Running of the Llamas

Saturday was also the Running of the Llamas event in Hammond, WI, and while not quite in town, it was only a handful of miles away. I have a ton more pictures of it on my Flickr, as it was a great time and lots of interesting things happening. Sadly i was starting to feel not so hot and had moved out of a good spot after the second heat of them running, and with so many people it was hard to get shots over their heads. So i headed home before the end. The llamas and alpacas were adorable, they reminded me of larger, strange versions of my pet rabbits. They even made similar sounds, a low humming type thing, or a sigh, hard to explain. I have a short video up on my flickr though, and if you listen you can hear a couple of them making it over the sounds of people talking.

Art on the Kinni 2010

Here is a photo of the Art on the Kinni event that happened in town yesterday on the White Pathway along the river. It was nice, although the almost 20 degree difference in temperature from when i got there to when i left really tired me out, not to mention all the walking and my back hurting. Lots of interesting things to look at and buy, one of my favorites being by Fire In the Hand, the octopus plates and bowls. Thought about getting some, but in retrospect it's probably better i didn't, not because of them, but when i got home to download pictures one of my main hard drives had died a horrible death (head crash, "whirrr... click... click... grind...) and had to make a quick run to get a replacement before i lost more data. Thankfully it was one in a Drobo, so it seems no data was lost, but has since been working to repair the archive. Anyway, it was a nice event, with lots of different art and styles. Lots of people when i was there too.

Swinging bridge

It was a lovely day, not too hot, not too cold, and i felt the urge to get out, so i thought i would go to the bridge and see how the river was. There were lots of things covered up around the entrance, and i was curious what was going on, and seeing an article in the paper about how they are going to do work on the foundation, now i know. This is one of the markers to the side of the bridge on the south side. I always feel nervous when it gets bouncing a lot, and it really does when people walk on it.

Not 'quite' River Falls

This wasn't actually in River Falls, but was close, and interesting enough that i wanted to share. In Hudson (less than 10 miles away) there were replicas of the Nina and Pinta ships that Columbus sailed on. It was something i found interesting, especially since i guess i always pictured them larger. Must have been quite the experience to cross the ocean on them. I have a hard time driving a far distance some times, hard to imagine getting on a boat that size, out in the ocean where you are pretty much out of luck of anything goes wrong, and no facebook or anything. ;) It was quite the hot day too, with temps in the high 90s (33 or so C) and very high humidity, so being on a black boat wasn't the most comfortable, but it was interesting. I have more pictures of the ships in a flickr set here.

Flooding

This is Hoffman Park on the north side of town. We had very heavy rain, over four inches and it caused quite a bit of flooding. This is deeper than it looks, and what's scary is that there is more rain predicted for tonight. Not looking forward to that as i already have water in my basement, and this is already the wettest summer on record, with a month or so to go.

Interesting fact, this is the same place i took the pictures of the fireworks, for a different view of how it looks dry.

Molting?

Saw this blue jay on my deck, and it seriously freaked me out for a bit. Not sure if he is molting, which i'm guessing as the fuzzy feathers on the back look like the young ones, or if he's ill. Either way, it's very hot and humid again, and i feel for the birds and animals out there.

River Falls Days, Friday - Food tent

This part of the food tent at River Falls Days, this one called Island Noodles. There were only really a couple vendors in the food tent, mostly overpriced and prepackaged, like soda for $2 and premade things, but this was decent. I liked the fire coming up from the wok, along with the smell of freshly cooking vegetables and noodles. Definitely beat the smell of beer from the beer garden, but then i don't really care for beer.

River Falls Days, Friday - Parade

This is one of the floats in the parade, one i had an issue with, as they (and many others) were shooting water into the crowd and i had to be very aware as some seemed to be aiming right at my camera. Some years it seemed like a good idea to spray water on the crowd, as the temps can be high, but it was only in the low to mid 80s, and with a nice breeze. Anyway, the theme of River Falls Days was Kinnistock, a play on Woodstock, with most things having a 60s feel to it, with a lot of tie dye. I felt the parade was pretty lackluster, but it could just have been my state of mind. About an hour before it was over i decided to go get some food as i was tired and hungry.

Storms, many of them

Short break from the River Falls Days to talk about the storms that rolled through here on Wednesday. This picture was taken after the storms left if you can believe that. The sun came out right after, but there were tornado sightings, lots of rain, and wind gusts up to 80mph. Thankfully the immediate area was okay, but south in Elsworth there was a lot of damage, and over in Baldwin or close to, a semi got over turned by the wind. This was made worse by the fact that it wasn't just one front, it was two or three. One in the morning, with just mostly rain, then the major one with the tornados and then later one with another storm front. They say thursday will be more of the same, as it's been very hot (high 80s or into the 90s) with a high dew point (high 70s) and feels like 106F with the humidity. I know as soon as i stepped out it sure felt like it.

I found out later that my home town of Pittsville got hit too, and my parents house may be damaged, but also that a lot of my friends from there told me many trees are down. I'm glad everyone is safe and while the storms were fierce, it sounds like no one was hurt.

River Falls Days, Thursday - Rubber Soul

Thursday a Beetles tribute band called Rubber Soul played in the beer garden. They were very good, the music and performances were amazing. They had three costume sets, this is the middle one, the Sgt. Pepper's era. It was also my first try at concert photography, and without a flash at that. It seemed to take a while for the audience to move forward, not sure why, but i've heard that is just how people in River Falls are. Takes some getting used to after going to The Warehouse in LaCrosse for so many years, and it being such an intimate concert venue where you are generally within touching distance of the bands.

River Falls Days, Friday - Hot Air Balloon

Friday nearing the end of the parade, a hot air balloon surprised people. Partly because there was a hot air balloon, but also with how low it was. In this shot it was actually higher than it had been when i heard people yelling outside the food tent. It seemed to brush the trees closer to where i was here, and slowly got higher. I'm linking to a video someone grabbed and put up on the chamber of commerce youtube site. It's not the best video, but is kind of interesting.

River Falls Days, Sunday - Fireworks

This is one of the shots of the fireworks sunday night that finished up River Falls Days. Not the most impressive display, reminded me of about the same as the town i grew up in of 800 people, expected "something" better. They were also behind the trees a lot more than i expected. Maybe i got spoiled by the ones LaCrosse had, from the bluff and over the river. Used to go out on the roof over my garage and watch the ones from the bluff as it was only a half a mile away, but elevated and a nice view from there. I also didn't have to deal with everything that tested my patience tonight, from the people in the car that kept thinking it was funny to flash their headlights on bright right at  most people several times during the display, to the cop who was waving me through traffic then decided to yell at me for doing what he said (hint to him, learn that when you point at a car and are waving in the direction to go, that means that car should go, not stop.), to the tailgaters who seemed drunk and almost hit me, to the humidity that started to condense on my lens as it got darker (which is why the shots of the fireworks look 'fuzzy'), to the HUGE bat that decided to get the bugs around me (not even kidding, at least a four foot wingspan, at least. Flew around me, hit me with it's wings, scared the living daylights out of me). Sigh...

So anyway, this was my first try at shooting fireworks, and with all those complications, and the strange decision to try it with fisheye, some turned out decent i think. This is one of my favorites.

River Falls Days - Thursday - Burrito eating contest

Thursday there was a burrito eating contest, sponsored by Mariachi Loco (awesome restaurant by the way, i don't eat there enough), and there were many burritos consumed. There was a tie breaker, ended up running out of them, and the winner (the guy in the white shirt and red pants) had around 20 if i remember. He also kept them down, unlike one guy who didn't, and was the biggest bragger of the bunch (the puker, not the guy who won). Glad that was out of view though, and smell, don't particularly like that much.

(edit: Oops, i originally put it as friday, but it was thursday, not sure where my brain was at the time)

River Falls Days, Friday - Accident

Not the best way to start the weekend i'm betting. After i got a bite to eat at Bo's and Mine, sad to see they had a shorter menu for the weekend with only a couple of selections, i noticed a fire truck and lots of lights going off. At first i thought it might be part of the parade starting, so i went up to it. This is as close as i wanted to get, i didn't want to be a gawker (i'd probably make a horrible paparazzi or freelance news person, i hate interrupting people in stress) but i thought i should get a photo at least. Didn't look too serious, but there was an ambulance, a fire truck, and two police cars. The grey car had significant damage to the back, and it's hood was up for some reason. I have no idea how any can go fast on main, even on a light day cars go slower than 20mph or so, which is probably good as people tend to dart out in traffic without looking. The traffic was even slower today, as there were so many people and cars, i'd say lucky if it went over 15mph, but i guess if someone isn't paying attention, they can do major damage. I hope no one was hurt, but it probably did ruin the day or weekend at the least for the people involved. 

Side note, i was surprised i didn't get yelled at when i approached with my camera, i've heard lots of stories lately about photographers being stopped for taking pictures of various things. I haven't been stopped yet, but i have noticed police cars driving slowly by me and looking when i'm out and about taking photos.