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.