Chicago by Day

Jake, Kris and I found a little time on Monday to hit up Chicago in the day time.  I mostly wanted to see the big reflective bean, so we headed down to Millennium Park.  Chicago is such a cool city and we were clearly tourists.  We stopped on one random side street to capture the sun hitting the fire escape on this building.  Three of us shooting this one building attracted the attention of other photographers and soon two more stopped.  With five of us now pointing our cameras at one building, locals started asking us what was going on. We had to just inform them that we're from out of town and fire escapes are new to us.

The bean was really fun to photograph.  I would love to go back and shoot it early in the morning when there aren't too many people around... and maybe just after they have cleaned it.

Chicago by Night

I went to Chicago on business this last week for the CHA convention (Craft & Hobby Association).  We finished setting up our trade show booth by 9pm on Sunday and decided to head down town to take some cool night photos.  I can't say I really love any of these, but we had a lot of fun walking around like dorky photographers with our big tripods.  I was blown away by the number of homeless people there.  While stopped at a red light we even watched as some one completely grocery shopped through the garbage can.  I can't say enough how grateful I am for just the basic necessities of life.  I am incredibly blessed.  Equally impressive was the number of police officers cruising those streets.  Perhaps that was beefed up because we were right next to the filming of Transformers 3.

Just a much needed day on the lake.

Stake Triathlon

The Stake asked me to be in charge of photography for the Stake Triathlon.  Sweet!  I wish I always had that assignment...  I mean, of all the stake assignments, that one is my favorite.  It was a really fun event to shoot.  Here are some of my favorites:

I just love the tongue out on this one.

  

Car Cruise

American Fork hosts Steel Days and we decided to go check out the car cruise.  Pretty much everyone just sits on the curb and anyone who has a car worth showing drives the strip.  Consequently, the event draws quite a diverse collection.  It was a gorgeous evening to sit outside, eating cherries and watching cars go by.  Dad, I have no idea which cars are cool so I tried to post a variety for you!

West Coast Independence Day

   

What is more American than a baseball game, right?  Chris picked me up from LAX and we went straight to the Angels' game... who lost, but the fireworks afterward were spectacular.

I know what you're thinking.  Where can I get a sweet oversized alpine sweater?  Well, at a surf shop in California, of course.  AND it was on sale!  Score!

On Saturday, July 3rd we celebrated the all too forgotten day of preparation for the signing of the declaration of independence by spending the whole day at the beach.  We played bocci, goofy golf, smashball and wiffleball and then stuffed our faces with "Freedom Dogs".  Born of Seth Redford's creativity, Freedom Dogs are simply hot dogs, sliced open and crammed with cheese and then wrapped in bacon.  I actually ate a whole half!  Not bad, huh!  I can party with the Americans.

(I just had to include one of Chris' Bay Watch pictures. Hot stuff!)

More from Moab

We liked this rock. I mean really, how did it get there? It's not even the same kind of rock. It just looks like someone stacked it on top of that pillar. Actually, we kind of questioned the validity of the whole area after we spotted a beautiful waterfall that a little too high on the ridge to actually be fed by any snow melt or other natural sources. Sure enough there's a big pipe coming our of the rock. Even the "caves" in the area where clearly man made.

Still, we had fun taking pictures, climbing on it, and playing "who can toss a rock on top and have it stay." I was disqualified for safety reasons after my first throw went behind me.

Our next canyon was Medieval Chamber. It's pretty popular so we ended up waiting around two hours for the first rappel. We took naps, though, and Mike entertained everyone by inching a dead lizard on a stick close to those that wanted nothing to do with it. We found out as we came to the second rappel that the delay was caused by a group of first timers including a 12 year old boy paralyzed with fear on the very edge of a 140 ft. cliff. He was sobbing so loud we heard him before we ever saw him. Chris thought the whole thing was pretty funny. You can read his account on his blog. I felt so bad for him.

Pleiades

 I have been wanting to take Chris canyoneering with me, but thrice my plans have been thwarted.  Chris even started to question the existence of these so called "slot canyons".  Well, he got his fill this weekend starting with Pleiades with water flowing at an "advanced/expert" level.  Perfect for a first timer.  Fortunately, with his natural athletic ability and coordination, I had no worries at all about his capabilities... and since he had absolutely no idea what to expect, he wasn't even nervous.  I was nervous, though.  I could tell from the moment my wool socks filled with that icy water, that this was going to be an adventure. Rappelling down a waterfall flowing that fast adds an element of uncertainty.  I'm used to being able to see where I plant my foot.  This time, you could never be sure which step was going to slide right through the white water into a cave behind. You'd unclip underneath and then sprint out through the falls to whatever sunshine you could find.

The craziest rappel is where all the water funnels into this narrow channel (below), too wide and slippery to stem above.  You just had to go as fast as you could straight through it while the force of the water slammed you against the rocks.  I made it most of the way pretty well until right at the end I got flipped around and pushed up against the rock.  I slid on my back down the side and into the pool at the bottom.  Probably, the sloppiest looking rappel ever.  When I stood up dizzy and disoriented (as every looks as they exit that rappel) I noticed something was wrong.  I couldn't place it at first since my foot was so numb.  Then I realized the water hand blasted off my shoe.  It was floating in the pool nearby.

You can barely see Chris getting pummeled by the water in the photo below.

After the chute, we huddled as a group waiting for the rope to come to set up the next rappel.  The water was SO cold, and everything hurt so badly, I couldn't help but laugh at everyone doing squats and swinging their arms around to keep blood flowing.  We do this for fun, right?  This is Chris coming out of the last rappel. I can't even describe how great it was get out of that miserable waiting area and into the 95 degree weather again.