320photoblog

Hoover Dam Bypass Project – walking the new bridge

mel320photo — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 23:03:09 +0000

I did a post earlier this year that showed the progress of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge and we recently drove out to see and drive the new road and over the new bridge. It is a very quick trip, but one that will make any commuting from AZ to NV a much easier path. There is a nice walk up (stairs or incline walkway) from a parking lot up to the bridge. You can walk about half way over the bridge.

Here is the view.

©320photography Canon G10 ISO 80 f/4.5 30mm 1/640th sec

What really happens at football games

mel320photo — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 17:42:49 +0000

We went to the season opener of the UFL Las Vegas Locos last night, it was a lot of fun! We met a bunch of fun people that we look forward to seeing again at the next home game. I had always wondered what really goes on at the stadium during the football games. Sure, it is a lot of fun to hang out with your friends and watch games on TV. You all play armchair quarterback and listen to not-always-so-good-commentary. The UFL even takes the camera and a reporter in a suit (yuk, it was in the 90s yesterday) and interview players during the game. Reporter “you carried that ball over 10 yards, how do you feel?” Player ‘I feel like we are really having a good game.” Or Player “It was AWESOME!”

So what exactly happens during commercial breaks on TV. Nothing, absolutely nothing. The players stand around, the water is run out to them. They joke around with the refs. And the fans, well – they spend their time doing what people do at home. Drink beer. Lots of it.

The guys sitting behind us we are blast! And the more they drank, the funnier they got. It started out as a simple wall of beer.

Then, they made the first of many beer-amids.

Towards the end of the night the group had consumed the contents of over 40 of these shiny cans.

The last beer-amid they tried to build even included donations of shiny cans from others around them, but alas….not so steady hands…..

Unfortunately, the Locos did not win their season opener – but there is always next time. Looking forward to the next game.

MN trip – July 2010 – time to go back to the desert heat

mel320photo — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 18:47:08 +0000

Day 8 and it is time to go home. We have really enjoyed our escape from Nevada and hope to come back another day (but not likely in the winter). My family and I did have the opportunity to check something off of our bucket list before leaving MN, we saw an eagle – just hanging out on the top of a tree.

Of course we really aren’t very close to it, but it still was a treat to see. Didn’t see a single one when we drove across the country and through Yellowstone, but we see one in Hoyt Lakes, MN….

And, as we are also heading out of town there is one sign that I have to laugh at every time we drive by it. If you have been following along on the blog, you understand that Hoyt Lakes, MN is a pretty small town. But at some point someone felt it was necessary for this sign.

Funny. I have not once seen this area congested in the way city folk understand congested to mean.

Our time has been relaxing and full of adventure at the same time. I had truly been relaxing, and all was well ….until we got to the Duluth airport. This is the smallest airport I have ever seen in my life, it only has 4 gates and only recently went up to 4 gates because Allegiant Airlines expanded the gates by one. The TSA here take their job very seriously. Both of my kids and my carry ons were pulled out of the security line after x-ray for manual searches – which resulted in my camera equipment being pulled out and meticulously reviewed. I have a Pod ‘bean’ bag with a tripod mount on it (beans are small plastic pellets) which lost a lot of beans on the floor as it was being inspected. In the end, my stuff (and my son’s) was scanned by xray three times after the manual inspection. This caused a HUGE backup at security (because there are only three TSA folks working – one to xray and two to manually search items). Frustrating.

I don’t know that I can go through that again…when we come back I think we will just fly into Minneapolis and rent a car. Happy to be headed home from Gate 1.

MN Trip – July 2010 – Day 7 – Duluth and road food

mel320photo — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:19:00 +0000

Our day started out with a trip to the shopping district at Canal Park, near the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth. Amazing display of architecture. The driving surface of the bridge lifts up to allow floating passage underneath, not your average every day type of bridge. It was originally built in 1905 as an aerial ferry, but updated in 1930 to include the lift for the transport of cars. The bridge spans about 390 feet, and rises and lowers up to 30 times a day during the busy shipping season. The lift is just right above the top of the buildings in the photo below.

After spending the morning shopping we had one last road trip, with a lunch stop on the way.

And low and behold, a name familiar to just about anyone who has seen the pop culture film (as raunchy as it is).

Nothing says adventure like a stop along a random highway for road food. Pretty good burger, great onion rings.

MN trip – Day 6 Split Rock Lighthouse

mel320photo — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 22:01:20 +0000

Day 6 brings us on another short road trip, north of Duluth to the Split Rock Lighthouse. Minnesota history reveals that in November 1905 a terrible winter storm caused a great deal of problems for the shipping and iron ore industries. Twenty nine ships were damaged. After that day a group of shipping industry people spoke with Congress about the need for a lighthouse in that area to help guide ships away from the rocky shore and in 1907 Congress agreed to the building of a lighthouse in the Split Rock Area. The lighthouse was completed in 1910, making 2010 the hundred year anniversary of the completion of the lighthouse. A government organization called the US Lighthouse Service ran the lighthouse compound until 1937 when the US Coast Guard took over. It continued to service the shipping industry until 1969, when modern day instruments made the lighthouse obsolete. The State of Minnesota made it a scenic landmark in 1971 and created the state park that now encompasses a 2,200 acre area.

There are many hiking trails in the area, including a hike down 130 feet to the shore (either by path or by stairs). The stairs are built alongside what was one a tramway, built to carry supplies from the shore up to the lighthouse compound. We chose the stairs….absolutely no need to find a stairmaster while on this trip.

The light in the lighthouse was originally lit by a kerosene oil lamp, it was converted to a 1,000 watt electric bulb in 1940. The light flashed every 10 seconds and each flash lasted about a 1/2 second. The light can be seen 22 miles from the lighthouse. The lens was built by a company based in France and sits atop a motor run originally by gasoline based compressors.

The Split Rock Lighthouse was an enjoyable trip to the past and is recommended if you are traveling along the north shore of Lake Superior. Website.

MN Trip – July 2010 – Day 5 – Glensheen (Congdon Mansion)

mel320photo — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 15:24:32 +0000

Day 5 – we drive down from the Iron Range to Duluth, where we will stay for the remainder of our adventure. Our main attraction for the day is to visit the Glensheen Mansion (aka the Congdon Mansion). This is an amazing estate and gives you a clear example of the way the top 5% lived back in the day.

The mansion itself is a grand example of architecture. The house was constructed in such a way that it will stand the test of time pretty well. The house has 39 rooms and has over 27,000 square feet of living space. It was finished in 1908 and was far out from the city at that point in time, now of course there are many neighbors. It cost over $800,000 to build, in todays dollars that would be over $30,000,000. The interior walls are about a foot thick as they are made of concrete, which pretty much sound proofed the entire house. A lot of modern technology was incorporated into the house; there was a central vacuum system, a gravity operated water reservoir system and the house was ‘wired’ with an internal communications system, consisting of a complex system of magnetic switches, which would alert a servant via a bell ring of who needed assistance and what room they were in. Much thought went into the decoration of the house as well. The main entrances were walled with intricately, hand carved wood, one main entrance came in from the road and the other came in from the lake side. Mrs. Congdon did not want to have a ‘back door’, these two doors share the same entrance foyer. Mrs. Congdon also insisted other items in the house be made to be more appealing, such as the radiator heating system was disguised to make it more atheistically pleasing. Each individual bedroom had its own bathroom, except for the bedroom for their adopted son as he was not part of the direct immediate family, but he was also given one of the biggest rooms. The Congdons came from humble beginnings, and they showed a great deal of respect for their workers. The servants and cooks had their own wing of the mansion, not extravagant, but built in a comfortable manner that allowed them to have some privacy.

One of the most intriguing aspects of this tour (for me) was the visit to the attic, which is only included on the expanded tour. The attic houses a tremendous collection of National Geographic magazines, every one of them since they were first printed. Photographers dream of images being published in National Geographic…including me.

This is an amazing experience and I highly recommend it for anyone. Website. Tickets to the mansion – $13, tickets to the expanded tour – $24, worth of the National Geographic collection – priceless.

As a visitor, you are not allowed to take pictures inside the mansion, but from outside is allowed.

The grounds of the mansion are very well maintained and some of the most beautiful lilies I have seen are growing there.

The weather started to look really amazing from the mansion. This is looking towards downtown Duluth and the aerial lift bridge.

MN trip – July 2010 – Day 4 (a day of rest)

mel320photo — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:24:05 +0000

We hung around at my mothers house on day 4, for a much needed relaxing day. It rained! This is an awesome sight for us desert dwellers – where rain usually comes in the form of mud spots as the sprinkles only seem to pull the dust out of the sky (half way). A nice steady, light rain that you could watch for hours.

We did venture out to do some shopping. First stop was the local drug store in Hoyt Lakes. One of those kind of stores (kind of like Walgreens) where you can find some of the strangest things. We purchased vanilla and chocolate milk straws. They are ‘straws’ that have little beads of flavor stuffed in them and when you ‘drink’ (aka suck) the milk through the ‘straw’ it changes the flavor of the milk. Strange. We also headed to the local shopping mall in Virginia, MN. Again, I am always amazed at what you find in small towns. Like a book store that is also a yarn store (below). How does that happen?

MN trip – July 2010 – Day 3 – Iron Range

mel320photo — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 16:09:09 +0000

Day 3 includes another road trip. Before heading out, I took a couple of quick shots of Pelican Lake and the flowers outside the hotel.

We left Orr and headed towards Grand Rapids, MN and then eventually on to Deer River and Jesse Lake. My mother grew up on a farm in Jesse Lake, with her 12 siblings and she attended Deer River High School. Our trip to Jesse Lake was to visit my father’s grave and where many of my deceased family are resting peacefully. It is a nice spot, wind rustling the leaves. Peaceful. Our round trip included a stop for lunch in Deer River and back to visit family in Grand Rapids. For those that don’t already know…Judy Garland is from Grand Rapids, MN and there is a museum there that showcases her life and career.

Heading back to the Iron Range, we stopped to see the statue dedicated to the workers and life of the Iron Range. The statue was created in 1987 by artist Jack Anderson and is titled “The Emergence of Man Through Steel”. It is 36 ft tall and is made of copper and brass. My teenage son is standing at bottom right to give you a sense of scale. Oddly enough, the miner depicted is cross eyed and stares down at the McDonalds that is across the street.

MN trip – July 2010 – day 2 Up North

mel320photo — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:31:57 +0000

Day 2 brings a road trip. The route – a whirlwind of northern Minnesota – almost as far north as you can go. We headed up to International Falls, the goal/intent to get a stamp in our National Parks Passport Book at Voyageurs National Park. Lots of trees, lots of green…which to us desert dwellers is very strange – we are used to seeing dust, rock, and the occasional tumbleweed. International Falls is the second busiest international rail port in the United States. It is known as the “Icebox of the Nation”, and if you watch TV during the coldest days of winter, International Falls weather is usually referenced on national level news for the chilly temperatures.

Before we headed into the park, we stopped to eat lunch at a restaurant on the edge of International Falls called the Chocolate Moose (how could we not stop with a name like that?). Food was excellent and abundant…and we couldn’t leave without having chocolate. The signature dessert is the Milky Way Mousse Cake. It is chocolate cake topped with chocolate mousse and chocolate and carmel drizzled on top. This is not going to be a very healthy vacation, but it sure is going to taste good.

After lunch we make our way to the park. It is really a beautiful drive to the Rainy Lakes Visitor Center. Voyageurs National Park is the only National Park in Minnesota and is mostly made up of lakes and provides year round activities for the outdoorsman. Most of the park is only accessible by water and there are many resorts, camping areas and residences in the area. According to the NPS.gov website – “Although the first proposal to designate the area as a national park occurred in 1891, it wasn’t until 1975 that Voyageurs National Park was established after a lengthy legislative battle that began in 1962. Many people were involved in the movement to establish Voyageurs National Park, including Ernest Oberholtzer, one of the founding members of the Wilderness Society in 1935. ” Much more info about the park can be found on the NPS website http://www.nps.gov/voya/index.htm

We went on a quick walk on one of the hikes and I was pretty much in a close up photo mood most of this trip….

After the walk we headed back south to stay the night in Orr, MN on Pelican Lake. The highlight of this day was our evening activity, a trip to the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary. The sanctuary includes over 500 acres of wooded area for the bears to roam free and exist without human disturbance, but they do have a viewing area inside the sanctuary in which they feed the black bears that live in the sanctuary. The visiting public is allowed to walk on a deck that is roughly 20 feet up in the air, close enough to see and learn about the bears – but far enough away that they are not disturbed. We saw 20+ bears while we were visiting. Not too far from the viewing platform, three cubs were napping in a tree (amazing how they sleep in those positions).

The Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary is worth the visit, I would recommend it to everyone. More info at http://www.americanbear.org/

MN trip – July 2010 – day 1 – Lakes

mel320photo — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:04:23 +0000

Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes…the name Minnesota actually comes from the Dakota word for “sky tinted water”. It is very fitting. The childhood story about the lakes tells us that Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox footprints are the origins of all the lakes. Actually all of the lakes (actually over 11,000 lakes) were formed when four glaciers melted and filled in the depressions in the land.

We landed in Duluth and stopped at a nearby mall for some quick shopping and lunch before heading to our ultimate destination for the day. We ate at a local hamburger place and I had one of the most sinful patty melts I think I have ever had. On pumpernickel bread, it was topped with sauteed mushrooms and onions, cheddar cheese, blue cheese crumbles and french dressing. Evil food at its best.

After lunch we started our trek on remote, tree lined highways to begin our adventure; spending several days in the Iron Range, the areas surrounding the towns of Virgina, Hibbing and Chisholm. We spent our first day in the Virginia area, Hoyt Lakes to be specific. Hoyt Lakes is a small town that was created mostly to support the Iron Ore industry, which was booming several years ago. Hoyt Lakes now describes itself as a family oriented resort destination. The town is bordered by two lakes and has a popular campground at Fisherman’s Point. This location is not only a pleasant area for camping, but it offers several walking trails as well. Listening to the water come ashore, the sea gulls discussing the latest catch and the families enjoying water sports is a great way to end the day.