Misty infinite trail walk, Green Bay, Wisconsin

This early spring time view of a neighborhood trail, creates such a nice feeling, a feeling to keep walking further on this trail.. especially it's beautiful misty and infinite aspect.
#TrailWalk #MemoryDiary
#GreenBay #Wisconsin
#SeemasPhotoPalette 😊💐

Picnic Point, Madison, WI

A beautiful summer day spent at Picnic Point in Madison, Wisconsin. A long and interesting trail hike, decked with different picnic spots and tables, surrounded by trees allover, biking facilities and the giant Lake Mendota on sides.
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Cute interesting faces at a circus, Madison, WI

We had gone to the Zor Shrine Circus show on a weekend in Madison, Wisconsin. It was a real fun circus experience after many years. 

There were lots of animals including elephants and tigers and many bird shows as well as magic and thrilling action shows.

Many kids were having their faces painted in different ways and were looking so interesting with their clown like faces.
And yes, actual clowns were as usual the funny attractions of the circus and were catching everyone's attention.

I spotted this witchy cute face of a boy. I liked his engrossed and involved expression, which was perfectly suiting his face painting theme.

This is my favorite and such a sweet picture of a baby enjoying the elephant ride with his mom. I just couldn't take my eyes off from him.

Here's one more cute face. She was so busy watching the different amusing shows, and I was busy capturing such nice moments and faces along with enjoying the circus fun. 😍😇😍

Giant Dandelion, Green Bay, WI

I took this picture on a pleasant morning, while walking on a nearby trail.
I was so astonished to see such a huge and giant dandelion, that to in a perfect shape.
💮💮💮

Reflection - cloudy morning walk, Green Bay, WI

Our choices should reflect our hopes, not our fears ~ Nelson Mandela 

•☆•

Spotted this interesting tree reflection in the melted snow water when, I was on a morning walk this early Spring.

Photo for World Environment day, Green Bay, WI

A closer look at these lightly drenched delicate greens on a cool, rainy evening !!
June 5 ~ World Environment Day 

Walking barefooted on lush green grass is such a divine experience also it is really good for eyes and overall health.

Autumn in Milwaukee, WI

Autumn is always precious containing the most gold sequins.

Picture taken at Milwaukee, Wisconsin on a beautiful evening walk, a couple years ago. 

Chazen Museum of Arts, Madison, WI

I took this photo on a summer day, at the grand lobby of Chazen Museum of Arts in Madison, Wisconsin.
This museum is full of various creative exhibits and artworks. Even a full day is not sufficient to see every beautiful thing in this museum.
Truly it is an art lover's paradise !!

Fountain at university, Milwaukee, WI

Beautiful fountain near the Golda Meir Library at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Photo taken in summer when the fountain looks at it's best. 😃
♡ Seema's Photo Palette 

Snow covered vehicles, Milwaukee, WI

Remembering those "white washed" times of the year !
Photo of snow covered vehicles seen from the apartment window at Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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Ornamental Fountain Grass, Green Bay, WI

Noticed this Ornamental Fountain Grass in my office campus, when I was waiting on the busstop to go home. This decorative grass is normally planted as a hedge or amongst other flower plants to give a nice structure. 

It was a breezy evening, the soft wind waves were adding beauty to the scene, and I instantly felt like clicking it. 😊 

Green Bay, WI 

Summer Memories 

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Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, Keystone, SD

This is Mount Rushmore National Memorial at Keystone. It is situated in the Black Hills region of the Pennington county of South Dakota state.

This is a gigantic sculpture carved in the granite rock of a mountain. It features faces of four significant and historic presidents of the US - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
It was carved by two sculptors, Gutzon Borglum and his son Lincoln Borglum.

Now, the obvious question arises, from where did the name Mount Rushmore come? This memorial was named so because, the mountain was at that time known as Mount Rushmore after a New York based lawyer Charles Rushmore. In 1885, he was investigating some mining claims in the Black Hills region. During that time, he visited and hiked these mountains many times every year. That's how people around him, along with the locals started calling this mountain after his name and it was recognized so in the official records too. Before this official name the mountain was known locally as Slaughterhouse mountain or Keystone cliffs. Later, when the sculptors chose this mountain for carving the heads of four famous presidents, Charles Rushmore donated 5000 dollars for the cause.
Isn't it an interesting name story?

Grand view Pavillion 

Along with the memorial, we also visited a huge pavilion built in front of it to give the perfect views, a sculptors museum, where the original models and ideas are preserved.

Avenue of Flags 

One more nice attraction we liked was the Avenue of Flags, after entering through the huge gateway while going towards the memorial, flags of all the US states line the path. The site also consists of many hiking trails around the mountains.

Memorial from the Avenue of Flags 

This memorial project was originally planned in ordered to increase tourism in the Black Hills region. This concept was accomplished and it became a great success as millions of tourists visit here every year.
We visited this memorial in summer, which is the most appropriate time to be there.
☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆●☆

Pavagadh valley and rope-way, Gujarat

A breathtaking experience of rope way ride at Pavagadh valley, while going towards the famous Pavagadh Mahakali temple. That rope way ride gives such amazing views of the mountains, greenery and the valley.
Even after reaching the top point of rope way, we have to climb the stairs made up of stone, to reach the actual temple. And this is a real cardio workout in itself, as the stairs are very steep. However, once we reach at the top, besides the divine feeling of offering prayers to Mahakali mata, we get to see magnificent views of the temple premises as well as the natural beauty of that place.
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Tree shade time, Green Bay, WI

Alone with myself, the trees bend to caress me, the shade hugs my heart ! - Candy Polgar

* Summer Memory - A cool tree shade time at office campus, while taking a short lunch break walk on a bright afternoon at Green Bay, Wisconsin.
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Mannequin at the University of Wisconsin

This beautiful mannequin was set up at the front door of "the university Book store" at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

This is the most creative and uniquely designed mannequin I have ever seen. 

Yes, you guessed it, this decorated dress is made up of the bookstore plastic bags.

Aero Car Adventure, Niagara Falls, Canada

Whirlpool Aero Car Adventure between the borders of two countries, at Niagara Falls National Park. This side is Canada and that side is the US.

It was an awe-inspiring experience to travel through the aero car, in air over the fast and furious Niagara River gorge. At that point, as the river takes a turn, the dangerously roaring water creats giant whirlpools in that beautiful emerald green water. The aero car ride starts from the Canadian side, travels across the river gorge stops at a couple of points to let us enjoy the views and returns back to the Canadian side without touching or landing on the US side. This amazing natural wonder scenery is a total adventure in itself to experience.

Lotus - Macro click at botanical garden, Canada

Captured this macro photograph of a beautiful lotus flower at the botanical garden at Niagara Falls National Park, Canada

Sam Houston Statue at Houston, TX

An amazingly beautiful sunny day at Herman Park, Houston, Texas.
This is the Sam Houston Statue at the center of the park, captured creatively in front of the sun.

A woodpecker's funny expressions captured in Green Bay, WI

On a fresh cool morning I saw this cute Red-bellied woodpecker inside his cavity nest in a tree, while I was taking a walk on a nearby trail.

Actually, I was busy looking at different trees, clouds and the sky, the trail and many such other things, which I usually like to watch while walking. Suddenly, I heard an interesting voice - call of a bird. It sounded as if it is coming from somewhere very near to me, so I stopped to see from where it is coming. The voice also stopped, so I started walking again, the voice started again. This happened one more time. 

I got intrigued and I kind of guessed that it could be coming from the nearby tree (Meanwhile, I was able to locate this cute small cavity nest). I searched for sometime, but couldn't see the bird. Then I thought of tricking the bird, I went some steps away from the tree and kept looking at the cavity nest. And voila! There he was a cute red headed, reddish brown eyed bird and I felt like, "gotcha".  

                           

Then I took some photos of him and I was about to leave for my further walk, thats when the birdy might have felt okay with me being there and decided to make some more show by coming out. And then I recognized that the bird was a woodpecker called 'Red-bellied woodpecker'.

He came out on the branches, he was walking and turning on all sides of the tree trunk really fast. Almost all the woodpeckers I have seen do this typical thing - turning around the tree, as if they are playing hide and seek with us.

See this photo of him sitting on a branch, it was so difficult to capture him outside on branches as he was very active.

Antler Arches Town Square, Jackson Hole, WY

We went to Jackson Hole while we were on our way to the Yellowstone National Park. Jackson Hole is a small town in the American Rockies - Teton Mountains valley. It has various tourist resorts, campgrounds and locations like skiing facilities, outdoor recreation as well as local arts & hand crafts shops.

The first place we visited here was the Antler Arches Town Square. Every year elks naturally shed their antlers and they are picked from the ground by people. Those antlers were collected, then weaved around a steel frame, screwed and fixed together. This is how they made the very famous Antler Arches, which decorate the four corners of the town square. Now a days, those arches are a favorite picture spot for everyone visiting Jackson Hole. 

We also saw this perfect cowboy statue at the Antler Arches Town Square.

We spent around half of the day in this small town before moving forward in our journey. We walked around, had lunch, strolled here and there watching different places and taking photographs in this quiet little town. It was a perfect and sunny spring day.
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Violet flowers in Green Bay, WI

Every second of our life is a new chance to choose good thoughts.

Captured this one on a trail walk, on a fresh morning ⛅
*Summer memories 

Seagulls at beach, Miami, FL

To fly as fast as your thoughts, to anywhere you want; you must begin by knowing that you have already arrived. -- Richard Bach

Day out in Sun and Sand
And seagulls in the blue sky
On South Beach in Miami, Florida
* Memory Diary
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Deers at Yosemite National Park, CA

Captured these while hiking on our way to Mirror lake at the Yosemite National Park, California  * Memory Diary 

American Beauty Berries - WI

American Beauty berries captured in Madison, Wi
* Summer memories

Squirrel photo taken in Madison, WI

Millions of trees in the world are accidentally planted by squirrels - who hide tree nuts and forget where they hid them. Always keep doing good and forget. One day it will grow somewhere. ☺

Spring is officially (finally) here - WI

This is what it looks like standing under a tree full of blossoms. Spring has officially sprung here.
* Wisconsin, USA
* Spring Memories

Designs in Don King Museum, Sheridan, WY

Intricate hand carved designs on wood in Don King Museum - King's Saddlery @ Sheridan, Wyoming
* Memory Diary

Wildflowers - Evening walk - WI

Saw these vibrant wildflowers on a summer evening walk at a nearby park.
# Summer Memories
# Wisconsin, USA

Spring blossoms in Milwaukee, WI

A tree full of beautiful spring blossoms, in Milwaukee, WI

These photos are from a couple years ago, I captured when I was on morning walk in a park. It was was a really serene experience to stand under this tree and adore it's beauty.

Church visit in Green Bay, WI

Went to this church on a cool, crisp morning in March at Green Bay, WI

Remembering that peaceful and tranquil feeling I experienced while sitting in here

A squirrel in Yosemite National Park, CA

Saw this while taking some rest after a long hike @ the Yosemite National Park, California
😜😃 #MemoryDiary

Cinderella's castle, Orlando, FL

Cinderella's castle of the dreamland 
#MagicKingdom #WaltDisneyWorld 
A whole day full of enjoyment !!
Various types of fun rides !! 
Two amazing cruises inside the park !!
And two magnificent "Dreams Come True" Paredes by all the Disney's beloved characters including Mickey and Minnie !! 😃
#MemoryDiary

Sculpture at a park in Houston, TX

"Equilibrista 90 Monumental 2005"
Sculpture at Jorge Marin’s Wings of the City exhibit @ Discovery Green Park, Houston, TX
#MemoryDiary

Arial Photograph - Chicago, IL

See this magnificent view of the Chicago downtown. I captured this from flight before landing at the Chicago Airport. In this picture we can see the architectural wonders of this beautiful Windy City.

The tallest tower seen on the right side of the photo is the Sears Tower, now called as the Willis Tower. The second tallest tower on the left is the John Hencock Tower. Tourists can visit the observation deck floors on both of these towers to get spectacular views of the city and Lake Michigan. The 108th floor of Sears Tower is the floor where the world famous glass Skydecks are located.

All the skyscrapers are concentrated in the downtown area and individual houses and other shorter buildings are on the outskirts. The snake like wobbly water body in the photograph is the Chicago river. On the other side the downtown buildings overlook the giant Lake Michigan. We can even see the old famous Navy Pier in the lake.
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Long distance flight journeys

Air travel can become really interesting if one plans ahead (or if one is lucky enough) to get a window seat.  Keep the live map option on the touch screen monitor and periodically look outside the window. Every view would be a new surprise. One can get some really breathtaking scenes of our diverse mother nature.  At the same time the live map gives the information of where the flight is.

Our journey from Dubai to Chicago was a long 16 hours flight; which means sitting, eating, walking, sleeping on the same aeroplane - this would certainly sound not so exciting or boaring for many.  However, on such air travels, I got to see some amazing landscapes at different places on the globe. I was sitting in the window seat and the weather at most places was perfect. 

Of course, this was not my first long route flight journey, but ya, you can say, this was my latest travel in Summer time, so I am writing about this one.  I actually had one more really latest long distance air travel, but that was around in December, so even though I was sitting in the window seat, I couldn't get much nice views. Most of the time, in most regions, all I could see was a bed of clouds. Haha. Well, I shouldn't say I saw nothing but clouds; actually at some places I saw some amazing winter vistas, including snow covered mountains, snowy cities and yes, glaciers and iceberg filled waterbodies somewhere above Greenland and northern Canada. To see this winter beauty from the sky was equally awe inspiring. 

Since this journey is from East to West, which means traveling in the direction of sun, we see daylight at all the places where flight travels ahead, if flight has taken off in daytime.  Our flight took off in the morning from Dubai, and that's why I got to see all the different beautiful vistas in bright daylight. That was summertime in the northern hemisphere, so at many places there was almost clear sky, though at some places it was cloudy.

International flight travels at a very high level, way lot above the level of clouds. Hence if the weather outside is very cloudy, from the flight window, we can only see a dence layer of clouds spread everywhere.   Almost all the international flights travel in the stratosphere. Stratospheric region starts around 30,000 to 40,000 ft high above the surface level. Flying in stratosphere benefits the airplanes in many ways such as, it causes low air resistance, less fuel burning and it provides better engine efficiency. The outside air temperature where the airplane flys is very low,  in the range of say -40°C to -50°C and the air pressure is also very different, also because the flight is traveling in a fast speed. The inside cabin temperature as well as air pressure is highly regulated, so that humans can stay normally and they won't feel much difference in temperature and pressure. Though, sometimes some people might feel cold, hence, light blankets along with small pillows are provided in long route flights.

Flights traveling from Europe to North America; in fact all flights making any long transcontinental journey in the northern hemisphere, take the northern Arctic route. Instead of flying in a straight line right above the Atlantic Ocean (imagine a flat regular map of earth), such flights take an apparently curved route, flying above Iceland and Greenland and sometimes even above the north pole.  The reason behind this is flights always want to take the closest possible paths, for the obvious reason of course, to save the major fuel cost. Our earth is spherical so what looks straight line and hence looks closest on a flat map, it is actually the longer path if seen on a sphere. Hence, the apparently curved route seen on the flat map of touch screen monitors provided in flights, is the closest possible.

Our flight from Dubai to Chicago, also took a similar Arctic route and flew above different countries including Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland and above the southern parts of Sweden, Norway, Iceland and Greenland. Then it came over Canada and finally it reached Chicago. 

The flight that takes off in the morning from Dubai, reaches Chicago on the same day around late afternoon, even after completing the long 16 to 17 hours journey. This is because of the time difference in the two places. Chicago is far away to the west compared to Dubai, so Chicago timezone is almost 12 hours behind Dubai timezone.

In northern areas like Chicago, in summer, the day is lot longer than as compared to in winter. So in summer when a flight lands in Chicago at say around 4 PM, even then the city has a bright daylight just like afternoon; whereas it's complete dark outside, when a flight lands around same time in winter, because of the smaller days. Strange, isn't it? 

While landing in Chicago, I got to see the amazing complete view of the world famous Chicago skyline. Although, this wasn't the first time I was seeing those Chicago's architectural wonders from a flight, this time it was special. The weather and daylight in this 'Windy City' was perfect at that time and I got to capture some cool shots as well as a landing video too. Yay.
Happy me !!
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