The Sun Seeker

The Sunseeker Statue at Allerton Park near Monticello, IL.

A God Of The Garden

Garden of the Gods, Southern Illinois.

Sand Ridge State Forest

Took a trip to Sand Ridge State Forest.  The bugs were terrible, but, the views weren't bad.  Would have been nice to be able to really settle down and enjoy them without being swarmed by gnats.  This shot will have to do, and without the bugs, I'll take it!

Holy Page Out Of A Comic Book!

I recently went on an outing to Trinity Lutheran church and was playing
with some HDR in the sanctuary. I've seen so many beautiful HDR images
done in churches, I wanted to give it a shot.

This one didn't have the rich reds and golds I was envisioning, but, I
kept pushing forward. This image is more or less, double processed. I
did the initial edit, then HDR processing, THEN back to push things in
Lightroom for a second time. I thought the end result looked like a
page out of a comic book.

Three Trees In Fog

Headed out for a morning photowalk a couple weeks ago. There wasn't
much fog looking out my kitchen window, but, by the time I got to
Prospect Ave, the fog and mist was really thick!

It really cleans up the background letting these guys stand out in their
environment!

Gazebo In Fog

Smoked Meat - mmmMMM

One week later......

Last weekend, I invited a handful of people over for the first official cookout using the smoker Connie got me for Christmas. After trial runs and horrible (tasty) failures (heh), I had finally felt like I had the process figured out, and none-too-soon; Summer was almost over!! Checked the calendar, found a weekend that seemed to have no conflicts, and it was set!

Several days prior, I picked up a couple of Pork Butts totaling between 14lbs and 16lbs, got them soaking, rubbed down and all that, then, about 5:00am (Yikes!!) Saturday, crawled out of bed to get the smoker started. By about 5:30am, the roasts were on, and the smoker was up to temp by 5:40 or so, and I crawled back to bed. When it is first started, I can get the temperature stable and pretty much leave it for about 4 hours.

Most of the day was spent making final preparations for company, picking up last minute things at the store, icing down beer, sampling the beer to ensure proper coolness, etc.... Early in the afternoon, Connie asked if I was going to make baked beans again, and at that time, I was undecided. It kind of depended on timing, but, I had everything on hand in case I decided to (those boy scout years really paid off).

Backstory: During one of my "failed attempts", I decided to make baked beans, but, didn't want to heat up the house (it was in the heat of Summer) with the oven. So, I thought I'd try putting them on the smoker for a while. They turned out a bit runny, but, delicious!! There was some smoke flavor, and the pork was dripping into the pan of beans. It was over the top!! I had invited a couple of people over - last minute and Jeff U. was the only one that could make it.

Anyway, about 4:00 or so, I decided to go ahead and make the beans. The first thing Jeff asked when he arrived "did you make baked beans again?". Whew!! Good thing I did! haha! My target for having everything finished was 6:00pm, so, most people started showing up around that time. Well, you can't rush these things. The pork wasn't quite ready yet. So, I got out some chips and salsa to snack on. About 6:45, I pulled the pork off the smoker and let it rest for about 20-30 minutes, then, we started pulling it. At that time, it was still amazingly hot! With the help of Jeff and Connie, we got it all pulled in about half an hour, and by 7:30ish we were ready to eat!!

There was a huge mound of pork, the beans, slaw, several potato salads, herbed/roasted potatoes, spinach, chips, desert, and plenty of beer. Based on the amount of left-overs, I have to declare it a success! Everything was delicious!!

At one point, while re-filling my plate, Gordo was in the kitchen scooping the last bit of drippings from the beans on his pork. He declared that he was reuniting the drippings with the roast; it was like a party in his mouth!

After eating, we continued on drinking, telling stories, and just generally relaxing for the next several hours. Basically, we ate, drank, and fun was had by all!

So, I want to thank everyone who came, and to those that didn't....you missed out!!

Bell Smith Springs

Whew!! Time flies!! A few weeks ago, Connie and I went to Southern Illinois for my daughter's birthday. It was all fine and great and happy birthday and all that. Then, rather than come straight back, we took a little overnight detour.

First stop: food! We stopped by a little local 'pub and grub' place hoping to catch the end of the race (Sunday afternoon). The layout was very odd, but, we didn't have much time, so, stuck with it. Connie went to the restroom, and I went to the bar. I first confused the bartender by ordering two beers....at the bar..

bartender: your waitress will bring them out, where are you sitting?
me: ummm...right here.
bartender: don't you have a table?
me: no
bartender: Oh, well, you can seat yourself.
me: I'm sitting here..."she" (pointing at the empty stool next to me) went to the restroom.
bartender: (lightbulb goes off) Oh, ok.

After getting that squared away, I asked if he can change the TV behind the bar to the race...he'll have to get someone.... I ask this of 3 employees, no one knows how to change the channel!!! Finally, between myself, Connie, and another guy at the bar, we convince one to try. She screwed up the other TV's in the bar, but, gets the channel changed on ours just minutes after the race ended. The whole ordeal took about 20 minutes. Unreal!!!!

Anyway, after downing a couple of beers and some food, we headed further South to Bell Smith Springs in the Shawnee National Forrest. During the process of deciding where to go, I reviewed pictures and descriptions of several locations in the area, and decided that this would be a good place to visit with only a little time to invest. I printed a map of the trails and directions to get there....you know, just in case. :-) First, I missed the turn I was supposed to take to be on the correct state highway. I didn't realize it was right as you exited the Interstate!! No big deal...we'll just take this highway that will intersect with the one we're supposed to be on about 10 miles up the road. Back on track, we follow the directions which has mileage included. The signs that you normally expect to see directing you to state/federal parks or local tourist info were sparse at best. We get about 2 miles from where the directions tell us to turn and I see a street named something that makes me think I should turn here. Sitting in the middle of the intersection (a 'T' in a gravel road) looking confused, a guy in a truck stops to ask if we're lost. I ask him how to get to Bell Smith Springs (straight or left) and he confirms that I *am* supposed to turn left here. So, the mileage is wrong on the map, and only sign we saw, and the road names are not the same. What an adventure, and we've not even got where we're going yet!!!

So, we turn left, and follow the road to our destination. It took a bit to get oriented and understand the map and the corresponding trail (it was a topographic map with only a general outline of the trail). But, we eventually got comfortable with where we were headed.

That evening yielded a few nice pictures.

This formation is called Devil's Backbone:




After some more exploration, it started to get fairly dark and we decide it's time to leave. We make our way out and start heading back to the highway to find a hotel. The nearest hotel is about 20 miles away in Harrisburg.

As we pull in to town, we find that the whole South end of town is without power. Traffic lights, businesses...everything. At one intersection, there's a cop with a flashlight directing traffic. We make our way to the other end of town (where there is power) and get checked in (at least this time, they didn't look at me like a psycho when I asked if they had Internet access). We get everything hauled up to the room and I decide to go pick up some beer (all that hiking you know)! I return about 15 minutes later with 2 bottles of water. It turns out that they only sell alcohol on Sundays from noon - 7:00pm, but, Shawneetown about 20 miles up the road sells until 8:00pm (it's about 8:30). That just doesn't make much sense to me. I can understand if you have an ordinance to not sell alcohol on Sunday at all, or even not before noon is fairly common (we're talking the bible belt, here, folks!). But, to cut off sales at 7:00pm???!!! I just don't get that one!! So, anyway, we enjoy the water and look at pictures / watch some football to pass the time.

Monday morning, we pack up, grab some breakfast, and get ready to head back to Bell Smith Springs. Except, when I saw the interstate, I knew something had gone wrong. How did I miss the first sign.....and the town that has a pass-through to the correct road???!!! I must really be out of it!! So, we stop at the Casey's just off the Interstate and turn back. I passed a sign that I thought said something about it, hit the brakes. and read the one from the other direction, and sure enough, it was pointing me to Bell Smith Springs!! I am a terribly slow reader, and can't read signs from a distance, and just didn't read fast enough the first time through. Then I figured out what happened.....I was supposed to turn at the edge of town (where the power was out the night before). So, we're back on track now, winding through roads - some of which are actually on the map, and see a sign pointing to a lookout tower called Trigg Tower.

Hmmm....I've heard of that...wanna go check it out? Sure! We head down yet another gravel road. Several miles later, we see a tower. It isn't marked in any way, other than a small parking lot that also serves as access to a horse trail (hitching posts and all). Honestly, I wasn't sure that was it. I really expected a sign or some sort of posting identifying it. But, after searching flickr later, it turns out that yes, it is in fact, Trigg Tower.

We took several pictures, both on top and from the ground.



Phooning on top of Trigg Tower:




After leaving there, we headed back towards Bell Smith Springs. As we headed back, we saw a sign pointing out some other local points of interest. We never found them. There were no further signs or directions. I guess you just gotta wander the gravel roads until you see a trail. Of course, some of the area isn't far from "Deliverance" territory, so, wondering around the woods in an unknown area may not end up being a good idea. heh! Everyone I've ever met down there seems pretty friendly, but, there's a lot of hillbilly potential. Anyway, since we didn't get distracted any more, we finally made it to Bell Smith Springs!! We walked the other direction from what we explored on Sunday night. But, first, you have to descend the stone stairs.



The one thing I had seen pictures of (some better than others) was called 'Natural Arch', so, that's what our destination is. As we headed to the trail, we stopped to look and take pictures several times. This is where we crossed the spring:



We finally made it to the Natural Arch. This is the largest natural bridge in the Shawnee National Forest.

This is the view from below:



After this, we decided it was time to head back. It was much easier finding my way out. I don't think I got lost once!!! There is still much of Bell Smith Springs that I didn't make it to. One of these days, I'll have to go back and see more of this small park.

Illinois River Flood In Peoria

As most everyone around here knows, the Illinois River is well above flood stage and still rising.

After work yesterday (Wednesday 9/17) I thought I'd check it out and see how high the water was. I was surprised that it was already over the banks on the Peoria side and had flooded the parking lot under Joe's Crab Shack and Old Chicago, and had partially flooded Water Street near the intersection at Main.

People were sandbagging around The Riverstation / Martini's, and Liberty Park was under water...well, the sidewalk and gazebo was anyway. They also have put up an elevated walkway from the tracks to the back entrance of Old Chicago. I'm not sure at this point, but, I'm guessing before it's all over, you won't be able to get to the walkway either. But, it was kind of cool to be able to walk around on the platform and get a better view.



The water at that time was at 25.?? feet, and expected to crest on Saturday at 27.2 feet.

Here are a couple more pictures from Wednesday evening. I'm sure I'll get a few more between now and Saturday.

Old Chicago / Riverstation parking lot:



..and my favorite...The Gazebo at Liberty Park:

More Flood Pictures

Here are a few more flood pictures from Thursday. The water had risen quite a bit since Wednesday evening. Benches and trash cans that were at least partially above water were completely submerged.

There were a couple of guys kayaking around which looked like a fun and unique opportunity. They put in at the corner of Main and Water streets, paddled through the parking lot under Old Chicago and up and down the "sidewalk".


The clock tower at the base of Main Street


The Walkway to Old Chicago was still accessible. But, the water was notably higher than it was Wednesday evening.


With the water still rising, I will likely be back tonight and/or tomorrow to see what changes there are.

Reception at One World

As noted in my last post, the Peoria flickr group has several members' work displayed at One World. On Sunday August 24th, there was a reception for us and quite a few members, family, and friends came out to socialize and check out all the work on display. I think everyone had a good time.

Here is a picture of me and my entry:



There's still time to go check it out...the display will be up through Sept. 15th.

Photos Displayed at One World 8/19 - 9/15/2008

The Peoria flickr group will be having a showing at One World from 8/19/2008 - 9/15/2008.

The group's tyrannical administrator has showed there before and was approached for another show earlier this year. Rather than taking the money and run, he floated the idea of using it as a tool to promote the Peoria Illinois flickr group. Most of the members are amateur photographers from the Peoria area (or used to be from the Peoria area). So, for many, myself included, this will be among our first time having our creations publicly displayed (at least in physical form rather than electronic) and available for purchase.

The theme is "Peoria's Bridges". All the photos will be of one of the 4 main bridges crossing the river. You'd be surprised at the variety of different directions they have gone.

Anyway, I encourage you to stop by and grab a bite and check out all the artwork created by the members of the Peoria flickr group.

Murray Baker Bridge

The other night I had an idea for a picture of the Murray Baker bridge and the downtown cityscape. The thought was to use a wide angle, which can cause somewhat of a fishy distortion, and make a panoramic / stitched series of pictures. My thought was to create a fish-eye type of bendy picture of the bridge, with the city in the background.

So, earlier this week, I went down to the East Peoria side and tried to put my vision into action. I stood about 8 feet or so from the bridge right near the water's edge, cocked the camera off angle and made a sweeping arc for 7 shots. Then, spent the rest of the night messing with the software to stitch everything together and edit the final picture. It was a definite struggle for the software, I had to try lots of settings and adjustments, some of which failed miserably!!

In the end, it came out pretty much like I had envisioned, so, I'm happy about that.

Anyway, here's the result, I hope you like it!

Could This Just Be A Coincidence??

While making the rounds on the 'net the other day, I stumbled across a couple of pieces of information that just kind of make you wonder.

Earlier this week, Adobe announced the release of Lightroom 2.0 (Software for editing pictures), so, I was browsing some Lightroom / Photoshop related sites looking for reviews, videos, etc...

One site that I looked at was Photoshop User TV. It's a weekly video program put out by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and the guys that host it are Scott Kelby (President of NAPP) and Matt Kloskowski. Both of these guys are well known Photoshop / Lightroom guru's, authors, and workshop instructors. Anyway, one of the things mentioned in this week's show is a Worldwide Photo Walk that Scott Kelby is organizing. Basically, a photo walk is simply a group of photographers organizing a meetup and going on a walk to take pictures of the given area. The same kind of thing that the Peoria flickr group does on occasion. For the Worldwide Photo Walk, you can either join in on one in your city, or you can register to be a group leader and organize one in your own city if there isn't one already.

Completely unrelated to anything Adobe or photo walks, I was also browsing the forum at Peoria.com when I ran across a post that mentioned "National Go Topless Day". OK, you've got my interest. :-) :-) There is a website called GoTopless that is organizing major rallies in cities across the US. Their basic premise is that if men can walk around topless, then, women should have the same constitutional right. Yet, women are frequently arrested, fined, humiliated, and criminalized. So much for equal rights, huh??

So, what do these two seemingly unrelated items have in common? The date!!!! Both of these events are happening on 8/23/2008. Coincidence???? I prefer to think of it as genius!!

Bummer of a Concert Lineup

What a bummer! I heard a few days back that Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift are coming to town. Now, I'm sure it will be a highly attended concert. Rascal Flatts is very popular and Taylor Swift, even though she's relatively new on the scene, is pretty popular herself.

The problem is, I really don't care for Rascal Flatts. I don't know why...just don't care for most of their songs. Sure, they have a song or two that I do like, but for the most part, I could easily pass on them. I like a lot of country music...but, generally the more upbeat stuff. Not the slower / sappy stuff, which seems to be what Rascal Flatts specializes in. But, Taylor Swift I really like. Even her slower songs aren't your typical slow ballad and most of her stuff is more upbeat / fun.

So, an opening act that I really like with a headliner I really don't...for $48.25 / $63.50 that's a tough one to drop the coin on.

Windfarm - Second Attempt

As I mentioned a couple of posts ago, I was going to try to hit the windfarm north of Peoria under a full moon and see how that worked out.

This past weekend, I went out there (missed the full moon by one day..but close enough). I was watching for the moon and it seemed to be a late rise. I didn't get out there until about 11:30pm. As luck would have it, there was a storm moving in to the North, and within about half an hour, enough cloud cover moved in that the moon was obscured the majority of the time. Of course, when I headed out, it was perfectly clear..figures!!

I did have enough time to get a whole 3 shots! Yes..3!! Ugh!!

With this shot, I was playing with an idea I had the previous outing, but, since there were several of us, I didn't want to mess anyone's up shots. But, this time, I was on my own and free to screw things up as much as I wanted! :-)

I set the tripod up at the end of the access road and tripped the shutter. Then, walked up the road near the windmill and manually triggered my flash on full power trying to light up the blades of the windmill. I did this several times, then headed back and stopped the exposure to see what I had gotten.



If you look closely, you can see ghosts of the blades. So, the idea was right, but, I didn't have enough power to really get the job done the way I wanted. I have another idea on making it work, but, will have to wait to try it out. The real solution is more light, but, I don't have any sort of flash head that will put out more light, and anything that does, probably would need portable power packs or a small generator!!

Oh well, it was fun to experiment. :-)

Camping and (not) Canoeing / Turkey Run

This past weekend was the annual Camping and Canoeing trip for the Peoria Jaycees. There were around 22 or so campers that went on the trip. Of these, exactly 0..that's right ZERO of us got any canoeing in.

We started off Friday afternoon. I saw the front moving in, and was hoping to get on the road before the rain hit. No such luck! I was in Heavy rain until about half way to Bloomington, then it let up a bit, but didn't get clear until past Bloomington. Fast forward an hour and a half or so and we get to the camp site.

It's freakin' steamy!! We weren't the first there, but, the 4th tent to go up..and we left before the big caravan. So, I didn't get my spot this year. Usually, I set up in the same location on the edge of our area. Jeff got his usual spot, and Tucker swiped mine! Bastard!! ;-) Honestly, I don't know if we would have fit this year as we used Connie's old-school tent which is much larger than my "3-man" tent that actually fits 1 comfortably.

So, we get the tent set up, and crack open a beer....next task - Fire! Fire! Fire!! heh heh!! Got the fire going so we could cook dinner, let the wood burn down a bit, throw some burgers on the grill and................. Rain!! Damnit!! Oh well, they still cooked, and weren't bad at all.

The rain let up for a bit, but, we got a nice storm during the night which finally put me to sleep. The next morning, the campsite was a virtual mud-pit! Breakfast was awesome, though!! Mary, Kate, Rick and Beth, Ritter, and David (and anyone else who pitched in) did an outstanding job cooking! Biscuits and gravy, eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes.....it was a feast!!

Calling the canoe livery to check on our reservation and the status of running the canoes turned out to be a bust. The water was too high. Most of the camp decided to go swimming at the pool at Turkey Run State Park. I hear they had a good time, but elected to stay back at camp myself.

That night, you guessed it...more rain! So, most of Saturday night was spent with everyone huddled under a couple of canopies...we made the best of it, but, the weather definitely put a damper on our usual camp-fire stories.

By Sunday morning, the weather had cleared out and it was beautiful blue skies and puffy clouds. The only problem was that's when we were leaving. :-(

Connie and I stayed back and were going to go hiking at Turkey Run State Park. First, after the final clean-up of camp, we went to the lodge at the state park and had breakfast. Barely! When we pulled up to the gate of the park, I asked about breakfast and the girl told us that they served breakfast until 10:00am and started lunch at 11:30. It was 9:51am....we had 9 minutes to park and get to the lodge and hope that we could still get in. Luckily, we made it! Since breakfast was almost over, we both elected to get the buffet. Normally, buffet food isn't my first choice. But, this was probably the best breakfast buffet I've ever had!

With our bellies full, we headed out to walk a few trails. Four of the trails were either completely closed, or had parts that were listed as "impassable" due to the water levels. When we got to the creek, I understood why the canoeing was shut down. What is normally a lazy little creek with nice clear water was moving quite fast very muddy, and about twice as wide as normal.



The stairs below the suspension bridge in the background were even partially under water! They usually stop renting canoes at 3ft (2ft is normal depth). This picture
was at about 4ft, and it had already dropped 1ft since that morning!

The hike was good, we saw several of the named features, but, missed a few due to time, water levels, and just plain being worn out!

Here is a picture of Connie and I in an area called Boulder Canyon.



The bright mid-day light made it difficult to get any good shots of the landscape (where were all those clouds from the past two days), but, I did get a couple of nice close-in shots.

A fern growing on the sandstone:


A mushroom (or toadstool..not sure) on a hillside:


After that, we headed back home and another year of Jaycees camping and (not) canoeing is in the books.

I'm hoping to get back over there for pictures later this year, and maybe even a canoe trip. :-)

Peoria Flickr Group Wind Farm Outing

There had been some recent conversation about going and visiting the wind farm North of Peoria.

For those of you that may not venture North on Rt 40, which would be understandable, there is a wind farm that begins around Tanner's Orchard and continues on almost to Bradford. This is a relatively new development. I drive that route to Sterling once in a while for work, and I recall this past Fall/Winter going up there and seeing all these new windmills that weren't there before!! I believe there are about 100 of these giant turbines churning out 1.5 Megawatts each...enough to power something along the lines of 200,000 homes, I believe.

Anyway, the plan was to meet around 7:00 for some nice warm evening light, turning into a glorious sunset, then, finally, night time shots. Well, Mother Nature had other ideas. The sun was obscured by a blanket of clouds most of the time so no warm light, and a less than spectacular sunset was what we were dealt.

Still, though, there was enough broken cloud cover where we were at to get some interesting shots. This one was while the sun was still up.




Oh, and I liked how this one came out. It didn't receive much attention on flickr, but, I still like it!




Then, as time carried on, it got dark, and the clouds eased up even more where we were at, but, at the same time, a storm was moving in up to the
Northwest. When the half moon wasn't obscured by clouds, it did a nice job lighting the windmills. This is a 10 minute exposure. It's always cool to see what you come up with on long nighttime shots.



There are a few more from this trip on my flickr site if you are interested.

We are planning on another trip up there...this time under a full moon. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate this time!! :-)

Peoria After Dark

A couple weeks ago, Lola Takes Pictures and I walked around downtown one evening after work. Initially, the idea was that she wanted to take some sunset shots of some buildings "in the 'hood", and didn't want to venture to that area by herself. By the time we got started, it was a little late for what she wanted, so we just walked around down town along Water street, then up by the courthouse.

We started by walking through Martini's and took some pics in there. The bartender was a little apprehensive when we asked if it was ok to take pictures, but told us to go ahead. I wasn't all that comfortable, so we took some pictures and moved on fairly quickly. I did get one shot that I thought was ok.



Then as we were walking down Water St. I noticed a photography studio and walked up the covered walkway and peeked inside. As I was walking back, Lily told me to 'Sit'. So, I did, and she got out her flash and started playing. After her battery went dead, we swapped roles and I took a few with the flash off to the side. At least until *my* batteries went dead!! haha!



From there, we moved on and headed up by the courthouse, stopping for a shot here and there along the way. After that, we headed back to our cars and took off. But, I decided to head to this old building a few blocks down on Washington St.



Initially, my idea was to use a flashlight and 'paint with light' on the 'used but nice' sign. The flashlight wasn't powerful enough from the distance I was at to really add much, but it did add a little. But, that didn't stop me! I had a play with lightroom / photoshop and came up with the image you see. A little on the digital art side, but I like it.

Next time, we're going to make sure to have fresh batteries in the flash units and make (bribe) Connie be our model!

Update

It's been nearly a month since I last posted. Where'd the time go?? It's not that I haven't had things to post...I just haven't gotten around to it for one reason or another.

This past week was the last week of photography class. It was a fun class. I like going on field trips better than strictly classroom time. We didn't have any class outings after my last post, but, I've been out a few times with the camera anyway.

Some mushrooms I found a few weeks ago:


Then, I had to go to Springfield for several days for work. It sounds like I have to go again this week for several days, and maybe again next week. Not sure yet... But I did take a couple of pictures one night:


Other than that....let's see. I got the garden in a couple weeks ago. It isn't looking as good as I had hoped, but, it's coming along.

Oh! Ritter got engaged!! It was pretty cool! The Peoria Jaycees held a scavenger hunt, which was a lot of fun, and at the end, up in the heights tower he proposed. Everyone, including their parents / family were 'in the know', J.O. was the only one kept in the dark. Ritter was so focused on the proposal, that he nearly proposed to the wrong person!! The elevator doors opened, and he was expecting it to be J.O., but, it was someone else! Ritter was already in motion before he realized that it was NOT J.O. on the elevator that time (she was on the next run). Then, J.O. was so shocked, she had to confirm that it wasn't a joke, and that Ritter was, in fact, serious! LOL In the end, J.O. accepted and we all headed out to Ritter's parents place for a little celebration. Anyway, it was a great time! Congrats John and J.O.!!!

The pool of death has taken it's first victims in the past week. Little bastards!!

Oh, and I got in another practice round with the smoker!



I threw a 5lb pork butt on the smoker Memorial Day weekend. That is what 12 hours on a smoker looks like! I've been doing some reading, and it seems that even though the rule of thumb is 1 hour to 1.5 hours per pound, it isn't uncommon to go quite a bit longer. I still was surprised by how long it took, but, feel better about the process. This pulled pork had great flavor and was nice and tender. Could have been a bit juicier, but, it wasn't bad. Without bread, it was awesome! But, with bread...it could use a bit more juice. I'm curious how much difference there would be with a 10lb roast since all I've done so far is 4-5lb roasts. I didn't want to chance screwing up a large one while I was trying to learn how to run the smoker.