December Trip West - Day 2

After a restful night it was another road day.  Today I will make it to Moab, Utah where the trip really begins.  It was another uneventful day but once in Denver I got above the clouds.  The drive thru the Rockies was under clear skies and just beautiful.  As I passed Vail it dawned on my why ski resorts are on the north facing side of the mountain.

I actually stopped along the way, some place in Colorado, and used my camera for the first time during the trip.

I'd almost reached Moab and there was still a little light so I decided to head up to Canyonlands 'Island in the Sky' and out to Grand View Point.  By the time I got up there it was dark and snowing.  I walked out to the overlook and saw clouds, just a wall of clouds.  I had to take a picture of my first view at Grand View Point.

Roger
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December Trip West - Monday Dec 12, 2011 - On the Road Again

My long awaited trip to California for Christmas has finally arrived. After working Sunday night and getting home about 1:30am I wasn't about to get an early start.  My goal was to get to North Platte, Nebraska a 630 mile drive.  I ended up hitting the road about 9am after a nice breakfast and chat with Carolyn.  Carolyn was going to go on this trip with me but decided she couldn't take three weeks off work.  It would have been nice to have her come along but she will be flying out to meet me in Calif on 12/23 and spend our first Christmas together with my family.  While she won't be with me physically she will be with me in spirit.

The drive to North Platte was very uneventful.  Weather was overcast but not raining nor snowing.  It was a good start to the trip.

What more can one say about sitting in the car all day traveling thru Minnesota, Iowa and Nebraska.

If your reading this post when it's originally posted you can follow my journey as I mark places using Spot. You'll be able to see the 7 most current locations that I mark.  Check my location here: Where is Roger

Lastly updates will likely be infrequent depending on internet access but hang in there I'll get to them.  This trip starts on Dec 12, 2011 and ends on Jan 4, 2012 so there is lots to see.

Roger
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20 Images on My Walk

Today at noon time I took a walk with my dog Thule and my iPhone. Here are 20 images from that walk.

Roger
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Sculpted Grains of Sand - A One Person Exhibit

I'm pleased to say that I have a one person exhibit hanging, and spinning, at the BOX Art Gallery in the Thrivent Financial building in downtown Minneapolis. The exhibit runs from Nov 1 to Nov 30 2011, except for Thanksgiving Day. Hours of the exhibit are 7:00am to 5:00pm weekdays, closed on weekends.

The exhibit consists of 25 images I've made in two trips to the slot canyons of the southwest. It is an amazing journey entering the slot canyons where water and time have carved the sandstone into interesting and varied shaped. This exhibit emphasizes the abstractions found therein.

After returning home with these images I found myself mesmerized by the different illusions I was seeing as I rotated the images around in a circle. I wondered how I might bring this experience to a viewer of this exhibit. After some experimenting I can up with a way to attach a lazy susan swivel to the back of a framed image giving the view the ability to spin the image to any orientation. 12 of the images in this exhibit have been mounted in such a fashion.

Another 13 images are framed as stationary images but are printed much larger giving you a more detailed view of the canyon. All of the images can be seen on my website: Sculpted Grains of Sand

If you are downtown Minneapolis during the month of November make your way over to Thrivent Financial and check out the exhibit. There are a few 30 minute parking spots in the alley behind the building so you can see the exhibit for free.

Roger
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Two Weeks Later

It'd been two weeks since I last visited "Loon Lake". At that time we didn't have any idea when the chicks would hatch. All I knew was that as soon as they did I was going to get back up there. I'd seen many pictures of loon chicks riding the back of their parents and I wanted to see that myself. Travis would keep a vigilant eye on the nesting adults by visiting the lake every day.

As the days rolled by Travis started talking like an expectant father worrying about his little clutch of chicks. We knew that the eggs hatch after a 26-31 day incubation period but we had no idea when that incubation period started. We also knew that this was really late in the hatching window and maybe the loons first clutch was unsuccessful.






I had predicted, this isn't one of my more accurate skills, that the chicks would wait two weeks and hatch just before I was planning to return. Well sometimes you just get lucky and this time it was great luck for me.






On Thur July 14 I got a message from Travis that a chick had hatched. It didn't take but a few hours for the second chick to hatch and out into the water they went abandoning their nest. Finally we have babies and the excitement that had been simmering the previous few weeks started boiling. It was perfect for me.








Over the course of the next few days we spent many hours in our kayaks on the lake. "Loon Lake", actually the real name is North Lake, is a small lake surrounded by bog that has just one good area to enter with kayaks. Beavers occupy the lake and have built a dam that increases its size. We were quite aware that our presence on the lake might stress the Loons, so much of the time on the lake was spent exploring the shoreline. Heck it was just fun finding a few dead trees to hold on to and just sitting there enjoying nature.





One thing I noticed right away from my previous trip. During that first trip aLoon was sitting on the nest under a hot sun panting all of the time. We were sitting across a little channel in the shade with our drinks and snacks listening to Thule snap at flies and mosquitoes (we had insect repellent on so weren't being bothered). But this week we were out on the water in our kayaks under the hit sun trying to stay cool. Meanwhile the Loons were on, and under, the water living in their element. Quite a contrast it was.





I finally got to see loon babies riding on the back of their parent. Watching them for hours and hours gives one a little peek into their lives. The plan for me is to return every two weeks and watch them grow into adulthood. So back again in two weeks I will come.

Roger
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