Category Archives: Travel

Wish You Were Here…

Kerry Park in Seattle makes for a wonderful photo postcard proving you were here…

This is the great view and on some days there isn’t a cloud in the sky.

Enjoying another Pike Place Market treat at Kerry Park, Ryan finally gets to eat his treat from Piroshky, Piroshky!

I’m not sure how long the needle will be sporting it’s new galaxy carrot orange top.

We were here, wish you were with us…

Trying to get artistic…

Kerry Park is located on Queen Anne Hill off of Queen Anne Ave N. on W. Highland Drive. If you want a family postcard this is the spot for you!

It’s August people! I’m still watching the Olympics and trying to avoid those after event interviews where the questions drive me nuts. I always hope that after all the long hours and years of training every athlete will be able to do well. They all can’t win but they could have some personal bests…

The Mighty Columbia River ~

Starting as a little stream in the Canadian Rockies the Columbia river flows south entering the United States in N.E. Washington close to where our son Dan now lives and works. Its the largest river in the U.S.A. that flows into the Pacific.  It travels 1200 miles curving and finally emptying into the Pacific ocean.

On our way home form eastern Washington we stopped at a scenic exit off I-90 to get a good look at a small part of the Columbia.

After our brief stop at the very hot scenic lookout we continued West across Vantage Bridge over the Columbia river headed for the Cascade Mountain range. The Cascades divide the state of Washington. The east and the west of Washington state are very different in topography and in weather extremes. They are also quite different in political views. Let’s just say it’s the western part of our state and the larger population there that makes us a Blue state instead of a Red state.

Are you watching the Olympics? Tuesday is a soccer watching day for me and I’m happy to have found a channel dedicated to soccer from the Olympics. The U.S. women play again today. Today is the last day of July…

Traveling Mosaics…

This past week was filled with travel and travelers. Dear and I traveled to Eastern Washington to spend a couple days with our son and we had travelers arrive at our house for the week. Today I’m sharing some views from our busy week. I’ll be posting more views from our week soon.

This is a restaurant in Chewelah that wasn’t open on Monday or Tuesday so we met our son here on Wednesday morning before we hit the road home. It was worth the wait for breakfast at The Chalet Grill and & Lounge.

At the Chewelah Pioneer Cemetery we saw a headstone for someone who was born in 1820 buried here. Chewelah has some very interesting history that you can read about here.

We took a slightly different route home from our trip out. We made good time and arrived home to spend the evening with our house guests from California. My sister and her daughter’s family spent the week at our home with and without us.

On Friday we had the classic whirlwind tour of Seattle taking in Pike Place Market, Kerry Park, and the Troll. At Pike Place we made stops at the original Starbucks, Piroshky Piroshky for our traditional Russian treats, the flower stands inside the market, the fish throwing, and the yucky gum wall below the market.

My niece and grandniece at the wonderful flower stalls in the Pike Place Market.

One of these dudes is not like the others…

My oldest sister and her granddaughter.

We didn’t escape the gum wall!

Last stop on the way home was a visit to the troll who lives under a bridge in Fremont. We were sad to see that the troll had been defaced.  Look closely at the Troll’s hand that the kids are standing on, that is an actual VW bug that his hand is covering!

Our company hit the road home to Southern California on Saturday. Dear goes back to work on Monday. I’m spending time relaxing while watching the Olympics. So far summer here has been busy and eventful. Hope all is going well in your neck of the woods!

I’ll be linking up with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday.

Mountain View Lodge

It was an interesting process trying to find somewhere to stay in Stevens County, Washington. We found a couple spots online that we thought might be OK but our son let us know that they wouldn’t be a good choice. He told us the area to look and we found Mountain View Lodge in Chewelah.

The Lodge has 3 rooms in the lower level with a “great room” on the upper level for guests to use.

This was the outside entry to our room.

Our room, the Selkirk.

This is the great room where continental breakfast was available along with comfortable seating to watch T.V.

Beautiful views from all the windows.

We were the only ones staying at the lodge the 2 nights we were in Eastern Washington. We enjoyed just sitting and catching up with our son Dan.

When we visit again we’ll enjoy coming back to the Mountain View Lodge.

View from our room on the lower level.

Every since we came home we’ve been busy with our company. We’ve enjoyed meals together and an outing to Pike Place Market. Dear has been working on replacing some siding on the house. Our company heads home today. Hope you all have a nice weekend.

Dan’s Digs…

Dan is living with friends on 30 acres. His space in the home is large and comfortable for him.

The property is not in a typical neighborhood for sure. This is the greeting you get as you head up the road to the house.

Mind the dust!

They have all the correct signage to hopefully protect their property.

We took a short tour of the property. It would take quite a long time to investigate all 30 acres.

The rock cropping was so interesting. I don’t know if I’m calling it the right thing but it was interesting to walk along and come upon these areas of rock.

The views were great!

They’ve got their chickens all cooped up and safe so they have fresh eggs.

They have a garden area fenced off to keep the deer and other animals out. These are some of the raspberries growing. They have lettuces, potatoes, and strawberries, too.

Beautiful views every where you look.

Besides the garden they built a greenhouse for the lady of the house.

Until Dan finds his own place this is a great place for him to call home.

O Beautiful…

for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain;

For purple mountains majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood,

From sea to shining sea.

We did not see any seas but the mighty Columbia River that begins in the Canadian Rockies and flows through the state of Washington empties into the Pacific Ocean between Oregon and Washington…

These are some of the views we saw on our road trip to Eastern Washington to visit our son, Dan. We are home now and I wanted to post something from our trip. Our company survived nicely without us. Don’t know what the plans are for today except for what we are having for dinner. Summer has arrived on this side of the mountains, too, so our guests are finally warming up. Hope all is well with you and yours today…

ht: Words to O Beautiful for Spacious Skies: Katharine L. Bates, 1904.

Random Captures…

I’m getting a few posts ready filled with random shots I haven’t shared. Dear’s on vacation and we are doing random things. I’m going to schedule posts through Wednesday. When we get back from a little road trip East to visit our second born I hope to share some new shots…

While we are gone and when we get back we have a house full of guests from Southern California. My niece’s family along with my sister Kathy are road tripping up for the week.

I’m happy to have a house full of people to use as guinea goats guinea pigs for some recipes I wanted to try. That way Dear and I don’t have to eat the whole enchilada ourselves.

Hope your week is starting off well…

That’s All Folks…

These are the last of my Chicago photos that didn’t fit in elsewhere in my posts…

Lincoln at O’Hare airport. Lincoln had no idea we’d be flying in and out of Illinois day in and day out…

I was impressed with the planters and lights in trees around the Michigan Ave. area.

Tallest Church building in the U.S.

Buckingham Fountain

Crown Fountain

This sign is great and it really makes it clear that winter in Chicago is very different from winter in Seattle.

Thankfully our ride back to the airport in our taxi was very pleasant compared to our drive to the hotel from the airport. Word to the wise…you might want to reject a taxi ride specified for you at the airport if the cab is real stinky and old.

Farewell Chicago. Time will tell if we’re back next year for ASCO.

I was very busy on Thursday and up on my feet all day long. My back and feet were complaining by two in the afternoon so I knew it was a pizza delivery day. We have a great pizza spot that delivers pizza with half Greek or Caeser salads that are delicious. Sometimes you just have to know when your body is spent and ready for food to be delivered to you. Today is a relaxing off day for me and I’m really ready for that. Hope you all have a wonderful first weekend of Summer!

Chicago Art Museum

There is so much to see at the Chicago Art Museum. Here are the pieces that caught my interest…

Doris Lee (1905-1983) ~ Thanksgiving, c. 1935, Oil on canvas.

Randolph Rogers (1825-1892) Nydia the blind flower girl of Pompeii

Flower Girl in Holland, 1887. George Hitchcock

The Annunciation ~ George Hitchcock ~ Mary depicted as a Dutch peasant girl in a field of lilies.

The next several pieces are from the artist Monet…

There were many more pieces painted by Monet.

Renoir

Pierre Auguste Renoir , Young Woman Sewing, 1879.

Gustave Caillebotte, Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877.

Degas

“Marc Chagall’s America Windows is one of the most beloved treasures in Chicago’s Art Museum’s vast collection. First debuting at the Art Institute in 1977 and made forever famous less than ten years later by an appearance in the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, the “Chagall Windows,” as they are more popularly known, hold a special place in the hearts of Chicagoans. Following an intensive period of conservation treatment and archival research, the windows returned in 2010 as the stunning centerpiece of a new presentation at the east end of the museum’s Arthur Rubloff building.”

If you are ever in Chicago you shouldn’t miss this great art museum. What I’ve shared is such a small representation of what the museum offers.

We are yearning for sunshine here in the Pacific Northwest.  This weather just makes me want to curl up with a good book. I’m enjoying a new to me murder mystery series by Anne Perry. Today I’m looking forward to meeting up with the gals from my Bible Study Tuesday group for a casual lunch in Lake Forest Park. It will be nice to see them and do a little catch up.