I'm Not Afraid -- What Am I Doing Up Here!?

Disneyland. It bills itself as "the happiest place on earth". If I'm going to go to a convention located just down the street from this place, I have to go there, right? If you aren't familiar with Disneyland, it's really two parks; the land itself, and California Adventure, across the plaza. The premise of California Adventure is a recreation of California, Disney-fied, of course, as it was when Walt showed up in the 1920's.

There are, of course, additions to the land which wouldn't, really, be what Walt saw, like Cars Land, from the Pixar movies. But the Main Street buildings bear a resemblance to what one would have seen in Anaheim in the 1920's.

One of the land's big attractions is the pier area, a Boardwalk-ish section with arcade games, similar to a 1920's-era amusement park. It is dominated by a roller coaster and a ferris wheel. You can see both as we walk towards them from the Main Street area towards the pier.

Now, if you know me at all, you know roller coasters are not my thing. There is an exception for Big Thunder Mountain Railway and I really wanted to try the Matterhorn. Supposedly, Space Mountain was based off that and I don't mind Space Mountain; I think, mainly because it's done in the dark. The physics behind roller coasters are clear. They take you up high and drop you in creative ways. Being afraid of heights, the "high" part of that is troubling and, well, the "dropping creatively" can get rather hairy.

As we got closer to the pier area, I got a full view of the coaster.

Wow and um, no, thanks. I'll just sit right over here. Fortunately, Liz was all about shepherding me about the parks to have the best time possible so she really didn't care if I didn't want to go on the coaster. She was staying an extra day beyond me and she has a yearly pass so she can ride this whenever she wants.

I debated. Many years ago, Carole and I went to Navy Pier and rode the ferris wheel there. It's a reasonably enclosed structure of strong metal. I can do this. I got three quarters of the way up and was terrified, so scared I had to close my eyes. It didn't bother Carole at all. I couldn't open my eyes again until we were half-way down. I couldn't get off the thing fast enough.

In my head, the Navy Pier ferris wheel looked much bigger than this one. The views from up there must be fantastic. I love to fly and enjoy looking out the windows at the 25-30,000 feet between me and the ground. It's been years since I was on one of these. Disney wouldn't put any guest in a suspect ride. I was totally safe. How bad could this be?

There are two lines here. If you go to the left, you ride in the usual gondola. If you go to the right, you can ride in a swinging gondola. We watched those. They travel along a track and swing out from the wheel, swaying back and forth. Oh lawd 'o mercy! Not for a million dollars.

We will take the standard gondola, please and thank you. These don't rock.

The car glides to a stop and we get in. The wheel starts and up we go. Suddenly, about a quarter of the way up, my brain, which has largely been in "ohboy ohboy ohboy!" mode, kicks in and says, "What do you think you are doing in this contraption? YOU HATE HEIGHTS!" There is a realization that I am on this ride and getting out is not an option, at least not without extreme humiliation and having to ride all the way around anyway before they can stop the thing and let me off. That familiar twinge of fear I know so well starts to develop in my stomach. Doggoneit. There is no reason to be afraid and yet, terror is growing.

About that time, we clear the height of the trees and I can look out.

To the left is the Grand Californian Hotel. Paradise Pier Hotel is in the center with the Disneyland Hotel to the right. Far off in the distance are mountains. I ask Liz to tell me about this park and the hotels. An admitted "Disney freak", she told me all sorts of tidbits about the hotels and the park. Her excitement was infectious and I felt the terror ease.

It never really left, but I was determined to keep it at bay. A camera with which to document my travels is my best friend at a time like this. I can point it at the view and look at the viewfinder.

Looking down is not so scary when you're looking at the aftermath of pushing the shutter. See, there is just no way I'd be able to ride that coaster unless I was duct taped into the seat and had duct tape over my eyes.

We climbed over the top and headed back down.

This really doesn't give you a feel for the swinging of some of the cars. I think it's the green-bottomed one that is moving around on the extra set of tracks, but I'm not sure. We came down and had one more pass around the wheel. I could feel the fear arguing with my sanity over who was going to win. Sanity won out, I'm happy to report. Fear went to the bottom of my stomach and pouted.

While the cage in this photo is clear, I was aiming for a view of the mountains in the east. Forgot about that focus business.

I had Liz take my photo as documentation of my journey around the ferris wheel.

I know I don't look the happiest for being in "the happiest place on earth". But, I wasn't clutching the seat or the car sides in abject terror and my eyes are open. This is a win.

Three days after getting home, I had to climb a ladder to a vacant floor to take photos during an inspection. I'd done this building in 2014 and had climbed the ladder only to freeze on climbing down. The maintenance man who accompanied me had been ever so calm and spent 10 minutes talking me down out of the deserted 4th floor. All the while I'm doing the post inspection on the occupied floors, I'm hoping, against hope, I don't have to go up. Yeah, well, about that...

Going up has never been a problem, other than the small rungs and climbing being a bit of a problem for my legs and my RA. But up I went and did my documentation. Finished, I went to the ladder. The maintenance man went first to hold the ladder and I climbed right down. Didn't give it another thought. It was only as I was in the stairwell walking down the stairs to go outside, that I realized what had just happened.

There is probably not a chance that I will "outgrow" my fear of heights to the point that roller coasters don't scare the bejeezus out of me. But something has changed. Something, confidence in me, perhaps, has grown so the fear I have long lived with doesn't have to be accommodated to the exclusion of fun.

I was nervous, to be sure, and I recognized that if I didn't come to grips with my fear: win over it, if you will; that this trip would be remembered for my breaking down and screaming to get off the ferris wheel. I couldn't have that. Would I ride this again? In a heartbeat. The view is wonderful. I'd actually like to ride it at night. I'll bet it's doubly gorgeous then.

Beverage:  Dr Pepper

Deb

Morning and Evening

Here are a couple more shots of Chicago on my travels. This was sunrise last week as I headed north to a job. For those not in the know, this is looking out at Lake Michigan from near the intersection of the lake and the Chicago River.

I wish I could get a photo of the sunlight reflected off the condo buildings on the north side of the river. They look edged in gold leaf.

Here is a photo taken a couple weeks ago from Navy Pier.

One of my best friends, Terry, was in town to do a show at McCormick Place, a behemoth of a convention center south of downtown proper. I drove in to pick her up and go get supper. I decided Navy Pier, which juts into the lake, would be a good place; a variety of restaurants and ample parking.

When I picked her up, it was a lovely 70 degrees and sunny. She was staying at a hotel to the left of the buildings on the left side of the photo. It would be a 15 minute drive north to Navy Pier. As we turned onto Columbus Drive to head north, the Jeep was rocked with a blast of wind. We'd had the windows down but the wind coming into the Jeep was about 10 degrees colder than the air temperature when I picked her up. The locust trees in Grant Park, bright yellow, lost a chunk of their leaves which created this yellow curtain as we drove north. The smell of fall in the Midwest was instantly upon us. As we prepared to turn right to head into Navy Pier parking, the clouds rolled in. This is the view when we came out of the parking garage to the pier. Skyscrapers in Chicago were effectively cut in two.  The predicted cold front had arrived. Although I'm afraid of heights, at a time like this, I wonder what it would be like to be in the clouds or if there was a way to be above these.

We had a lovely 2 and a half hour dinner, with very attentive service. The sky grew dark as the sun set. When we left the restaurant, the clouds had passed. I should have tried to take some photos of the night skyline; it's beautiful; but I'd neglected to bring a coat and it was downright cold.

There is a joke in this neck of the woods. "Don't like the weather? Wait 10 minutes and it will change." Yeah.

Beverage:  Black Cherry Sparkling Seltzer

Deb

Oh the Places I Go, Photo 7

Monday's adventure.

In doing what I do, I'm on construction sites all over the Chicagoland area. As with any big city, one of the things you ask when you have to go to these places is, "Where do I park?" If you have to compete for a spot with the regulars, you can waste a ton of time and risk getting a ticket or towed, just to do your job. So, a client who arranges for parking is wonderful.

Thanks to my job, I look at structures differently. This is the junction of Lake Shore Drive and Illinois Street, a couple blocks from Navy Pier. There's an off ramp to the left and Lake Shore Drive is to the right. It was rebuilt, in this area, some years ago and both don't show signs of wear, even though this is right along the lake.

We talk about our infrastructure and how so many bridges and roads need to be replaced or resurfaced. All the expressways in Chicago have been rebuilt at least once since I've lived here.

The very messy "circle" interchange just west of downtown Chicago is finally undergoing a redesign. The "circle" takes it's name from how the Dan Ryan, Eisenhower and Kennedy expressways meet. Directions are marked but it's a maddening interchange and badly in need of a redesign. It's also in a space confined area.

I think there's a beauty in the stark design of our roads and bridges. Even traffic can have a visual appeal.

I see a lot of this and if you commute, it is perhaps your vision as well. I find myself, when I'm stuck in traffic, looking about to see the construction, see the interesting details of the roadway on which I find myself.

Life is a journey. If I'm going to be stuck in traffic, or in road destruction, as I like to call it, or parking under an expressway, I'm going to find the interesting bits about it.

Beverage:  English Breakfast tea

Deb

Ethereal

We often gripe about having to drive into the city. It's often not a pleasant trip. I've done it for so long that it's pretty much a mindless drive. I turn on WDCB and head east.

But yesterday was quite the scenic day. It made me glad that I always have my little camera on me and reminded me of why I love living here.

We had drizzle all morning. The combination of a large body of water to the east and warmer air created an impressive fog bank. You get kind of used to seeing the skyscrapers of the skyline obliterated on cloudy days. It wasn't until I got into the downtown that I realized this was a different kind of cloudy.

 

I forget the name of the building in the forefront. That's the Sears, oops, Willis, Tower in the background. The clouds and fog seem to wrap themselves, like a shawl, around the buildings. Almost anything of 10+ stories had fog wisps above the 10th floor. 

Jon and I headed to this job he's had for the past 4 years. My photos going northbound on Lake Shore Drive are blurry and not very good. I think the combination of the gray and the drizzle just didn't lend themselves to through the windshield photography. My little camera has proven itself great for doing what I need it to do when I need it to do it. It's just that if I'm driving, I can't compensate for water on the windshield. 

Heading southbound on Lake Shore Drive after lunch, it was a different story. The drizzle had ended but the fog remained. It was so cool. Lake Shore Drive's "technical" speed limit is 45 but I don't know anyone who drives that. I could drive 50-55 while shooting photos and not get honked at. 

I really like this photo.

 

The north end of Michigan Avenue with the Hancock Center is just barely visible. I was across from the Lincoln Park Zoo when I took it, for those who know their Chicago. It's almost like they are ghosts of buildings, suggestions. They did become more visible as you got closer. The fog was still heavy but you could see the top of the Hancock in between cloud drifts. 

I think, however, this is the best photo to come from the drive. 

 

This is Lake Point Tower. It's a condo building that sits the farthest east off the near north side. Just south of it is the point where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. To the east of it is the lake and, what is wholly obscured here, Navy Pier. Lake Michigan is to my left, just concrete barriers away. This section of Lake Shore Drive is about as close as you'll get to the lake. 

I love how this is almost a black, white and gray photo. The only color is the red from the taillights of the car ahead of me and the almost imperceptible green traffic lights. I love how the fog cuts the building off, making it ghostly and completely removes the park and buildings that are Navy Pier to the east. Lake Point Tower sits almost defiantly east of the Drive. 

It was damp and cold doing what I had to do, but when I get photos like this, accidentally, really, it makes the drive in worth it. I know I have quoted this poem by Carl Sandberg before.

The fog comes

on little cat feet.

It sits looking

over harbor and city

on silent haunches

and then moves on. 

Yes, this was his inspiration.

Beverage:  Huckleberry tea

Deb