Weekly Photo Challenge: Foreign
For this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge hosted by WordPress the word is Foreign. I have traveled only twice out of the United States. One was before the start of digital cameras. But my last trip I took quite a few photos. I fell absolutely in love with Venice, Italy. I knew it was clichéd and I never thought to be so mundane – but yes, I am in love with Venice.
So here are a few photos of Venice and those things that I felt were foreign or not of my every day world.
The first photo is one from my hotel in Venice. The bidet and the towel warmer were not what I would find in a bathroom in a hotel in the states – at least not at the ones I’ve stayed in. 
The second photo is one of my favorites! I LOVED the masks in Venice. Stopping in the masks stores were one of my favorite things to do. They are such works of art! And I was equally amazed at the customization one could have – if you were wiling to pay the price! In this one I am trying on the mask that I bought for my sister – who loves butterflies.
The last one is of a waterway. You probably know that this is the primary route of the day-to-day transportation. Either the boats or the feet on the street.
Not so sleepless in Seattle – day 2
We left off on the first part of the Seattle adventure at Pike Place Brewery. The next morning we had decided to leave the sights and sounds of the city for the beauty of the nature outside of the city. We headed out toward Mt. Rainier and found Northwest Trek along the way. It is a wilderness park with a tram that drives you through open land where the animals roam. Gorgeous scenery and quite a wonderful story on the park so go take a peek at their website.
There we saw many animals such as the grey wolf, brown bear and elk.
On the tram we got to see some of the newborns around the park, too.
Next we got back out on the road toward Mt. Rainier. And there we were amazed at the beauty!! It was so full of the color of nature – greens, browns, white – just an amazing sight.
Where’s My Backpack Challenge: Night
These were taken in Gentry, AR.
Part of the Where’s My Backpack Travel Theme challenge:Night
Where’s My Backpack Challenge: Parks
One of the parks we visited in San Juan, Puerto Rico was very unique. I do not know the name of it but here are a few photos.
Hubby was very interested in this tree
Part of the Where’s My Backpack : Parks travel challenge
Weekly Photo Challenge: Movement
Memorial Weekend we spent a few days in Hot Springs, AR. I took these two photos sitting on the front porch of the Arlington Hotel – a lovely hotel with that old-fashioned, back in the day feel about it.
The first is the movement of the cars on Central Ave.
car movement
The second photo is of the horse carriages that move along Central Ave. You can see the horse as it moves along – it’s very faint but there…
horse carriage movement
Not so sleepless in Seattle – day 1
Recently my husband and I got to spend two days in the Seattle area sightseeing and just adventuring. We like adventuring. The first day we took on the Seattle Pike’s Place area. Then day two we headed out for Mt. Rainier.
Day 1 we headed to Pike’s Place Market with the help of the GPS on my handy cell phone. We found some expensive parking spot and made our way to the market. The market was very interesting but, honestly, smaller than I had expected. We saw the infamous Pike Place Fish Co.
Pike’s Place Market
Pike’s Place Fish Co.
My favorites were the plethora of flowers!
poppy
fringed poppy
We also saw the old market stands at the end of the market that now were, apparently, for the setup of the more temporary vendors.
old market stand
We meandered through the market and then down Pike street. Finding the Beecher’s cheese store where we purchased some yummy cheese that we enjoyed later that night with a glass (or two) of wine.
Beecher’s cheese
Then a stop at Cinnamon Works where we gobbled a pumpkin cookie – by far the best cookie we’ve ever had – it was even fresh and warm from the oven with the icing a smidge on the runny side. We were so mesmerized by the cookie that I forgot to take any photos of the spot!
Next we made our way to the aquarium where we got to see the feeding of the anemones, various starfish, birds and fishies.
momma Sekiu and baby Aniak nursing
tiny fish
orange billed oyster catcher
starfish
feeding of anemones
We then made our way to the pier where we took a cruise on Argosy cruises where we saw a rare sight – the fireboats clearing their water lines and I captured the moment when it was in full blast mode against the outline of the city!
Hubby & I on the boat
fireboat
The next part of the cruise took us to the lock used to enter and exit from the saltwater to the freshwater. It was a neat experience!
entering the lock
exiting the lock
Then we passed by Gas Works park - the site of the former Seattle Gas Works transformed to a public park with some of the original equipment.
Gas Works park
We ended day 1 with a stop at the Pike Brewing Company where we sampled some of their home-brewed beer and picked up some memorabilia for Hubby’s beer collection.
Pike brewery
Pike brewery sample selection
Next I’ll take you along with us on day 2 – our trip to Mt. Rainier with a stop at Northwest Trek!!
Tisha Clinkenbeard
