NHRA US Nationals at Indy

I went to the NHRA US Nationals at O'Reilly Raceway Park. There is nothing else like the sound, smell and feel of a Top Fuel Funny Car or Dragster. No matter where you are on the property, you can feel it when those cars start up. One great thing about the NHRA is that every ticket, even general admission, is also a pit pass. You can walk right up to the pit stalls to watch them work and get ready. You know it's a good show when I'm willing to spend 10 hours driving back and forth for 4 hours of watching the races.

Sycamore Threshing Bee

The Northern Illinois Steam Power Club had their 52nd or 53rd annual show at the Taylor Marshal farm in Sycamore a few weeks ago and I'm just getting around to posting the pictures, sorry. I went there Sunday on the bike and met Mom & Dad for Fay's pork chops, yum. I wanted to get some pictures of the old steam Tractors that look as if they could have been taken fifty years ago. I only got one that didn't have somebody's 2006 Chevy truck in the background or somebody walking by in a nascar t-shirt. The one of just the tractors came out pretty good, I think. I played with the colors, keeping the blue and green of the sky and trees, fading the bottom to black and white and then bringing a little color back. I'll add some more pictures in a while if I can find anything interesting.

Vintage Transport Extravaganza

On August 3rd I went to the 18th annual Vintage Transport Extravaganza at the Illinois Railway Museum. The weather was perfect, with a slight overcast that made for excellent photographs.

I was very surprised at the amount of interesting vehicles there. Everything from ratty old work trucks to perfectly restored antique cars. The emphasis was definitely on stock vehicles, but there were several areas with customs and kit cars. A very nice show and something I plan on attending next year. I mean, come on... anything with "Extravaganza" right in the title has got to be good.

Festival of Giants

The Fox Valley Areo Club had their Festival of Giants event recently. I went on Saturday to take some pictures and the lighting was terrible, harsh bright sunshine with very few clouds. Perfect weather for the bike ride, but horrible for photography. I managed to get a few that turned out alright, and I'll post more if I can find the time to adjust them.

Some of these planes are so huge, it looks like you could crawl inside them. I'm sure they could lift a small child... boy what a ride that would be.

I think almost everyone there had a good time... except this guy.

Here's the Before Picture...


And here's the After picture.


Any questions?