Every year around this time I try to visit my parents.  My work schedule doesn’t allow a couple of days off regularly, until the calendar gets to October.

The journey to their place involves passing several roadside stands selling fruits and veggies.  This particular year I stopped and bought a few apples and such, but decided to load up on some other things.  I had my camera gear with me and I was curious if I could pay around with some Fall fruits and vegetables.

The result was what you see above.  I like close-up shots of things, and the gourds provided a good opportunity for just that.  My step-mom and I took turns taking pictures and trying new things.  She later turned one of her images into a water color, which, to this day, is still her single best-selling painting.

October 2007. (1088)

My dad lives near Viola, Wisconsin, so I get up to their neck of the woods quite  a bit to visit.

Whenever I do, I bring my camera.  Some days it sits in my bag on the floor the entire stay, but most of the time I get it out and go wander.  Some days I get up to watch the sun rise, other days I stay out to watch the sun set.  Sometimes I do both.

The last time I was up there I found this old abandoned farm.  (The farmhouse sits across the gravel road from it, but I’m not entirely sure the house is abandoned.)  I like places like this barn, and I’ll continue to stop and check on it when I visit. It takes on an entirely different view when it’s fogged in or a bright sunshine-filled day.

September 2011. (8735)

Patriotic colors adorn a windmill in rural Viola, Wisconsin.

July 2010. (2389)

The last couple of days I’ve been exploring Vernon County, Wisconsin.

Southwest Wisconsin is known as the “driftless area” because the glaciers missed this region.  That extremely flat midwest appearance doesn’t apply here, so there are countless rolling hills throughout this stretch of land.  One of the rivers that flows throughout the landscape is the Kickapoo River.

Named for the Kickapoo Indians, who occupied most of the land before settlers, the Kickapoo River is a fantastic river.  Where it originates to where it empties into the Wisconsin River is only 60-miles as the crow flies.  However, because the Kickapoo River is so crooked, and often-times doubles back onto itself, it’s actually about 130-miles long.

Driving any distance throughout the area and it seems like you’ve crossed the Kickapoo nearly a dozen times.  It’s great because you can put a canoe in at your neighbor’s house, and three hours later pull out at your own property.  The river’s current is pretty decent, so floating down the river is a great way to spend a lazy, hot, summer afternoon.

August 2011. (8364)

This weekend Alisha and I went to the 2011 Travel and Adventure Show in Chicago.  We went on a whim not really expecting much, but it was pretty underwhelming.  All of these convention center thingies seem to have boiled hot dogs, a completely random massage booth, and an over-priced admission fee in common.  One of the amusing highlights, however, was the booth for Southwest Wisconsin had a thick tourism guide which included two pictures I took (one of which is above).  My dad, who owns a few rental cabins in the area, submitted the pictures a few years back.

They’re pretty awful pictures, too.

This picture, for whatever reason, has a ridiculously high ISO, so it’s about as clear as mud.  I’m not sure why the ISO was set so high, but it was in the early days of not knowing anything about my D-SLR camera.  While the lighting isn’t the best, it’s also the only time I have ever watched someone on the river, so it’s not like I could get up in the morning and duplicate the shot with better conditions.  I’m not even sure how the magazine got the picture.

Overall, its nice to know that someone somewhere enjoys the picture enough to keep using it in their magazines.  If it nets some business for the area, good for them.  If it were a better picture that I were proud of, I’d ask for credit.

Finally, it’s the twenty-first and final post for this month.  If you would have told me at the start of January that I’d be blogging again, I’d have laughed in your face.  I think I have three times more posts this month then in the entire life of my previous blog.  My original goal was to do three posts a week, but I’m currently rocking out six a week (taking Sundays off, apparently).  I’ve become re-invigorated with photography and starting bringing my camera along to more places, because that’s when I see the random, fun pictures I wish I had my camera for.  I realize I’m the only person who reads and checks out my blog, but if its a hobby that gets me off the couch and to be creative, it works for me!

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