Senior Graduation Photos for Sam

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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.

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I love barns and he looks relaxed here…like he’s reaching up for just a moment.

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Autumn has arrived at Indiana’s oldest and largest winery…Oliver Winery

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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!

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Dee is taking our photo here…

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Hiking the Rock Shelter Loop Trail

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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…

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Girls Gone Wild

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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.

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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!

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Hiking at Elm House

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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.

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First Stop on the Girls’ Weekend…Butler Winery

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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…

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Pets are good for you

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I love animals and like most people have pets.

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’s the Queen and here she is on her throne…

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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!

Jake hates to see me give her attention…Oh, why mommie, why?

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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!

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Water Skiing on the Ohio River

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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…

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Senior Photos for Domenic

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I really enjoyed taking Senior photos of my second cousin…Domenic!

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…

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This railroad track is located just a two minute drive away.  I used the antique setting for the coloring of the photo…

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Lunch in Golden, Colorado

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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…

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The sign as you enter town, “Howdy Folks, Welcome to Golden, Where the West lives” is a nice touch!

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Colorado has Glaciers

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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.

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Hiking St. Mary’s Glacier

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Located only an hour from Denver, St. Mary’s Glacier in Idaho Springs, Colorado is a beautiful hike and at 1 mile round trip is perfect if you’re looking for a shorter length hike and as an added bonus…you can enjoy a 10 mile scenic drive from I-70 to reach it.  Having spent six wonderful days in Colorado (except for having to escape Estes Park flooding), my girlfriend and I had a full last day planned before we left and flew home to Cincinnati.  We stopped at the magnificent Red Rock Amphitheater to take photos before returning later that evening for a concert and were stopping in the quaint town of Golden to have a late lunch after our St. Mary’s Glacier hike.

Here I am taking in the view on the hike…

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I couldn’t stop taking photos…it was so pretty!

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Attending a Concert at Red Rock Amphitheater is a Must Do While in Denver

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Attending a concert at Red Rock Amphitheater is a “must do” if you visit Denver or the surrounding areas!  As you can see from the photos, it’s magnificent.  Construction began in 1936 and finished in 1941.  My friend Gina and I stopped there Tuesday on our way to go hiking at St. Mary’s Glacier to take photos and check it out, even though we were coming back later that evening to attend a concert with Frightened Rabbit, Local Natives, and The Nationals.  They’re Indy bands and our favorite was the Local Natives.  I’ve seen an opera at the Santa Fe Opera House…also an amazing outdoor venue…but Red Rock Amphitheater is simply amazing!  In addition to the  scenery, the acoustics are wonderful and you can bring in your own cooler with non-alcoholic beverages and snacks.

You’ll notice people running and doing exercises during the day and it’s free to enter when there aren’t concerts.  Located only 30 minutes from Denver, it’s an ideal place to visit!

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I didn’t take my camera later that evening because they prohibit cameras with detachable lens.  At night there are lights situated to illuminate the rocks and it’s simply gorgeous.  Even the bands were commenting on how they felt honored to play there!  We had reserved seats in row 52, but fortunately a guy that works there gave us the tip that the first 25 rows are general admission (first come/first serve), so we sat in row 20 towards the middle and had an excellent view!  We made friends with the two couples on both sides of us and one of them even shared their homemade mozzarella cheese and homemade bread with us.

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Make Music Denver at 16th Street Mall

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16th Street Mall is a mile long pedestrian only street (16th Street) in Downtown Denver that has tons of restaurants, bars, and shops and loads of character!  Actually there are buses that are free and take you up and down the mile.  They have pianos situated at intervals in the street for anyone to sit down and play and call it the “Make Music Denver” project.  I was able to photograph a few of them.

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I took two photos of the guy on the left and he looked at me for the second one.

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Bike Denver

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My girlfriend and I arrived in Denver on Sunday from spending two nights in Breckenridge, where we had a great time at the Octoberfest.  It was raining, so after we got the keys from our Airbnb host to her condo near the Santa Fe Art District, we settled in and basically relaxed the remainder of the day.  She had DVDs, so we watched a couple of chick flicks and ordered pizza.  It was nice to have a chill out day after being on the go.  Monday we were ready to see Denver!  Although we were only a mile or two from the 16th Street Mall area, I had researched renting a bicycle and discovered a cool system called Denver B Cycle.  There are stations or kiosks located all over Denver where you can use your credit card and for just $8 (good for the day) rent a bicycle for 30 minutes.  If you return the bike to a station within the 30 minutes there is no extra charge.  If you return it within 30-60 minutes it’s an extra $1.00 and for each additional 30 minutes it’s $4.00.   We ended up spending $10 total per person.  I wanted to check out Cheesman Park which was about 2 miles away, so off we went.  Some of it was uphill, so we got a small workout.  We both liked having a basket in the front to store our things.  Next we went to the Denver Botanic Gardens…which I posted about yesterday.  Our final stop before turning the bikes in at the Convention Center was the 16th Street Mall area…a mile long pedestrian only area with tons of shops and restaurants.  I have a separate post about that also.  I have a few unique photographs of life in Denver to share with you here.

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Not only are the Denver chipmunks friendly…so are the squirrels!

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