Mendota Bridge

The Mendota Bridge is located in Minnesota and spans the Minnesota River.

When it was built in 1926, it was the world's longest concrete bridge. Before then a railroad bridge spanned the river here and the ruins of that bridge are barely still visible.

The Mendota Bridge was designed by C.A.P. Turner and Walter H. Wheeler. Mr. Turner also designed Duluth, MN's famous Aerial Lift Bridge.

The arches in this picture are from the original bridge but a new deck was installed between 1992 and 1994.

This shot was taken within Fort Snelling State Park located in the Twin Cities, MN. The park itself contains 3,000 acres of forest and wetlands, along with historic Fort Snelling which was built in the 1820's. The hiking, skiing, and biking trails within the park connect with a few other regional trails.

A nice swimming beach is also available inside the park on Snelling Lake, which happens to sit below the end of the Minneapolis / St. Paul International Airport. Float on your back as you watch the low flying jumbo jets approach and depart overhead.

Wolf Creek Falls

Wolf Creek are found near Hinckley, MN at Banning State Park. Banning is an interesting park on the Kettle River and contains the ruins of an old sandstone quarry.

To get to the falls, hike along the river through the 40 foot bluffs and past the ruins of the rock crusher and power plant. Check out Hell's Gate where the narrow river bottlenecks and deepens to 100 feet.

Dodge Nature Center

I have this picture framed and hanging in one of my treatment rooms at the office. Many people are surprised to realize it was taken in here in West St. Paul.

It's the Dodge Nature Center, a 360 acre working farm, nature preserve, and apple orchard located on Marie Avenue. 60,000 students a year visit Dodge.

Dodge nature center offers a variety of programs to serve the community. Many are geared towards kids such as day camps, after school programs, and a preschool. Adult programs generally have a green theme such as environmental effects on mining and global warming.

Dodge is truly a gem in West Saint Paul.

The Bulldog Lowertown

Lowertown has a new tenant, the Bulldog Restaurant and Bar. It opened in late October and so far has been enjoying nice crowds and in my opinion a pretty good vibe. I stopped in after voting on Election Night with a friend but we found every table occupied and all bar stools filled. Even though no place was available to sit, our bartender was quick to see us and pour us a couple of the more than one hundred kinds of beers available here.

My friend and I own a business together and had some things to discuss. The Bulldog is a lot of things but quiet and intimate it isn't. We decided to head across Mears Park to LoTo (as in LowerTown) to finish our meeting in a more relaxed vibe where we could carry on a more serious conversation. I've always like the food and atmosphere at Loto and the service has never let me down.

Overall The Bulldog is a nice addition to St. Paul's Lowertown and is a nice compliment to nearby rock club Station 4, dance club Rumors, and upscale LoTo. Add in the fact that they are all within a short walk from each other and you'll find that Lowertown may be finally coming together as a nightlife destination for the Twin Cities.

Rain Over Saint Paul

This is a panoramic shot of downtown St. Paul, MN taken from Galtier Towers in late spring of 2008. I have a 5 foot wide copy of it hanging in my office and it generates quite a bit of interest from my clients, as many of them live or work in the buildings you see here.

For display purposes, blogger.com cropped the original photo. Click here to see the full, more detailed version of the image. Your browser may scale it down to fit in your window so zoom in to get the full effect.

The image faces north, looking up Jackson Street. The skyline of Minneapolis can be seen on the horizon towards the left side of the photo. Notable buildings and landmarks include: Region's Hospital (under construction) - First Baptist Church - City Walk Condos - The Rossmor - Pedro's Luggage - Mn. State Capitol Dome (hiding behind a billboard) - The Embassy Suites Hotel - St. Paul Police Station and Metro State University.

This photo is compiled of about 20 individual photos which I combined and stitched together. This is one of my favorite shots and I hope you enjoy it.

Pete

Cairn

cairn marking the mountain summit

Yellowstone National Park is a photographer's dream because of its beautiful vistas, abundant wildlife, and unique thermal areas. My favorite subject to shoot was probably the waterfalls, and would make Nora stop the car any time we came across even the smallest stream of water rolling, twisting, or falling downhill.

On our last day out of the park we spotted a small stream coming down a hill not far from the east entrance of the park. We decided to hike along the stream for a bit, just to see where it went. We originally planned on gentle thirty minute hike up hill but found ourselves continuing to ascend as the trail turned from marsh to woods to rock. We weren't supplied at all for a five hour hike and soon found ourselves hungry and thirsty. Thankfully we crossed a field of pristine ankle-deep snow where we stopped and ate a few snowballs.

Finally we arrived at the summit of Avalanche Peak where I snapped the photo seen above. The pile of rocks is called a cairn and is used, amongst other things, to mark the summit of a mountain. The custom in Scotland is to add to the cairn with a stone you carried from the bottom of the hill, causing the sculpture to grow over time.

Palisade Minnesota

Palisade, Minnesota is my hometown and is located about three hours north of Minneapolis / St. Paul in Aitkin County.

The bridge you see here is the village's landmark. The Soo Line railroad used to pass over the Mississippi river here, but now the trail has been converted into a recreational ATV and snowmobile trail stretching 112 miles from Moose Lake to Cass Lake.

The town itself is small (population 112) but services around 1000 people who live in the woods or on the lakes and rivers nearby. Logging and farming are popular occupations here, but as with much of greater Minnesota, tourism dollars also feed the local economy.

For tourists, there is a lot to do, but lodging is scarce. The closest hotel is in McGregor, MN which is about a 15 mile drive, but closer to nine if you travel by ATV or snowmobile.

Popular nearby fishing spots include the Mississippi River which is great for Walleye and Northern Pike. The river also has quite a few White Sucker, Redhorse Sucker, and Carp which are fun to catch but not so good to eat. There is a fishing pier in Bergland Park, next to the old railroad bridge if you don't have a boat.

About the picture: I was heading to breakfast in Palisade shortly after sunrise. The fields were thick with fog and I had to dodge a few deer on the highway on my way to town. I stopped by the park and took this shot from the fishing pier.

Dr. Ladd