Adventures In Illinois

After I participated in the bike ride, there was much more fun to be had on my visit in Illinois.  I went to a local farmers market, watched the band "the pimps" perform, went to a concert on the grass at a winery and I photographed a senior portrait photo shoot with my friend Adriane's son, Jake.

I do appreciate it when my friends don't mind me showing up at the last minute to crash their plans and tag along for the adventure.  I tend to plan mostly day by day so I don't really know where I will end up and where I will be at any given time.  Lucky for me (not sure about Adriane), it was a weekend full of activities.

I had a great time doing a photo shoot with Jake. He chose the place to go which is a good thing since I had no idea where I was.  He plays the classical cello and wanted to include that in his shoot since it shows a part of who he is.  When I photograph people, I give very little direction on what I want them to do so they can look as natural as possible.  Being in front of a camera is a very vulnerable place to be for some people.  Jake didn't mind it at all and he wasn't concerned about how it looked or where he stood.  He was easy and went with the flow.  We didn't stay out for long as the clouds were looming in the distance.  Once we were finished, we walked along the highway back to the car.  He held his cello and I was following him with my camera in tow.  We must have looked like we needed help or at least looked like we were lost since a bus came by and stopped in the middle of the street to open the door and asked us if we needed a ride. We graciously declined.

The following day, we drove out to a local winery to enjoy a picnic and concert on the grass.  It turned out to be a beautiful evening and there were surprisingly about a thousand people who decided to do the same thing on the grass.  I wandered around with my camera to snap photographs of some of the activities that evening.

After a whirlwind of weekend fun, it was time to leave and head on our way.  Thank you for the slice of Bloomington, Illinois Adriane!  Max and I look forward to our next visit!

To see more of my portraits from the road, click HERE.

Taking My Cruiser, "Rusty" For A Spin In Illinois

Don't get me wrong, I don't just drive around the country with my rusted cruiser bungee corded to the back of my car just to make my ride look stylish, sometimes I actually get on it and take it for a ride.  More specifically, two times I have taken it off for a spin.

Today was one of those days.

I drove to Illionis to visit my friend, Adrianne.  I am usually last minute on planning things so I told her not to worry about her plans and that I would tag along and do whatever she already had plans to do.  On this particular day, it was the weekly meeting of the Bloomington Women's cycling club for their evening ride.  I warned Adrianne that I only had a cruiser, flip flops, no helmet, no fancy bicycle clothes and only one speed for the ride.  She assured me that this was a "fun ride" for all levels.

When I arrived at the shop, I met the ladies and some looked at me and said, "awww, you're not going to join us this evening?" (as I wore flip flops and walking shorts). When I pointed to my cruiser they looked at it and paused to think of the correct words instead of the, "are you kidding me" that most likely went through their head.  I even joked that I found it on the corner with a "Free" sign attached to it and one woman nodded her head and said, "oh, that makes sense. "

I didn't mind.  I just wanted to go along for the ride and take pictures along the way.  It was a fun ride until I couldn't see the group anymore.  Every now and then someone would fall behind so I could keep tabs on the direction we were headed.  As long as I knew the direction we were going, I was fine.  I just had my camera phone in hand the entire way to snap these photographs as I was riding along.  I had a good time seeing the back roads of Illinios and snapping pics as I passed by.

The ride ended with a welcomed snack assortment and social hour at the Bloomington Bicycle shop.  I am so glad I was able to join these wonderful ladies on their weekly ride.  If you live in the area, ride a bike (anything you have will do) and are a woman, this is a great social group to join!

I can't wait to see what else the weekend has in store in Bloomington, Illinois!