Category Archives: Nature Photographs

Scotland 2014

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We had a great, albeit, quick visit to Scotland. We flew into Glasgow from Iceland, drove up to the Isle of Skye, ran over to Aviemore, and our last city was Edinburgh. Surprisingly, we had quite a few sunny days! We really enjoyed the scenery, the people, and, especially, the cask ales. Jacquelyn was able to find a cask cider that was out-of-this-world delicious in Aviemore.

We were able to see the highland games outside of Glasgow in a very small city of Dunoon. Very, very, cool experience. We showed up to the Isle of Skye on a sunny day and had beautiful scenery. The single lane roads were tough to navigate at first but I was finally able to handle the narrow roads and driving on the wrong side :).

Here’s some things we learned:

  • Driving on the wrong side of the road is super tough, at first. Pulling out of Glasgow airport to drive to our first destination near downtown was an absolutely terrifying experience. The shifter is in the middle of the car and I have no coordination with  my left hand!
  • Scotland is a few weeks from a vote on independence. It’s pretty cool to see the various political banners throughout the cities and countryside. It appears as though farmers are not big fans of independence. Maybe a subsidy related thing? I’m not sure.
  • Scotland has a hog-pogg of measuring systems. Speeds and distances are in imperial (miles, mph) and volumes are in metric. Weird.
  • Scottish sausage (think breakfast sausage) is terrible. I worked in a meat processing facility while in college and it tastes like like how the meat processing area smelled. Terrible. Just terrible.
  • We had mind-blowingly awesome fish and chips. Just out of this world delicious.
  • Driving on the wrong side of the road is already bad enough. Driving on the Isle of Skye where the two lanes (my lane & opposing traffic) drop to a single lane for both directions is insane. Buses, trucks, cars and sheep all share the narrow road.
  • Cask ales are the best. It makes me re-thing what I’m doing with my life and makes me want to drink only cask ales. It’s too bad cask ales are not common in the US.
  • The faucets are ridiculous. I guess the technology of combined hot / cold faucets hasn’t arrived to Scotland yet. Everyday we looked forward to either scolding hot or freezing cold water. No in-between.
  • We had very good weather in Scotland. I guess that’s not common.
  • Much like Iceland, gas is expensive at about $10/gal

 

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

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Iceland 2014

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Fortunately for us, the volcano Bardarbunga  didn’t erupt and we were able to leave for Iceland as planned. We saw a lot of natural sites like waterfalls, mountains, and so on. We spent some time in Iceland’s biggest city, Reykjavik, and then went out into the countryside to see the natural beauty of Iceland. We didn’t see the sun too much except for the last day.

Interestingly enough, hot dogs and lobster soup see to be the national delicacies. We had both and, unsurprisingly, they were delicious.

We spent four nights in Iceland, I think that was just right unless we spent more time exploring the countryside. If I were to return, I’d really like to drive the entire ring road.

Things we learned about Iceland:

  • Tiny coffees that are expensive: 8oz for about $3. Don’t tell Starbucks or they may lower their serving size and increase the price.
  • The Icelandic language is very difficult to learn and say. It’s pretty much the only place I’ve visited were I decided that learning, “Please” (vinsamlegast) and “Thank You” (þakka þér) are not worth it.
  • Gas prices are about the same everywhere. In the US, it’s common to have different gas prices in different areas with touristy / remote areas being the most expensive. Not the case in Iceland. That was really cool!
  • Outside of Reykjavik, it’s really desolate! About 2/3rds of Iceland’s population (~300,000) lives in Reykjavik.
  • The topography is amazing, it looks a lot like Alaska but way more accessible and no trees.
  • Hot water from the tap has a sulfur smell. Cold water not only tastes great but is nice and cold.
  • It’s not sunny like all the pictures portray. In fact, it’s quite cloudy and damp.
  • It’s completely possible to take a little Hyundai i10 offroading.
  • Hay and sheep seem to be the main crops for the locals.
  • Everything looks like it was purchased from Ikea.
  • Most everyone speaks English and Icelandic.
  • Iceland’s international airport is really nice.
  • Gas is super expensive at about $8/gallon.
  • There are no stop signs, just yield signs.
  • The grass & lichen are neon green.
  • The roundabouts are awesome.

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

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Prospect Mountain (ADKs) and Kaaterskill Falls (Catskills), NY

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I ran up to Lake George and hiked up Prospect Mountain in the Adirondacks. It wasn’t an overly long trail it’s just that it went up the side of the mountain with little to no switch backs for about 1,200ft. Much like all the mountains in this area, the switchbacks were missing. No idea if the technology hasn’t arrived yet or what. It was a good view on top and a beautiful day. Next, I ran down to the Catskills to hike Kaaterskills Falls. It was a fun, short hike to the base of the falls. The cool breeze felt great on such a hot and muggy day.

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

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Huyck & Potterskill Preserves, Rennselaerville & Rotterdam, NY 2014

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I ran down to Rennselaerville, NY, to hike around Huyck Preserve. Very beautiful falls, a neat park all-around. It was a gorgeous day for a hike and there was hardly anyone around. I’m still trying out my new 70-300MM lens and forgot to bring my 16-35MM so all of the pictures are ‘close’ :).

After going to Huyck Preserve I ran up to Rotterdam to see the Potterskill Preserve. The trails were a lot more rigorous and the falls were much more of a trickle. It was still a fun time and I enjoyed the 7mi loop. This time, I made sure to bring my 16-35MM :).

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

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Chicago, Wisconsin and Traveling

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I spent some time in Chicago for work and ran out to Fabyan park – an old farm that has been turned into a park. They had a cool Japanese garden and a great view. I had a chance to run up to Mercer Wisconsin for a wedding and saw some very beautiful country. Surprisingly, northern Wisconsin is quite beautiful – who knew!? However, traveling in the spring and summer can be tough. The Chicago IL – Mercer WI – Rochester MN – ALbany NY trip had some weather challenges. Since it’s spring, bad weather can come out of nowhere and make life difficult, especially at an airport. I had a short layover at O’Hare turn into a very long layover due to a very large storm rolling through. Some hours and five gate changes later I was off 🙂

Enjoy the pictures!

Chris W.

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Albany in the Spring 2014

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We’ve been enjoying the spring here in Albany. Lot’s of grilling in the parks and a little bit of hiking. We ran out to Utica to visit Matt’s Brewery – the place that makes Sanarac beer, my favorite beer! It was a very fun visit and had “Strange Flavor Chicken” at a local Chinese restaurant.  I also found a great spot to take photos of downtown Albany at night!

Enjoy the pictures!

Chris W.

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Vancouver 2014

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Leaving to China from Albany is surprisingly complicated. There aren’t a lot of good flight times from Albany and it’s a lot more expensive to fly from the east coast of the US to China. So, I decided to route my trip through Vancouver and get a free afternoon in the city to run around. It was more spectacular than I thought – very beautiful, it smelled great, lots of places to eat, plenty of things to see and, of course, everyone’s very nice!

While walking around, I heard a local remark, “we finally have a nice day”. I’m glad that “nice day” happened to be when I was there!

Enjoy the pictures.

Chris W.

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Cherry Blossoms in Washington D.C. 2014

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We had perfect timing; the weather was just right and the cherry blossoms were out. We were able to see the cherry blossoms around DC in all of their splendor AND, and this is an important AND – we saw an SR 71 and Space Shuttle! Washington DC is my favorite place to visit – so much to do, most everything is free. All around fantastic visit!

Enjoy the photos!

Chris W.

Winter 2013 / 2014 & Travel

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We have to travel to go see our family now that we’re in Albany, NY. I also have to travel quite a bit for my work since I work remotely in New York. The winters here in Albany are delightful compared to Minnesota. For example: the snow generally falls vertically from the sky and very gently. In Minnesota, the snow typically is moving horizontally at a very high speed. It doesn’t really get that cold either, generally around freezing. Unlike in Minnesota where it was -30F for awhile. With that said, it doesn’t prevent the folks here in Albany from complaining about the winter :).

So here’s some photos from the last month or so where we traveled back to Minnesota for the holiday & work, Chicago for work and Philadelphia / Pittsburgh for work. I really liked Pittsburgh; great skyline view, great food, great airport, super easy to get around.