All articles, tagged with “sunset”

Greg, our two traveling cats and I spent Canadian Thanksgiving weekend (2nd weekend in October) on the Canadian side of the Thousand Islands in Ontario. We were enthralled by the quiet beauty and uniqueness of the area.

There are around 1865 islands in a 50 mile span of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario that vary greatly in size. Some smaller ones have a charming house or two on them with small bridges connecting a couple tiny islands. Imagine living on your own private island! The Iroquois referred to this area as “Garden of the Great Spirit”. And this IS where Thousand Island dressing was created.

We accessed the Thousand Islands from Gananoque, ON, a lovely little town (pop. 5285) about midway between Toronto and Montreal. We were so impressed by the friendliness of the people. The optimal time to see Fall colors is generally the 3rd weekend in October. Here are some of our trip highlights and links for more info:

In order to see the islands, it’s best to take a boat cruise. The Gananoque Boat Line offers journeys of various lengths including a 5-hour Boldt Castle Stopover Cruise. The 1-hour cruise ($20 per person) was a perfect length for us. We happened upon the boat just as it was departing and since we missed the ticket counter, the dockhand trustingly let us on without tickets. We did buy them afterwards, and it saved us a 1.5 hr. wait for the next boat. The Gan Boat Line gift shop was offering 40% off most items for the holiday, and the cashier was very informative about the area.

For lunch, the gift shop cashier recommended the Ganonoque Inn and Spa for their waterfront view and wi-fi. We tried one of the Inn’s restaurants, Muskie Jake’s, which features delicious casual fare and generous portions. Try the lemon beer-battered fish and chips or veggie wrap. For Thanksgiving weekend, they serve a special all-inclusive turkey dinner for $20 on Sunday night by reservation only. Good deal!

Only 25 minutes away, Kingston sports a pretty waterfront reminiscent of Vancouver’s marina with some nice pubs along the river.

Visit 1000 Islands Gananoque for places to stay, like the picturesque Athlone Inn, and more activities. For campers, there are many nice resorts, including 1000 Islands Camping Resort which is quiet, pretty and has full hook-ups. The 1000 Islands/Ivy Lea KOA has Thanksgiving dinner and Trick or Treat this weekend, but it books up early.

If you want to access this area from upstate New York, click on Visit 1000 Islands.

Happy travels!

Last weekend, we took our first trip to the eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Because we visited a “bear ranch,” we saw more bears there than our summer trip out West :) One of our favorite male black bears is pictured below.

As is the case whenever we travel, we gathered many water and nature images which will appear in future Water Films and guided meditations. These experiences provide creative inspiration for our music and multimedia creations.

Here are some of the highlights from the trip, including Tahquamenon Falls (one of the largest falls east of the Mississippi), Lake Superior and nearby Sable Falls, plus sunset over a small lake in the Lower Peninsula.

All of us can experience beauty inside and out . . .

with yourself

with others

with your environment

When you look for beauty within, it becomes easier to spot all around you.

It can be done anytime, anywhere. Yes, even in the middle of February up north — inside and out.

Photos:
upper left – Holden Arboretum
upper right – Red-billed Fire Finch from inside the Cleveland Botanical Garden
lower left – sunset through the bare trees in Cleveland Heights
lower right – our orchid that we named “Sid”

Our latest Water Film features Yellowstone National Park. This place is awesome and it happens to contain an amazing assortment of unique manifestations of water. The park scenery inspires quiet reverence.

If you enjoy the soundtrack for this film you can download it here.

Press play and enjoy!

You can also watch it on YouTube.

This is one of the many films that is on our Water Films DVD, soon to be released!

There are so many great natural places to discover! We visited the overlook at Virginia Kendall Ledges in the Cuyahoga Valley just in time to catch a beautiful sunset.

I’ve seen images of Yellowstone my whole life, haven’t you?

It’s amazing how powerful it is to be there! Here are some images from our visit:

Our latest relaxing Water Film comes from Kelleys Island in Lake Erie.

This peaceful island boasts an interesting and varied shoreline. Take a restful and inspiring nature break as you listen to “Lakeshore,” from the first Waterflow CD.

Just press play and get transported to a restful state.

You can also watch it in HD on YouTube

The soundtrack to the video can be downloaded here.

Peace.

Not only are we approaching the release of a new CD (“Waterflow II”), we are also getting ready to release a DVD of Water Films.

Wanna go to the beach? Well, here is our latest Water Film entitled, “Key West.” Sit back and relax while you watch stunning images of gentle water, sailboats, sunsets, palm trees and mangroves.

The soundtrack is part of the track entitled, Shorebreak, which is on the upcoming CD release, “Waterflow II.” Press play, sit back and enjoy.

You can also watch it in HD on YouTube

The soundtrack to the video can be downloaded here.

Have a beautiful day!

While we were vacationing in Florida at the end of 2009, we witnessed some amazing sunrises and sunsets. This Water Film features some really cool shots from the beach on Sanibel Island.

The video is accompanied by a new composition, “Sanibel Sun.”

You can watch the new movie, also called “Sanibel Sun,” here:

Watch it in HD on the full screen on YouTube!

Or you can go to our Water Films website to watch this movie or any of the other relaxing Water Films.

If you like the music from this video you can download “Sanibel Sun,” you can download it here.

Watching films like this can put you in a place of calm focus (an upcoming blog topic — stay tuned).

Here are just a few of the images that we experienced tonight (Thursday, July 2, 2009). There are so many ways in which we are inspired by the beauty of this area in the Canadian Rockies. Enjoy these photos from our first night of vacation!