Where Eagles Dare

Just got back from a fantabulous trip to the Northwoods of Wisconsin for some rest and relaxation with the whole family..  No hard work of camping this time.  Just plain ole "bring the bags into mom and dad's house tell them what you want for dinner". Yeah, right, it doesn't work that way.  But, we had a really nice time just relaxing, fishing, swimming, and enjoying the heat wave that is engulfing the midwest.  I got the usual shots of kids and family, but the real stunners were some of the wildlife shots I got.  To make it even better, the shots of the eagle to follow were when all of us were coming back from a nice dinner in a northern "resort" restaurant.  My son and daughter got to see this magnificent creature closer than I ever did in my youth, and I grew up among the giant carnivorous birds.  It was really quite a sight.  The others are of an early morning drive I took one day.  Of course, there were the ones that got away.  While my son and I were heading out for a day of fishing, there was a bear along side of the road.  We doubled back to get some shots, but he was gone.  The other shot that I really regret not getting were of two fawn deer, spots and all, feeding in a fog covered meadow.  I saw them as I was barreling down a county highway and I slammed on the brakes.  Did the reverse thing for about a quarter mile and they were still there when I stopped.  But, as soon as they heard my car door opening, all I saw was tails bounding in the other direction.  Those shots will be for next trip, I'm sure.

Back to the 80's

Music is a big part of me as far as entertainment goes.  Pretty much all genres.  Some people say thats because I'm moody.  Makes sense.  Different genres for different moods. Many of my best memories are my years of going to outdoor concerts in the summertime.  And most of those were in the 80's and 90's.  And you know what that means................HAIR BANDS!   Yeah, I saw plenty of hair bands.  The dicitionary defines a hair band as "The word to describe a band that plays a genere of music commonly known as 'hair metal'. the music was well known in the 80's, and characterized by: all of the band members having extremely long hair, usually high pitched male vocals, and heavy, piercing, distorted guitars."  So, tonight I went back to the 80's and saw a couple of bands that were in the area- Great White and Queensryche.  And you know what? It was a great time.  Went by myself (wife copped out a couple days before the show), met some others that were there for the same reasons as me, and I threw my hair around with the best of them(those who know me and my hairline will be laughing at that statement).  I can't hear anymore, but that was going to happen eventually anyway.  Now, life is just more peaceful......sooner than later.  I took alot of shots tonight, some with my phone, but most with my camera.  I wanted to post several of them, but, unfortunately, at this late hour, I can't seem to where I downloaded the camera pics to on my computer.  I do know where my phone shots are on my computer so that will do for tonight.  I gotta say, my phone took some good shots as you can see by this one of some of the Queensryche members.

Duster

One of the highlights of growing up in the farming land of Wisconsin was the sound of the local crop duster flying over the house at 7 am. dusting the fields with its magic potions to help the farmers grow a healthy crop of whatever.  I swear, sometimes, you thought that plane was coming right through your bedroom.  As a kid, you immediately jumped up and ran outside hoping to witness the pilot's aerial gymnastics.  Some of those guys were true daredevils.  The really good ones would go under the telephone wires and between the telephone poles before pulling up to circle around again.  If I'm not mistaken, that's illegal to do these days.  While up north a couple of weeks ago, I was awoken to the sound of a cropdusters loud engine flying overhead.  I, maybe out of latent habit, jumped out of bed, grabbed my camera gear, rousted my son, jumped into the car and started driving around to find out which field he was headed to next.  Sure enough, a little farther away than I anticipated, but still only a few miles away, we found where he was performing his next show.  I started snapping away and I truly believe when these pilots see an audience they start putting on a show.  He made sure he was safe, but he added a few thrills like coming straight at us, at a low altitude, which made me drop my camera down from my eye once or twice.  Once I was comfortable that he had it under control, I was able to catch some decent shots.

Double Fun

In almost 50 years and uncountable days at the beach, I can't say that I've ever swam under a double rainbow.  My kids can, though.

Soak up the sun

Spent 4 wonderful days up in my home country of Wisconsin  a few weeks back.  One of the favorite places for my kids to explore is the Eau Claire Dells. After several days of camping we headed back to my folks house for hot showers and an actual sitdown dinner.  But, before all that we took a jaunt to the dells.  Perfect place for climbing rocks, river swimming, and catching some rays.
One shot is my daughter soaking up the sun, and the other is my two plus a friend allowing me to grab one nice panoramic portrait.

  

No one was "Starving" for fun

This last weekend we spent at a State Park here in Illinois called Starved Rock for our annual Cub Scout Troop summer camping trip.  About 60-70 parents, cub scouts and siblings spent Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday morning living out of tents.  My son is very lucky to belong to this troop.  From what I hear from some of the parents who brought their boys over from other troops, this is the premier pack to be part of.  And since we joined a little over a year ago, I haven't been disappointed with the involvement of all the leaders and parent volunteers.  They really plan fun and exciting things to do and everything they plan has an impact on how these boys will mature into men.  The highlight of our trip was our Saturday hike through part of Starved Rock to Wildcat Canyon which culminated with a waterfall and a place where we could sit and eat the lunches we brought along. Hiking up and down hundreds of wooden steps in 90% humidity did not deter us. It was worth it.  Along the way, the boys saw deer, beavers, snakes, pelicans, and, of course, a waterfall, which my boy was excited to see as you will see in the following pics.  A great weekend.

                                                                                              

          

Tiptoe Through The Tulips

Visions of Tiny Tim with his ukelele singing his theme song, "Tiptoe Through The Tulips" went through my head while at my daughter's dance recital the other night.  Yes, I remember sitting and watching TV with my Grandma back in the early 70's and she was getting quite the kick out of watching him (You must also realize my grandmother was also a hardcore fan of Allstar Wrestling which was pretty hot back then.) The talent at the show the other night was much better.  Some of those gals doing their thing on tiptoes, though........amazing.