17 posts tagged “photography”
First, the money:
First Leg Total: $216
In-Rensselaer Stay: $350
Second Leg Totals: Fuel $85, $59, Food $26, Total: $170
Total Trip Total: $736
Yikes. There were some extras that I had to buy, like medicine and a CF card reader.
The weather was awful on Day 3. It wasn't the morning's snow that was the problem but the low visibility fog that consumed I-65 from Rensselaer to Lafayette. We arrived in Bardstown in the late evening but had a good, relaxing break with friends. I was able to make it to Cave City and, by choosing the Best Western, spent $30 less on a bigger, cleaner room, than previous accommodations on a previous trip.
I had promised the boys a Cracker Barrel breakfast so we had a great breakfast and then got moving. I was determined to get home so, at 2am on Tuesday, December 2nd, we pulled into the driveway. It was 64°F.
I got my butt moving today and did something. I went out and found a geocache. I hunted two. The micro outsmarted me. I found the ammo box and got Paddy the Bear TB moving. I walked a little around north of downtown, taking pictures of the library, power plant and Hal Gray Park, which has a gazebo built in memorial to the original school house that stood on those grounds. I would've known this sooner had I thought to move the trash barrel to discover the dedication tablet before today!
Tomorrow I'll be able to get my boys back and get moving back down to Florida, starting in the afternoon. It's a long road but I'm looking forward to it! Time to go home!
Siiiiick. Yesterday was just full of sick and sleep.
I did venture out in the evening and I can tell you, without any doubt, that there is nothing Scenic At Night in Rensselaer. I am happy that I get to wear my red suede parka and my white suede boots.
On Day 4, I've had my caramel latte and I'm fixing to gather myself up to go photograph something. My fever will not have me attending the Lafayette event but I can still move around town and get some shots.
I am really looking forward to starting back home on Sunday!
I did not geocache today. I started, but my first stop was a "pile of sticks" micro and I lost interest in 30°F weather after two minutes at ground zero. So, let's save it for a day when my heart's in it. From that point, I crossed the Iroquois River into Weston Cemetery to seek out the two remaining zinc headstones for waymarking. I found them easily. Both are marked with Detroit Bronze Co. Detroit Mich. text in the rear righthand corner of the monument. The morning light was gorgeous in the cemetery!
Then I took a nap! This cold is still kicking my butt. I've stayed inside for the rest of the day, venturing out to get dinner. I'd like to be healthy for the drive home so if I don't get as much done during these days, it'll be fine as long as I'm good as new on Sunday.
I'm writing Rensselaer Day 1 post this morning instead of last night because I went to bed early last night. I didn't do much yesterday. I'm still resting off this cold. I'm doing it with the help of all the OTC feel goods featured above, including some orajel to help with the tooth pain caused by the sinus pressure.
I had to go out in search of a CF card reader and when I did, I photographed the new historical marker downtown and took the shots I needed for the crap haunted story about the cemetery across from my hotel. The claim is that the statue moves. It obviously doesn't and there's a spotlight on it all night so you can see it doesn't move ever. What's more disturbing is that Shadowlands has this thing described as a statue of a saint when it's a statue of Jesus. Shadowlands never updates the website to remove places that aren't haunted and the stories are just bogus. I can't begin to tell you how many places have inaccurate or outdated information about their history and use. The statue was vandalised. The right hand was broken off and stolen. This just proves that the living are more dangerous than the dead.
Most people are celebrating Thanksgiving today so, if you are, Happy Thanksgiving. My family celebrated last Sunday so today is just an odd day where barely anything is open. I think I'll go geocaching.
Indy will eat:
1. Anything that lands on the floor. There's a possibly that it could be food and he can't take the chance that it's not;
2. Anything that the kids like. It's obviously something fun and the best way to have fun with something is to chew it;
3. Whatever people are eating. Obviously good stuff;
4. Whatever smells like what people are eating. Same thing, amirite?;
5. Papers, magazines and books. The people like them and the best way to have fun with something is to chew it;
6. Dirty diapers. I don't know why and I don't want to know why;
7. Anything that makes a squeeky sound. That just kicks on his kill instincts and he must destroy.
Indy will not eat:
1. Dog food. Well, he does, but he's not happy about it.
The residents of Punta Gorda's historic district not only believe in preserving history. They also believe in making it.
I voted via Early Voting today at the North Port City Hall. Then I photographed, waymarked and hid a geocache until it was time for a meeting. After the meeting, I came home, but it was too late for Tom to go early vote. He'll have to go tomorrow. Hopefully, it won't be too crowded in the morning.
The diversity in company that I keep makes me laugh. I've blurred names to maintain people's privacy but I think this caption from Facebook says it all:
We ran two hours behind schedule since my ex-husband decided to play games to an extent where the police had to help return the boys. It's both fortunate and unfortunate that this happens so often that the boys aren't intimidated by the police. It's just a regular thing for them. I thank God that the police in my ex-husband's town have always been very helpful and concerned.
We left at 5:30pm Eastern time. We stopped in Murfreesboro, Tennessee at 11pm at the Days Inn. I had a heck of a time trying to find a hotel with a double room. A Holiday Inn north of Nashville tried to sell me the same suite we ended up in at the Days Inn for over $100 (before tax). The room we had was still expensive and over-budget but I got it for $80 so hey.
We left the southern Nashville suburbs around 10am and got home at 11:30pm with an eighth of a tank left. It rained from southern Georgia all the way down to North Port. Traffic ran smoothly, for the most part, and we didn't have any of the delays that we had traveling north.
Fuel was more expensive. In northern Florida, it cost me $3.55/gal. That's the most I've ever paid in my life.
Food costs for the return trip total $25; Hotel cost: $92; Fuel: $160; Total Return Trip: $277
Total Travel Expenses: $497
Total Trip cost with expenses during the week, including top-up cards: $902
If I didn't have to top-up my phone twice to deal with the problems my ex-husband caused, I would have been below $850.
Tom's taken Michael and Eddie to the Florida International Air Show again this year. They'll be gone all day as long as the weather cooperates.
I met Assistant Chief Kenneth "Kenny" Haun, Jr. at the station. By his lonesome, he pulled out Engine (Pumper) 1 and Aerial 1 for me to photograph. It was another gorgeous clear, but cold, day. I also photographed the interior of the station with the multitude of photographs, memoriabilia, trophies, artwork and honours adorning the walls.
The original fire station was located in the two-story section of the City Hall. The upper level was an apartment for a volunteer firefighter. Whoever resided in that apartment would be responsible for calling the other volunteers to a fire and hooking up the horses to the fire carriage, getting it ready to go. Kenny's uncle was that firefighter. Now, by Kenny's day, the horses were no longer in use but the apparatus was still kept in front of the building along Van Rensselaer, across from the Jasper County Courthouse. The fire station didn't move until 1976, when the new building along Cullen was constructed, but it's still in the Courthouse square vicinity. Since firefighting with the Rensselaer Volunteer Fire Department is literally in his blood, the Assistant Chief had a lot of information to share.
Kenny brought me to the warehouse by the water tower, where the antique apparatus, as well as numerous other items that they've squirrelled away, are kept. I photographed the carriage, their first gasoline-powered engine, and many other antique items.
After appreciating the old, he took me to see the new: the Mitchell Training Facility. It's mentioned on the Fire Department's page of the City of Rensselaer website. The Assistant Chief had a major role in the design and construction of the live fire training facility and all the volunteers are constantly brainstorming to create simulations of different fire and rescue situations. The department does not provide Emergency Medical Service, but it does provide rescue when needed. Currently under construction is a training tower that ought to be ready to burn in a few more weeks.
The property for the Mitchell Training Facility was donated by a Chicago firefighter's widow and hometown resident of Rensselaer. She had six lots and sold them to the department for $1 under the condition that the property only be used for fire department-related activity. It was this generous gift that allowed the department to build their training facility, which they had been fundraising hard for. The training facility is named after this good-hearted widow and her departed husband.
I really could not have asked for a better tour guide than Kenny Haun.
Later in the day, I stopped into City Hall for a photo op of the Mayor and also to pick up Kenny's business card. Since the Mayor of Rensselaer is the most open and friendly public official I have met - and this includes the previous leader of the category, Florida's Lee County Commissioner Bob Janes - getting his portrait was no problem... once we got him to stand still. He has more energy than my eight year-old! Kenny, who is also the City's Building Commissioner, invited me to a meeting at the fire house this evening. He said that it would be a good opportunity to take more photographs, especially of the men in gear.
He was right on all counts except for the light. Dusk was harsh tonight because of the approaching rain. The cloud cover brought darkness before it should have so my light was compromised. I still got good shots of the crew in front of Aerial 1. I got done in record time. I did have more ideas but they will have to wait for another time... hopefully with better light (and a warmer season!). I knew I was welcome to stay for the meeting but I thought it was better to grab some dinner and talk to Michael and Eddie back at the hotel.
I returned to the hotel, ate dinner, tended to my photos and spoke to my boys. Tomorrow they should be brought back to my parents' house and then brought here to Rensselaer. Weather permitting, I will take them down to see the Lourdes Grotto at St. Joseph's College and then we're on our way back to Florida.
I do have a telephone appointment with someone from the Historical Society in the morning. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to go to the hospital or just call her room. I think I'm going to call her room to ask my questions. I'm really not comfortable bothering someone when they're laid up in the hospital, even though I know hospitals can be so boring that an interview isn't an intrusion. Still, I'm not a reporter. I'm a photographer and curious person.
Here are some of the shots from today, more is available on my Flickr:
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