Columbia City Farmer's Market

Another day, another walk. This one around the Columbia City Farmer's Market.

Every Wednesday from now until October there will be a Farmer's Market in Columbia City. I think these farmers are like a club and go from market to market together. I bet we see a lot of them at the Renton Famer's Market next Tuesday.

Anyway, I always park out and we walk into wherever we're going. Get to see a lot more this way.

Before we went, however, we took a short walk around Renton. We enjoy stopping in at the Comic Hut downtown. It's a user-friendly comic book store and I can take pictures as I like in there. It's got a lot besides comics.

Like this SafeCo Field game...

I should have gotten a couple of these. How cool would that be, eh?

Someday, maybe, an anthology of Archie Books.

Then, in a antique store I saw this and immediately thought of Joe. He collects Coca-Cola merchandise. 

Isn't this cool. I mean, who wouldn't want this!?!

But I didn't have enough pocket cash or else…I woulda...

And we walked by the depot where the old Dinner Train used to come out of. Michelle and Allison worked on the Dinner Train. Back in the day. Not too long ago.

They may have a Railroad Crossing but the Dinner Train has gone to the Big Station House in the Sky.

Oh, and we saw flowers. Love the flowers.

Then we were off to the Columbia City Farmer's Market. Hooah!!

These guys are semi-pro, eh? They do it up right.

But, dang, they WERE pricey!! I mean, serious, reach deep down into that wallet, buddy, pricey.

Things looked good but...

They cost good, too!!!

And the flowers. Love the flowers.

Can't get a bad shot, really.

The color is just great. 

And the food. There were several places to get food, all gluten-free and HEALTHY. Sometimes I got tired of the superior attitude of these HEALTHY folks.

And hand-made pasta...

And baskets from a Somali

The stalls….flowers...

Information...

Strawberries….

and fish.

And more flowers….

and a lot of plants. They were selling plants you could take home and plant for yourself. Herbs, spices, tomatoes and so on...

Time to go. This park used to be a huge gulch. They had a log stretched across it for people to get back and forth. They finally filled it in and…got this park.

Better than a gulch, right?

Some of the homes along the old gulch.

Trees near the library.

And, downtown Columbia City. Always a fun place for a walk.

With lots to see in the windows.

And walking through the neighborhoods always brings pleasant surprises.

Like this. Carol saw a pregnant cat and began coaxing her over. I kept on walking cuz, well, it just wasn't gonna happen.

And then I turn around and...

I go back to getting pictures of the local fauna and turn around and...

Now she's got two of 'em!!! Cheez!! I had to call to her before she had more show up.

But I still had time for flowers. Hahahaha

I really enjoy shooting flowers. I usually get a good picture for little effort. I mean, all the hard work is done by the time I get there. All I have to do is point and shoot.

Hooah!!!

Pike Place Market

One of our favorite places to visit on our walks is the Pike Place Market. What a riot of color, energy, fish, people and fun.

But, to get there we've got to walk a 1/2 mile to the Link

 ...and I always bring my camera. Always.

"Thank you, Mrs. Maynard." She was the wife of one of the founders who brought dandelions to Seattle for her husband's medicines.

And roses. Lots of roses.

Then we get to walk through the city. It's always interesting and we both enjoy the sights and the energy of the city.

I just like these Old Love Bugs. It's around the same year as the one I had. Long ago. In another galaxy, far, far away.

And mine was blue.

Gotta admire the yellow pants, though. 

Hey!! What's that!?! We're close!!

It's a Tourist Attraction AND a Historical District.

The pergola at the North end of the Market.

And the park just across the street.

It was a beautiful day for a walk.

The Alaskan Way Viaduct and, in the distance, SafeCo and Century-Link fields.

From the park, this is the menagerie of booths leading into the Market.

And all the knick-knacks and unnecessary stuff they have for sale.

And magnets. What an industry eh? They sell themselves. They really do.

And then the flowers. 

I love the flowers...

The alley that is the Pike Place Market.

With their fruit stalls...

And the seafood shops...

One of Carol's favorites is the one where they throw the fish for the tourists. 

It was crowded…

And the restaurants. All fancy and all expensive...

We met a couple of real dummies….

And I always stop by Beecher's to get a free sample of their cheese. Mmmmmm...

As we left...

We ran into these ladies...

Selling earrings...

And this guy…from the World Champion, Super Bowl Seattle Seahawks!!! 

Gooooo, Hawks!!!

                             

Love the Market and all it has. 

Neighborhood Walks

One of the things we do to keep in shape, pass the time, have some fun and see new things is to take walks. Mostly, it's around the neighborhood but we do get out to other places. 

This walk was to a new part of the local neighborhood. It was interesting for two reasons. First was, I think we stumbled onto a drug deal. A couple of guys sitting on the side of the street in a neighborhood. Another guy, rounding the corner, walking past us towards the men in the car AND, to make it even more exciting to our already excitable imagination…another big low-rider style car with two more men riding down low in it turn the corner and slowly follow the walking man towards the men in the car.

Yeah, I stepped up our pace and rounded the first corner as quickly as I could without looking back.

The second was really cool. I stop and take pictures along the way and we had stopped by a fenced yard while I took some pictures of the flowers from the sidewalk. As I was doing this, the door opened and a little ol' lady came out. 

Carol, always ready for a conversation, quickly said Hi and explained what we were doing. Those two started talking and then she asked if we'd like to see the back yard because there were more flowers back there. 

Yeah. We went. Now, mind you, this is the second time we've been invited to someone's backyard to see their gardens. Cool, eh?

OK, there's the background…now for the pictures. 

It started out as roses….

  

Lots of nice roses and a long discussion about how they grow…a very long discussion.

And then we went to the backyard and found these beauties.

One of my favorites, geranium buds...

They're all kinda nice...

I know, WOW!! Pretty cool, eh?

FYI, it's backlit.

More from the backyard.

So, we're in the backyard and Carol asks the name of this flower. The lady is stumbling and then, from a window her husband growls out the name. He wasn't too happy she brought us back but he was making sure we got our questions answered.

Moving up the other side of the house now...

POW!!

Back in the front yard.

Pretty nice.

And here's our hostess. She was, understandably, proud of her garden.

Her house...

Now, these would never have made it in her yard, but I got this picture after we left.

Meeting people and seeing new things. Pretty cool.