Friday, October 1, 2010

October.....Already????

Oh my, but the months are flying right by me this year.  I cannot believe that it is October already.

I'm sure that some of you read about our incredible heat wave that we had this week.  It is true that September and October can bring some of our warmest temperatures, but they also bring the Santa Ana winds which fan our fires.  This week the temperatures were not accompanied by the winds.  Alas.....I was not here for the heat wave!!!!  My sister, BIL, DH and I had a week's vacation planned for sometime now and we missed all of the heat.

A week ago we flew up to Seattle and spent a day there before boarding the Empire Builder (Amtrak) train to Chicago.  What a fabulous, fun filled trip we had.  Our country has some of the most gorgeous scenery and I always love seeing it with the changing colors.  Although not at their peak quite yet, they were just what I needed to make me realize that fall is here.

The weather was perfect at each place we visited.  One would never imagine the devastating flooding in the Midwest with the weather we experienced, but the extremely high water and flooded residents told a different tale.

I will break this into two posts so as not to bore you with too many pictures.  I am not sure how this new Blogger picture adding thing is going to work, but I'll give it a try.  Why do they keep changing things just after I get it all figured out????

Arriving ferry in the harbor in Seattle.



I could have eaten the whole lot of these oysters!!!!



Gorgeous flowers at Pike's Market. 



Check out all of these different pastas... 


and even more!!!!!!


Is this bouquet gorgeous or what????  I loved the cabbages thrown into it.


Watched a little cheese making.  They had just separated the curds from the whey.



What I would give to have this market close to me!


Sorry about the blurry pics on the train, but they were taken through the windows.


Enjoying a little quiet time in our sleeper car.


Sunrise over Whitefish Lake - just outside of Glacier National Park.


Some changing leaves through Montana.


Loads of farming in North Dakota.


High waters in Minnesota.


Can you see how high these waters of the Mississippi are?


They were just planting the fall flowers on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.


Water Lily garden in Lincoln Park.


We visited the Nature Museum and really enjoyed the butterfly garden.


Isn't this one pretty with the pink flower?




How about this one?



The nursery with all stages of emergence.


A new use for wine corks was discovered at the indoor greenhouse in Lincoln Park.

I loved this place!!!!!


So many pretty plants to look at.  I could have spent hours inside of the greenhouse.




Oops....this belongs at the market, but I can't figure out how to move it up there.

Be sure to come back for the rest of the trip.  Now I need to catch up on a few blogs.

28 comments:

  1. I loved the picture tour. Especially the pasta pics. I know I'm crazy.... with all the beautiful scenery and flowers.... but the pasta just did it for me!
    Thanks

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  2. Oh how fun, I love the photos... My parents have taken it a few time but they always forget to take the photos!

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  3. GREAT photos...I especially love the butterfly photos and the flowers. The scenery is nice and I didn't think the ones from the train window were blurry....I enjoyed seeing them...can't wait for Part 2.

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  4. What a fun trip - I've always thought a train trip would be fun. You saw many different types of scenery! I've never seen a pink butterfly - gorgeous!

    Did you notice the huge cabbges in the flower bed I posted on campus? They were so pretty and unusual.

    Yup - another month has flown by!

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  5. BTW, I haven't anything new with Blogger and pictures. What have they changed?

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  6. Wow! Beautiful pictures....I love seeing other's pictures. Those flowers and butterflies....all so gorgeous. Glad you had good weather for the trip.

    I am having trouble with the new picture uploading too! Several times, I just gave up and didn't post because I got so frustrated!

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  7. Thanks for the tour. Love all your photo exhibition. Looking forward to part 1 - Enjoy the rest of your vacation - Hugs Nat

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  8. I love Pike's Street Market and Seattle. I have several relatives that live near Seattle but still don't get up there enough. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

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  9. Oh...looks like alot of fun and your pictures are just wonderful!

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  10. Hi Mary
    That was quit a lovely trip.
    So across your country and showing us those pictures.
    Loevely and a good memory too.
    hugs Dorine

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  11. I enjoyed my tour this morning! Loved the butterflies!! I could have easily spent a day there.

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  12. I enjoyed the tour! Would love to do a train trip like this one day.
    That market is awesome loved looking at all the pastas!!!
    Look forward to the rest of the trip!

    Lola

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  13. Your trip sounds wonderful - what a great idea to do a train trip across the country! Lovely photos, and that market looks amazing!

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  14. It looks like you had a great time. Thank you for posting all the nice pics. I really enjoyed seeing them :)

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  15. It looks like you are having a great time! The scenery and everything is breathtaking! I am so happy for you both!
    Micki

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  16. What wonderful scenery! and I'm glad you missed all that heat.

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  17. Oh you would never bore me with your pictures. These are great. It is so good to get away but so good to be back home. That sunset is unreal. I can't wait to see more!

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  18. I loved all the colors in that last picture......but I would really like that cabbage bouquet and who would ever think of putting cabbage in a bouquet?! Oh, yes, and I am familiar with high water in Minnesota! I loved the photos and have always wanted to take the train to somewhere. Thanks for taking us along. :-)

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  19. P.S. I forgot how much I liked the butterfly pictures. They are worth enlarging and framing. Beeeeeautiful!

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  20. Wow Needled Mom! I loved these photos. I've been to some of these places but usually with lots of kids in tow. Your photos are beautiful! I never think photos are boring but it's nicer when they are well done.

    xo
    Donna @ Comin' Home

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  21. What a beautiful vacation! Thanks for sharing!

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  22. It looks to have been a wonderful trip and from the pictures I can tell you saw such gorgeous scenery on the way! I oohed and aahed over every picture:-) Wow, one can tell that the Mississippi river is overflowing, I've never seen pictures of it looking like this. Like you, I love greenhouses and could spend hours in one admiring all the plants and flowers. You really got some good shots of the butterflies, just beautiful. Oh how I'd love a market like that close to me as well! lol

    I'm just so happy for you that you had such a great time and that the weather cooperated. I did hear on our news about the heatwave they had in California...wayyy too hot for me! It's 46F here today and sunny which is perfect for this girl! hehe

    Hope you've been enjoying a lovely weekend and I look forward to your next post showing us what else you saw and did on your trip:-) Love ya. xoxox

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  23. You take great pictures. Each picture is prettier than the previous ones. Looks like you had fun...I love looking at pictures of different places. It allows me to plan my vacations better. I would love to visit Seattle, so thanks for the pics.

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  24. Love the market picture. This lookslike it was a very fun trip. I would love to take a train to see the country. What a great idea!

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  25. Looks like you had a lovely time. Love the picture of the pasta.

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  26. Hi there!
    Wow! It has been a while since I've visited you hey!?! It has been an eventful year for me... Not much blog visiting...
    Looks like a wonderful and very interesting trip you've been on! Good for you! 8-)
    I took a look through a couple months of your creations! Beautiful and inspiring projects!!!
    Happy stitchings!

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  27. I love seeing the photos of your travels.....there is so much to see in our country!

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