Ottawa:
Montreal:
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Wordless Wednesday – evenings.
Tag Archives: Photography
Catching up
Ready, aim, fire!
I am getting behind! Every day we are doing more things, exploring more places and by the time we get in at night I am so tired I can do nothing more than check emails for emergencies and fall into bed.
Getting wet at Cave of the Winds.
But today we got up extra special early and have already walked 7 miles (11.3K) and we’re back at the hotel taking a nap before heading out for the evening. So I’ll see if I can give you the short version of what we’ve seen. (Click on any photo to see more detail.)
Riding Maid of the Mist at Niagara Falls.
Do you remember the trip we made last October where we saw all sorts of lighthouses? Well this trip, once we got past Niagara Falls, where we played under the American Falls and took the boat ride into Canada’s Horseshoe Falls, seems to be all about forts built in the early 1800’s.
Learning about family life at Fort Henry; kids went to school until 14, then boys had to find a job in town or join the army. Girls had to get married.
And about the war of 1812 where, according to the Canadian guides we’ve heard, America invaded and wasn’t very nice to Canadian villages.
Fort Wellington never saw a battle, but sent troops out to fight in other local villages.
We’ve been driving up the St. Lawrence River through Ontario, headed to Montreal and Quebec. We saw a couple of freighters on the river, and, near Kingston, lots of houses out on quite small, rocky islands. Seems a romantic way to live until winter arrives.
Headed west on the river.
But right now we’re in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. We toured the Parliament building this morning.
Parliament Hill, with Peace Tower.
It’s beautiful inside, designed much like the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
Stone arches everywhere.
And it has a library that reminds me somewhat of the Library of Congress in Washington DC as well. Absolutely stunning.
It was very quiet in the library. We were in awe.
After the Parliament building we walked a couple of miles to the Laurier House, where two Prime Ministers of Canada lived, Wilfred Laurier and William King, 12 years apart. Lots of history here too.
Prime Minister King ran the country during WWII from his office on the third floor, preferring it to his office in the Parliament building!
And after that…we sat on the house veranda for a spell, letting it all sink in. Then we wandered back to the hotel, noticing the beautiful buildings of a beautiful city.
Built in different centuries.
Many different cultures and influences are evident in this city.
And a river runs through it. Actually a canal.
And now it’s time for a nap.
Resting our feet.
WordPress Photo Challenge: Monochromatic
We are traveling, so I’m taking lots (husband says hundreds and he is right) of photos. I’m going to pick out a few from our first three days to show you monochromatic on vacation.
The first one is from our visit to Fort Niagara on the American side of the river.
Window with basket.
The second is from our visit to Niagara Falls.
Boat in mist.
And the third is from a marvelous spot in Ontario Canada called The Big Apple Pie Factory.
Green in red.
I knew about the challenge when we visited the apple pie store, so I took that last one on purpose. Even rearranged the apples in the barrel to my liking while no one was looking. I took full advantage of the permission granted to use a splash of color to set off the main values, especially on the apple shot, though I like the brown of the basket against the grey of the window too.
Looking through my photos I’ve learned that I take quite a lot of monochromatic shots. I think it’s something I’m drawn to, but I didn’t realize that until this challenge. You can go to the original post to see other people’s versions of monochromatic.
Thanks for stopping by!
See you soon!
Where are we now?
We started our trip near Niagara Falls, spending a lovely evening walking on the Canadian side of the river enjoying the falls, the lights, the beautiful night air.
Do you see the falls back there?
We even rode the giant ferris-wheel and got a fun view of the falls just as they were lit up for the evening.
Very large ride…and they sent us around 4 times!
We started today at a town called Niagara on the Lake. It’s unbelievably beautiful, especially this time of year. They have flowers everywhere! And the annuals are at peak right now. They have huge gardens in the medians, and along all the store fronts.
Let’s sit a spell.
I could spend this entire blog just showing you photos of flowers. But we must move on. On to Fort George, on the Canadian side of the Niagara River.
Our guide Courtney explains about life at the fort.
There we learned about life in the fort, especially during the time of the 1812 war. Life wasn’t easy. And though this fort and the fort across the river on the American side started out friendly things got rough when the British and the Americans decided they both wanted Fort Niagara for all sorts of political reasons.
Ft George was built of wood, never meant for defense. It was burned and the entire town also burned by the Americans.
It was interesting to hear the story told from the British point of view. On our way over to visit the American’s Fort Niagra we stopped at a monument for General Brock. It has 235 steps to the top; a narrow winding spiral staircase.
This is in a beautiful park.
You know we had to do that. It was a bit like running a marathon without training. Now I know for sure I’ll never sign up for the race they do up the stairs at the empire state building. As if there was any thought of doing that. Which there has not been.
After we found our way back down we headed over to Fort Niagara to hear the American’s version of the war.
Standing on Canadian soil looking across the river at Ft Niagara.
Our guide there talked about how the fort was designed. It was built of stone, by the French as a fur trading operation, then taken over by the British to control traffic on the river.
Notice our American guide is more casual than the guide in Canada.
Fort Niagara is beautiful, especially the officers’ quarters. There’s a room there, up on the second floor with a view of Lake Ontario that was begging for me to stay the night.
Guest room with my name on it.
We had a wonderful day. We more than met our 10,000 steps and 10 flights of stairs. I think tomorrow will be more of the same. My heart says go for it. My feet say take a break!
Stunning stone building protected by cannons.
I hope you will enjoy this trip with us. I wish I could show you all the wonderful things we saw. But I guess for you to truly understand you’ll have to head on up here for yourself!
Pretty in blue.
Random leftovers
I’ve been home a couple of days now and I’m sorting through photos. There are so many that you didn’t get to see. If you follow me on Facebook you saw the daily good morning lake photos, and quite a few of food we ate. But there was more to my trip than just the lake or food, or even family. Though all of that was a huge part of a wonderful trip.
Last boat ride back to the house.
I drove down to Alabama, and there was plenty to see along the way. I’ll try to share a bit of the trip with you here.
Kentucky tobacco field.
I only saw one field of tobacco the whole trip. I happened to get off the freeway for something else, and noticed barns. Well. You know me and barns..and the next thing you know I’m driving out on a little two lane road that twists and turns through farmland.
Tobacco barn
Sure was pretty, as long as you ignored that it was tobacco. Soon enough though I needed to get back on the road. I could spend hours, probably days, wandering in the country looking at farms but I had to stop it and just move on.
These people at the Tennessee Welcome Center are sort of moving and stopping all at the same time too.
Frozen in time.
It’s an art installation and I thought it was kind of cool. So did lots of people; almost everyone stopped to have their picture taken, or to take their kids’ pictures, in part of the exhibit.
While I was in Alabama I visited my brother at another large lake. We watched an osprey sit on a high tension electrical tower and eat a huge fish.
Lunch
This photo kind of makes me think about Edgaer Allan Poe. Don’t know why…just does.
On my way back home this past weekend I happened on these two old trucks in Kentucky. It was another nice find while I was driving a two lane road between tiny little towns.
Resting
Two lane trips are just so much more photogenic than freeways. Especially when you have the time to wander. Right after I saw the photogenic trucks I ran across a swimming hole…
Summer swimming time
…for cows. I couldn’t believe I actually saw cows swimming. I had to turn around and go back. I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised, it was really hot that day. The two cows in front were swimming across the pond so fast they actually had wakes behind them. Just like little motor boats.
And on the last day of the drive home I stopped for lunch at a truck stop that sold Subway sandwiches. After I got my sandwich I noticed this across the road:
Barbecue goodness
It’s a sign for a barbecue place. Probably should have gone there instead. I guess you can figure out what they serve. Can’t you?
Summer in the South. Somewhere there’s probably a good song or two about it. I hope you enjoyed a few of the sights. I know I did.
Floating
WordPress photo challenge: Connected
My mom’s been gone eleven years now. Sometimes I still feel very connected to her.
Peaches in my mom’s old yellow bowl.
Like when I’m standing in her kitchen preparing peaches for the freezer.
You can see other interpretations of “Connected” at the original post. Or check out a few of my favorites here, here and here.
What makes you feel connected?
Black & white photo challenge: Shadows and reflections
Shadows and reflections. Having spent the better part of two weeks on the lake I’ve been struck by the many beautiful reflections I’ve seen, and I’ve used quite a few of them in the last few posts. Maybe, just maybe, there’s nothing new to show you.
Still. Cee’s black and white challenge is intriguing and I haven’t done enough of them. In fact, I had to go back and watch the you tube instructions again because I’d already forgotten how to convert a color photograph to black and white since I did my last black and white for Cee’s challenge a few weeks ago.
After I figured out how to do it, the question became what to use. I had a couple of ideas but what it came down to was the still water right in front of the lake house, and the reflection we look at in all different kinds of light whenever we’re here, of the house across the way.
Early morning stillness.
You can tell the weather just by the way the house reflects in the water. If it’s dimpled there is rain. If it’s ruffled there is wind. If it’s perfect it’s water-ski water!
So I guess you can tell what we did right after taking this picture earlier in the week.
Yep, it involved a boat.
WordPress Photo challenge: Today was a good day
I’m a lucky person. I’ve had hundreds of good days and I’ve photographed many of them. Some of the very best days happened during trips; you’ve seen lots of them right here on this blog. It seems impossible to pick just one day, much less one photo from one good day.
Still, that’s the challenge.
Yosemite grandeur
So here’s a photo from a trip to California. We wandered Yosemite National Park during a misty chilly day. It was stunning, and not just at the famous and often photographed spots. Oh sure those were amazing, the waterfalls, the mountains, all were perfect even in the mist, but it was stunning everywhere we looked. And that’s what made that day a very good day.
Go to the original post to see other interpretations. Or check out a few of my favorites here, here and here.
Now take a moment and think about your life. What makes a good day for you? Share it with us, we’d like to see!
Walk into beauty
Wordless Wednesday – arch nemesis
