Tag Archives: photos

Road Trip

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Loving Fall Travel

We’ve found that early fall is a good time for a vacation. Most of the summer road repair is completed, the places that we’ll visit are less crowded, gasoline prices have come down and lodging is less expensive. So it’s off we go.

We decided to skip the camping this year and instead enjoy the comfortable hotel beds at the stops along our planned itinerary. This trip is probably a 5000 mile journey, but I like driving and my wife Kris doesn’t mind filling in once in a while. She has plenty of books to read during the long hours in the car.

From our home in Grand Rapids we start with a long initial drive to Salt Lake City to visit our grandson in college. Next across the sparsely populated central Nevada to Mammoth Lakes and Yosemite to view its sweet valley and giant sequoias. It’s a short hop to Reno for a few days stay with family. Then it’s through the mountainous forest of Idaho and Montana to do some hiking in gorgeous Glacier. We’ll head south to northern Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley and then traverse the torturous Beartooth Hwy before the snow falls. Finally traveling east again we’ll hit Badlands and then head home again through South Dakota.

The car is filled with snacks and drinks for the long hours on the road. And as always I have my photo equipment ready to travel.

We’re going to place a few stickers on our car from our sister company StickItToYourCar.com

We’ll have some new photos from our travels here when we return.

Quick Flight Home

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I just returned from a trip west from our home in Michigan. As usual I had my camera with me to record some of the events during the flight back from Denver.

This is our aircraft at the gate in Denver. It is a Boeing B737 Max.

I’m always hoping for clear, cloudless skies. During the flight I’m continuously looking out of the window at the scenery below. One of my “hobbies” is to photograph airports from above. It’s relatively easy to spot an airport because of the long, straight runways which stand out from the surrounding scenery.

This is the Ankeny Regional Airport. It is located a few miles north of Des Moines, Iowa.

Our flight took a route that was close to a straight line from Denver to Grand Rapids, Michigan. It is relatively easy to determine the location of the plane from the map that is displayed on the seat back screen.

Our aircraft was equipped with seat back displays. One of the view options is to show the flight progress. This helps to identify the scenery as I take photos from the plane’s window.

By referring to the seat back display I was able to look for landmarks that help me determine the area below.

This is the Monticello Regional Airport located northeast of Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Here is the Kenosha Airport. It is located in Wisconsin just north of the Illinois state line.

Less than a minute after passing the Kenosha Airport, we started the flight across Lake Michigan.

What you see here is the southeast coast of Wisconsin.

Our plane landed about fifteen minutes later after crossing Lake Michigan. Clouds over our home in Grand Rapids prevented me from taking any further photos of the scenery below.

As an “aviation nerd” I simply enjoy taking picture during these flights.

For those of you who might wonder how I can know the name of the airports in the photos that I take from 35,000 feet or so, please refer to an article at my other website https://stayfocusedpress.com/?p=13070

Written by:

Arnie Lee

Las Vegas Architecture

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<br /> Some Amazing Buildings<br />

Night and Day in the City


Over the years the Strip in Las Vegas has expanded tremendously in all directions. The strip has grown longer expanding both northward and southward. It has become fatter – spilling out on both sides of Las Vegas Blvd. And the glitzy casinos and picturesque buildings now stretch upward, leaping skyward.

To walk the Strip is to be amazed by this part of the city’s architecture. Below is a look at some of these sites during the day and after the sun goes down.



One of the colorful castle towers at the Excalibur casino



A replica of the Statue in front of the New York New York Casino



This is 52 story tower of the Cosmopolitan Resort Casino.



Next door is the luxury Waldorf Astoria hotel with its 47 stories.



Looking like the skyline of Manhattan is the New York New York Casino.



At the south end of the strip is the Mandalay Bay Casino.



The pyramid shaped Luxor Casino has been turned into a huge advertising poster.



These headlights show some of the speedy traffic along the iconic Las Vegas Blvd.



The Tropicana is scheduled to be imploded in April 2024 to make room for a new baseball stadium.



The twin towers of the colorful Excalibur sits boldly on the corner of Las Vegas Blvd and Tropicana Ave



This is the luxury Aria Resort/Casino located in City Center.

 

Here is one of the trams that run along the Strip. This one transports visitors from the Park MGM Casino to Bellagio Casino. Another runs from the Mandalay Bay Casino to the Excalibur Casino and a third from the MGM Grand to the Las Vegas Convention Center.

 

I’ve photographed only a few of the casinos here. But Las Vegas is home to countless other amazing buildings. Even if you’re not a gambler the size and scale of the architecture is worth a visit to the city.

Written by:

Arnie Lee