Date: July 4, 2012
Location: Browns Bay, West Lake Okoboji, Iowa
Clicking on the photos will enlarge them.
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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)
Archive for the ‘Okoboji’ Category
Dog and Dog’s Best Friend
July 8, 2012Good Morning — July 4, 2012
July 4, 2012
July 4, 2012, Sunrise — West Lake Okoboji, Iowa. (Click on image once or twice to enlarge.)
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(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)
Baby It’s Cold…Out…Side!
January 12, 2012
Nachos (along with a brewski) from the Taco House at Okoboji, Iowa. This view is from the southeast tip of West Lake Okoboji, Iowa. October 4, 2011. (Click on photo to enlarge.)
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Just two days ago on January 10, 2012, I was walking outside in Iowa in maybe-mid-50s temps. Wearing sweatpants and a short-sleeved t-shirt. Except for one quickly melted fine dusting of snow several weeks ago, the weather has made it seem like an extended fall, until yesterday..
Yesterday the wind picked up, it snowed, and it is COLD! Any Iowan knows that even now, these teens-temps and blustery wind are mild for Iowa winters.
Because I’m so used to seasons, I’m ready to see some real snow (and at the same time have everyone be safe and sound). Of course, since the ground is frozen, even if it snows the moisture won’t be absorbed very well into the frozen ground. At least Mother Nature won’t have forgotten how to give us some form of precipitation. For those of you who don’t know, in about the northwest third of the state of Iowa, last late-summer and fall we were lacking in any substantial rainfall. The result: little moisture in the ground before it froze this winter. This means little moisture so far for next spring’s crops. If we get snow now, it will likely run off the frozen ground until the ground thaws.
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For my 2009 photo of Taco House nachos, beer and a West Lake Okoboji sunset, click here. For the same from 2010, click here. The photo in this post, and the 2009 and 2010 photos are all taken from the exact same vantage point.
BTW, this post is the 300th for this blog!
(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)
Balance
September 6, 2010
Please click once (or even twice) on this photo to magnify the detail and "be there."
This photo was taken this past spring on April 17. On that day, (L to R) Joe (Katie’s husband), Katie (Bill’s and my younger daughter) and Bill set out the dock at West Lake Okoboji for the summer season.
The dock was designed and made by my dad (Deane Gunderson) in the mid-1970s. It’s a unique creation. If you’ve already seen it, you know exactly what I mean. If you haven’t seen it…well… sometime I’ll post “the rest of the story.”
If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll click on the photo to enlarge it and to enjoy the balance it portrays…in more ways than one.
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Webcam view of Smith’s Bay at West Lake Okoboji
August 24, 2009(Click here to go to this blog’s home page.)
In case you are interested…there is a webcam above the patio at the Dry Dock Lounge on West Lake Okoboji.
The photo at the left is taken from almost the same vantage point of the webcam…my camera being at the far left of the patio that is also visible in the lower part of the webcam’s view.
Click here to access the webcam image refreshing every ten seconds. (Anyway, that’s what the web site says, but when I last looked, the latest image was from Friday, August 21st.)
Over the next few weeks I’ll include more information about Oregon, including more posts about Mr. Spaulding along the way.
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Big Bugs, Sculpture, and West Lake Okoboji
August 21, 2009(Click here to go to this blog’s home page.)
This is the ant Katie and I saw. (It is indicated as "Ant #3" in the middle photo's caption.) Notice its size in comparison to the car in the nearby background. (Click photo to enlarge.)
Earlier this month, Katie (our younger daughter) and I were in search of garage sales along the west side of West Lake Okoboji. We didn’t have luck of the garage sale kind, but were lucky to accidentally see, from Highway 86, part of the “Big Bugs” exhibit. Not knowing there was such an exhibit, I marveled at the hugeness and design of the ant sculpture, especially because it was out in the middle of nowhere. more…
Blue Hat and Iowa Corn (Part II)
July 10, 2009(Click here to go to this blog’s home page.)
(If you haven’t yet read “Part I” and would like to do so before reading this post, click here.)
~ Submitted by Clara Gunderson Hoover
"Ear of Iowa Corn" watercolor by Mother (Marion Gunderson), 1949. Sizes/Pricing: Medium limited edition --- 11.75" W x 10" H, $25. Grand limited edition --- 22" W x 18.75" H, $50. Largest --- 24" x 20.5" (same size as the original, usually a special order), $70. (Click photo to enlarge.) *
In July 2008, Hal and I were back at Okoboji for our annual reading marathon. I didn’t want to impose on the Carmichaels, but one day while on my walk I finally went to their house and knocked on their door. They invited me inside and showed me Mother’s painting, Ear of Iowa Corn (1949). They also showed me two paintings by Cathrine Barr. I was excited to see all three paintings and asked if I could get my camera and come back to take photos. They seemed glad to let me do this. more…
Lake Okoboji and the Taco House — Two Spices of Life
July 3, 2009(Click here to go to this blog’s home page.)
West Lake Okoboji and Taco House beef and black olive nachos. (Click photo to enlarge.)
Although there are a couple of restaurants in the Lake Okoboji (Iowa) area that every once in awhile are my that-day choice of where I’d like to eat, the when-in-doubt default is always the Taco House.
According to a couple of current Taco House employees, the Taco House, as we know it today, has been in existence (same building, same recipes) since 1983, having changed ownership about six years ago. Previous to 1983, there was a different structure that housed the Taco House. more…
