The (MLS) Cup Runneth Over

Last weekend I made my way back down to Dallas for yet another soccer game. This wasn't just another game, however, it was the MLS Cup, the Superbowl of Major League Soccer. While my team wasn't in it, it was a pretty good game anyways.

Another good reason for going to Dallas is an awesome grocery store we found that has the most outstanding selection of beer. They even have Carlsberg, a beer I feel in love with when I was in Europe but haven't been able to find in this country ever since. So we made a stop there, where we also found a beer called "Chili Beer." This beer's main feature was a big chili pepper floating inside it. It was quite scary:

I wasn't the brave soul that actually bought it, but I did try a sip. It hurt. It was like drinking fire. But my favorite part about it is how the bottle helpfully notes that this is a "Beer with Chili Pepper added" as if you wouldn't notice the green thing floating around in the beer otherwise.

The game was played Sunday afternoon, and was sold out. Here I am with Dave and Michelle showing off the fancy signs we made for the game. Well, they have nothing to do with the game since they deal with FC Dallas and not the two teams playing, but it was nice to display them anyways:

The Cup was between the Houston Dyanmo (or the Houston Dynahoes or the Houston Dynablow) and the New England Revolution. I won't bother going into details about the game (since everyone watched it, right???). But just that neither team scored during the game, so that it ended up going into overtime. Both teams would score in overtime, both scoring within a minute of the other, which required the game to go to penalty kicks. Houston ended up winning the penalty kicks and won the game. Here are a bunch of pictures of the game. I love the zoom lens that came with my camera:

This is a view of the stadium at halftime. This was when I got up and debated waiting in line at the ATM so I could then go and wait in line to buy a $6 beer. Instead I walked around and took pictures...

The walk let me get a good view on the band playing during the half-time show - some group called Under the Influence of Giants, who apparently had a hit single out.

I assume U2 was too busy to make the trip to Dallas for the half-time show.

And so after 90 minutes, neither team had scored. For no goals, the game had actually been pretty entertaining. But it was shaping up to be like last year's MLS Cup between New England and the LA Galaxy. After 90 minutes neither team had scored and it went to overtime, where LA scored and ended up winning.

I was cheering for New England, hoping they could pull a win out.

The Houston fans got a bit rowdy during the game, and at one point threw a smoke bomb out onto the field.

While those smoke bombs might look neat, they could really singe the nice grass there at the stadium. So some poor guy had the bad job of going out onto the field during the game and getting rid of the bomb. Now, those bombs are probably hot, and the guy reached down to grab it and then immediately dropped it. The poor guy probably burned his hands trying to pick the thing up. To make matter worse, he happened to do that in front of 22,000 people, who actually laughed at him. He ended up kicking the smoke bomb off the field like it was a burning soccer ball:

Not too long after the excitement of the smoke bomb, New England ran up and scored a goal:

But not a minute after that, Houston answered and scored a goal too. So the game was tied again. I completely missed the goal becuase I was looking at my camera checking to see if I had managed to get the New England goal. Oh well. So overtime ended with a 1-1 tie, meaning the game would be decided on penalty kicks.

But while the two teams were taking their penalty kicks, the most awesome sunset was developing over the stadium. I was probably the only person there looking up at the sky instead of the goal...

It was tough trying decide what to focus on - the sky or the goals. To get a good wide angle shot I would need to change lenses, so I missed a few shots while sitting down and messing around with the camera. The shots of the goal probably wouldn't turn out anyways, it was getting dark and my shots were starting to get blurry. Houston won it anyways...

So they won, a result I wasn't all that thrilled about. But the overtime and penalty shootout worked out because we were able to catch the awesome sunset, so I guess there was a bright side.

Saturday at Flatside

This Saturday I went out to Flatside Pinnacle, out in the Flatside Wilderness in the Ouachita National Forest. Flatside is a great place, a mountain very similar to Pinnacle Mountain. It has great views, with lots of rolling hills to enjoy, and is probably one of the best places in the state to sit and watch the sunset. But unlike Pinnacle, the area around it is completely undeveloped. The only sign of man you can see is the dirt road that leads to the mountain. Which is so unlike Pinnacle, which (not to complain too much) is being competely ruined by all the development around there. People hike the mountain to see nature, not to see the tops of houses and apartment complexes. OK, I'll end this because it really annoys me and I could write pages about it.
But Flatside is great place to visit, and is located fairly close to Little Rock. Unlike Pinnacle, which may be too "loved" to death, the mountain and the views there are really unspoiled. To get there, you take Highway 10 past Pinnacle and Lake Maumelle for awhile, then come to an intersection with Highway 9 at a place called Williams Junction. From there go south on 9 for a few miles and there will be a turn-off on the right for a dirt road. That dirt road is called the Winona Scenic Drive, and it is a scenic little drive:

The road passes a few little turn-offs, here is the view of one. I think the lake in the distance is either Lake Winona or Lake Sylvia:

The drive isn't too long, maybe only 40 miles or so from Little Rock to the mountain.

Before you know it, a mountain pops out in front of you.

And unlike Pinnacle, the road actually travels pretty far up the hillside. So that the trail to the top of the hill is only .2 miles long! But like Pinnacle, that trail is also quite steep. It will remind you of just how out of shape you are. It is humbling.
The view from the top is worth having to exercise. This is looking out towards the west:

This is a closer view of the above view. The peak seen below is called Forked Mountain.

The views were nice, all these shots were taken from walking along the area at the top of the hill:





This is the road you take to get up to the mountain. It is the only man-made thing you can see while up at the top. Well, that and some clear-cutting can be seen (which annoys me too). But it is still pretty, anyways.

I had never been there for a sunset before, so I decided to wait awhile for it to get dark. This meant sitting on the mountain top for an hour or so. But it was probably worth it. As the sun set, it really lit up the hills...


The sunset was nice, here are a few shots:


I left the hilltop before the sun finished setting, so I think I might have missed the best light. But I was worried about trying to hike the trail back while it was dark. Next time, I'll try to remember to bring a flashlight.

I love this time of year.

I love this time of year. Really, it is the time when this wacky state really comes alive with color. And if you prefer to spend your time looking through the viewfinder of a camera, it can make for some fine and dandy times. The past two years I don't think I've really been able to go out and explore with a camera, so now that I'm not stuck in boring grad school classes and that I still owe lots of money on a new camera, I feel as if it is my duty to go out and spend my time taking pictures of stuff. Please, stay with me, so here are tons of pictures taken recently, posted here for your enjoyment:
This is a shot of a sunset I took from the new Big Dam Bridge here in Little Rock. I went home on my dinner break from work and noticed the sky looked neat, and would probably make for a nifty sunset. I ate a quick dinner and made my way to the bridge:

I ended up spending so much time there that I took an extra-long dinner break, so I had to make up that time away from my all-so pressing and important job later. But the weirdest thing happened when at the bridge. I was taking pictures from the bridge, and really focusing on this one area that had really neat light. I thought it was neat how this area, part of the hydroelectric part of the dam, looked against the setting sun in the distance.

After taking some pictures I walked to a different part of the bridge when a woman came up to me. She asked me why I was taking pictures of that particular part of the dam. I told her that I thought the light was neat. She said, "Oh ok, well I work with an anti-terrorism (I forgot the whole name of what she said) and I saw you taking pictures and walked away but got worried. What if something happened to the dam tomorrow? I thought I should go back and see what you were up too. I hope you're not offended."
Golly, why would someone be offended by being accused of being a terrorist? Actually, I am surprised that this is only the first time that I've been approached by someone while taking pictures and questioned about why I'm standing around with a camera. I never thought it would happen on the Big Dam Bridge, however. If officials are worried about people studying the dam in order to do something to it, then just why did they go and spend $12 million on a bridge that lets people go up and see it?
Oh well, if I get deported to Guantanamo, then everyone here will know why....
Well since nothing has happened since I can assume that I am safe. So a few days later I drove on over to Burns Park in North Little Rock. The colors weren't as nice as I hoped they'd be, but here are some more pictures:

And here is a view of the covered bridge in Burns Park:

Over the weekend I went to my cousin's wedding off in the small town of Charleston, Arkansas. The wedding was nice, but the reception was great (free beer). Since I work at a tv station I was volunteered to run the camcorder from the church balcony. This was my view:

On Sunday, I drove back home but decided to take the "scenic route" and hit some places nearby that would hopefully have some good fall colors. Charleston isn't that far from White Rock Mountain, in the Ozark National Forest. The mountain is amazing, with some great views. I drove up there, probably horribly damaging my car on the dirt road. The sun was out so the light was harsh and not really favorable for photography.

White Rock Mountain, while a very pretty place, is also known for the number of people who die by falling off the bluffs. I was disappointed (as morbid as this sounds) to not see the sign that says "Watch your children" and then saying how many people had fallen to their deaths at the mountain. There was actually a large crowd of people there that afternoon, but oddly enough, very few bothered to walk beyond the main lookout to explore the bluff line. There is an awesome trail that follows the bluff along the mountain, and I walked along part of it. While the light kinda sucked, it was good in some shots of leaves taken at one tree that I stopped to take pictures at:








This was taken at a lake right at the foot of White Rock Mountain:
I had a bit of a plan worked out. After going to White Rock I would try to make it to a waterfall that would somewhat be on the way home. North of Clarksville there is a small waterfall that is located right next to the road. I used to go up there while in college but hadn't been there in a few years. I had seen other pictures taken recently with waterfalls running, so I decided to extend my trip and try to make it to Haw Creek Falls before it got dark. I managed to make it after the sun had set and while there was still enough light to see the falls.








This shot was composed trying to show the sun hitting the hillside in the background:




And this little waterfall was right off the small ledge that creates Haw Creek Falls:


On Tuesday, I decided to head over to Pinnacle Mountain to see how things were going over there. It was almost sad. A lot of trees there were dropping their leaves, so it seems as if the great fall color here isn't going to last much longer. This shot was taken along the Kingfisher Trail at Pinnacle:

 In fact, so many leaves were falling that the trail was completely covered by leaves at many places. Wish the color would stick around a bit longer.



I like the Kingfisher Trail at Pinnacle. For one reason, its level - and easy to hike. Another reason is that it follows a nice river that is flanked by several huge cypress trees. It is a great place to stop and explore for awhile:




After hiking the trail, there is also a nice view of the river at a small boat launch not very far away. While walking over there, I took this shot of Pinnacle. I think its neat because the tree trunks make it look the mountain is being supported by stilts:

Walking to the area around the river, there were a few good places to explore. I was a bit distressed to look at the clock and discover that it was just a few minutes away from when I needed to be at work. Crap. It would have been a much better day if I went up and climbed Pinnacle instead of wasting many hours at work. Oh well. Can't wait until next weekend.