Chicago Botanic Garden

(Or as the locals say "Da Botanical Gardens ober dare")

We went on a cool and windy Sunday. The wind was kicking up the spray from the water fountain in the lake which resulted in some cool "rainbow" views. Later, as we were walking around the Japanese Garden section, I saw a blue blur out of the corner of my eye and realized a blue heron had landed 15 feet away from me. It looks like a pterodactyl descendant.

As usual, click on the above picture to see more photos.

Bahai Temple

I call it "The American Taj Mahal". The Bahai Temple in Wilmette is an amazingly beautiful and detailed building. Very cool to see if you visit the Chicago area.

Mundelein Seminary

This is the view along my 3.6 mile running route near work. With views like this, it's a great incentive to get out and run.

Fall Road Trip

The best time of the year in the midwest is the fall. And the best way to experience it is a road trip on a motorcycle. Bob, Kim, and I hooked up in Lake Geneva, WI, then we headed south along the Rock River on Illinois Route 2. A great day and a great ride!

More Carcassonne Pics

Click on the above pic to see the rest.

More Toulouse Pictures

Click on the above pic to see the rest.

Carcassonne

Last week, I was sent to Toulouse, France on the usual 2-day Moto-notice. We were scheduled to be here for a week, but that has turned into two weeks (so far). So, I ended up "stuck" in southern France with a weekend off (I know, I know.... boo hoo, poor me!).

My travel buddy from work (Kai) likes to hike around and run around as much as I do, so we headed for this medieval fortress/castle called Carcassonne. Saturday started out rainy and humid. The weather then turned great and we took the train from Toulouse to Carcassonne past huge fields of sunflowers. Once there, we stumbled into a nice little Chinese restaurant and had lunch. From there, we hiked to the fortress. I have many more pictures to post, but I hit my limit on flickr, so I'll wait a couple of days before I post those.

Le Dragon!

On Sunday, after visiting the (horrible) Museum of Modern Art, we walked to the Japanese garden. It was a beautiful place, but I was too lazy to haul the big camera around for a 2nd day, so I will post Kai's pictures later.

Le Menu

Choose your poisson (fish that is!) I'm actually learning enough French that I can read these menus. Who says old dogs can't learn new tricks. If you click on the picture, you can see some of the prices. 1 euro is currently about $1.57, so a 22,50 E plate is about $35 US.

Night time

Night life in Toulouse. Lots and lots of little street cafes. The weather is great, unfortunately, the people at the next table are usually smoking. I'm spoiled by the smoking ban in Illinois!

Try it, Mikey!

Don't know what the heck I'm eating!

Actually I did, this was duck pate (ground up duck liver) with lard (AKA fat) congealed on top. A spread for the bread. In Toulouse, all the traditional dishes are made with duck parts... livers, hearts, you name it.

458 Miles

Yesterday, Bob, Yarko, and I met up with Kim in Janesville, WI. From there, we did a big loop on some twisty country roads to the Mississippi River and back. Totals for the day -- 458 miles, 13 hours, 1 memorable ride. Bob found the route on the web (here) and I loaded it into my GPS and we went where the GPS lead us. It was a great route that we'll probably do again. The views of the Mississippi were very much like the views from my Savanna trips last year. I didn't get pictures of the Mississippi on this trip, we were too focused on getting gas and lunch.

The GOOD Pictures

I'm back from two great 4-day vacations. To supplement the crummy phone pics below, here are the pictures from my Nikon:

For the first part of my vacation, I took the kids to Ocean Isle Beach to visit with their grandparents. Click here to see these photos.

After that, Jody took me to NW Michigan where she spent many of her teenage summers. Click here to see those photos.

Sunset over Lake Michigan

Happy 4th!

Sleeping Bear Dunes again

Sleeping Bear Dunes in Michigan

Michigan sized sand dune!

On the way to NC

We're in the Cincinnati airport which is in Covington, Kentucky (Really!). Flight was smooth and short. We'll be in North Carolina in a few hours.

Mikey bites the dust!

I survived a Catholic wedding! My camping buddy Mike is hitched now. He was beaming all day. Good to see him so happy!

Let them eat pie!

Happy birthday to me!

Book 'em Dan-o!

If you are old enough to remember the TV show where the above line came from, then you know I'm talking about the big FIVE-OH. Today is the day. I'm 50 years old. WOW! How did I get this old so fast? Where did the time go?

Oh well... I've got two great kids, a wonderful girlfriend, and I'm healthy and in shape. Life is good. Bring on the next decade!

Jody threw a big birthday bash for me at my house and my brother, sister, and sister-in-law made the trip from Ohio for the occasion. A great time was had by all. We had about 50 people over and the weather was perfect.

Karen put together a collage of pictures that prove I've **ALWAYS** been a nerd. Some things never change!

Rhymes with....

Yes. This is an orange. I'm just trying to post to my blog from my phone. This is only a test.

Zep Still Rules!

Last night Jody & I went to Ravinia to see er, make that HEAR Robert Plant & Alison Krauss.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Ravinia, it is an outdoor amphiteater that seats maybe 1,000 people with a beautiful grassy area behind it for about 2,000 more people. You show up with a blanket, a bottle of wine, some food and candles and enjoy the music under the canopies of trees and glimpses of stars. The lawn tickets are only $20 which is a bargain for a concert these days.

Highlights for me were "Battle of Evermore" and a very interesting re-arrangement of "Black Dog".

Back in Black

Well folks.... many years after the demise of carlgrube.com, I've finally ventured back onto the web.

What got me back? I got a new camera -- a Nikon D80 with the Nikkor 18-200 VR lens.

It's a pretty sweet rig, but it will take me a while to figure out how to use it. For starters, I set the camera up as instructed at kenrockwell.com.

I love the way the colors *POP* in his pictures. I think these settings are great for scenery, but perhaps over-the-top for portraits. I still have 4 zillion buttons and settings to play with before I understand this camera.

Here are some of the first shots. Click on a photo to see the full sized image.

Westin in the Barrington Pool

Delainy by the Fox River

Boy Scout Camp Napowan

Poison Oak