New Year's Journey

After the hectic holidays we decided to slip away for a few days of quiet and relaxation.  DH booked a winter trip to Chicago via Amtrak.  I must admit that I was a bit concerned about a snow disaster heading into Chicago in January, but it was a delightful trip.  

We flew up to Oakland to take the California Zephyr out of Emeryville.  We've done that trip several times as it passes through both the Sierras and the Rockies.  The scenery was spectacular with all of the snow this year.

View of San Francisco on departure.

Icy Mississippi

Frozen waterfalls.

Tracks in the snow everywhere.  We saw several large herds of elk and antelope.

I always love the sight of the train around the curves.

Majestic sunsets.

Destination.....Chicago.

Nightlights of the city.

The beautiful lobby of the Palmer House in Chicago.

The Peacock doors in the entrance of the hotel.

We flew home on Friday and I enjoyed some fun sewing over the weekend in between laundry loads.  I have completed the block assembly for Allietare.

Beth's Neighborhood Block Party continues with Irene and Ida picking it up this year.  It has always been such a fun event and I knew that I wanted to participate again this year.  This is my block for the party.

There is still time to sign up to join.  Just go here and join the fun.

Now.....I am off to see what button I clicked on my camera to get the date stamp added.....hmmm.

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.