Camera Critters

On our way home today. We fly out of San Francisco around noon, a short stopover in Los Angeles and then a straight through flight to Virginia. It has been a wonderful vacation but as always happens when I know our trip is coming to an end, I am looking forward to going home in true homing pigeon fashion.

We visited Fisherman's Wharf a couple of days ago. For those who have not visited before, my husband and I are on vacation and have been on a road trip taking in various sights from British Columbia to Monterey, California. Monterey was been very much a nostalgia trip for us as we used to live here for a couple of years back in the early 80's.

I love how the pelicans don't take any notice of you as you walk by. Yes they keep an eye on you to see what you are doing, but you can get some very close shots before going on your way.

I have not been around pelicans in several years. It has been a lot of fun to actually see them other than on the TV in some of my nature shows. A true gift! This one was sitting on the rail next to where several people were getting off a whale watching boat. He had his photo taken many times.

He had his back to me at first and while I was taking photos of another pelican, he turned around to see what I was doing.

One last shot as we left the wharf.

Camera Critters is a wonderful meme created by Misty Dawn. Thank you Misty! You can find other critter photos by clicking here.

SkyWatch Friday - Good Morning From Monterey, California

I decided to use these photos for this week's share. My thanks to the the team who bring this great meme to us. You can find other SWF photos here.

Good Morning Blogging Friends. We are in Monterey and I wanted to share a few photos taken this morning before we head on out. We got a hotel on Cannery Row so that we wouldn't have to keep getting the car. We went on a good long walk yesterday that went along the water. When I have more time I will be sharing those too. Thank you for visiting and leaving your sweet comments. Sorry I don't have time to return the visit yet but we will be heading back home on Saturday and I will start catching up during the week.

We have a beautiful view from our hotel window. This is the sunrise taken this morning.

I woke up to hear the seals barking, not something I get to hear where I live so this has been incredible. The sea really calls to me. I just love looking out over the water. It gives me a sense of peace and tranquility and to watch those shore birds is really something.

We're spending today in Monterey and tomorrow we will be heading up to Napa Valley. I have a dear friend back in Virginia who used to live there and I want to take lots of photos for her. She has given me a list of places to see. The day after we fly out of San Francisco Airport. More to follow when time allows. In the meantime I have a couple of predated posts left and I will be back to visiting on a regular basis starting next week.

Watery Wednesday

The Jefferson Memorial in the Tidal Basin, Washington DC.

Thank you 2sweetnsaxy for hosting this great meme. You can get there by clicking here.

My World Tuesday

Hello there! As I awakened early this morning - 2.30 a.m. - I decided to share some photos while still away on our road trip. My World Tuesday was the only one that I did not predate before I left and not wanting to miss it, I thought this was a good time to do that. Hopefully I will be able to go back and catch 40 winks before we leave for the northern part of California around 6.00 a.m.

Right now we are in a beautiful little seaside town called Cannon Beach, Oregon. It is one place we are coming back to, as from what little we were able to see yesterday evening, it was lovely. We were hoping to walk along the beach this morning but from what I can hear it is raining hard. I looked at the weather forecast and the whole day is 100 percent precipitation. A little disappointing but there's always next time and we do intend to return one day.

Thanks again for those of you who have been visiting and for leaving all your lovely comments. I appreciate it more than I can say. It might take a while to catch up but I will most definitely drop by when I get home.

These photos are from our visit to the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington State. The last time we came here was ten years ago around August, when skies were blue and the weather was warm. When you visit this time of year you take your chances. It was rainy and misty.

No kidding said me. Do we let a little rain spoil our fun? No way!

After being told by the people at the ticket counter that we might not get a decent view of the city, we decided to go ahead anyway.

Gregg is checking out places of interest throughout Seattle.

The mist clears fleetingly.

Here we are with a self portrait.

It was a lot of fun and Gregg says Denise had a great time looking round the gift shop, which mysteriously appears after you get off the downward elevator.

Rain or no rain I can recommend a ride up there any day.

Seattle is a great place to visit at any time of the year and I will be sharing other photos of the city at a later date.

Thank you Klaus, Sandy, Wren, Fishing Guy, Louise and Sylvia for hosting My World. You can see other ‘My World’ photos or join in and share your own by clicking right here.

TODAY'S FLOWERS

I took these photos of the last of the season's flowers in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I am away so I am sorry I won't be able to visit any blogs until I get home. Thank you for visiting. As soon as I get back things will be returning to normal and I will enjoy catching up with you. In the meantime Happy Days to all of you.

Flowers always make people better,

happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine,

Food and medicine for the soul.
~Luther Burbank~

TODAY’S FLOWER’S is a wonderful meme created by our good friend Luiz Santilli Jr. You can find beautiful and unusual flowers from all over the world by clicking here.

Camera Critters

Predated post as we are on vacation. We should be traveling the west coast, somewhere between British Columbia in Canada and Monterey in California, USA. That's the plan anyhow. We play everything by ear as our plans often change along the way, depending on what we discover within easy driving distance which will cause an occasional detour. My thanks to any blogging friends who leave comments here. I will return the visit when I get back home in a couple of weeks.

This is in Virginia Beach, Virginia when we were attending my father-in-law's yearly shipmates reunion last weekend. I was enjoying watching these lovely dogs having fun on the beach from the balcony of our hotel room one morning.

Camera Critters is a wonderful meme created by Misty Dawn. You can find other critter photos by clicking here.

SkyWatch Friday

This is a continuation of my last My World Tuesday entry, photos taken two years ago at Joshua Tree National Park in California. I will be hoping to link up when traveling as this is a predated post. A repeated theme as hubby and I are on a road trip and will be gone for two weeks. Thank you in advance for any comments you make. I will visit you when I get back.

My thanks to the SkyWatch team for hosting such a great meme. If you want to join in you can click right here.

Watery Wednesday

Another predated post - on vacation. Will be back in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I am hoping to pop in quickly and link up while we're on the road. Happy Watery Wednesday everyone. Thanks for any comments. I'll be returning the visit when I get back.

Thank you 2sweetnsaxy for hosting this great meme. You can get there by clicking here.

My World Tuesday

This is a predated post as I prepare for our vacation. We will be gone for almost two weeks, flying into Seattle, Washington, catching the ferry up to British Columbia (hoping to visit the city of Vancouver) and then plan to drive down as far south as Monterey and Carmel in California. It will be fun to visit as we used to live there in the early 80's.

This road trip took us to Joshua Tree National Park a couple of years ago. It is where I reinforced my belief that the desert is a fascinating place to visit, to live. Each time I have been fortunate enough to encounter a desert, I have loved it. So different to the area we live in, so much to see and discover.

The red dot shows its approximate location in the State of California.

When we went into the visitors' center we saw a large picture on the wall showing what we might find, from fauna to wildlife.

It's very dry out there as you might imagine and for east-coasters we were pretty much prepared for the climate, except for two things. We had plenty of bottles of water in an ice-chest and sunscreen and a hat with a brim, but a good lip balm/moisturizer would have been beneficial. I forgot about that. I couldn't believe how fast my lips became dry and cracked. Gregg didn't have as much trouble but I was always feeling parched. After this particular day we headed for the first drug store we came across and added lip balm to our supplies.

If you read this sign it will give you a clue as to the second thing I should have been prepared for, for a very important area that I needed to safe guard.....

my feet ..... I should not have worn flip flops..... I should have worn the type of shoes someone might wear on a construction site, the kind with steel caps in the toes. Maybe a sturdy pair of walking boots or at least a pair of sneakers. That would have been much better. Most definitely I should NOT have worn flip flops!

Along the marked-out path you find thousands of fallen needles. Maybe a slight exaggeration, maybe not thousands but there were enough of them along the way to stick into exposed toes, namely mine. By the time we came to the end of the path it felt like a thousand.....tiny, sharp, nasty little needles. My toes were telling me they had had a run in with a porcupine. When we go to the desert again and find ourselves around this kind of cactus garden, I will make sure my feet are safely covered with thick canvas. That way I won't be massaging my sore tootsies when I finally get back to the car. Extraordinary how simple life lessons are learned on these trips.

Gregg wearing good, sturdy sneakers. He is such a smart man.

French children complaining to father that he should have told them not to wear flip flops. No I don't speak French but I can use my imagination.

Cactus with thousands ..... no ...... trillions ...... of toe-piercing needles.

But I'm smiling because all joking aside I am having a great time seeing the kind of things I don't get to see in Virginia.

I see lizards in the summer back home - occasionally - but they're very different from this little fellow.

My first wildlife in the desert. I take many photos of him.

I think this is the only 'bloom' that I saw. It would be lovely to go back in the Springtime when everywhere is ablaze with desert flowers.

These are called Teddy-bear cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) and we are at the Cholla Cactus Garden.

You also have to be careful not to brush exposed arms up against those needles as these teddy bears can be quite tall. There are several that stick out over the path. I can understand why pets are not allowed, not that you would want to bring them out in this heat. My tongue was practically hanging out, think of the poor dogs.......and this Cholla needs to be protected too.

Yes me again!

This is a Joshua Tree and it was huge.

This is our way out. The town in the valley is Twenty-Nine Palms.

My thanks to the team for hosting another great meme. You can see other ‘My World’ photos or join in and share your own by clicking right here.