to Oregon.
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The Oregon State Capitol is in the city of Salem. This building was completed in the 1930s, replacing a more traditional looking building that dated from the 1870s. This building was destroyed in a major fire in 1935.
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Symbols of the Day
State Crustacean – Dungeness Crab (photos from statesymbols.org)
State Mother – Tabitha Moffatt Brown. Tabitha was 66 years old in 1946 when she traveled the Oregon Trail from Missouri. Once there she built a home and school for orphans, as well as provided writings that gave a female view of the times she lived.
The traditional end of the Oregon Trail was in the town of Oregon City, now a Portland suburb.
Portland is the largest city in Oregon, and the center of business and industry. While Portland borrowed the expression ‘Keep … weird’ from Austin, Texas, it is well deserved, as the city has it’s own unique vibe in the arts, culture and entertainment.
It is a beautiful city, one of my favorites.
Portland is known as the Rose City – and it is appropriate. They even have an evening Rose Parade in May, but in true fashion it is not a bunch of floats of flowers like Pasadena, it is a colorful event that is billed as ‘The Cleanest Parade in the Country’, as the last few things to pass are street cleaners, and all the attendees put their trash away!
Eugene is home to the University of Oregon. Along with nearby Cottage Grove it was also the filming location for Animal House.
Grants Pass has a number of fiberglass, decorated bears around town. Many are made and sold to raise money for local non profits.
Jacksonville is a picturesque small southern Oregon town. In the 1850s it was a gold rush town, today it thrives on tourism.
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Florence, Oregon is a town of 9000 along the Oregon Coast, where it meets the Siuslaw River. It is also home to Sea Lion Caves, This massive cave is at the bottom of a 300′ high cliff.
Heceta Head Lighthouse is one of the postcard views of the coast.
Yaquina Head Lighthouse is another picturesque lighthouse just up the coast. Nearby coastal areas are teeming with life.
Tillamook once had a naval air station with blimps. As a result they have a massive World War II era hangar.
Lincoln City has a motel with a great collection of giant Tiki Men.
As we moved north we arrived in Seaside, which has a statue of Lewis and Clark at the Ocean, but they actually arrived further north at Astoria (next).
Astoria, Oregon is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean. As noted it is where Lewis and Clark founded Fort Clatsop. It has a long fishing industry history.
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Oregon is filled with volcanoes.
Crater Lakes is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. It is situated high in the mountains, and gets pounded by snow all winter. We arrived in early June when the roads had just opened.
Crater Lake is a result of a collapse of a volcano. As a result it is the deepest lake in the country, with a depth of almost 2000′.
It is home to a National Park.
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Oregon has numerous beautiful waterfalls, most are along the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland.
Multnomah Falls is the tallest at 611′, but there are many beautiful waterfalls in this area and beyond,
The Rouge Gorge downhill from Crater Lake has a number of smaller ones, but still a beautiful setting.
Bonjour de la Louisiana. Our trip today takes us to the bayou.
1977 – Bogue Chitto River. This river is 65 miles north of New Orleans in a park with more than 1,000 acres.
1979 – Bayou. Much of southern Louisiana is made up of bayous and swamps.
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The residents of these parts are very proud of their alligators.
The bayous have a unique beauty.
1981 – Acadia. This area of Louisiana has the strongest French culture. In Louisiana the counties are known as parishes. Some of the parishes in this area are over 25% French speaking (although not a French someone from Paris or Montreal would likely easily understand).
We passed through this area in 2019, making a stop at the Tabasco Factory on Avery Island.
Acadia is rice growing country.
In New Ibiera is the Conrad Rice Mill, America’s oldest.
1984 – Mississippi River. The river is the economic driver for Louisiana.
Bridges in New Orleans.
Many overseas freighters come up the river to New Orleans to dock and offload.
The tourist sternwheeler leaves for a tour.
Upriver at the crossing from Vicksburg, Mississippi to the town of Delta, Louisiana.
1986 – 1992 – 2001 – Music
New Orleans is music, food and partying.
1990 – Flowers
With the warm weather and abundant rain, Louisiana has amazing flora and fauna.
1998 – State Capitol. While New Orleans is the center of the world for all things Louisiana, Baton Rouge is the capital.
2002 & 2007 – Food
Louisiana is known for food, primarily (photos from Wikipedia)
Crawfish
Po-boys
And Beignets
2003 – Louisiana Purchase (historic New Orleans)
New Orleans was the center of the French owned territory in the new world. The Cabildo is beside St Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter.
The French Quarter is representative of the city at that time (except for all the dive bars).
2018 – Birds
Avery Island, Louisiana has a very impressive bird sanctuary.
The Hoosier State – Indiana.
1946 – Dedicated to James Whitcomb Riley, Indiana’s Poet.
His boyhood home in Indianapolis is now a museum.
1953 – Intersection of Highway 52 and 136 in Indianapolis.
1957 – Tri State Express. This is the same freeway featured on the Illinois 1959 map.
Today that freeway is 10 lanes wide
The Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond has a statue from the movie Christmas Story. It was set in Hammond, but filmed in Cleveland.
1970 – Indiana State Capitol. Dating from 1888 it is the 4th building to be the Indiana Capitol.
2015 View.
1971 – The map as a map cover. Columbus, Indiana is shown on the right.
Columbus has a fantastic collect of modern architecture. Irwin Miller was the Chairman of Cummins Engine Company, and a fan of this type of architecture. His leadership resulted in a town known around the world for the quantity and quality of architecture.
1972 – Indiana Highway 37 near Bloomington.
Bloomington, home to Indiana University, is a small city in south central Indiana. (Photo from Bloomington Tourist Office)
1973 – A collection of signs.
1976 – Indianapolis – The Return Home on the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.
The Soldiers and Sailors Monument is the center of Indianapolis. Rising to a height of 284′ (87m) this obelisk has numerous statues surrounding it and an observation deck near the top. (photo from Wikipedia)
1978 – Unidentified country scene.
1979- Whitewater Canal State Memorial. In the early 1800s canals were built all over the country, and Indiana was no different. The route of the Whitewater Canal was unique in that it had a drop of almost 500′ at a rate of 6.4′ per mile, compared to the the Erie Canal at 1.7 feet per mile.
Located in the historic town of Metamora, the canal and the accompanying buildings give a sense of life in the early 1800s.
1986 – Indianapolis
Indianapolis, as the state capitol and largest city in the state. Highlights of the city include:
The Ruins of Holiday Park are remnants from an old building in New York City sitting in the middle of a park in Indiana.
Indianapolis Motor Speedway & Museum.
Indiana War Memorial Building
The former baseball stadium is now apartments.
Indianapolis Museum of Art. The time we were there they were having an exhibit on prototype automobiles.
The current baseball stadium
Lucas Oil Stadium – Home of the NFL Colts
Skyline view (Photo from Pintrest)
1991 – 175th anniversary of Indiana.
1994 – Indiana State Highways 75th Anniversary
1995 – Indiana Countryside. The tourist bureaus in Indiana play up the country life quite a bit.
Shipshewana is the largest tourist center for this ‘country life’. With some Amish residents it is common to see horse and buggies on the roads. In addition their flea market is one of the largest in the country. (Photo from Tourist Office)
1997 – Generic map
2001 – Transportation in Indiana. The Indianapolis Airport is the 5th largest air freight center in the country.
Indiana is the capital of RV production. Elkart has the RV Museum, as well as a number of manufacturing faciities.
2003 – As with the other states in the path, this year is a celebration of Lewis and Clark.
On October 26, 1803 Merriweather Lewis meet William Clark across the river from Louisville, Kentucky and set sail down the Ohio River. That spot is now known as Clarksville, Indiana. That meeting is celebrated at the Falls of Ohio State Park.
This park has a nice view of Louisville.
2004 & 2016 – Indiana State Museum. The current building pictured here was completed in 2001.
The building is over 40,000 square feet, and covers the natural and civil history of the state. Also included is the ’92 walk’ – a collection of sculptures representing each of the 92 counties in the state.
   
2005 – Wildflower.
A few of the the Indiana State Symbols include: (Photos from Wikipedia)
State Flag – 19 stars, representing Indiana being the 19th state.
State Motto – Crossroads of America.
State Seal – Depicts a setting sun, sycamore tree, a woodsman and a bison.
State Bird – Cardinal
State Flower – Peony
2009 & 2012 – Unidentified Road Construction Projects
    
Lincoln Highway construction in Indiana in the early 1900s.
2014 – Southern Indiana Hills
The largest city in Southern Indiana is Evansville. We made a stop there on Road Trip 2019.
Vanderburgh County Courthouse
Restored Art Deco Greyhound Station – now a hipster hamburger place.
Bosse Field – One of the oldest baseball stadiums in the country.
Primary filming location for the movie League of Their Own.
2015 – Bristol, Indiana – Bonneyville Mill. This mill is the oldest in the state. It was built by Edward Bonney in 1833.
2017 – Brown County State Park, Hesitation Point. This is the largest state park in Indiana, covering more than 15,000 acres. It is known for it’s scenic vistas.
2018 – Williamsport Falls. This 90′ high falls is the 2nd highest in the state.
The flow of the falls is very seasonal.
2019 – Berne, Indiana – Settled by Mennonite immigrants in 1852. The town has been built by Swiss and German immigrants, resulting now in a small town of 4,000 residents.
It is known for it’s picturesque town square.
Lincoln Park and Garfield Park are both city parks in Chicago that have impressive glass conservatories. This time of year both are having their spring flower shows.
We start with Lincoln Park.
And now it was on to Garfield Park
Garfield Park’s is larger, with more rooms, including an impressive cacti collection.
You have seen the Patagonia jackets, but how many people know where it is? Well, it is in the far south of Argentina, and El Calafate is in southern Pategonia – not that far from Antarctica.
With a few hours to spare before our flight, we stopped by the Laguna Nimez Nature Preserve. It is a beautiful area along the shores of Lago Argentino, with grasses, flowers, and birds.
Springtime in Argentina means the flowers are in blown, as are the spectacular purple Jacaranda trees! A good day to spend in the parks of the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires.
The Montreal Botanical Gardens is one of the finest, if not the finest, botanical gardens in North America. It has a large number of specialty gardens, such as a Chinese Gardens (covered in a separate posting), as well as numerous thematic gardens – including one dedicated to poisonous plants!
Overall the gardens are amazingly beautiful, and well kept.
Audubon Park is located just south of downtown Columbus in a reclaimed ‘brown field’, aka – old industrial areas. The transformation to a nature preserve is amazing.
We were there on a Saturday morning for a ‘Beginning Birding Hike’. Our guide Erika was knowledgeable and enthusiastic.
We started out with the easy ones in the feeders.
While ostensibly we were there to check out the birds, the flowers and plants were interesting as well.
Not to mention twin turtles.
The bees were busy…
Of course I was too busy taking photos to pay attention to what type of bird this was!
As always wandering off from the crowd, who came away with more knowledge about birds than I did.
The boardwalk across the wetlands provided more flower and plant photo ops.
More birds..
The small, but passionate group was very focused.
An egret,
And a blue heron.
Despite the heat it was a great way to spend a couple of hours, thanks to the parks and our guide Erika.
