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Chihuly Exhibit in Dallas
Dale Chihuly is an internationally know artist whose medium is glass. Al sizes, all colors, all shapes. Some subtle, some even bizarre. Currently, there is an exhibit of his work in the Dallas Arboretum. Here, hundreds of his glass “shapes” are installed as a complement (and sometimes as a contrast) to the plants. His works are scattered throughout the 66 acre arboretum.
The exhibit is immensely popular. Even though the dates have been extended twice, it is always busy. And the night time exhibits — when the glass is lit up — has been sold out every evening. No matter when you go, you’ll find it busy — and many people carry some pretty darn impressive photo gear!
We managed to get in one night, and in the daytime twice. I took different cameras just to compare them, it is a great place to take pictures. Below is an album of some of the images I took, ending with some flowers… after all, it is an arboretum!
A visit to downtown Dallas
The weather was good, and we’ve never taken the train to Dallas, so this was a good time to try it out. Not quite as smooth a ride as the European trains, but plenty good enough. We made it downtown, walked some of the major buildings, and took some pictures.
The purpose of these pictures is just to play with light, colors and angles. So these are just fun pictures, not a travelogue.
Special shape balloons
One of the most exciting aspects of the Balloon Fiesta are the special shapes. A lot of design work, and assembly time, has gone into these special shapes. There are so many, here are the ones that caught my eye.
Raising Humpty Dumpty
One of the main events at the Balloon Fiesta is Evening Glow. This is when balloonists raise their balloons at dusk, and then light them up with their burners. Quite a sight when several hundred balloons light up the evening sky!
We happened on the Humpty Dumpty balloon just as it was being unpacked. So we stayed and watched (and photographed) the whole process of getting Humpty back on his feet. Or, on his wall, to be more accurate.
First, the balloon is unpacked and lain on the ground. Lines are straightened and checked.
A closeup of the burner. That packs a lot of heat!
The balloon is spread on the ground.
A fan is used to blow cold air into the balloon. This gives it the beginning of the final shape.
Then, the burner is used to get hot air into the envelope. This lifts the balloon off the ground.
The final amount of burning finishes the shape.
And voila, there is Humpty, all ready to meet and greet. The burner provides the light from inside the balloon.
And here is a view showing just some of the balloons lit up.
A day at Arches National Park
A visit to Arches NP is highly recommended. There are some fantastic geological formations, and they change their appearance depending on time of day. The morning light just makes for a different appearance than an evening image. So I have listed below an album taken over two days, but listed as if they were taken on one day.
A truly wonderful place to visit, but allow more than 2 days!
La Sal Mountain colors
We wanted to get some pictures of fall colors, after all, this is the peak time. However, we found that most of the colors have come and gone on this side of the mountains. We did find that there were colors on the other side of La Sal mountain.
So we drove over, much of it on gravel roads. We even had to ford a creek! We went all the way up to the 10,000 foot level at which point the “road” turned into a jeep trail. Not for my little Honda! But there was still lots of gold and yellow, but little reds. But there were some nice spots.
Getting closer to the mountain
Aha! Colors are in sight!
The road takes you right through the aspen stands
Had to ford a small creek to get there
Even the leaf-less trees are attractive
More attractive stands
The “road” is getting smaller
And this is pretty well the end.
Canyonlands National Park
Although we’ve been to Moab before, we’ve never been to Canyonlands NP so it was high time we went. We left mid afternoon so we could get late light, especially because I hoped to get some sunset pictures. We took our sunset pictures at the Green River overlook, and although the sunset was not the most spectacular, we got some nice pictures.
We started at Grand View, aptly named because the view is just spectacular. You look down into the valley below, and further into the canyons carved by the Colorado and Green rivers. We stopped and hiked at several locations to get as much in as we could.
Another short hike took us to Arch View. Pictures of this Arch are some of the popular sunrise photographs that you will see all over Moab. Although not as spectacular in the afternoon, it still was quite a site to see this arch, perched right at the edge of a 1,000 ft. drop off.
But I think for us the most spectacular view was of Upheaval Dome. To get there, you have to traverse a short but steep climb, at which you are greeted with an unusual sight. Inside a huge crater is a strange upthrust of greenish rock. In fact, popular theory has it that this was a meteor, hence the crater and the strange colored rock found nowhere else.
Anyway, if you have a chance to visit Canyonlands, do it. It’s worth the trip.
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- Finally, the sunset is painting the sky
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- Dramatic monument, sunset, and shadows
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- Every view seem better than the one before
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- The sunset is beginning to color the cliffs
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- The strange upthrust in the middle of the Dome
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- Upheaval Dome from the rim
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- Looking through Arch View to the cliffs beyond
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- Arch view
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- A view of the Grand View wall
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- Different shape rocks make every view unique
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- And, here Romola is viewing the grand vistas
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- Romola is peeping through a gap in some huge rocks
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- I like the look of this solitary tree against the enormous background
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- Another look into the canyons
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- A closer look at the formations in the canyons
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- Looking down from Grand View into the canyons
Our visit to Canyonlands NP was spectacular.
Twin Falls, Idaho
We over nighted in Twin Falls, and with some time on our hands we visited the famous Gorge. We couldn’t miss it, we had to drive over the Perrine bridge over the Snake River to get to our RV park! To us, it was quite unexpected to find since a scenic place in the middle of flat farmland.
To put things in perspective, perhaps one of the most famous draws here was Evil Knievel attempting to jump the Snake River, just downriver a ways.
One of the views of the bridge
A little different view of the bridge
The view looking north. Beautiful golf course down there!
And looking south, where Evil Knievel made his famous jump attempt
One of the many waterfalls along the rim
Maryhill, WA
Yesterday we stopped in Maryhill, WA to visit the museum, war memorial, and winery. This area was home for Sam Hill, the late 18th century magnate who was so instrumental in building roads in the northwest.
The War Memorial was patterned after Stonehenge in England, and bears the names of local Clickikat residents that were killed in WW 1. Later, an addition was made for WW2, Vietnam, Iraq and now Afghanistan.
The Museum was built as his house, but he never moved in, donating it for use as an art museum. It was christened by Queen Maria of Romania, who was a close friend. She donated many items to the museum. Some featured exhibits we saw:
The Winery has earned some top awards, has a great location, and a eclectic tasting menu. The winery is also well know for hosting some famous bands (next week it’s Earth, Wind and Fire, an ’80’s rock band)
- a number of sculptures by Auguste Rodin;
- Native American artifacts,
- stage sets and mannequins from 1946 Theater de la Mode,
- over a hundred unusual chess sets,
- Orthodox icons and painings donated by Queen Marie,
- a permanent exhibit on the dancer Loie Fuller,
- a permanent exhibit on Hill’s life and projects,
- an outdoor exhibit of a variety of statues.
There were many pictures to take, below is a representation.
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- The outdoors concert seating at the winery.
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- That didn’t last very long
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- Aha — wine tasting at the bar
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- An original Indian headpiece. Photos are also on display of famous historical chiefs wearing it.
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- Hand made moccasins on display
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- Some intricate basket weaving in the Native American section
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- Some of the local artist paintings on display
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- A complete fashion show in scale models
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- After WW2, there wasn’t enough material to make fashion clothes in Paris, so scale dolls were used to show new designs
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- Some intricate chess pieces
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- The museum has some outstanding (and unusual) chess sets
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- A “portable” chess set
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- One of the Russian icons on display
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- A very unusual sculpture… made from stainless steel plates, from the side it almost dissapears
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- A metal flower sculpture
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- A scrap metal horse
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- Looking at the Maryhill Museum from the entrance driveway
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- Romola taking a break to view the scenery
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- Looking west from Stonehenge
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- A view of the Stonehenge memorial
Stopped at Maryhill, WA
Fort Vancouver Lantern tour
Now that the days are getting shorter, Fort Vancouver is hosting their evening events. Last night, it was the Lantern Tour. A limited number of people are given lanterns, and Fort Vancouver Guides give tours of the facilities. There is no electricity or modern facilities, everyone experiences how things were in the 18409’s.
There are volunteers in period costumes to re-enact typical evening activities. Experiencing an evening in this manner is a lot of fun. All in all, a very pleasant (and educational) and interesting evening.
Entrance to the fort
Mike getting ready for the presentations
Eva showing of her dress
Mike and Roma showing how to make fire
Fur press to make shippable bundles
Fur weighing scale
Dr. Barclay and wife discussing events
Kitchen ladies discussing events
Roma explaining the master dining room
Mrs. Douglas and friends in an evening chat
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