Waffle House Coffee

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Coffee station at Indianapolis Waffle House

Anyone who has traveled in the south has seen the bright yellow Waffle House Sign at almost every other exit! They really have great waffles and grits, not to mention good coffee.

John and I decided to take a little detour on Saturday afternoon to get some coffee at the nearest Waffle House from Chicago. It turns out to be the Waffle House in Indianapolis, Indiana! Only a 2 1/2 hour drive for some great food!

The waitress was rather surprised when we told her we drove from Chicago just to eat at the Waffle House.

We'll have to do it again next month John!!

Happy Thanksgiving

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Dan and Mike making Green Bean Casserole


Chris making his "famous" pumpkin pie (all by himself)
Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Fallen Leaves

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Leaf Parking Only

Steel Bridge

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Steel Bridge
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal

The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was built in 1900 to replace the small Illinois and Michigan Canal that connected the Great Lakes (lake Michigan) to the Mississippi River. Prior to the completion of this canal, Chicago's waste water was dumped into Lake Michigan - the source of water for the city.

The modern canal is 28 miles long, 202 feet wide, and 24 feet deep, allowing plenty of room for barge traffic as well as an outlet for the city's treated waste water.

Water-Fall

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Cascade Waterfall
Matthiessen State Park
Utica, Illinois

More than just the water was falling when we visited Matthiessen State Park. The leaves were on display and steadily falling to the bottom of the canyons.

I didn't bring a tripod with, so this shot was pretty hard. I had the camera in my hand but resting on a small boulder to help keep it steady.

Next time, I've got to remember a tripod.

Fall Colors at Dellwood Park

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The path leading away from the IandM Canal trail
Dellwood Park
Lockport, Illiniois

The last of the fall color is on display in Dellwood Park. The trees are getting bare and the weather is certainly much colder as we approach winter.

Path Through Fall Colors

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Bending trees cover this bridge with fall color on a warm, October afternoon. Matthiessen State Park was showing off at the time of this photo - lots of gold and red colors along this path over a 40 foot tall waterfall.

Not Fit for Human Contact

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Not Fit for Human Contact
Sign under Route 83

After walking through the Lemont Quarries looking for fossils, we wandered down a closed path that lead toward the Calumet Sag Channel. An interesting but lonely area marked with spray paint and garbage. Not the kind of place I enjoy, but one that was worth exploring.

We noticed the sign pictured above, heaven help anyone who falls into the channel!

Quilting

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Ladies Quilting
LaPorte County Fair
Indiana July 2007

During the LaPorte County Fair, the Pioneer Village is open for visitors. This village offers a peak into life back in the early days of LaPorte County and includes a blacksmith, post office, general store, house and barn. Each year in the house, these two women work on a hand-sewn quilt. There may be others who help too, but I always see the same two! They are always happy to show you their work, and will answer questions about quilting and sewing.

See ya next year!

Autumn Pool

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Giant's Bathtub
Matthiessen State Park, Illinois

Fall colors are reflected in Giant's Bathtub, a pool of water located between two waterfalls in Matthiessen State Park. This day was very warm and sunny, so lots of people were enjoying the canyons and trails. The people in this photo help to give an idea of just how large this "bathtub" really is.

A certain destination this winter.

More Fall Colors

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Red Maple Leaves
Dellwood Park, Lockport, Illinois

Certainly not my favorite time of year, Fall has some nice aspects. Take the colors for instance, reds, yellows, greens and browns combined with the low angle of the sun make for some great scenery.
I still don't like the increasingly cold weather, but if you think about it, the farther we get into fall, the closer winter is, and the closer winter is, the closer spring is!

That's how I get through the winter.....thinking of spring.

Floating on By

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Leaves Float in a Small Stream
Naperville, Illinois

The colorful fall leaves have been inspiring this year. Warm weather and just the right amount of rain and wind have prolonged the "leaf" season for more people to enjoy. Peak color seems to be right about now, but I'm certain that it won't last much longer.

These leaves fell onto the surface of a small creek in Naperville, Illinois. They'll be transported somewhere else by the running water. Perhaps eventually they will travel down the Des Plaines River, into the Illinois River, to the Mississippi River and turn up in the Gulf of Mexico.

Fall Reflection

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Autumn Colors
LaPorte County, Indiana

What a great day to walk around in the cold water! The water may have been freezing, but when you glanced up you saw this beautiful color -made me warm instantly.

Approaching Storm

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Storm Approaching an Abandoned Farm
Orland Park, Illinois

A late October thunderstorm is slowly approaching this abandoned farm in northern Illinois. I counted three supercell thunderstorms from this vantage point and was able to take cover before the drenching rains, wind and hail began.

The setting sun was shining brightly, creating almost impossibly saturated fall colors on the trees and grasses. It also created a perfect double rainbow.

Begging for Food

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Chipmunk waiting for a handout
Brookfield Zoo

These little guys are running all over the place - outside and inside some of the animal exhibits! The usually shy and elusive chipmunk has realized people at the zoo don't want to harm them, they want to feed them.

This little guy is waiting for a little piece of a cracker.

Fall Splendor

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Stream Leading to Giant's Bathtub
Matthiessen State Park
Near Utica, Illinois

With temperatures around 80 degrees, it was a great day to head out to Matthiessen State Park and explore the canyons. We've only been to Starved Rock but heard about the beauty at nearby Matthiessen so we decided to give it a try. Good thing we did! Not only was it less crowded than the popular Starved Rock, it's canyons and waterfalls are really beautiful.

The main canyon runs for a little over a mile and you can walk a great deal of it above as well as below along the streams. Steep cliffs carved over centuries by running water are dotted with waterfalls, formations and caves. The kids loved the little caves.

It was the perfect day to see the park - warm weather, turning leaves, running streams (in summer the streams and waterfalls sometimes dry up) but a little crowded to get photos of the waterfalls without people in them.

We will definitely head back here in the winter to see the frozen falls and snow covered canyons.

Couldn't Find the Pot of Gold

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Rainbow During Severe Storm
Orland Park, Illinois
October 18, 2007

A very warm, windy October day ended with severe storms in parts of the Chicagoland area. Temperatures reached 79 degrees (that's warm for October!) and an approaching cold front produced heavy winds, storms, hail and a terrific double rainbow.

Light passes into a raindrop and is refracted back to the opposite side and then again until it leaves the raindrop. The "bending" of the lightwave causes different wavelengths of light (or different colors) to exit at a slightly different angle thus producing the colors of the rainbow.

The inside of a rainbow is brighter than the outside because rainbows are actually discs of light, not narrow bands, so the interior of a rainbow is quite bright. Occasionally, a double rainbow can be seen. The outer band is called Alexander's Bow and displays the colors in the opposite direction as the primary bow. You can see a little bit of a second band in the photo here. Note the the space between the two rainbows is much darker than the inside, this is called Alexander's Dark Band.

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Rainbows are best spotted just after sunrise or just before sunset. The low angle of the sun produces a rainbow that "touches" the ground on both sides. Actually, a full circular rainbow can be seen from an airplane.

Every rainbow is unique to the viewer. In other words, the rainbow you see is actually completely different from the rainbow observed by the person next to you.

This is probably the last rainbow of 2007 for us in Chicago, but the way the warm weather has been sticking around, maybe we'll have one for Christmas.

Mike

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Mike with Acorns

Mike, Chris and Danny collected this bucket full of acorns at the lake last weekend. There were so many oak trees and acorns that it didn't take them long at all.

Next week comes the fun part, throwing them at targets in and near the lake!

Fall Still Life

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Acorns and Oak Leaves
October 2007

Fossil Hunt

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Endocerid Fossil
Sag Quarry
Lemont, Illinois

An afternoon walk through the Sag Quarries yielded a few cool fossils. The Sag Quarries are in Lemont near the intersection of Archer Road and Rt. 83. They have been abandoned and flooded for decades and are now part of the Cook County Forest Preserve District.

When walking along the shore you're walking along the edge of the old limestone quarry, so one must be careful not to fall into the deep water. Limestone is everywhere and with a little luck, you can spot fossils that are 450 million years old! The limestone in this area began to form beneath the warm, shallow sea that covered this area over 400 million years ago. Some of the creatures that lived in the sea at this time were shellfish including the Endocerid, a long conical shellfish that could reach lengths of 10 meters or more. The one preserved above was about 18 to 24 inches in length.

It died and sank to the bottom where it was covered up by sediment including sand and tiny particles of calcium from other shells. Over millions of years the sediment compacted and formed the limestone we see today.

The Sag Quarries were in operation in the early 1800's, and during the time of the construction of the I&M Canal. The limestone from these quarries was used to build the Chicago Watertower, Holy Name Cathedral, St. James of the Sag Church (monk's castle) and numerous local buildings.