Scenes along the river

The address reads Pine Street on the sign...

Fun at the dog park in Illinois

Wally and Lily enjoy their freedom at the Lake Forest dog park in IL

Beautiful day - it rained a little and then the sun came out.

Aunt Cathy keeps everyone on track...

The James J Hill House in St. Paul, MN

Mom's birthday today and we spent he afternoon in St. Paul. First, the James J Hill house - builder of the great Northern railroad. Then on the the Blair Arcade to "Fabulous Fern's" for lunch. Afterward the Garrison Keillor book store! I think it was called "Pretty Good Books".

Sunday on Barn Bluff

This picture is a camera mistake - but I love the effect.

Summer is coming to a close on the bluff.

Although it looks deserted up here, there are a couple

dozen people rope climbing at the rock quarry. Also,

lots of people hiking and taking pictures like me.

The boat houses at Bay Point Park, as seen from the bluff.

There is almost no place I love as much as the North ridge of the bluff
It is quiet enough to hear leaves falling.

Soon we will be dreaming of this kind of green.

New graffiti reminds me this is a popular place.

I am able to get a little closer to the wildlife with my new lens.

Last day

Vacation is almost over - tomorrow I go back to work after 10 days off. This is the first vacation in a long time that I spent at home. I loved it. Sadly, I didn't take as many pictures as I wanted to because the lens on my camera is broken. Having it repaired seemed like more expense then was worthy of the lens, so a new one has been ordered and will be here sometime around Sept 16th. It's a bit better than the broken one, so I'm excited about using it.

This year the Minnesota State Fair was on the agenda twice. A week day the first time and a weekend day the second. While there are hundreds of attractions to keep me visually stimulated, it was the people that I found the most fascinating. I do love looking at the flowers and the bonsai display - and of course the food and music are always worth the price of admission.

A few pictures from our adventures around MN

Tiny little things (click to enlarge)

You can see a tiny green bug on the flower.
Love the different shades of purple up close.

yuck - this little guy gets more awful looking the closer you get. eewww
(the spider has a piece of bark caught in his web)

this is what fading summer looks like...

slowly the petals fade and drop as summer starts to wind down