Early morning swim in December

Christmas In the Everglades

A great day among the birds and alligators in the Everglades.


Thank goodness for telephoto lenses.


Gator pretending to be a log.


Forget about worrying about the gators, it's the vultures you have to worry about in the Everglades. This sign was posted at the entrance to the Anhinga Trail. There were really huge vultures in the parking lot.


Head shot of a Double Crested Cormorant along the Anhinga Trail in the Everglades.


I captured this Anhinga along the Anhinga Trail. The word "anhinga" comes from the Brazilian Tupi language and means devil bird or snake bird.


Scene near the Mahogany Hammock area of the Everglades.


View near Pa-Hay-Okee Overlook.


Backlit palm leaf along the Mahagony Hammock trail.


The weather forecast predicted thunderstorms all day but I lucked out with great weather all day and wonderful clouds around sunset.

Christmas Eve in South Beach

80 degrees and sunny on Miami Beach on Christmas Eve.


Art Deco buildings on Ocean Avenue in South Beach.


People getting into the holiday spirit on Christmas Eve.


80 degrees on Christmas Eve.


Art Deco buildings in South Beach.


Christmas decorations against the palm trees along Ocean Avenue.


Christmas lights in South Beach.


Art Deco hotels in South Beach.

Christmas Eve Morning with Palm Trees!

Sunday in Central Park the Day After the Snowstorm

Snow covered holly in Greenwich Village.


Graffiti covered tree in Central Park.


The Gapstow Bridge in Central Park with the frozen pond in front.


Skaters at Wollman Rink in Central Park.


People enjoying strolling through a snowy Central Park.



Girl with Santa hat waiting her turn to go down the hill on her sled in Central Park.


Coming down the hill!


Taking a moment to get the lay of the land.


Sharing a ride down the hill.


Nice hat.


Family of four on one slide.


The Southeast corner of Central Park.


Snowy Central Park Scene


Interesting geometric pattern with snow on tree limbs in Central Park.


With no grass in sight I thought this snow covered sign was pretty funny.

Wintry Sunday Morning in NYC

It's cold this morning (around 25 degrees) here at Broadway and 10th Street, and thoughts of my trip to Key West next week are keeping me warm. I sure hope I-95 will be cleared so I will be able to get my kayak down to Florida. Well, for now I won't worry about it because I'm heading up to Central Park to take some photos of the snow.

This is the view from my living room window of a deserted Broadway and the 200-year-old Episcopal church - Grace Church.

View of Seattle From the Air

It was a very smooth flight from San Francisco to Seattle this
morning. Although it was very foggy when we took off from San
Francisco it was pretty clear coming into Seattle. I had a terrific
sushi lunch in Maple Valley and really enjoyed the drive from the
airport as the leaves are gorgeous here.

Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco

I finished my week of client meetings this afternoon and crammed in a few more sites before I leave for Seattle in the morning. This is the magnificent Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park.


Entranceway to the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco.


The Conservatory of Flowers had many lovely orchids to photograph.


Closeup of large green leaf in tropical room.


Closeup of flower.


View from Russian Hill in San Francisco.


View of Lombard Street at the corner of Lombard and Leavenworth. Lombard Street is billed as the "crookedest street" in San Francisco The street was built with eight switchbacks on a 40-degree slope. Here I captured two bicyclists coming down.


People milling around taking photos of cars coming down Lombard Street.

Beautiful October Day In San Francisco

I finally got to see the Golden Gate Bridge on a sunny day after having been in San Francisco previously only on foggy days.


I took this shot from Chrissy Field in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.






I took this unusual view of the Golden Gate Bridge using a very wide aperture focusing on the large chain fence near Chrissy Field.



I was lucky enough to spot several dolphins swimming near a sail boat along Baker Beach.


As the afternoon fog drifted in I drove over to Baker Beach to capture this view of the Golden Gate Bridge.


I drove to Alamo Square to capture this classic view of Victorian houses with the San Francisco skyline in the background.

Peak Color in the High Peaks of the Adirondacks

The sun briefly came out as I drove along Route 73 in the Keene Valley. I stopped to take this photo of an old church with the high peaks aglow behind.


View of the High Peaks from Marcy Field in the Keene Valley.


View from the road along Route 73 in the Keene Valley.


Ausable River in the rain.


Fall trees in the Keene Valley.


Closeup of yellow birch leaves.


Blue sky and colorful trees in the Adirondacks.


Birch tree along Floodwood Pond in the Adirondacks.


Windy day on Hoel Pond in the Adirondacks.


Birch tree in the Adirondacks.


Floodwood Pond road near Saranac Lake.

Fall Foliage in the Adirondacks

It was a rainy, overcast day in the Adirondacks but the colors were still magnificent. I drove up from New York to Lake George on the New York State Thruway then took Route 9N along Lake George.


I drove on Route 73 to Lake Placid with a side trip to Route 9 where I got this excellent shot of a waterfall on the Ausable River.


Glowing orange leaves along Route 73 in the Keene Valley.


Closeup of a caterpillar chewing a green leaf.


Closeup shot of milkweed pods.


Early morning dew on fall leaves in the Adirondacks.


Birch tree with fall foliage.


Macro of wildflowers along Route 73 in the Adirondacks.


White birch tree with yellow leaves.

Fall Is Coming to Massachusetts

The leaves are starting to turn in Massachusetts. As I hiked Greylock I took photos of the the various leaf colors.


A wide angle view of the area around Mount Greylock and Pittsfield, Massachusetts.


Red leaf hanging from tree.


Fish-eye view looking up at the trees and sky while hiking at Mt. Greylock.

Hiking Mt. Greylock in Massachusetts

A beautiful fall day in New England, perfect for hiking Mt. Greylock. It was pretty windy but sunny and warm.


The the summit Bascom Lodge provided refreshments and a roaring fire in the fireplace.


The view out of the window at the Bascom Lodge was really interesting this afternoon so I blurred the War Memorial Tower and focused on the window itself.


View of the War Memorial Tower at the summit of Mt. Greylock.


Fish-eye view from the summit of Mt. Greylock.

First Day Back in New York

Jon and I just finished a 17-mile bike ride. It's great to be home after 7,767 miles on the road. I will start sorting through lots of photographs tonight, then it's back to work tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who followed the blog and sent great emails of encouragement along the way. I can't wait for next year's trip.

Chigago Tribune

We stopped for the night at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio where we had many family vacations in summers past. I also worked at Cedar Point the summer between my sophomore and junior year of college so it's been a family favorite for years.


We arrived late so we got the evening pass for the last few hours the park was open. Jon still had time to ride the Dragster and the Wicked Twister. He also jammed in a few others since the lines weren't long for a change.


Jon ready to accelerate on the Wicked Twister.

A Quick Stop in Chicago

We stopped in Chicago because Jon had never been there. We drove to North Michigan Avenue and had a stroll on the Miracle Mile. The weather was unusually outstanding for Chicago, not windy and very warm so it made for a great visit. We had to make a stop at the Apple store of course and the great Garmin store on North Michigan Avenue since we had been using the Garmin GPS for our entire trip.


We stopped for lunch at Lawry's in downtown Chicago where Jon enjoyed some fine prime rib.


Jon posing in front of the Seward Johnson sculpture "God Bless America" located in front of 401 North Michigan Avenue. "God Bless America" (2005) was created by artist J. Seward Johnson, Jr., grandson of the founder of Johnson and Johnson.


Jon on the Michigan Avenue bridge over the Chicago River.

Celebrating My Birthday at Lake of the Woods, Ontario

Jon and I drove east from Winnipeg to Lake of the Woods, Ontario near Kenora to visit the lake cottage of Shane and Rachel Fainman. The cottage is a log cabin on an isolated island near Clearwater Bay. We had three days of absolutely perfect weather allowing us to enjoy kayaking, fishing, swimming, hiking, photography and great meals prepared by Rachel.



Jon preparing for his first ever kayak in my TideRace Hardcore Xcite 17-foot kayak.


And he was hooked. Jon quickly became an avid kayaker at Lake of the Woods enjoying the smooth water and excellent shoreline.


Jon enjoyed an impromptu rowing expedition after the small engine on the boat we were using flooded and we couldn't get it started for 20 minutes. Jon finally got it started and although he got a blister we make it back to the cottage relatively unharmed.


Very dramatic clouds at sunset on Lake of the Woods.


Jon and I spent a very nice morning doing some macro photography near the cottage. We found very interesting mushrooms and wildflowers to photograph.


I took this very small wildflower up close with a very large aperture to blur the background.


Early morning dewdrops on a spider web macro shot using a tripod.


Weed up very close.


Mushroom closeup.


Shot from my kayak on Lake of the Woods. Notice the Canadian Shield (Precambrian era rock).


Sunset from the Fainman's dock.

Visiting Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

The Forks is a lovely riverfront area in the heart of downtown Winnipeg. A meeting place for thousands of years, it is the city's most popular gathering place, attracting nearly four million visitors each year.


Canadian Pacific rail car at the Forks in Winnipeg.


As a teenager Neil Young lived in this house on Grosvenor Avenue in Winnipeg. We are staying right down the street on Grosvenor Avenue.


Pedestrian bridge over the Red River in Winnipeg at the Forks.


This bridge is the only one in North America with a restaurant in the middle. We stopped for a bite at the Salisbury House restaurant on the bridge. Great views.


Jon and I both admired the Canadian postal boxes on the street.


Jon and friend at the Forks, Winnipeg.


Canadian Flag at the Forks.

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada

A very long day of driving from Calgary, AB to Winnipeg, MB with stops along the way in Moose Jaw, SK for this tourist shot. We drove 822 miles through the endless prairie of Saskatchewan and were very happy to arrive in Winnipeg.

Taking a break at 6,900 ft. in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

We did quite a bit of hiking in Banff National Park and were rewarded with some great scenery along with tired feet.


An interesting cloud over Peyto Lake.


View of Herbert Lake, Icefields Parkway.

Columbia Icefield Bus, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

We drove the Icefields Parkway up to the Columbia Icefield. We took the Brewster Ice bus out onto the glacier and walked around a secure area of the glacier.


The Columbia Icefield is located on the boundary of Banff and Jasper National Parks and is one of the largest accumulations of ice and snow south of the Arctic Circle.


There are eight major glaciers including the Athabasca, Dome, and Stutfield Glaciers, all visible from the Icefields Parkway. The Columbia Icefield feeds streams and rivers that pour into the Arctic, Atlantic, and Pacific oceans. It was an astonishing place.


Jon on the glacier.


Hiking on the glacier.


Front of the Brewster Ice bus.

Morant's Curve on the Bow Valley Parkway, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

Morant's Curve on the Bow Valley Parkway, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada. We had just stopped to take a photograph of this very famous view when a Canadian Pacific railway train started coming around the bend. Jon and I both dashed across the road to get into position to capture the train on the curve. It was an exciting momemt and a lovely scene to photograph.

Jon at Morant's Curve.

Icefields Parkway, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

We climbed up to Bow Summit (6,956 ft summit) and the water is really that color.



We left Banff early in the morning and drove up 1A towards Lake Louise. We spotted a family of Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep on a cliff and I got this photograph with my Nikon 400mm lens.


View of Banff from the road leading up to Mt. Norquay.

Bow River, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

The Bow River in Banff National Park.


We were driving south on the Icefields Parkway and kept stopping to take photos of the sunset which kept getting more beautiful each minute. We finally settled on this spot by the Upper Waterfowl Lake and watched as the sky became more and more dramatic.

Trail Ride in Banff

We rode horses along the Bow River in Banff. The horses actually crossed the river in two places.


Jon getting acquainted with his horse.


The trail up the "rockpile" provided a great view of the aquamarine colors of Moraine Lake, a glacially fed lake in Banff National Park. Moraine Lake is about 8 miles from Lake Louise and is located in the Valley of the Ten Peaks at an elevation of approximately 6,183 feet.


The water color is due to the refraction of light off the rock flour deposited in the lake on a continual basis. I had never heard of rock flour until this trip.


We canoed Moraine Lake (that's Jon in the bow in the Lewis and Clark hat).


Jon surveying the rapids ahead.


We stopped for lunch at the far end of the lake and had some time to do some macro photography.


Wild mushrooms growing near the far end of Moraine Lake.


We hiked around Moraine Lake near Lake Louise but stuck to the trails which did not require parties of four or more due to grizzly bear activity. Bear bells and pepper spray canisters were de rigueur.


On the other end of the wildlife spectrum, however, was the extremely friendly Moraine Lake chipmunk.