The Bridges of Pulaski County

It has really been a wacky year for weather so far. It has been a wet summer, something quite rare in this part of the South. All this rain means that the Buffalo River can nearly be flooded in July, and that a lot of waterfalls are still running during the summer. Sadly, I haven't had a chance to go waterfall hunting, but did get to visit a few places around town that at least have water running under them...

Last Saturday I was leaving to attend a birthday party for my 4-year old cousin (Happy Birthday, Landen!), when I noticed some dark clouds looming on the horizon. It looked like a massive storm was just about to hit. I quickly headed off to the Big Dam Bridge in the hope of getting some sort of stormy shot. There were a few bolts of lightning off in the distance, and I hoped that I might be lucky enough to catch one in a picture. Well, of course, that didn't turn out. I also hoped that I might see a tornado or something (that would be sweet in a picture), but then realized that the storm looked like it was about to hit my apartment complex and tornadoes might not be that great. But here is a shot of the storm rolling in, from the Big Dam Bridge.


The next night I was driving and saw a nice sunset in the sky. But, of course, I didn't have my camera. I tried to rush home to get the camera, and somehow managed to hit every red light and get stuck behind every slow driver in the entire state. By the time I got the camera, the best light was gone. I drove back out to the Big Dam Bridge again, and tried to get a few more shots (and also be a buffett for tons of mosquitoes). I tried to get a few pictures while there was still some light in the sky, but nothing was turning out. I gave up and changed locations, only to then realize that the reason why my pictures were not turning out was because I had left a filter on the camera. Whoops! Here is a shot of the bridge from the northside:


Since the Big Dam Bridge is close to my apartment, I've been out there many times. And this year I've only been out there once when the area at the base of the bridge hasn't been flooded. This trip wasn't an exception, a lot of the sidewalks along the river were still under water. Here is a shot of some stairs leading down into the Arkansas River:


Last night, I met some family for another birthday celebration for dear little Landen, this time at Chuck E. Cheese. Now it seems a bit like a travesty to go there, instead of what it should be, Showbiz. But afterwards I stopped by downtown on the way home and tried to get a few shots of the Junction Bridge. More of the park around the bridge has opened up, and I went around looking for places to take a few pictures.


It was hard to find a good angle to get the whole bridge in view, but I scrambled around and found this view. I kinda like this shot because the traffic on the I-30 bridge creates a red streak in the background.