The months of March and April 2016 were quite busy, I was out photographing something just about every weekend. The only weekends I missed were just after St. Patrick’s Day, as I was keeping an eye on Reno, my cat. That was the first of two major losses during this time- Reno had to be euthanized on March 21. The other weekend I missed was in the middle of April.
March started with photographing the Chiditarod, a charity event that raises food for the homeless. Teams decorate shopping carts, and then race through the West Town neighborhood Iditarod-style, with checkpoints along the way. Each team must raise food to be donated, there is a minimum they have to collect in order to participate in the race. It was a blast, seeing all of the work that went into the carts. I caught the start of the race, and then went to one of the checkpoints to catch some of the teams as they checked in. The following weekend was March’s Drink And Click meet up at the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The month finished with a quick trip up to Milwaukee on March 26. And then, on March 31, I left town to meet up with my friend Cathie Crow in the Washington DC area. We had intended to catch the cherry blossoms, but ended up being about a week too late.
Our first day, April 1, was the day when the second of the major losses occurred- that morning, my friend Paul lost his battle with cancer. We spent our time in DC visiting many of the popular attractions, but sometimes, we had to improvise as it was Spring Break, and some of the crowds were just crazy. A storm hit Saturday night, and the next day (our last day in DC), the temperatures had dropped and the winds had picked up very strongly.
The other huge highlight for me in April came at the end of the month. I decided to take a short trip to Arizona for my birthday. Before leaving, I booked a Pink Jeep tour in Sedona for the Sunday afternoon when I arrived. Monday, I went back and spent the entire in Sedona, I took another Pink Jeep tour, and, in the afternoon, we got snow and winds gusting up to 60 mph, which made standing in “The Vortex” even more intense than it is normally.
The next day, I went to the Grand Canyon. I had never seen it with my own eyes before. Along with the first Pink Jeep Tour, I had booked a helicopter tour of the Canyon before I left Chicago. It is by far the best way to see the Canyon, you truly get an appreciation of how vast it is. After we landed, I explored the east rim for the afternoon. Having gotten this taster, I will have to return for more exploring, it is truly an incredible place.
Next up- May and June, tomorrow. Stay Tuned!
