Fenced in iris

From a few weeks back, this iris shows off its colors from a spot along the backyard fence.

Apple blossoms

The remaining apple tree in the yard overcompensated with these perfectly white blossoms. In a week, they'll be gone.

Barker Reservoir below Nederland

Still frozen after a week and a half of above normal temps.

Northwest Denver Historic District

The area was nominated for this designation by Allen's brother, Casper D.

Winter sun on drill rig

Afternoon at a rig operating on the Ft. Berthold Reservation. The rig is drilling for oil in the Bakken formation.

School bus at sunset

On a recent trip to the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota, I saw this school bus silhouetted by the setting sun.

Arches National Park icon

After a long hike up a sandstone face, visitors rest near the most famous of the landmarks at Arches NP near Moab, UT. It's called Delicate Arch.

Monument Valley icons

From our trip through Utah last month, the Left and Right Mittens and Window butte at Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park in Utah.

View from the office

A warm, sunny morning looking southwest from my office. That's the Four Seasons Hotel at the left and Sports Authority Field at Mile High in the center. The Rockies, with some snow on the peaks, are in the background.

Afternoon at Arches NP

Near the end of a trail at Arches National Park, in Utah, saw this rock formation in the late afternoon sun.

Mountain horizon

A peak in the Sangre de Cristo mountain range in southern Colorado is outlined by this historical marker sign at the Beckwith Ranch.

Summit marker at Mt. Evans

On a visit to the top of Mt. Evans, photographed the summit marker placed by Rotary International. There's a small USGS marker at the very top.

Service station no more

Long shuttered American station along US 52 near Foxholm, ND. The pump appears to be a Tokheim electric model from the 1940s.

The Legislative Building in Regina, Saskatchewan

Home of the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan, it was built in 1912 by the same builders who built the Centre Block of the federal Parliament Building in Ottawa.

Spider Rock

A geologic highlight of any tour of Canyon de Chelly National Monument in eastern Arizona is Spider Rock. According to Navajo legend, it's the home of the spider woman, creator of the stars in the sky.

World War II aircraft display

Shot this on my way to a departure gate at Midway Airport in Chicago. Not certain, but I believe the plane is a Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber of the type that took part in the Battle of Midway in June 1942.

Fresh powder at Steamboat

A bit of overnight snow outside the condo at Ski Time Square in Steamboat Springs. Conditions at the top of the mountain were very good.

Liberty Memorial Building

On the North Dakota State Capitol grounds in Bismarck, the Liberty Memorial Building was dedicated in 1924 as a memorial to World War I. It now houses the state library.

Foot bridge over Stony Creek

Now a fully developed subdivision, the land south of Stony Creek, on the right in this photo, was one of the last large open parcels in Oak Lawn, IL, when I lived nearby and attended high school.

Beverly Metra commuter station

The 99th Street Metra station is used by commuters from the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.

Old ComEd power plant

On the west bank of the South Branch of the Chicago River near where it crosses Roosevelt Road, the plant hasn't operated for several years.

World's Largest Purple Spoon...

Discovered in East Glacier, MT.

The Lodge at Glacier NP

On our recent tour of Glacier National Park, we stayed for a couple nights at The Lodge in East Glaicer, MT. Here's the spectacular lobby.

Gordy and friends at Berkeley Lake Park

Gordy at home

Small, furry creature in Rocky Mountain NP

This little guy came out to say hello at a vista point about halfway up Trail Ridge Road. Probably a chipmunk since marmots are bigger and don't have stripes.

Mt. Craig towers over Grand Lake

Late afternoon at Grand Lake, CO, Mt. Craig stands guard inside Rocky Mountain National Park.

Historic Strater Hotel in Durango

Built in 1887, the Strater has been an important part of Durango's colorful history. Western author Louis L'Amore was a frequent guest in the 1950s and wrote many novels based in Southwestern Colorado.

Fences in need of mending

Looking north from La Plata County Highway 141 south of Hesperus, CO, the San Juans rise in the distance.

New look at Aqua

Another new addition to the Chicago skyline is this building, called Aqua, fairly crammed into what little space was left at Columbus and Randolph. That's the Hyatt Regency in the foreground right. I wasn't clear about the name when I first saw this building during construction, but now the moniker makes sense.

Reflections in The Bean

In just a few years, the reflective sculpture called Cloud Gate, but known by all as The Bean, has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in downtown Chicago.

Conrad Hilton hotel and Buckingham Fountain

The traditional centerpiece of Grant Park in Chicago has been upstaged by newer attractions such as Cloud Gate.

Skyrocket flowers in the yard

Not sure what these are called, but they come up every spring and stand a couple feet tall.

Gordy takes a look

Late Sunday afternoon, Gordy says hello to a passerby.

Cold nose

Gordy had his nose in the snow after a big spring snowfall March 24th.

Twilight Peak

Part of the West Needle range in the San Juan Mountains north of Durango, CO, Twilight Peak tops out at 13,158 ft.

Twisty road ahead

On US 550 in southwest Colorado between the Purgatory ski area and Coal Bank Pass, the road bends sharply left. There are few guardrails.

Engineer Mountain

The gateway to the San Juan Mountains when approached from the south is this peak. It overlooks the ski area of Durango Mountain Resort at Purgatory.

Italy: Motorcycling around Tuscany

Our trip to Italy centered on a tour of Tuscany, Umbria and San Marino aboard motorcycles supplied by Edelweiss Bike Travel. Here are a few photos from our first three days of the tour, including the Chianti Region and Umbria.

Woke up the morning of our Day 1 ride at the Villa Pitiana in Donnini outside Florence. A fog carpeted the valleys until mid-morning.

Our first stop on the Day 1 ride was at the piazza at Greve in Chianti on the warmest day of the tour.

On the piazza in Greve, a stuffed boar guards the entry to a butcher shop that featured some wonderful meats and sausage.

Our lunch stop at the roadside Pestello Ristorante included a pasta with truffles dish that I'll remember forever as one of the best.

Looking out over the countryside from near San Gimignano.

The piazza at San Gimignano was the last stop of our Day 1 tour ride.

The Monastery at San Galgano is known for the sword stuck into a stone by a returned crusader. Read more at: http://www.castellitoscani.com/sangalgano.htm

Our "rest day" sport ride took us west and south of Siena. I look like I'm having fun and I was.

This road marker overlooks a newly turned field south of Siena.

The small piazza in Montalcino is under a clock tower. The town is known for its Brunello wines.

I think the sign says parking only for big German motorcycles. A little chilly in Montalcino that morning.

A good example of the Romanesque style, the abbey at San Antimo was founded by old Charlemange himself in 781 ad.

The courtyard at the abbey; not hard to imagine the monks meditating here a century ago.

Olive orchards and vinyards are everywhere on the rolling hills of Tuscany.