Virginia Beach Photos!

I'm back from vacation! Though the flight back was a little tiring, I had a great time. I didn't knit much, but I read a lot and took some great photos, so here they are!

Of course, there's got to be sunrises on the beach... :)

And beach creatures:

 

But, I didn't spend much time on the beach... it was pretty windy. And cold. Here's photo evidence of me being sandblasted:

I got some great photos at the Virginia Aquarium:

Oh, and I've gotta share the food that my family and I got at Citrus, which was featured on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives!

Citrus pancakes:

Obviously, I didn't get the delicious, glutenous pancakes... but I wasn't stuck on the backburner! I had a chicken salad plate, and it was AMAZING :)

To end it off, here's a pic of JT cuddling with our neighbor cat, Kurtis (I took it when I got home so I guess technically it's still a vacation pic?):

My weekend in photos

Remember when I used to take photos ALL THE TIME? Now I carry a camera around with me 24/7, and I seem to be taking less photos. I think it might be a lack of wonder and awe. Which is a huge shame, I think. I'm constantly surrounded by amazing things, but I don't stop to take a photo. I don't take that second to separate myself from the event and commemorate it with a photo. In a way, it's more zen... but it also is a little sad. I don't have a scrapbook worth of photos at the end of the year.

Anyway, Dan and I went to Maine for the day, and hiked out to a really nice lookout point with his family. It was great. After that, we had dinner and napped and then went home. I did some knitting - but this post isn't going to be about that :P

The view from the lookout point

This basset hound, Hinga, lives at the start of the trail and if you want to go to the cliff you have to stop and say hello to her.

Family huddled on the dock to say goodbye to us as we took the ferry back to reality.

JT the cat was happy to have us back. He sat down on Dan's legs and then fell over and went to sleep.

Anyway, hope everyone else had as good of a weekend as I did! :)

Vancouver Trip Photos

I went to Vancouver! There was a training for work, and Dan has an extra week of vacation than me, so he tagged along. It was really great having him, since work trips on your own without any coworkers can get really lonely. It also gave me an excuse to go out and do touristy stuff (it can be awkward doing that stuff on your own - I did it this summer in Frankfurt and New Orleans when I went, so I know I CAN do it, it's just depressing!)

Obviously there were a lot of obnoxious couple selfies - but I figured for my blog, it'd be better to share the good photos that I took! So, here they are:

Pulled pork pancakes at the Red Wagon Cafe. I strongly believe everyone should make a pilgrimage to experience these. I ate them two breakfasts in a row.

Lights in Gastown. We spent a lot of nights walking around downtown Vancouver, since my training was 8-5.

Looking up a tree in Capilano Forest. We went to the Vancouver Art Gallery a few days later and I saw a painting that looked just like this. I guess great minds think alike!

Sun shining through the trees in the Capilano Rainforest. Yes, we spent two hours (and paid a ton of money) walking through a rainforest in Canada! I thought it was worth it, but of course I spitefully read every sign did every activity, and took a bazillion photos to get my money's worth :)

The view walking across the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

A flower at the Bloedel Conservatory. I'm actually really proud that I managed to take this on my phone. (My camera lens had fogged up.)

Weird cabbage plants at Bloedel Conservatory. They actually weren't even planted, they were sitting in a bucket by the door. It was actually pretty ugly looking, but I used artful cropping.

This last one might be my favorite picture of the week. We were looking at all the finches eating from bird feeders, standing back so that the drove of toddlers can get a closer look, when a guide comes up and asks "Have you seen the nests?" We say no, and he quietly shows us this nest up in the branches! The two finches in it were looking out, and we watched them watch us for a while. After a minute, the Dad (on the left) flew off and you could see chicks peeking out! 

Anyway, that was my week. I brought 1 knitting project (Dan's striped socks) and made good progress! But nothing really worth photographing. Sorry!

Biking on Plum Island

Saturday Dan and I biked up and down the Plum Island Turnpike! We though the weather was going to be bad, but it wasn't too horrible.  I managed to take some gorgeous pictures on my new phone... man.  I think it might be better than my camera!

Sunday Hike

I got a pair of snowshoes for Christmas, with the intent to keep hiking all through winter. I haven't been able to climb a mountain yet (too much ice!)... but we did check out a great trail right in the city.

The snow was awesome... and halfway through, we crossed a gorgeous little brook.  It was like a picture.

The snow had covered everything.  It's very sticky!

So that's my calm to keep me going through this week! I am getting knitting done... I just need to find my camera so I can photograph it.

Some pretty photos from Rhinebeck

I figured for the sake dof having posts obsessively labeled, I'd do a separate picture of my favorite pictures that I took last weekend.  So, here it is! Hope you like them.

Sunset over the Hudson at Dinner with my Mom and Ash

Sheep dog Demo

The three sheep from the sheep dog demo, huddled together and looking hustled.

A wall of Penny rugs - these are a recent obsession of mine.

A photo of the view from Vanderbilt Mansion on Sunday, when my mom and I had a breakfast picnic.

Random photo of my feet.  Remember when I used to do this kind of photo all the time? 

Interesting grapey things

I fell in love with this sheep. I think his name was Nemo.  He let me pet him!

Tree at Vanderbilt Mansion

Leaf on the ground at Vanderbilt Mansion

(I think that you can click any picture to see it in it's full glory on Flickr.)

My Fall Hike - Look at All the Pretty Photos!

Okay, so this post contains absolutely no knitting.  I just figured I'd share photos from my last weekend adventure - I hiked Mt Chocura with my boyfriend and some people from work.  It was AWESOME!

I made a jump, so that people that read my blog from feeds aren't annoyed by the oodles of photos, so, here you go:

Hiking Photos

I've been knitting, but so slow that I feel like if I were to post weekly updates, to someone that was just casually reading it would look like I wasn't doing anything at all.

So, here are some photos from my hike yesterday to Mt. Major, in NH.

The last one might be my favorite... do you see the frog? :)

The Lace Panel is Finished! Also, Maine.

My Maine mini vacation was really fun! I got to see sunsets like this...

Jump off docks like this...

Swim in the ocean like this...

And hang out in parlors like this.

Oh, and this:

I'm done with the lace panel of my shawl! Now all that's left is the rows and rows of garter stitch decreases.

So, take a good look because I will not have an update for a while, haha!

Oh, and another crafty thing - while I was there I got a watercolor lesson from Dan's grandma.  The right is my picture before the lesson.  The left is after.   I think I improved :)

Hope you all had a happy July 4th, whether you're in 'MERICA, or somewhere else.