Last night my husband and I were treated to dinner at Hollywood Casino‘s newest restaurant, Hops House 99. It was their Grand Opening! As we approached the entrance I took a photo…
With 36 HD TV‘s and 99 beers to pass around…you can definitely stay entertained here! After being seated, we had the difficult task of choosing one of the 99 beers. We both chose the Bourbon Ale and loved it! It has over 8% alcohol…so we didn’t have a second.
Before heading out to jog the other morning, I wanted to capture some sunrise photographs. I drove a few minutes along the country roads, found a place to pull off and began shooting the sunrise. I had a similar experience the day before trying to shoot the sunset. None of the photographs turned out…but I loved these looking the opposite way from the sunrise of someone’s fence and small pond. The fence reflection is pretty cool! And the pink sky is lovely.
Perhaps this can be a metaphor for life…if the direction you’re heading in isn’t working out…try a different way.
Looking out of my kitchen window while preparing dinner a few days ago, I realized the sun was going to set soon, so I stopped what I was doing, grabbed my gear…Nikon D5100 and tripod…and drove a few minutes away to capture it. Our yard is surrounded by trees, so you can’t see the sunset from our home.
I parked in someone’s driveway, with a view of the top of their home in the distance, beyond a large field of corn. The corn and sky had a nice hue from the setting sun…
The reason for my title “Life is Like a Box of Chocolates” is that I went out with the intention of capturing the sunset, but none of those photographs turned out well. Instead, I returned with corn field photographs and the others shown below. So…you just never know what you’re going to get in life!
Long Branch Farm is a Cincinnati Nature Center property, located in Goshen, Ohio with 632 acres and 5 miles of hiking. I live very near here and trail jog five or six times a week with my dog…Jake. Many days while I’m jogging, I’ll wish I had brought my camera because everything is so beautiful, but when you have a dog like Jake with you…that’s not an option. So I laced up my shoes, while Jake was prancing around thinking he was going, and left without him to take photographs. I usually jog about 4 miles and cross the creek about 3 times. This is an area where you jog along the trail bordering the creek.
There’s a moss covered pond that looks quite pretty in the early morning sunlight…
Sam was my third Senior Graduation Photo shoot and what a handsome guy! His mother and I were waiting for a nice weather day and for the leaves to change some. She called me a couple of hours before I did the shoot to see if I was available. We only had an 1 1/2 hours of daylight so I worked fast. I really like this one. It’s near the end of the shoot. The light is falling on his face, but not in his eyes and didn’t cause him to squint.
I love barns and he looks relaxed here…like he’s reaching up for just a moment.
Oliver Winery in Bloomington, Indiana has stunning scenery…stone landscaping, sculptures, beautiful flowers, and tranquil seating areas. For my annual girls’ weekend this year, five of us visited the winery this past Saturday. It’s one of eight wineries on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail. The day before, a few of us went to the Butler Winery, which is also on the Indiana Uplands Wine Trail, and really enjoyed our time there. They are very different from each other. Butler Winery is much smaller, has a more homey feel and natural beauty, and only a handful of people were there. As you’ll see from these photos…Oliver Winery was very crowded, but beautiful!
Dee is taking our photo here…
I love hiking and so do my girlfriends, so on our recent girls’ weekend, we went hiking on the Rock Shelter Loop Trail in Morgan Monroe State Forest, Indiana. I had researched hiking trails in the area, and this trail seemed to be a good choice. The trail was only supposed to be 20 minutes away from our Vacation Rental by Owner (VRBO), but getting lost on those back country roads made it seem much farther. We couldn’t find the trail head once we were in the State Forest, but luckily I had the phone number for Morgan Monroe State Forest with me, so we called its location. We weren’t going crazy…there was no sign for it. The large sign said Low Gap Trail and then once you park and start that trail, there is a small sign (see below) indicating that the Rock Shelter Loop Trail is part of that trail.
Anyway, it was supposed to be a three-mile hike, but ended up being four miles. I took a photograph of this leaf that was on a slick rocky portion of the trail. The sunlight was illuminating it…
OK…so we’re not really girls anymore…more like ladies…but we did get a little wild! Here are some photos from the 24 hours we spent together (excluding sleeping time).
Dee (the Chiropractor…the 2nd photo down on the right) gave us a partial Pilates class Saturday morning, so Cindy put on an outfit she had bought recently that makes her look like I Dream of Jeannie.
I can’t divulge what story Gina (in the middle) was telling us, but it was obviously very funny! Cindy (on the left) was also a bit appalled!
For my annual girls’ weekend, I found a Vacation Rental by Owner in Bloomington, Indiana (aka Elm House) that had everything we were looking for—a home located on 100 acres with hiking trails, three bedrooms for five of us, two bathrooms (a must), a hot tub, and two wineries located within five miles! If you read yesterday’s post, you’ll recall our first stop was a winery located five minutes from the property. From there we found the house, unpacked the car and took a quick tour of the house. Elm House has three short maintained hiking trails on the grounds, so we laced our hiking boots and headed for the longest trail…a one-miler. There were only three of us at this point. Two of the ladies weren’t arriving until around 6:00pm.
Here’s a beautiful view from the house looking down at the sawmill that is located on the property.
When I prepared the itinerary for my annual girls’ weekend this year, I included a stop at two of Indiana’s beautiful wineries.
After driving three hours from Cincinnati and getting lost a few times on the back country roads, we were ready for a glass of wine! I had Google map directions and my friends had smart phones, but some of the streets didn’t have signs and we lost signal with the phones. Butler Winery, located just five minutes from the Vacation Rental By Owner, was a convenient and fun stop! They offer six complimentary tastings.
Notice the reflected vineyards in the window…
A dog named Jake and a new addition to the family…a cat named Kate or Katie. If you’ve read my blog in the past, you probably have seen photos of Jake, so I thought I’d let you meet Katie. She’s very sweet, loves to eat and definitely has put Jake in his place.
She has some favorite places to lay around…on a padded bar stool in the great room and on a pillow on my desk. A friend had her for a short time…long enough to realize she wasn’t getting along with her other cat…so I agreed to take her. I wasn’t sure how the dog and cat would get along, but after a shaky start, within the first week they now walk by each other without any clawing or hissing from Katie. Jake is a big sweetie and would never hurt her…but I can see her point of view. When you’re as tiny as her and there’s a big dog wanting to play, I think I’d be a bit worried too!
You’ve probably heard about the studies that show how our blood pressure drops when we pet dogs or cats. I actually get sleepy when I pet Katie…now Jake is another story. He’s so playful and hyper most of the time…mine probably goes up with him!
Saturday, my husband and I took my son and nephew boating and water skiing on the Ohio River. I’ve been water skiing since my 20’s and love slalom skiing (with one ski). We prefer the Ohio River to the area lakes because there are fewer boats, which means better skiing conditions. Because of weather and a surgery that my husband had, this was only the second time we’ve taken the boat out this season and most likely the last. Temperatures are supposed to drop into the 60’s by this weekend. The water was quite cold but invigorating! Slalom skiing is like riding a bike, once you’ve mastered it, you don’t forget how to do it. It feels great to be strong and continue to participate in sports as I get older.
My son took some good shots…
I don’t know him very well and although he seems a bit shy, he seemed to loosen up and enjoy himself during the two-hour photo shoot. He’s in the school band and not only plays the saxophone, but also the guitar. As you can see, he’s very handsome. His father, now deceased, was full-blooded Italian. This first shot was in my backyard…
This railroad track is located just a two minute drive away. I used the antique setting for the coloring of the photo…
The little town of Golden, Colorado is situated less than 30 minutes drive from Denver. My friend and I stopped there for a late lunch/early dinner after hiking up to St. Mary’s Glacier. We were headed to see The Local Natives and The National Bands at Red Rock Amphitheater. After walking a few blocks through town and taking some photographs…we stopped at The Bridgewater Grill for our meal. We were seated on the outside patio with a view of the small river/large creek. It’s attached to the Golden Hotel. The food was good…I would recommend it.
This statue of a man fly fishing is cool. At first I thought he had a bull whip…
The sign as you enter town, “Howdy Folks, Welcome to Golden, Where the West lives” is a nice touch!
One of the cool things about traveling and having a blog is it forces you to do research and learn things…like…how many glaciers are in Colorado. Well not specifically how many…but is there more than the one I hiked which was St. Mary’s Glacier in Idaho Springs which is only an hour from Denver. If you read my last post you know St. Mary’s Glacier is only about a mile round trip–that it’s uphill and at an elevation of around 10,000 ft.
Here are some photos of the glacier and my girlfriend and I.
Sherry Lachelle Travels 