Trip to Chicago
I spent most of the week in Chicago, working with a client in helping to launch a big engagement.

Day One: Hour by hour, worse and worse
Our launch team consisted of great people, and Day One went well. However, as the day progressed in length, my voice recessed in volume. By the end of our session, my vocabulary was reduced to teenager speak--a few grunts and groans separated by chunks of silence. That evening was even worse--ordering dinner at the hotel was an ordeal for me and my waitress, as my tools of communication were limited to fingerpointing and head nodding. I went to bed pondering how I was to facilitate Day Two, and even more disturbing, I had a presentation to give on Day Three to people from around the country. A consultant without a voice is like an artist without a brush--quite difficult to do the job!

Day Two: Thank goodness for technology and high-school typing
I felt that the only way I could give a speech on Day Three was to rest my voice during all of Day Two. Yet, I still had an important assignment to complete. Luckily, the stars aligned. My client has a great set-up in their conference rooms where you can directly hook your laptop into a large HD TV on the wall. You can switch quickly to different documents much faster than with a traditional projector.

In addition, back in 1970 I took a class in high school on typing, and was able to do quite well. This combination of technology and learned skills (plus patience and understanding on the part of the others on the team) allowed Day Two to be successful. As the rest of the group talked, I was able to type out suggestions and respond to questions relatively quickly. I was happy with the outcome, but exhausted as I headed back, took an early dinner, and went to bed hoping my voice would return for the next day.

Day Three: The Great Flood
I awoke, cautiously tried my voice, and determined that it had improved to 80% intelligible and only 20% garble--I could give my talk! Feeling good, I walked through the cold pelting rain into the rental car of my Swiss colleague. As we pulled up to the frontage road, we gazed upon the flooded areas and our only road of escape that was covered by a couple feet of water racing like the rapids on a raft float. Ahead was an abandoned car in the median and a quarter mile of rushing water between us and the main road. As we drove/floated through the running water, I was picturing us barefoot and shivering, holding our bags over our head, trying to keep our balance as we trudged from our abandoned car. Not to worry, we made it safe and sound with a good story to tell.* The speech went well, and after some flying delays due to the horrific weather I made it home that evening.

*I left after my presentation, however, the other members of my team and scores of others had to be rescued from the hotel by trucks later in the day as the flooding forced the closure of the Marriott.

Weekly Photos
Alas, this week I only produced one photo worth sharing. Here is an airplane window shot at sunset somewhere over Georgia.



However, just for fun, I pulled out some old pre-blog shots from different locations that you might find interesting. Let me know if you can guess where they were taken.













Old Trucks
Here are two not-published old truck pics.





See you next week.

P.S. Motoring Across America 2013 is getting closer!

Tags: travel photography, portrait photography, pet photography, Nature Photography

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Morning Hikes
Here is a view from our buddy’s window--just another day. As we hiked the woods, the forest floor revealed the Crayola colors of the fallen leaves.





Quick Trip to Vegas
On Monday I flew to Vegas to attend the annual symposium of my top-notch business partner. I stayed at the Belagio where the session was held--what an amazing place. Here are a couple of early evening shots from my room.





Great conference, but I was glad to be picked up at the Kalamazoo airport Friday afternoon by Janny and the Kids.





The once-brilliant fall colors were gone from the trees, replaced by brown leaves covering the ground like chocolate shavings on a trece leche cake. The moderate temperatures were starting to drop, with forecasts of future snows starting to make the nightly weather reports. Time to head South.



Heading South



Late Saturday morning we hooked the car to the coach and headed south on Highway 131 taking the back roads through the small towns of southern Michigan and the tiny bergs of northern, then central Indiana. When Jan and I got tired of driving, Mitzy was willing and able to take the wheel (she does have a heavy paw, though).



Old Trucks
As usual, here are some old trucks.

Headlights

October 28: Red Bay Alabama to visit Tiffin Motorcoach factory
October 29: Apalachicola, FL
October 30: Home on the Island

Tags: travel photography, Michigan, Las Vegas

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Late Sunday morning we broke camp and drove for about an hour to Chatfield State Park, our home for two weeks.

Baby Natalie
Here are two pics of three-day-old Baby Natalie—she’s almost grown up already.





In case you missed them and have an interest, last week’s shots of just-born Natalie (all downloadable) are available by clicking here.

Austie Camping
For most days this week, Jan has picked up Austie from pre-school in the afternoon returning him back the next morning. During our time together, we walked the Pups several times a day, built superhero Legos every night, played at the park at all hours, and discussed world issues continually--good thing I’m in shape for an old guy.

Morning Hikes
I had the luxury of taking long morning hikes every day with a few photo ops.







Birding Walk
On Saturday morning, Jan and I joined a group of about ten for a birding walk inside the park. Joey, our leader, was a library of both avian and park knowledge, and he shared his favorite places for finding migratory birds. Also had the chance for a close-up with a mature bull snake.













Bath Night
Here is a picture of the always-feminine Mitzy on bath night.



Culinary Shot
All that hiking and fresh air takes a lot of energy. Here is a shot of Jan’s Thrasher Beef and Veggie Soup.

Headlights

April 29-May 5: Chatfield State Park
May 6-10: Colorado Horse Park
May 11-14: Travel south and west
May 15-24: Durango, CO (near Denver) to visit family
May 25-31: Blue Spruce Campground Vallacito, CO
June 1 On: ???

See you next week.

Tags: travel photography, Bird photography, Colorado

Contents

Rearview Mirror - Summary of the past week
Headlights - Our schedule as to where we will be heading

Note: click on any photo for a larger image/slideshow)

Rearview Mirror

Final Preparations
Although we are now “old pros” (at least part of the term fits :’>), we still had lots to do in final preparation for our trip, but by Wednesday at 10 AM, we were ready. Our motorcoach, BERT (Big Expensive Road Traveler), was loaded, and our main cockpit crew of Jan and Mitzy were rested and at the wheel. Jerry and I were busy studying maps and plotting courses.





The Plan
The plan for Phase One of our trip was a simple one: relentlessly drive north and west to the very western tip of Texas. Hence, we took I-75 north to the top of Florida, then west on I-10 crossing out of Florida, touching the bottoms of Alabama and Mississippi, skirting across the bayou lands of Louisiana, then grinding it out across the girth of Texas.



Stops
Our stops for the evenings included such exotic locations as Vortex Springs, Florida; Jerreau, Louisiana; Seguin, Texas; and Van Horn Texas. True Americana.

Conditions
From the beginning and for the majority of this segment, conditions were excellent: warm weather, beautiful skies, pleasant scenery, fairly flat, fairly smooth highways, and moderate traffic. Yes, we had some slow time due to traffic jams caused by wrecks and road work, but overall we made good time. However, that started to change on Saturday as the scenery became more and more desolate the further west we drove and the winds began to pick up. BERT slowed down and forearm muscles tightened on the wheel. We drove through dust storms the last couple hours of the day. After setting up we were happy to be inside. We heard the wind howl and smelled the swirled dust all night. OMG! Glad we aren’t tenters!

Pics Along the Way
Although Jan is the primary bus driver, I give her a break every few hours. Mitzy, however, is always at the ready--here she is driving from my lap.



It also seems like more and more pups are taking the wheel. Here is a truck-driving dog that Jan captured.



At one of our stops in Louisiana, we had a hay field behind us. Having an Impressionistic moment, I was inspired to take this pic of a hay bale and later paint it on the computer. I call it my Bayou Monet.



At another stop, our camp host lived in a boat, and at the same camp, this cool old truck was parked behind us. With a little work, it would make an awesome tow car.





Finally, here are shots of a flower box, a mailbox from our morning walks, and one of an off-the-leash flying Jerry.







Audible Books
It is hard for me to type the words “audible books” as my muscle memory wants me to type “books on tape.” Oh, the pace of technology. As you all know, listening to a good story makes the miles fly by. For several hours we listened to Driving in the Rain, by Garth Stein. I believe just about everyone would enjoy it, but especially dog lovers and car racing enthusiasts (Jerry, Al, Ben, and Jeff immediately come to mind). Highly recommended. We also listened to Sick Puppy, by Carl Hiaason. Along with being an excellent writer, Hiasson is a staunch environmentalist, and most all his books contain some element about Florida and environmental abuse. A good read that all Floridians can relate to. I recommend this book as well.

Winn Dixie Cats Update
Yes! The public outcry has worked--Winn Dixie has backed down on its plan to evict the cats. Thanks to all those who shouted out against tyranny.

Headlights

April 15: Guadalupe Mountains National Park
April 16 - 20: White Sands National Park
April 22 - 22: Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
April 23 - May 5: Chatfield State Park, CO (near Denver) to visit family
May 6 on: As of now, our plans are to head to Durango and the Four Corners area for a few weeks

If you have recommendations regarding the above itinerary, I’d love to hear from you.

See you next week.

Tags: travel photography, Americana