Doorways of … Italy

Part 5…out west

I’m not sure if i ever said the real reason we went out WEST…. well it was to visit with our Grand Daughter. Colorado is  great distance form New York air travel is about 1,670 miles. a pretty good distance, so we tried to make the best of our time.

she’ll be three next month. so while she was in day care. we did some traveling around .

this is Breckenridge,Colorado. which sits at 9600 ft. and the summit of the ski resort is upwards of 13,ooo which is upwards of 2 miles above sea level., and yes i did feel like i was sea sick. it didnt matter how much water i drank. i felt so bad i didnt ever have a cocktail.

it was so pretty and so many things to do there.

its only been a ski resort since 1961. they have kept a lot of the charm,by keeping alot of the historic buildings. before all of the skiers took hold, of course it was a place for prospectors

many trails off the main roads, and places to just unwind.

and then when you think your feeling better .because of the altitude , you try a Little shopping  but soon realize you ned to find some shade and rest again 🙂 remember this was after all in July and the temps reached over 100 degrees:)

well, that about does it for me.  if you came along for my little journey, thank you:)

Out West …Part 3

in Part 2, i explained how we stayed at this Bed and Breakfast all i can say is, next time ill do al of my own planning.  we used our auto club for all of this, ony because i was nervous about screwing something up.ive never been out west, and we were taking more modes of transportation than i was accustomed to taking care of.. planes, trains, auto:) and that was just to get to our final destination…. to see our beautiful Grand Daughter…cross country 🙂

so anyway, this was on the 3rd floor. and it was an extra room off of our bedroom, I was thankful for it, because i don’t sleep well, so it was my little hide away in the middle of the nite, and id play words with friends:)

 

a very elegant building , everything you would expect in Francisco. and of course it was on a hill. the history is deep. with this building, and it was one of the original  Historic painted Ladies..  

the best part of this was meeting some of the people we ate breakfast with this is an Author, of self-help books,from Texas . she came to help get her Grand Daughter situated in the big City . and then there was wine and cheese offered every evening.

the kitchen. and as you can clearly see, theres a micro wave and a te kettle.but no where coud i find tea bags. oh well 😦        I fell in love with al of the stained glass.

 

as grand as it looks , I could not even get a cuppa when i wanted, there was only some one there in the morning to serve the breakfast (which was a cold breakfast) and then again at 6 pm to put our the wine and cheese. and… that was it!!!  and, this place was not centrally located, i could not just run out the door, and get a coffee or tea. but it was for 2 nites, and i survived 🙂 if anyone looks this place up, a lot of the reviews are fantastic.. I’m not exactly sure why. im not a snob, when it comes to staying at places. but i can tell you if i ever make it back to San Francisco again, ill do all of my own booking.

if you stopped by thanks in advance.

 

 

My Trip Out West…..Part 2

This was the first time i’d ever been to San Francisco , we left our home with beautiful hot July weather to cold damp low 60’s, even though we were told it would be cold , and i tried to pack appropriately  , I froze  , since our time was limited we spent the day at Fisherman’s wharf. lots to do, tons of restaurants to choose from, old buildings repurposed,and plenty of tours to pick from.and just a great walk,all around the Bay.

even things for the little people  to do.

the City By The Bay.

since we were short on time, and Uber’d around the 36 hours we were there.  we decided to spend it at the Wharf. this is a shot i was able to get on our way back to our B&B.

looking forward to sharing  photos of this place next time.

if you stopped by thank you. have a wonderful day.

A trip out West

So ,ive been gone from WP for almost a year. just busy i guess. between funerals, weddings and vacations.  so i thought id post about the most amazing adventure we took over the end summer.

we first took a jet  from New York City,  yep that’s the 911 memorial down below

next stop…. San Francisco  we only had 36 hours to catch a few glimpses of the wonders…

had to go to fisherman’s wharf. spent the day there, since we Ubered every where.

ive always wanted to see Alcatraz. ever since i was a little girl, all the movies with this big rock .. i wasnt leaving till i saw it. we didn’t have time for a whole tour, so we did the next best thing.. took  a boat ride, went under to 2 famous bridges, and circled around “The Rock” it  was an amazing, if i ever get back there, i will find time to do the whole tour.

i learned so much, it was like a little city, i wasnt aware, when the prison was open, everyone stayed on this big rock. families of the guards included. they had their own farm, a store, a church.. you name it.

we also saw a Great White Whale, while on the boat. every one has seen the clouds that cover the bay bridges, so i wont go there 🙂

so the next day we caught a bus that took us to the train station.and there we caught the Zephyr. a train line that goes from Chicago  to San Fan.  we thought it’d b more fun to go from San Fran. to Col. where our Daughter lives.

 

it was pretty amazing

the seats were pretty comfy for the most part. the food wasnt bad, and the scenery was unbelievable. although … it was a very long trip.. to Colorado, 2 long nites. we thought we’d be fine WITHOUT a sleeper, well live and learn is all we can say 🙂

 

a view from my seat. the cars ahead are the sleepers (in the first photo) the train was so long, and there were so many curves, and steep hill and mnts. sometime we were going 5 mi. an hour.

im going to leave you with this….

and tell you, the first nite, we were stuck in the desert, for what seemed to be forever, and dusk was setting in, and i swear it seemed as thought the tumble weeds were growing. ….. to be continued.

if you happened to stop by thank you, in advance.

home again home again..jiggity jig

well it was a fast 2 weeks,but im glad to be home, tons of memories good eats probably too much to drink:0 but hey i was on vacation.

Anyway.. im starting my trip in a unuasul manner…somewhere in the middle

went on a speed boat to see dolphins.. ill share that another day

this is more my speed:) maybe next time…

 

no explaination needed:)

 

and after that hairraising expierence  i needed a cocktail and some food… at a place called Frenchys… this was my view.. could have sat there all day.

another view:)

sometimes i think i only come to Florida to see the pelicans:)

they just amaze me

then the heron flew in, like he knew it was a photo opp:)

 

well time to move onto another Bar 🙂 in another section of the gulf of Florida…

this is Tarpon Turtle, the only bad day we had, still made the best of it, and .. they had the best Gator tail I ever had.

If you stopped by, thank you in advance, and have an awesome week end.

 

 

Floridians in Black & White

While my good friends Mary Smyth and Fraggy  are posting in Black and White, thye have encouraged me on so many levels through the years, I’ve decided to give it a go.. of course my new FujifilmX-T10 has been a huge help to me. I love street photoging, so i thought id share some of my “people”  shots in B&W.  and a few stories along the way

when ever ive been to St,Johns Pass this woman is feeding all of the wild life, this particular  day she must have had some very special seed. and i was very pleased that i got a reflection  too 🙂

just looking for a place to get warm and have lunch..and a cocktail of course 🙂

stopped at Clearwater  Beach on our way back to the condo, hit one of our favorite watering holes, and this is what i saw. it was so cold that day. this beach is never empty.

the next day was a bit warmer, found a jogger all by Him self.

hard to tell if this guy was one of the many transients  or just catching the rays

 this guy reminded me of an old Humphrey Bogart Movie.

 Breakfast time at the Covered Bridge cafe.   this was our waitress

ok, i got caught 🙂 so what… lol, i really was trying to get that guy in the back, he had an E.cig. and the smoke that was bellowing  around him was something else.but every time   with out fail some one got in my way.. so this was the best i could do

i couldnt keep my eyes off this little girl, she was on the verge of tears, and  i got lost in those big eyes

 well here come the story….. we took a 3 hour ride to Ft.Myers Beach , and this older woman, figured we were there for a good time, so she directed o=us to this tiki bar, that had a happy hour like no other… the place was pack to the rafters. , so while i was getting my bearings.. and a drink 🙂 this giu just walked up and said oh take my picture… so i did 🙂

on with the story…….

 My Husband has always been nervous about my being “so friendly” when we r on Vaca.. and my good Friend Dawn (on the inside)  has mentioned it to me a few times as well.. but… i think im a fairly good judge  of people.. anyway, the woman on the end..  is some one we dont know and most likely never see again.. she and her Husband were on vacation from way up North in Canada . we all started talking, he told us he was a retired Mounted  Police officer  and she said she was a  Physiotherapist……

he showed us card tricks..i was not amused , but my friend was..   we drank way to much, and had to get up at 5:30 am to catch the ferry to Key West.lol, the end, it doesnt hurt to be friendly at a bar… as long as you have a few rules in place:)  oh ps..thats me in the middle :))

well if  you stopped by thanks. and have an awesome rest of the week. and @fragglercking   and @MarySmyth   , thank you for all of your encouagement.

i need another vacation

well ive been home for a little over a week now, still going through my photos. and still wishing i was back in Florida.  mind you i have nothing to really complain about, i just dont care to be in Western  New York  any longer. here it is 7am and its still pitch black. and WNY has been lucky so far this winter, we have not gotten hit with a bad winter…but its still colder than my body likes, so .. ive pretty much been back in hibernation.

so going through some of my photos, i thought id share my Pelicans ..yes thats right i said My 🙂 and a few other snaps.

as i stumble to learn my new Gear..FujiFilm X-T10 , I’m learning i cant go anywhere with out it.

Mr.P is trying hard to get this fisherman’s attention. im not sure what He he was trying to catch.. im sure some one out there knows?…  he had a huge net with some knind of big hook inside the bag.

one way or another MR.P is gonna try to get what ever that fisherman is getting:)

 lol, , my friend thought i was mad taking all kinds of photos of these birds.

no no, not a Pelican… but i liked that he flew right in my way ….

lol,  heres the other end:)

can you hear Him calling out…look at me look at me

well it was time for lunch so we hit the pavement, in search of some good grub and a cocktail

and after some well needed nourishment we took another walk  .

ill close with these little peeps collecting shells. and if you took time to stop by, thanks very much. and have a great rest of the week.