Places

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Following up with my late summer and fall photo albums, I’ve now uploaded some winter photos into my photo gallery. Check out the rest of the seasonal photos of Binder Twine in the gallery, too.

These were taken yesterday, when I ventured up to Binder Twine Park, bringing my trusty camera with me to take some photos of Binder Twine and snow. Good thing I brought gloves and boots and a hat, because it was cold and there was snow and it was snowing on and off. There was a little bit of ice too, but that was surprisingly a trivial matter.

Binder Twine park is a park in Kleinburg, Ontario, near the McMichael Art Gallery. (And by near, I mean right next to) I’d estimate it has about 20km worth of trails in and around it. I’ve spotted turtles, birds, fish, and even deer in there. Humber River flows through Binder Twine, and it more or less follows the main trail in the park.

I used to go to Binder Twine for a 10km walk every Sunday, but that habit gets overridden when winter comes. After all, my cozy house seems like a nicer-not to mention warmer- way to spend a Sunday morning than out trekking in negative who knows what weather? But I’ve missed that park and the sound of the flowing river and the daunting tall trees, so I went back yesterday. I’m glad I did. It was a good way to start off the new year, doing something less lazy than usual. A cold way, but a good way.

I have, most recently at the Chicago Board of Trade.

It was on a recent weekend visit to Chicago (right after my trip to Yellowstone). My first time there, I thought I’d go check out the Chicago Board of Trade, or CBOT, where agricultural commodities are traded everyday. As a child, I had watched my dad trade these. I didn’t understand what futures were or how they worked, but I understood he was losing money. Childhood memories really stick with you, eh.

According to the CBOT website, the general public isn’t allowed into the viewing galleries to the trading floor. So I was only prepared for the visitor’s center, which had a few neat items and old pictures for show. But we came across a nice old man with membership there and he let us in (to the disapproval of the viewing gallery floor secretary) to the viewing galleries. I was extremely excited to see the trading floor, and see with my own eyes all the fascinating hand signals (practically a sign language!) that they use to communicate. It’s almost like how you see it on popular culture, for example this year’s comedy “What Happens in Vegas.”

Here’s the embarrassing part. Everybody that was in the viewing gallery was wearing formal clothing. All the men were wearing suits. The two women both had a skirt, a blouse, and a blazer. My friend that was with me at least wore business casual pants and a plain t-shirt. I dressed like a tourist and wore short shorts and flip flops.

I never felt so under dressed in my life.

Last week, I had the pleasure of spending a few days in Yellowstone National Park, in Wyoming. It was the first national park in the world, as explorers in the 1860s saw this place and decided they wanted it to be protected. Now I understand why.

The park has a long list of attractions. Hiking trails. Biking trails. Fishing spots. Mountains. Waterfalls. Wildlife. And then there are the geothermal features, including geyers, hot springs, fumaroles and mud pots.

(It’s okay if you have no idea what a fumarole is.)

Yellowstone is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, and not only because it’s beauty is all the work of nature. Here are some photos I took - unedited - from my point-and-shoot camera. It’s much more beautiful when you see the actual thing, because it’s just impossible to fit the whole view into a little picture.

And it erupts yet again!

Old Faithful is one of the most popular attractions in Yellowstone. Every 90 or so minutes, this geyser erupts and shoots boiling water a hundred-something feet high for a couple minutes. Geysers are generally unpredictable, but a handful in the park have their predicted next eruption time posted. Old Faithful gets its name from being, well, so faithful, being the most frequently erupting geyser in Yellowstone.

The Grand Prismatic Spring - the largest hot spring in the U.S. - as viewed from a nearby hill

The same hot spring as above, viewed from the boardwalk

In my opinion, the Midway Geyser basin, home to the Grand Prismatic Spring, is a definite contender for “Most Beautiful Place in Yellowstone.” At 110m wide and 37m deep, the Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the United States, and the third largest in the world. As you can see, it’s as blue as a swimming pool and much prettier, as well. I suggest you view it both from a hill and from the boardwalk. The hill is a less popular viewing spot, as you actually have to hike up there, but it’s very much worth it.

The Lower Yellowstone Falls

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone is 275m (900ft) deep, half a mile wide, and stunning. You even get a view of a waterfall (the Lower Yellowstone Falls) while you’re at it. Although I really don’t know why it’s called “…of THE Yellowstone” because there is no particular yellowstone in the canyon…?

A large group of buffalo near the road

Buffalo can be seen all around the park as you drive, in groups of all sizes. Twice I saw big groups of 30 plus, and more frequently I found individual buffalo roaming the fields. Very often you get held up in traffic as you’re driving around the park, because of one, two, or sometimes three buffalo crossing the street, or sometimes just standing in the middle of it. Several times I also saw elk and bison.

Since you get from attraction to attraction mostly by driving (they’re miles apart), you can see a lot of cars in each attraction’s parking lot. I saw license plates from places as far as New York, Maryland, Mexico and even Ontario (no, it wasn’t me, I flew to a friend’s house and we drove from there). This really shows how people from all over are willing to drive. I mean seriously, New York to Wyoming?

Yellowstone National Park is a real nice place and I suggest you all to visit it one day. At the park you see visitors of all kinds, from babies to retirees, in small groups, large groups, whether they’re families, friends, or couples.

I’ve never seen anything like it before. There are 10,000 geothermal features in one area, many of them I’ve never even imagined of before.

(One warning though. Some geothermal features tend to smell like rotten eggs.)

Then there’s all that wildlife I had never thought I’d see closeup without a cage around it before. I miss the park already.