Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Water
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Water. I like this challenge because it is related directly to the 5 Chinese elements. So Cee shared what those are/can be:
Sea, Ice, Storms, Rain, Steam, Fluid, Sound, Mist, Acid, Salt, Time, Pressure, Moon, Mirror, Snow, Frost, Sugar
I also wanted to go out of the norm and find those 3 photos that were not so obvious in the interpretation of water. I’ve chosen mist, ice, and moon.
Mist:
my favorite hot spring
Ice:
Moon:
Outdoors and Nature of 2012: Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge
Cee challenged us to show the best of our outdoor and nature photos for 2012 in her weekly Fun Foto Challenge. Now that is a hard one for me. I truly enjoy nature and the outdoors and have a lot of photos so choosing 3 is definitely a challenge. I had to think about what I wanted to share – my best photos or photos of those with my fondest memories or the most popular ones from this blog in 2012….
So ….. (drum roll) I am going with the fondest memories. Hopefully, you will enjoy them!
Mt. Rainier in Washington state
Hot Springs, AR
Wakheena Falls area, OR
Hot Springs holiday trip
I’ve shared some of the photos with you of our last trip to Hot Springs for the WinterTide exhibit at the Fine Arts Center. But I wanted to share a day in the life type of post with you. My husband is such a huge part of my photography – he and I travel together when we have the opportunity. Sometimes it is going to where he is working or where I am working and other times we venture off together to the unknown or known.
So the weekend of December 7 & 8 we were in Hot Springs, AR – one of our favorite places to visit. Here is a look into the 24 hours (not including sleep) of our trip!
We started out with the WinterTide exhibit attendance at the Fine Arts Center.
Then we went for an evening of dinner and entertainment at the Vienna. It is a live entertainment venue that was presenting a Christmas show that night. We were the odd couple in a room full of sorority ladies with their husbands that were one of the largest contributors to St. Jude Hospitals. Inspiring group. Our table was the odd man out group – a couple originally from Cuba, their friend, and two ladies that were friends with the owner. I also fell in love with the chandelier!
Early in the morning I snuck away while Hubby slept peacefully to get in a few shots of my favorite spring just across the street from our hotel, The Arlington. We took the rest of the day to venture out into Hot Springs and do some exploring of areas where we had not been before. We started with a quick trip up West Mountain and then heard of Garvan Gardens where they were hosting a holiday lights show.
At Garvan Gardens we found plenty of entertainment – lights, nature, music, and food!
All a very enjoyable and special 24 hours for my husband and I. We can’t wait to go back again and see what else we can find new to explore there!
2012 in pictures: Weekly Photo Challenge
2012 was a busy year! A lot of great opportunities for photos in new places. Here is 2012!
January in Beavers Bend
February with our daughter
Exploring Arkansas in March
April brought rainshowers
Memorial Weekend in Hot Springs
June in Oregon near Wakheena Falls
July with our daughter creating art
August – friends’ wedding in Las Vegas
September in Muskogee, OK
September at Pea Ridge National Battlefield
November sunset at home
October – found a little gift
December Gallery exhibit
Festive! Where’s My Backpack Travel Challenge
The first weekend of December my husband and I made a trip to Hot Springs, Arkansas for an exhibit at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs. The exhibit, WinterTide, showed two of my photos. While we were there we made a trip to Garvan Gardens. We saw a truly beautiful light show there. It had a great combination of nature, the holiday spirit – Christmas music, hot chocolate, popcorn, and lots of lights! Here are a few photos that mean Festive to me this holiday!
Circles: Where’s My Backpack Travel Challenge
In the spirit of the season I wanted to find something that fit the challenge of circles from Where’s My Backpack and was also a bit to the Christmas side of the spectrum. Here are a few that I found.
This one is a tree lighted to the music in Garvan Gardens, in Hot Springs, AR. The music would play and the different layers of the tree would light up.
The second photo is of a gingerbread house Santa. This was in the lobby of The Arlington hotel. It was a huge house and this was one of the many windows with characters and candy!
Reds & Greens: Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge
This past weekend was my first real exposure to the Christmas decorations Round & About this year. We were in Hot Springs, AR and this first photo is of a light pole decorated for the season at The Arlington Hotel.
This second photo is from our visit to Garvan Gardens where they had an impressive Christmas lights presentation throughout the gardens. This was an unexpected find that came out of a conversation with a Park Ranger – we just happened to drive where we weren’t supposed to be … What was really cool about this train was that if a child walked thru it you could see their shadow. I wasn’t able to capture this neatness because the child was called back by their parent.
Can’t Wait To Be HOT in Hot Springs!
This weekend is the upcoming debut of my two photos in the WinterTide exhibit at the Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs! I’m not sure which I am more excited about – the exhibit of my photos or the pancakes and bathhouse treatment! Followed closely by taking more photos of the springs!
So if you haven’t been to Hot Springs or haven’t read one of my posts, like the Quick Weekend in Hot Springs, then here is a little info for you.
Part of the city of Hot Springs is actually the Hot Springs National Park. Hot Springs and the area called Bathhouse Row have a rich history. I have commented to my Hubby that when we stay down on Central Avenue at the Arlington Hotel I feel as if I am walking, sitting, moving about in another era. One evening, I remember, sitting on the wide front veranda (or porch) of the hotel and drinking a nice rum punch recommended by the waitress and it felt as if I were there with my short flapper dress and he in his Al Capone hat and suit. We watched the people go by and the horse-drawn carriage as it made its rounds on Central Ave.
Ok, back to the topic I really wanted to share. If you go to Hot Springs you MUST go to the Buckstaff Bathhouse! Well, maybe first you should go to the visitor center at the Fordyce Bathhouse and tour it to get a wonderful idea of how the bathhouses looked and operated. Walking around even with a crowd surrounding you it was truly a feeling of stepping back in time. I could almost see the ladies wrapped in their towels gossiping and laughing with perhaps a shy lady at the end reading a book or magazine.
So here is where I get to the being HOT in Hot Springs! Imagine (from the point of a female) – being taken to your own floor separate from the men. You are wrapped in a sheet (down to your naked self or swimsuit if you are really shy) and led to a steaming hot bath that is larger than most people’s’ tubs. The water is from a true hot mineral spring. There is a little motor at the foot of the tub. An attendant is there to make sure you are happy and relaxing. She loofahs your back. You relax in the steamy water. Then as you finish your time in the tub the attendant comes back and wraps you in the towel. From there you go to a sitz bath. You submerge your hinny in a hot bath just long enough to be healthy – after all the waters were healing! Then on to the enclosed steam bath – just the window open for the “fresh” air. And after that, off to the table where you are wrapped head to toe in warm, relaxing towels. Then off to your shower where hot jets stimulate your skin. Last, but not least, the Swedish massage. Heaven, I tell you!
So here are some photos from the Fordyce that give you a little bit of an idea of the experience. Of course, I didn’t take photos inside the Buckstaff in respecting the privacy of the other bathers.
Where’s My Backpack Travel Challenge: Liquid
Being as I love the water – beach, lake, stream, waterfall – this week’s challenge from Where’s My Backpack, which was liquid, was fun to choose. I also wanted some photos that I hadn’t shared with you yet. So looking a bit into my stash I found these three.
This first one is from our honeymoon in Alaska. I love the tones in the photo. And, of course, the scenery was magnificent!
This second one is from our early anniversary cruise to the Caribbean. It is in St. Kitts and is where the Caribbean meets the Atlantic!
And the last of the three is from a trip to Hot Springs, AR. It is a town that has captured my husband and I for some reason unknown to us. I think it has something to do with the history and the feel of the area around the springs – specifically Bathhouse Row. It seems as if you are just on the edge of being back in the 1920′s with all the people who came from around the world to the bathhouses back in their heyday.
Just for fun and a bit of a play on the word liquid, here is a photo of a beer sampler we had while in Seattle at the Pike Brewery!
Mystical
If you can’t tell from most of the photos on my blog, I love the outdoors and nature. So when Where’s My Backpack posted the Mystical challenge I was so excited and thought of several right away. But I wanted to show something new instead of just ones I’ve shown before. So here are two new ones and one you have seen before.
This first one is from a favorite spot in the middle of America. Hot Springs, Arkansas. The springs to me are very mystical. The history of the town and the springs is even more mystical and interesting. Hubby and I go back when we have any excuse to though it isn’t a place that screams “visit me”. (and we’re headed back for a weekend in December for another art show I was selected for!)
The next photos are from the Columbia Gorge area – around Multnomah Falls and Wakheena Falls. The first one is new to you – just a passing small waterfall along the pass.
This last one I’ve shown before and I am still in love with it. I call it my pixy home. Siggghhhh….
A quick weekend in Hot Spring National Park
The first weekend of March my husband and I (and our dog Cedar) made a quick weekend trip to Hot Springs National Park (aka Hot Springs, AR). One of my photos was in a regional competition and the announcement of the winners came on that Friday evening. So we made a weekend of it!
Upon arrival we found out that the Sunbelt conference championships were being held at the arena next door to our hotel. At first I was a bit concerned with all the activities going on but it really added to the weekend! That Friday night after attending the “shindig” we roamed the streets a bit. Outside they were holding what I would refer to as a pep rally for all the teams in the competition. All the bands were there to play their tunes.
Univ. of North Texas mascot
The mascots were running around the audience and the fans were having a great time. The finale was all of the bands coming together to play the final tunes.The mascots were running around in the audience. Enthusiastic fans were clapping and yelling.
enthusiastic fan
Saturday morning we headed out with Cedar to walk around Bathhouse Row. We walked along Central Ave (which is where Bathhouse Row is located) and even stopped in a store that welcomed Cedar with dog treats. We stopped to test the water in fountain near the park office.
Then we moved on to the Grand Promenade above Bathhouse Row. This is a path that takes you behind Bathhouse Row to where the springs run underground. One of the sites was a cool little alcove where two benches sat around a concrete table with checker boards. A nice sunny day would make for a perfect checker game! 
Just above the Grand Promenade stands a huge building that was once the home to the Army Navy hospital. The building is now home to the Hot Springs Rehabilitation Center/Arkansas Career Training Institute. You can read more on the history by clicking here! As we strolled the promenade we came upon big green concrete and steel covers. These are the covers to the 47 hot springs in the park. They have been covered to keep the water clean.
Next we stopped at one of the ends of the promenade on Central Ave. Here we saw a wonderful hot spring pool from a spring – it looked almost like a waterfall! I captured some wonderful shots here – look for them coming up on FR& A! Cedar and Shannon also took time to check out the temp of the pool here to compare it to the fountain we stopped at earlier.
We made our way down bathhouse row on the bathhouse side. We stopped at all the landmarks and signs telling the history of Hot Springs and each of the bathhouses. Only three are operational today – Buckstaff, Quapaw and the Arlington Hotel. One of the bathhouse is now a visitor center. We stopped in to see the bathhouse. It was like stepping back in time! Some of the bathing equipment seemed quite ordinary, such as the large ceramic whirlpool baths. Some of the equipment almost seemed scary – the needle shower was a bit intimidating! 
And the steam cabinets I don’t think my claustrophobic self cares much for them! 
(In the photo the cabinet to the right actually had lightbulbs in it and would fill with water – can you say shocking??) Another beauty was found in the visitor center – the stained glass over the main room of the men’s bathing area.
Now for a few facts (click here for more history- It has a document that has tons of info on each of the bathhouses, too.) The park has 47 hot springs which contain 1300 pounds of mineral each day. The water of the open springs sits at a temperature of about 134 degrees Farenheit. It is the oldest national park in the National Park Service. It became a part of the US territories as a part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Tisha Clinkenbeard
