happy new year

I wish you and your families all the best for 2010!!!

Happy New Year!

And watch out the fireworks...

happy holidays

Merry Christmas to you and your families!

Ruby Beach

Ruby Beach on the Pacific coast of the Olympic Peninsula offers beautiful views of the "peaceful sea", yet depending on the weather it is not as quiet and peaceful as its name may suggest. Great amounts of driftwood and large sea stacks (steep columns of rock in the sea near the coast) are very characteristic for the coastline in the Northern Pacific area.

First snow of the saison

This morning, winter has started in Evanston and after all we had the first snow for this year. Let's see how long it will last or if we even get some more inches over the next days.

Olympic Mountains

Sunset on the Olympic Peninsula in different variations.

Olympic National Park

Some nice views from the Olympic National Park in the State of Washington.

More rain, more forest

Some more impressions from the Hoh Rain Forest. Nowadays, this fascinating natural scenery received a huge amount of fame for being the stage for the Twilight saga. Fortunately, no vampires showed up during our stay ;-)

Hoh Rain Forest

Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic Peninsula in the Pacific Northwest near Seattle is with up to 4.3 meters rain per year probably the place with the biggest annual precipitation in the United States. These outstanding climatic conditions led to the formation of a fascinating fauna. Big trees reaching up to 100 meters in height are covered with huge amount of different mosses. Somehow, these scenic beauties reminded me of the Ents in Lord of the Rings.

Halloween

It's Halloween. And most of my neighbors decorated their gardens accordingly. But maybe this is just a small training for their very big christmas decoration this year.

Hogwarts at Northwestern

Some of the Dormitories for the undergraduate students at Northwesten University just look like being directly taken from the Harry Potter Land.
Welcome to Hogwarts!

SF@night

The City of the Bay at night.

Northwestern Campus in Fall

Chinatown in SF

Yet some further impressions from San Francisco.
Local Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America and most likely the largest Chinese community outside of Asia. Its unique flair makes it definitely worth a visit whenever you come to the City of the Bay.

Evanston in Fall

Days are getting shorter, temperatures are going down and leaves are falling. It's fall in the Midwest.
And alongside with a lot of rain and very cold nights there are actually some pretty nice sunny days.

Chicago Skyline

The impressive Chicago Skyline is always worth a view.

During daytime ...

... at night ...

... or even in black and white.

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore

Indiana only has 65 kilometers of Lake Michigan shoreline in the very south, though, these are propably one of the nicest coastal parts of the fifth greatest lake in the world. The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore runs for 35 kilometers along the southern coast of Lake Michigan and offers a beautiful arrangement of sand dunes, nice beaches and woodland forests.

And in case of clear sight, even the Chicago skyline can be sensed over 50 kilometers away.

One of the Biggest Comebacks ...

... in NHL history and we were part of it!

On Monday 10/12/09 the Chicago Blackhawks hosted the Calgary Flames at the United Center but the first period did not go well for the Hawks. After scoring five goals in only 5:29 minutes, the Flames led 5-0 after 11:43 and it seemed to become a quite disappointing night.
But than they fought back ...
... and the rest is history.

After rallying from five down and beating the Flames 6-5 just 26 seconds into overtime the Blackhawks tied the NHL record for the biggest deficit overcome and the crowd in the madhouse on Madison Avenue finally went crazy.
Eleven goals, storming atmosphere, what a remarkable game!!!

Chicago Botanic Garden

Welcome to the Chicago Botanic Garden.
This 156-hectare area of 23 display gardens and three natural habitats is a very nice place to chill around and enjoy a quite day in nature.

Coit Tower in SF

The 63m Coit Tower on top of the Telegraph Hill in San Francisco offers a beautiful panoramic view on both the city and the bay. It was erected in 1933 as a monument dedicated to the San Francisco Firemen.
The only thing I was really worried about was the elevator one has to take to reach the top. While I was waiting for my ride back down, this technological monument made sounds and movements like it was on its last operation. After my question about the age of this means of transportation, the friendly asian liftman answered with her brightest smile: "Don't worry, it's only 67 years old!! I think it's still safe."
And so I was glad to finally reach safe ground again.

Steep Streets of San Francisco