Vista House

​Columbia Gorge, Oregon

As I stated in yesterday’s post, my last day at the Columbia Gorge was rain-filled. When dodging raindrops and waterfall spray, a photographer always looks for places to keep dry and hopefully get a good photo. Such was the case with the Vista House located on a rock promontory about 750 feet above the Columbia River. Vista House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offers a great view of the river looking east. Built from 1916 – 1918 on what is know as Crown Point, it has provided millions of visitors with the perfect view of the Columbia Gorge. The house itself is also a frequently photographed subject from the Portland Women's Forum State Scenic Viewpoint, from adjacent Chanticleer.

As can be seen in this photo, the inside is almost as impressive as the outside. Alaskan Marble was used for the floors and stairs in the rotunda and as wainscoting on the basement walls. The inside of the dome and its supporting ribs were painted to simulate the marble and bronze. Attached to the wall just below the dome, eight busts of four unidentified Native Americans are aligned so that each mirrors its own likeness. I really loved the stonework and the lighting that accentuated the colors.

Falling Water

Latourell Falls, Columbia Gorge, Oregon

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest and originates in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia and terminates 1,243 miles later in the Pacific Ocean. As it nears the Pacific, it forms the border between Oregon and Washington in a canyon known as the Columbia Gorge. One of the biggest attractions of the gorge are the numerous waterfalls that line the canyon, particularly on the Oregon side of the river. There are nine waterfalls that are easily accessible from the Columbia River Historic Highway that parallels the Columbia River.

Greg and I spent our last day together driving the highway checking out the waterfalls. It pretty much rained on and off most of the day so getting good photos of the falls was quite challenging. I became quite proficient in setting up the composition, wiping the lens dry and hoping that the rain did not get on the lens during the long exposure. The waterfall in this image is Lower Latourell Waterfall and is the nearest one to Portland. I took about 15 shots of the waterfall and only a couple came out without rain spots or waterfall spray.

Of course, the weather was supposed to be better the next day but I was on a plane headed home to Connecticut. I am sure if Greg stays in Oregon, I will have plenty of time to get nice weather to shoot the Columbia Gorge.

Road Trip Food Update – We were only able to eat at one more restaurant that appeared on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives after Denver.

  • Podnah's Pit Barbecue in Portland. Nice little place that features some great smoked options. Both Greg and I had the “St Helens” Brisket that was smoked for 10 hours. The smoke rings on the brisket were impressive and it was extremely tasty and tender. Comes with two sides and cornbread. I had the slaw which was average and the green chili mac’ n cheese which was awesome. One of the best briskets that I have had.

Glowing Turret

​Turret Arch, Arches National Park, Moab, Utah

One of the most photographed arch is in Arches National Park is Turret Arch. It is almost always photographed from the North Window in the early morning. Since it was cloudy on both mornings I was there, I decided to take a less classical shot of the other side of Turret Arch near sunset. It is hard to get a good shot from this angle because there is a big formation in front of the arch (you can see its shadow in this image). Fortunately, I had my 16-35 mm wide-angle lens with me and the sun did the rest. 

Road Trip Update:

It has been a busy three days since I wrote my last post. We followed through on our plans to find sunny and warm weather in Moab. On Thursday, we logged in the shortest leg of our trip at 354 miles.  After checking into the hotel, we headed right back out to visit one of my favorite National Parks, Arches. As soon as we got into the park, we hiked the Park Avenue Trail out and back and then drove around the front half of the park.

On Friday, we headed back into Arches and spent the morning there. In the afternoon, we visited Canyonlands National Park and Dead Horse State Park before finishing up back in Arches (I told you it was one of my favorites). A lot of wonderful places packed into one day.

Saturday and Sunday were driving days. We covered almost 600 miles from Moab to Boise, followed the next day with a mere 430 miles. My biggest surprise was Idaho where I expected to see lots of mountains, but the route we took was pretty flat. The funniest part of that drive was somewhere in remote Idaho when I needed to get gas. After driving what seemed like forever, we found this gas station that had a hand-made sign saying “Welcome to the Middle of Nowhere”. It rang true but what really made us get in and out of there quickly was the sign to check out their Alpacas and Rattlesnakes – time to go.

That is it for now. My last day here in Oregon is Monday and I have a really early flight to catch back to Connecticut on Tuesday morning. I hope you have enjoyed reading about our quick cross-country trip (the next one will be less rushed) as much as I have enjoyed experiencing it with Greg.


Triple D Update – Since Denver, we were able to eat at three more restaurants.

  • Red Iguana in Salt Lake City. Great Mexican place we stopped for lunch en-route from Moab to Boise. I had the Mole Negro, self-described as the “The King of Moles.” The mole was made from dried chile mulato, negro pasilla, Mexican chocolate, raisins, peanuts, walnuts and bananas with chicken or turkey. I opted for turkey. This was my first mole (yes, I was a mole virgin) and I want it again soon. The turkey was a bit dried out but I didn’t care. Shoe leather would have tasted good with this mole.
  • Bar Gernika in Boise. Checked into the hotel and headed down to the center of Boise. This bar is a very small place and you seat yourselves. We were lucky that we got there early enough and snagged the last two seats. I had the Lamb Grinder, which was incredibly tender. I don’t usually eat lamb but since Guy had it, I thought I would too (they ran out of the beef tongue earlier in the day). Greg had a Solomo sandwich, which was marinated pork loin with pimientos served on a freshly baked French roll. He proclaimed it the best meal of the trip.
  • Podnah’s Pit BBQ in Portland. Just got back from there so the taste of that great brisket is still fresh in my mind. I had the St Helens Brisket that was smoked for 10 hours. It came with cornbread, a choice of 4 great sauces and two sides. I ordered the Green Chile Mac and Cheese. Do I need to say more? 

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Mile High View and Road Trip Update

​Denver, Colorado

It is Thursday evening and I am writing this blog post from Moab, Utah. ​I know we were supposed to be on our way to Oregon but the weather forecast for Portland was 70% chance of rain for Friday, Saturday and Sunday (Monday doesn't look too great either). We got out our trusty weather app and searched the whole northwest looking for somewhere that had sunny skies. Lo and behold, we found that Moab was going to be in the high 70's for the rest of the week. Moab is home to Arches National Park (one of my favorites) and not too far from Canyonlands National Park (one of Greg's favorites). Not too shabby for a backup plan. 

As I stated in my last post, we spent Wednesday in Denver. We had great weather and walked all over the city (by Greg's pedometer we logged almost 10 miles of walking). It had been a long time since I have stayed there. Denver is a real thriving and vibrant place. Construction is going up everywhere and there is so much to do and see. I wish that we could have stayed longer. ​

I wanted to get a shot of the Denver skyline before we left. Fortunately, one of the photographer bloggers that I follow (Rick Louie) came to the rescue. He emailed me the location where to capture the image above. ​Turns out it was only two blocks from our hotel. Thanks Rick. For those of you who have not seen Rick's work, you can check it out here.

Food Update - We were able to eat at two restaurants that were featured on Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins.

  • ​Sam's No. 3 in Denver. I had the Green Chili Mexi-Burger - a grilled burger inside a flour tortilla smothered in pork green chili sauce and melted cheddar cheese. If you like green chiles and burgers, this dish is for you although I am sure it contained about 50,000 calories.
  • Steuben's in Denver. ​Greg and I had to try the lobster roll being New Englanders. We were curious how a place in Colorado would stack up. Turns out that Steuben's was up to the challenge. A very healthy serving of lobster coupled with a great tasting mayo made this a winner. 

That is about it for now. We will be staying in Moab until Saturday morning and then we'll head to Boise followed by Portland (rain or shine).​

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God's Sculptures and Road Trip Observations

​Garden of the Gods, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Got in to Manitou Springs, Colorado late on Monday. The main reason for the stop was to revisit the Garden of the Gods. Since the weather was not promising, we checked into the hotel and got back into the car with hopes of catching a sunset shot there. Unfortunately, the sunset was not to be with the cloud cover. There was one moment when the sun peeked through allowing me to get this shot of the rock formations.​

​We decided to take a breather from the driving and spent Tuesday morning in Manitou Springs. We headed up to Denver where it has been raining ever since. Our plan is to spend time in the city Wednesday before we head on towards Oregon on Thursday.

​Food Update - When I travel, I am always on the lookout for restaurants that have appeared on the Food Network, particularly Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins. Here are a quick review of the places we have eaten.

  • The Bagel Deli in Denver - Awesome Matzah Ball soup. I am not Jewish, but after eating this soup, I wish I was.​  On par with the soup at Flakowitz in Florida and would need a side-by-side taste test to determine a winner. The brisket knish was very good but the texture of the kishke was not to my taste. 
  • Bang! in Denver - Great gumbo served with jalapeño cornbread. Just the right amount of heat. ​
  • Bangkok Kitchen in Maumee (just outside of Toledo)​ - The best Thai food that I have ever eaten. Hastn't been on any Food Network show but should have been.

Road Trip Observations

  • Rest Stops in Ohio are the best I have ever been to. Nebraska has the worst.
  • The speed limits on highways in many western states range from 65–75mph. Why can’t the northeastern states wake up and smell the roses?
  • Drivers in the Mid-West actually get out of the left lane when a faster car is behind them. Try getting drivers on the east coast to do that.
  • I knew that Iowa and Nebraska was flat and open but never realized that there were no trees to be seen – only farmland.
  • I like driving but didn’t realize how much my butt hurts after driving for 10+ hours. Never been a RV guy but the ability to stand up and walk around is now more appealing.
  • It seems to me that tolls are outlawed west of Indiana. They should really be outlawed in all states.
  • Living on the east coast, you can’t drive 15 minutes without being in a traffic jam. I just drove almost 2,000 miles in the last 3 days and I am still waiting to get in one.
  • Does Nebraska have cell phone service? If so, I have yet to use it.

Abstract Spires and Road Trip!

​Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado

I just finished the second leg of a road trip to Oregon. My son Greg is headed to Oregon to stay with friends for a few months to see if the Pacific Northwest is to become his new home. He was planning to drive across country by himself but I offered to go with him. Friends and family who have travelled with me know that I plan everything in great detail when going on trips. This time, there is no plan other than trying to get west (to the Rockies) as fast as we can and then we will decide where else to go once we get there.

Holy Toledo - We left Connecticut on Saturday morning and ended up in Toledo, Ohio for the night after about 661 miles of driving through 4 states (Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio). We hopped in the car on Sunday morning, drove 688 miles through another 4 states (Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska) and ended up in Omaha, Nebraska. As I write this, our plan is to make it to Manitou Springs, Colorado late on Monday (a mere 612 miles) and maybe stay in the Denver area for a couple of nights and try to get some rest. The weather in Oregon looks pretty awful (lots of rainy days) toward the end of the week so I don’t know where we will be after Denver. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I haven’t been to the Denver area in a while and I thought I would post this image that I took last time I was there. It is the Air Force Chapel in Colorado Springs. This image was the first HDR image that I ever processed. Looking at the original HDR image now, it has all of the problems that you would expect from a first one – over-processed, lots of ghosting, too much grunge and radioactive colors. For this version, I took one of the brackets and processed it as I normally do. Much better result this time around (although I liked the HDR version when I first processed it).

Not sure how often I will be posting the rest of the week but I will try to get a few up as we move on west.

Capri Transport

​Capri, Italy

One of the ports that we visited on our first Mediterranean cruise was Naples, Italy. We were offered two tour options for the day that were quite different. The first was driving the famed Amalfi Coast and the other was a day trip to the Isle of Capri. We debated long and hard and decided on Capri. After a nice 90-minute ferry ride from Naples, we spent a great day first being driven to Anacapri where we decided to take a one-seat ski lift to the top of the island. Afterwards we ended up in town before we took the funicular down to the Marina Grande to await the ferry back to Naples. Being a little early, I wandered around and found these boats just waiting for someone to take them out.

The Frenchtown Inn

​Frenchtown, New Jersey

Growing up outside of Philadelphia in South Jersey, I sometimes would spend a day driving up the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River and come back on the New Jersey side. There are a lot of quaint towns along the river and there is rich history too. The town of Washington’s Crossing, for example, is the site of one of the seminal moments in the birth of the United States.

We recently stayed in the town of Lambertville, NJ for a family birthday party. I had not been to the area since I moved to Connecticut in 1992. We spent the day driving along the river and stopped in the town of Frenchtown, NJ. Strolling in town, I came upon the old Frenchtown Inn. It was originally built as a hotel in 1805 to serve the river and ferry traffic. The town was a favorite stop for people travelling by horse and carriage, or by riverboat, between New York and Philadelphia.

The 1900's saw the hotel prosper with the Roaring Twenties, and then gradually slide into disrepair with the Depression and the decline of river traffic and the railroad.  Since 1985, an on-going renovation project was started. The first floor was transformed into three beautiful dining rooms and a bar area, which resulted in a fine dining restaurant in Frenchtown. The restaurant has perennially been rated among the top in the State.  

I thought that this side of the inn truly conveyed the historical look and feel of America’s early years and tried to convey that through this photo.

Swiss Serenity

​Mount Pilatus, Lake Lucerne, Lucerne, Switzerland

The Swiss countryside is so lush and beautiful that, until you visit there, you wonder if photos of it were created in Photoshop. The surrounding area around Lucerne is no exception. Sailing on Lake Lucerne, you are transported from the city to a patchwork of small villages with their ancient houses and picturesque chalets. The villages are usually separated from each other by beautiful landscapes with the magnificent and rugged Mount Pilatus as a backdrop.

The day we took our trip on the lake was awesome. Every direction I looked was more beautiful that the last. As photographers, we always hope we will get that magical day that everything we shoot is good. This was one of those days for me.

The Basilica

​Basilica Santo Stefano, Bologna, Italy

Santo Stefano's Basilica is a religious complex located in the Eponymous Square in Bologna, Italy. Built in the 5th century, the complex’s driving force was Saint Petronius, bishop of Bologna.

Originally there were seven churches that lends to its local name of Sette Chiese ("Seven Churches"). Today, only four of the churches remain. Entry into the complex is via the 11th-century Church of the Cross, which houses the bones of Saint Petronius and leads through to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This austere octagonal structure probably started life as a baptistery. Next door, the Courtyard of Pilate is named after the central basin in which Pontius Pilate is said to have washed his hands after condemning Christ to death. In fact, it’s an 8th-century Lombard artifact. Beyond the courtyard, the Church of the Trinity connects to a modest cloister and a small museum. The fourth church, the Church of Saints Vitale and Agricola, is the city’s oldest.

This image is from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre where part of the octagonal roof can be seen. I wanted to get a composition that showed the cross along with the ancient brickwork.

Sailing to Marken

​Sailing from Volendam, Netherlands

After spending a few days in Amsterdam, we wanted to spend a day outside of the city and tour the Dutch landscape and traditional villages. Fortunately, friends of ours had been to Amsterdam just prior to our trip and recommended a tour to the villages of Volendam and Marken. Volendam is a fishermen's village and is a popular tourist destination. Located on the Ijsselmeer (Lake Ijssel), it has a great seaside feel to it, reminding me of some of the towns on the Jersey Shore with their boardwalk.

Marken, on the other hand, has a much different feel to it. Located across the Ijsselmeer, it was once an island but is now officially a peninsula with the building of a causeway from the mainland. Marken is well known for its characteristic wooden houses, is less crowded and commercial and has a tranquil atmosphere.

One can reach Marken from either a bus or by ferry. We luckily chose the ferry and enjoyed a beautiful trip. As we left Volendam’s enclosed harbor onto the Ijsselmeer, I was amazed on how many sailboats were out. I am no stranger to seaside locations, but I have never seen so many boats. This photo shows just a few of the sailboats that were out. The lone red sail of this sailboat stood out on the lake.

Light and Shadow Play

​Basilica di San Petronio, Bologna, Italy

Every photographer has a story when the camera “police” go a bit overboard with their enthusiasm to prevent the photographer from shooting. I have one of these stories that I have never posted about. We were on a tour in Bologna, Italy, and visited the beautiful church, Basilica di San Petronio. Upon entering the church, I asked whether or not photographs could be taken inside the church and while the admissions person did not speak English, she knew enough to point to a sign that plainly stated, “No Flash Photography”.

After entering, I started to take photos of the interior of the church along with everyone else. Of course, most of the people taking photos were using a flash but I decided not to. After about 20 minutes, I heard a lot of yelling and it took a moment to realize that it was a guard yelling at me. I tried to explain to the guard that I wasn’t using flash and that others were. No matter what I said, he didn’t understand what I was saying despite a lot of pointing. Finally, our tour guide came over and discovered that he wasn’t accusing me of shooting with a flash but rather was shooting with a “professional” looking camera. The camera in questions was a Nikon D200, which was far from a professional camera. Anyway, I was asked to leave the church.

Despite this little issue, before I left, I was able to get this window in the church that had some great sunlight shining through, illuminating its shadow on the wall.

All Lined Up

​St Mark's Square, Venice Italy

The city of Venice conjures up visions of gondolas, canals, piazzas and bridges. The city is steeped with history and its museums hold treasures of days long ago. One of the most visited parts of Venice is San Marco Square. The square is home to three of the most famous places in Venice, namely Saint Mark's Basilica, the Doges Palace (including the infamous Bridge of Sighs) and the Campanile di San Marco. The square is often so crowded that it is hard to move through it.

The day I took this image, the crowds were at their normal density. I wanted to get a shot that was a bit different from the norm that would capture some of the splendor of Venice’s architecture. This composition shows a few of the many statues that line the square with the Campanile di San Marco acting as the perfect background. The intricacy of the columns and stonework are also on display.

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Canyon View

​Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona

The American Southwest is home to one of the largest concentration of National Parks and Monuments in the United States. Known as the Grand Circle, it encompasses portions of five states – Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada. It is one of my favorite places to visit and I would need to spend years trying to take in all that the Grand Circle has to offer. Why so long you may ask? Here are a few numbers that give the enormity of the challenge: the Grand Circle contains 12 National Parks, 21 National Monuments and 29 Scenic Byways. Add into that the multitude of State Parks and you get a sense of the magnitude and beauty that is contained there.

Much of the scenery is obvious with large sandstone rock formations, buttes and mountains that are seen from great distances.  Other parts of the scenery are not as obvious until you start to really explore and discover caverns and canyons like the one pictured in this image of Canyon de Chelly National Monument along the eastern border of Arizona. From ground level, there is no indication that there is a canyon that encompasses 131 square miles until you walk up to the edge and get a view of the immense canyon floor. It is part of the Navajo Nation and there are numerous ruins along the walls of the canyon. While this image shows a minute portion of the park, one still gets a sense of how huge and beautiful it is.

Late Night Bridge Crossing

​Cologne, Germany

The night scene in this image was taken from the roof of our riverboat this past September. We had docked on the Cologne waterfront along the Rhine River. After a day of wandering the streets of Cologne, it started raining just before we re-boarded the boat. I was hoping to get some night shots after dinner and hoped that the rain would stop. I went up to the roof after dinner and this railroad bridge was the first thing I saw.

Known as the Hohenzollernbrücke Bridge, it crosses the Rhine and is the most heavily used railway bridge in Germany. Originally, the bridge was both a railway and street bridge and was heavily used during World War II. In 1945, German military engineers blew up the bridge when Allied troops began their assault on Cologne. Today, it is only accessible to rail and pedestrian traffic.

I really liked the glow of the bridge after the rain and was able to catch a train crossing the bridge during this 11-second exposure.

Glowing Rocks

​Camden Hills State Park, Camden, Maine

Maine has the most stunning and rugged coasts on the Atlantic Ocean coast. The official length of its coast is 293 miles, but when measuring actual coastline including all of the coves and jetties, it logs in at more than 4,500 miles. Factor in the more than 4,600 islands that are part of Maine and you total approximately 7,000 miles. It is no wonder that one of Maine’s primary industries is shipbuilding.

The coast has very different characteristics depending on where you visit. Acadia National Park in northern Maine has some of the most spectacular and rugged scenery on the east coast. A mere two hours south, many of the beaches consist of rocks – not very rugged unless you try to lay on them. The beach in this image is part of Camden Hills State Park and shows how rocky the beach can be. I was able to capture this image just after dawn where the rocks took on a great glow from the rising sun.

Tunnel Ahead

​White Pass & Yukon Route, Skagway, Alaska

The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. narrow gauge railroad that links the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. The railroad was built during the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s to transport prospectors to the gold fields.

The railroad track traverses 100 miles and climbs 3,000 feet in 20 miles.  The ride features steep grades, cliff-hanging turns, two tunnels (including this one) and numerous bridges and trestles. The steel cantilever bridge was the tallest of its kind in the world when it was constructed in 1901.

When I first looked at this image, I wondered why the people in the cars ahead of me were sticking out in precarious positions to get a good shot and then I remembered I was one of those idiots just a few cars back. What we won’t do to get the shot.

Grand Ceiling

Grand Central Station, Manhattan, New York

​

Grand Central Terminal or Station is one of the largest train stations in the world with 67 tracks leading to the suburbs of New York City.  The original station was opened in October 1871. Between 1903 and 1913, the entire building was torn down in phases and replaced by the current Grand Central Terminal. The original ceiling was conceived and finished in 1912 and featured an elaborately decorated astronomical theme. In 1998, a 12-year restoration of Grand Central revealed the original luster of the Main Concourse's ceiling. A peculiarity to the ceiling is that the sky is backwards, and the stars are slightly displaced. One explanation it is God’s view from above.

This was the last shot that I took during our half-day visit to the station. Fellow photographer and instructor Scott Vincent was kind enough to lend me his fisheye lens to capture this image. Thanks Scott.

Beach Light

​Five Mile Point Light, New Haven, Connecticut

The Five Mile Point Light is a lighthouse in New Haven, Connecticut that is located five miles from downtown New Haven and marks the harbor entrance to Long Island Sound.  It replaced the original lighthouse that had a weak light and low elevation, which provided no protection from disaster (at least one ship crashed into the rocks about a mile from the light). This “new” lighthouse was built for $10,000 and opened in 1847. Like its predecessor, its light was extinguished in 1877 when the offshore Southwest Ledge Light replaced it for navigation. Today the beacon is still dark but remains the centerpiece of New Haven’s Lighthouse Point Park and its tower was renovated in 1986.

Totem Pole and Yei Bi Chei

Monument Valley, Navajo Reservation, Utah / Arizona Border

Two of the more famous sandstone formations in Monument Valley are the Totem Pole and Yei-Bi-Chei. Most of the formations in the Valley have descriptive names and it is often unknown whether the names originated with early settlers, the Navajos or others. 

It is pretty obvious how the Totem Pole got its name to anyone who has seen a totem pole. It is approximately 350-foot in height and is all that remains of a butte that has been eroded over the years. It really illustrates the destructive force of nature.

The formation known as Yei-Bi-Che is located just east of the Totem Pole and was named by the Navajo as it resembles a number of dancers emerging from a Hogan. Navajo men perform the spiritual Yei-Bi-Chei dance during a sacred nine-day ceremony called the "Night Way Ceremony".

This image was taken near dusk and can only be taken when accompanied by a Navajo Guide.