Just catching up on the past few days.
First off, I've had my big camera and a couple lenses sitting around for the longest time and so I finally got rid of them.
Michelle and Christian are interested in photography so I mailed them off to them. Michelle evidently waited until Chris got home from school to open the package and then sent me this picture of Chris gingerly lifting the camera out of the bag.
Now the two of them have a couple new toys to play with.
It's a two-way street...Michelle sent me this. She and her daughter, Frances, went to the library and they were putting the names of veterans up on a board for part of their Veteran's Day Celebration and Frances was able to put up a star for me and for her Grandpa Ray. I don't imagine there are many little girls running around that had both Grandpas serve in Vietnam.
Hahaha, them's some awesome braggin' rights!!
Here's my little angel, pointing to my star.
Thank you, Frances.
(FYI - Michelle and hers call her 'Frankie')
And so, today, I sent this picture to Frances to say thank you for recognizing me on Veteran's Day.
OK, some more miscellaneous...now when I go into stores, I check out the Nativity Scenes and other Christmas decorations...and take pictures of them.
This is a picture of a picture...on a box...for sale.
And some of the artificial trees for sale.
Don't worry, there will be more.
And, under miscellaneous, we were going to have our first freeze and I thought I'd better check on the faucet in the backyard.
Good thing I did. The kids upstairs, they're all nice kids but still just kids. And rather thoughtless kids, too. The water was on but the wand sprayer was off so the hose was full of pressurized water. Not good.
I took this picture so when I went to Home Depot to get something to protect the faucet against the freeze I would be able to use it as a reference. I'm not a great handy-man...I know it and so I try to hedge my bets before I go so I don't have to make two...or three trips for the same small chore.
And, I didn't need the picture. They sell these conical styrofoam thingies that slip over the tap and, evidently, keep the pipes from freezing.
Love modern science.
Now, to get to the Home Depot, and I wanted to go there because I learned that they give a 10% discount to veterans 365 days a year...Hooah!!...we rode the Link.
There's a Home Deport near the SODO station. Hahaha, we are so damn clever. We used the trip to the Home Depot as an excuse to head downtown for a day of fun and frivolity. Or, if those weren't available, a day of walkin', talkin' and gawkin'.
And this one was letting her Big Sister know all about it.
We rode down to the Westlake Station and got off. Primarily because it was the end of the line and we couldn't go any further and also because it is the closet station to Pike Market.
This guy sorta reminds us of Angel...our white pigeon...who we haven't seen for several days. There are any number of pigeons right at the Link exit on Pine Street. I bet you didn't know that, did you?
Ah, downtown Seattle...always weird...just like your family.
What trip downtown would be complete without a visit to the Pike Place Market?
Answer: None!!
And we always come to it via Pine Street so we can see the Public Market sign and the corner that Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner walked down in the movie, "Sleepless In Seattle". Hahaha, more on that movie in a bit. Be patient.
One of the many alleys downtown...the light was just fantastic yesterday and I was intrigued by the reflections off the side of this brick building in the alley. I will keep on working on it.
There are too many places, odd and exotic places, to eat in Seattle. You could eat yourself around the world and never leave Seattle.
It's a shame I'm such a meat and potatoes kinda guy.
OK, we made it past Turkey and now we're back on track to the Market. And the Puget Sound right behind it.
Annnnnnd, cue the ferry.
What visit downtown would be complete without a ferry sighting?
Answer: None!!
Absolutely none!!
Hahaha, in addition to all the exotic and boutique food, there's this...(is it exotic, Ginger Beer?). Just off the Post Alley.
I'd never noticed this before. I think, next time we're there, we'll give'er a try.
Maybe.
Here's Post Alley. If you went straight ahead a couple blocks you'll run into the Gum Wall. Yuck.
But here, the folks are all lined up and waiting to go into the Pike Place Chowder Restaurant. Must be popular...ya think?
The odd thing was, this was just the first line we'd see today.
Wait...
Hahahaha, you didn't have to wait too long, did ya!?!
OK, this was a sorta line...it's one of the tour groups and they were getting the down-low and then they were going into Beecher's for some outstanding and incredibly expensive cheese. And they make it right there...and you can watch them from the window that everyone is standing in front of. Waiting to go in.
OK, I am sure there is a valid reason, but I just don't know what it is. We were amblin' down the street and this woman comes running down the hill towards the Market. She was followed, closely, by the guy to the right in the red shorts carrying a motion picture camera.
Don't ask.
I don't know.
OK, back to the cheese. It was busy in Beecher's. See the large window to the right? Inside is the large vat of cheese curds they're whipping up...and it is also the same thing they were looking at from the street in the prior pictures.
Anyway, here's another line. For the cheese.
Busy.
Self-Indulgent Shadow Selfies!!
We've already established, pretty much, that we're shameless.
Hahahahahaha!!
Totally!!
I was going to go in this restaurant, "Piroshky Piroshky" for lunch for, strangely, a Piroshky.
What the heck is a Piroshky, you ask?
Hahahaha, good question.
Traditionally served throughout markets and homes in Eastern Europe, they are hand-held pies and their fillings are as diverse and differing as the cultures and people who make and serve them. That's the beauty of a Piroshky - everyone makes it a little different, recipes are passed down from generation to generation. From Babushka to children.
The Piroshki Piroshky restaurant opened in 1992. Their mission is to embrace and integrate the taste of the Northwest into their own traditional recipes. Their Piroshkies are individually made from scratch and hand-molded into their own unique shapes.
And I was finally gonna try one.
But it wasn't going to be that day.
And, continuing my thread on lines...
...here's one in front of the First Starbucks ever!!
Hahahaha, it was a day for lines.
I couldn't get my Piroshky...so I fell back to Plan B.
I've been intrigued by the Dogs at this place for a while now.
I mean, c'mon, what a great sign, right? A ginormous hot dog!?!
Hahahaha, it did its job as far as I was concerned.
The only problem was which one to get? Hahaha, I consulted my Food Critic, Carolita, and got the nod towards the Kielbasa...Mmmmmm...
Order up!! And you get to watch the Wizard at work!!
Annnnnd, here it is!!
Covered with grilled onions and sauerkraut...
It were GOOD!!
CB
OK, lunch is over...let's get back to some serious sight-seein' and picture-takin'. Oh, we went down to the Victor Steinbrueck Park for lunch. It's a great little park with some great views.
Looking to the south and a bit west to the Giant Ferris Wheel and the Port of Seattle.
It was a cool day and the sun was brilliant in the cool, crisp Autumn air. It was really great light.
CB 
A European Starling. Funny thing is, we don't see these prolific birds anywhere but around the Pike Place Market. I know they're a common bird, but rare enough that we always get a kick out of seeing them.
CB
I've said it before, you can't go anywhere on the Sound and not see a ferry. And if you can see'em, you can shoot'em...with a camera.
It is a beautiful city. Bottom line, it is a very beautiful city.
Here we're looking southeast across the back of the Pike Place Market over to the Emerald City.
Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!
We were leaving the park and heading over to the Market when I turned and saw this scene. The light was just right to put everything in the foreground in shadows. If only there had been a ferry right then.
If only...
Kudos, Taxi Dogs!! Kudos!! The Kielbasa was muy delicioso. Muy!!
Hahaha, I just noticed...now they have a line!! A small one but a line nonetheless.
We'd gotten some heavy rain the day before...it dropped over an inch in an hour in Tacoma. But this day the weather was primo. The vendors were out in force, hawking their geegaws and doohickies.
Like this stuff.
Don't ask.
I don't know.
It seemed to me that they'd missed their mark with these...Halloween has been over for a week or so now. Yet, here they are, selling glass pumpkins.
And the Market!! A world-class tourist destination. A far cry from what the original vendors thought it would be I bet.
Selling everything from glass pumpkins to boutique hot sauce. Yeah, just like the beers, they craft their own hot sauce for sale.
And, always, there's the fish.
And the restaurants...with their great views.
Athenian Selfie!!
And their connection to "Sleepless In Seattle". Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner ate lunch here while discussing Tom's problems with dating.
Some day I'm gonna go down and say "Hi" to those bakers on the 2d floor. And get some good aromas, too.
Hey, there's plenty of good eating downtown.
The Pike Place Fish Market...world famous for tossing fish. You can see the fish there, just in front of his hands. We waited, yeah, we're that kinda tourists, about five minutes and got this one fish toss.
Hahaha, it was totally worth it!!
Both Carol and I have an affection for Flat Iron Buildings. They are some of the most beautiful buildings ever.
Wouldn't it be great to have a corner apartment in a flat iron?
OK, we finally got back on track and heading towards the Home Depot and passed this tree planted along Lander as we were walking to the Depot.
We did stop by a Army-Navy Store next to the Home Depot and I found a vest. Woo-Woo!! It will come in handy.
The Home Depot is right next to the Headquarters for Starbucks. Hahaha, The Emerald City is, truly, Coffee-Mad!!
And I don't know why I was surprised, but I was, to find a Starbucks downstairs by the entrance. There it is, to the left of the main entrance.
Duh!!
I know...why was I surprised??
But I was so surprised with this that I had a hard time getting a shot of him.
We're walking away from the Starbucks and this guy is pedaling this bike across the intersection. Bam, I'm hunting for my camera and then he's on the sidewalk across from us.
Bam, I'm trying to get a picture and...I have it zoomed and...I get this...
But I'm not deterred...no, I am determined!!
Bam!! I shoot again after zooming out a bit and...
...I get this shot.
Argh!! This is getting to be frustrating.
Especially because now he's laughing and waving to us as he pedals his...bike down the sidewalk.
See him!?! See him laughing!?!
I had to laugh, too. I finally got a shot of the whole thing, the rider and the bike.
Finally!!
I waved to him as he rode merrily down the sidewalk on his...unusual bike.
Whew!! All that excitement worked up an appetite. Arby's is off the grid for us and so I thought I'd give'er a try.
Hmmmm, what to get!?!
Hahaha, a Rueben. I've already established that I'm a sucker for Rueben's.
And it was...OK.
Nothing to write home about but I definitely wouldn't throw it away. It was...OK.
The chocolate shake Carol got was much tastier.
Hahahaha, much!!
OK, backstory...Carol was texting with her sister and had sent Allida, her sister, a reply I gave her to a comment her sister made.
It was suppose to say "Whoda thunk?" and it was auto-corrected to...well, I'll show you in a minute. But I thought it was funny and so I had Carol hold up her phone so I could get a shot of the message the phone had sent and just as I snapped the shutter, the phone went blank. It had timed out and went dead.
What timing, eh!?! Couldn't EVER do that if I tried.
It took me a moment to figure out what had happened once I reviewed my picture.
Hahahaha, strange days, right!?!
Here's what it was...I had Carol punch it back up.
Allida was commenting on my recent hair-cut. And, yes, I do clean up nicely, thank-you very much.
See how the phone auto-corrected my message, "Whoda thunk?"
Stupid auto-correct.
Afterwards we stopped by the Post Office across the street. Why do I mention it? Because we got some of that stellar service the USPS is noted for.
Walked in and no one in line. There are two clerk working with just two people, one each, and I thought, "Wow, this will be quick." I just wanted to buy some postcard stamps.
As soon as Clerk A finished with this guy, he put up the "This lane is closed" sign and sauntered off.
Ratz, Karma, why do you treat me this way!?!
Clerk B, meanwhile, has some Russian guy and is going through the paperwork for whatever he was mailing in great detail...and going over it again...and offering other ways to send it...and saying, several times, the same things over again and again even after he said no to each and every one of them...then evidencing some signs of peevish irritation when asked where Ricky was...and then asking the fellow if he wanted stamps...again...and wasting time with this guy until Clerk A came back (I think it was Ricky) before she finished and put up her "This lane is closed" and slinking off to parts unknown.
Oh, remember there was no one in line when I walked in. When I finally got serviced, there were 9 people in line behind me.
I guess they were having a bad day. It happens.
Karma can be a real meanie, y'know!?!
So we were off early this morning and today was the first day the windows had ice on them. Hahaha, I was caught flat-footed with my ice scraper locked semi-safely in the garage and had to resort to the ol' credit card trick to scrape off the windshield.
Welcome Cold Weather!!
We were up early heading to Denny's for a Thank-You, Veteran, Grand Slam Breakfast.
The light was great.
Even Mickey D's looked good in this light.
And there I was...at Denny's.
In honor of the day, I wore my Vietnam Veteran hat. I seldom wear this cap but I thought I'd pull out all the stops for today.
Plus, I wore my Army jacket. Hey, I was shamelessly tugging at all the heartstrings today.
Here's Carol...rationalizing her decision to forego breakfast and get herself a...
Classic Cheeseburger!!
Mmmmmmm, good!!
Meanwhile, I got my Grand Slam.
Mmmmmm, looking good.
And it was good, too!!
Thanks, Denny's. I appreciate your tasty generosity.
I think we both enjoyed our breakfasts.
Veteran's Day Denny's Breakfast Selfie!!
Hahaha, happy, fed and watered. We were off to...
Office Depot. I wanted to see if they could reproduce an old business card of mine. They could...for a price.
So we went over to the Barnes and Noble where I learned that they really did publish a book called "Architecture for Dummies"!! Hahaha, whoda thunk!!
Or, for the cell phone class, "Hoodathunk?"
I was being a bit of a smart-ass when I asked the clerk if they had this book because I didn't think anyone would publish such a book.
Oops!! Wrong again!!
I ordered it and will get it November 20th. Woo-Woo!!
And I stopped for gas at the Arco near Sam's in Renton and took this picture and sent it to all my kids. Hahaha, I've only lost with one of them. Joe, in Hell Paso, said he recently paid $2.55 for his gas.
Ratz!!
Still, it is a record low for anywhere near The Emerald City.
Then we slid over to The Brown Bear where they gave the Mini a quick bath as a way to say thank-you for my service.
You're welcome, Brown Bear, and thank-you for the clean-up.
The Mini, she is clean!!
And we stopped at our park on this blustery and sunny day. Evidently, the gulls don't care too much for the winds. Oh, BTW, the wind knocked out the power at our place for a while this morning.
It were real windy!!
The Eagle Tree was looking thin. It'd be easy to see the eagle in the tree now.
Artsy-Fartsy Alert!!
As we were leaving I happened to glance at the trees behind us at the park and saw the sun sitting behind this fir. And shot it.
Hahaha, I like it.
The road leaving the airfield.
So we are in the Hole-In-the-Ground and Carol goes in the kitchen and sees this guy by the Birdbath outside.
Fortunately I was able to focus...I was worried the camera would focus on the window and not the hawk. But it worked.
We think he came down to get a drink of water.
I'm sure he scared the heck out of all the other birds cuz there was no one else in sight.
This is the neighborhood hawk. We've seen him before and he's taken out a couple of the pigeons that come to our feeders.
There it is...a knock-up of our past couple of days. Nothing spectacular but it keeps us busy.
Oh, remember when we went downtown because we wanted to stop by Home Depot and get the 10% discount on the thingies to keep the pipes from freezing?
I forgot to ask for the discount.
Duh!!
Well, life is still fun.
Bottom line...
...Life is good.
Hooah!!
No comments:
Post a Comment