The Lonely Mountain. . .

Yes, I know.  It is terribly dorky of me - but honestly - I live in a house full of hobbit-ites.  The lonely mountain is essentially in our back yard, but you may know it by another name:  Mt. Rainier.  We are so lucky, we see the mountain almost daily, and never get tired of it!  So, one weekend, when we were considering something to do, in the early afternoon, we decided to take a drive, and ended up down by Paradise, on the south side of the mountain.  

The road to Paradise Valley is UH-MAZ-ING!  It was such a wonderful drive, with so much roadside scenery, especially once you are in the park.  There are roadside waterfalls, parking, hikes, and huge riverbeds - all there, waiting for you to explore.

The highlight of our whole trip, though, most definetly was actually getting up to Paradise Valley.  We were so excited to see that just by sheer luck, we arrived at a pretty perfect time - the mountain was in bloom!  The whole trail up the hill was simply covered in wildflowers, and it was just beautiful!

It took us about 2 hours from Puyallup to get to Paradise.  The drive was easy, and nice, and we were so late in the afternoon (around 3) that all the traffic was in the opposite direction, AND there was plenty of parking everywhere!  Downside?  We did NOT bring any clothes with sleeves with us, and I got around 15 or so bug bites in the couple of hours that we were in the park. 

Have you been to a National Park lately?  Which one?  Sound off - let me hear your experiences!

Stay tuned for Trip # 2 - The Dark Side of the Moon.   Coming soon to a screen near you :)

Locally Wandering. . . In Point Defiance

So - we have finally made it back, our Euro-Vacation (life for 4 years) has ended, leaving us to adjust to a new normal. An American normal.  While I love travel, and honestly could never tire of it - I find it nice, and welcome, to be *home*.  For the last +/- 7 years, my family and I have been globe wanderers from Asia to Europe and everything in between.  Now, it's our turn to explore our home.  I am relishing in the opportunity to discover our new surroundings, and am SO happy to find so many things to do.  We have actually been *home* for almost 3 months, and this is really the first time I have had a chance to breath.  Many small trips already have been taken, with many, many more planned in the future.

Our first little outing was to the Pt. Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, WA.  A gorgeous PNW (Pacific North West) Day greeted us - not a cloud in the sky, and 80 degrees - pretty darned perfect weather for an outdoor adventure!  This is a GREAT little zoo - with something for everyone!  There are playgrounds and ziplines for the adventurous. . . 

Lots of Sea creatures for the Oceano-inclined. . . 

And lets not forget the Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!!!  Well here's a tiger cub at any rate - it was so gloriously warm, that the Lions and Bears were in hiding up in the shaded areas of their enclosures, and really not feeling so photogenic. . . 

And who doesn't love a good puffin now and again :)

I really loved this zoo.  We spent about 4 hours there, walking about and taking our time with the kiddos.  We brought picnic lunches, and sprawled out on the grass.  This was a GREAT little family outing! 

Now - if you are thinking that all Pt. Defiance is, is a zoo and aquarium, boy are you wrong.  There is so much all over the whole park - great hiking trails, beaches, rose gardens, playgrounds - I don't see how you could possibly see and explore all of it in one day.  So, we will come back.

What are your favorite local trips?  Are you in the Northwest?  Have a suggestion?  Leave a comment, and let me know!

!Viva La Color!

So, I don't know how everyone out there in the intraweb feels, but man, I am READY for spring!  I am SO tired of my winter jacket and snow boots!  As I said in "Time Keeps on Slipping," we went up into the Alps for this past weekend, and I played around with my camera.  What I found, besides an amazing waterfall, was proof - SPRING IS COMING!  I promise!

I have no idea what this is, but it's some kind of
tuber flower, and it was trying SO hard to bloom!

We all know that I get distracted.  A lot.  That's ok, though.  My distractions are my inspiration!  My distractions are my subjects!  I have learned to embrace my inability to focus on the end task!

Even better than finding random flowers trying to bloom?
Finding ones familiar to you!  Heather is in bloom all
over the Alps, it was beautiful!  Purple hillsides everywhere!

There is an end in sight people, I promise!  The mountains are coming alive again!  The birds have started to come back, and the flowers are starting to bloom!  Color is coming back into my world - WOOHOO!!!  I am so tired of scenes that are so dreary, you honestly can not tell if they are black and white portraits are not!  Viva la color!

So, how do you know spring is on its way wherever you live?  What tells you it's time to put up the snow gear, and start planting?  Please, leave a comment, share the page, subscribe - I would love to hear from you!

Time Keeps on Slipping........

So, our time in Europe is drawing to a close, and sadly so are my travels.  I can't believe that it has been over 3 1/2 years since we arrived here.  It seems like yesterday we arrived at the airport, a seven year old, a three month old and two dogs in tow!  We have tried to make the most of our time here, we have seen so much than I ever imagined we would!  Sadly though, our fun and carefree travel is giving way to financial responsibility, and I HATE it!  Not the being responsible part, just the no more fun trips part!  I can't wait to get back to the states, and start exploring with my kids, and show them their country, now that they have seen so much of the world, it seems kind of backwards to begin exploring our own backyard now!  BUT I won't let you down just yet!  

This past weekend, we were fortunate enough to be able to visit Garmisch one last time.  The weather was a bit hazy, so we didn't go up the Zugspitze, we did do some fun rock climbing around a great little waterfall we found in Austria.  Definitely good enough!  

I loved this waterfall - winter is hanging on so hard around here, and spring keeps poking her head around the corner just enough to keep you hopeful.  I loved the play here of the frozen falls, with the running falls adjacent.  This is a great roadside waterfall - the falls are less than a kilometer's walk from the road!

I really do love my family, they all indulge me and my photography.  I love destination trips, don't get me wrong - however, most of the time, I love the journey just as much!  So many times I have found amazing things right near the road, and they are often overlooked by others who are "just trying to get there."  Don't let the destination blind you from the journey!

So, what do you think?  Please, leave a comment, subscribe, share this - but I would love to hear from you in any way!  Where are your favorite roadside distractions?

The Most Difficult Post, Ever.

To date, this has been the hardest post for me to ever compose, the hardest photos for me to edit.  I honestly don't like most of these images- but that is not the point.  This place, and the all too many like it, none of us like that they exist/existed, but we NEED to remember.  We NEED to see the atrocities that man is capable of - so that we may never repeat them.

Dachau to me is a bucket list place of a different sort.  Not for beauty, not for engineering marvel - merely because it existed ever.  It never should have.

"Freedom through Work".  Yeah, right.

I have always felt that I NEEDED to go there before we left Germany.  I have seen the ghetto of Budapest, and monuments there, and they moved me - but nothing like Dachau.

It has taken me weeks to get this post done.  Quite honestly, these pictures were very hard for me to even edit, let alone put words to.

One of many memorials to the victims and survivors of the Holocaust.  Each symbol on this sculpture is one that was used to mark the prisoners - whether it be because they were Jewish, Polish, a Drunk, a Prostitute, a Priest, or Gay.  Anyone labeled "Socially Undesirable" was sent here, anyone vocal in opposing the National Socialist Regime was sent here.

For thousands, this was the last train platform that they ever saw.
This was where prisoners were taken off the trains, and brought into the camp.
 It is precisely in the middle between the SS barracks, and the Prison Camp.

Dachau affected me on a deeply profound and personal level.  I was in a funk - a deep funk for a couple of weeks after visiting the first concentration camp of the National Socialist Regime (Nazi).  Growing up, I learned about the Holocaust, I read "The Diary of Anne Frank," I saw "Schindler's List".  I knew of what happened, but it never hit me at that personal level.  

A re-creation of one of the barracks buildings.  The originals
were torn down.  All that remains of them is their foundation
footprint in the dirt along the avenue.

Anyone wonder why dysentery spread rampantly?

Barracks bedding.  Originally built to hold around 30 per level,
often more than 100 souls would be crammed onto each level.  At
the height of Dachau, barracks built to hold 300 held over 2000 people
in each one.

Going to Dachau, seeing the site where thousands upon thousands were exterminated for the mere reason that they were born of a different faith, that their lineage was different, that they opposed the cruel regime which had taken control of their country - it hit me.  For so many reasons, had I been alive in that era, it could so easily have been me.  I could have been the mother having her baby ripped out of her arms.  I could have been the mother watching the death heads take her beautiful girl and forcing her to the brothel.  But I wasn't, and for that I am more than thankful.

This is the gas chamber.
Though no evidence exists of this room ever actually being used for its intended purpose, it does not
mean that it was never used for other purposes.  It is believed that human experimentation happened
here, and cruel punishments were carried out throughout this building and its grounds.

The entire area of Dachau to me was very. . . oppressive.  The town itself was nice enough, however the minute we got near the camp, the atmosphere changed.  The air was suddenly heavy, and I just felt so much emotion; sadness and grief and anger come immediately to mind, but there was so much more than that, so much that was beyond my verbal capabilities.  I am incredibly thankful for the experience, as hard as it was, and I would recommend everyone go.  I did not take my family with me for this - and I am comfortable in that decision- my daughter is a very bright, and very sensitive soul, she could not have taken it well, or recovered from it easily.  For her, I took these pictures. I want her to understand this all some day, and to make sure that this never happens to anyone again.

Never Again.  This statue stands in front of the crematorium.

Never Again.

Glasgow!!!

We were able to go into Glasgow for the afternoon, and it was magic!  For the time, the sky cleared a bit, the winds calmed, and we were able to see the beauty of Glasgow that is so often over-looked.

Glasgow is not a city for the faint of heart!  It is in the midst of a slow going re-birth, an attempt to pull itself up by the bootstraps and move forward.  

Many of the Victorian-era buildings remain, but have been re-purposed.  What once were government buildings are now art museums and even casinos.  Don't worry, though, some of the classics still remain.  

Did I mention the shopping?  Harrods, Frasers, Argyle Court, you name it, they have it!  Even American brands like Lush - it's there, along with the chains we all recognize, like TGI Fridays and Starbucks (swoon!)

Glasgow is known for the most part as a rougher city.  It's working hard to change that image, but with some of the highest incomes in the country, along with some of the lowest, there will always be a culture clash - something simmering just below the surface.

My family is from not very far away, and so going into Glasgow was a bit of a homecoming. Seeing the things my mum saw growing up, seeing the buildings my Gran worked in - there is definitely something to that.  The town council is working hard to make it a gentler city, but I think that perhaps that rough exterior is what makes Glasgow what it is. That's part of what makes it home.

Thank you for reading about all of our wanderings!  I would love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment, ask a question, or share your own experiences!

He Who Holds Stirling....

Holds Scotland.

For years, Stirling Castle was a pivotal point in battle and politics.  It was far enough from Edinburgh, but close enough.  The castle sits high atop the town, and it simply put, amazing.  I remember visiting as a child, and just thinking "Oh yay, another castle".  Not this time, though.

There is something that is so cool about bringing your own children to places that you visited as a child.  Even better than that, is when you take your children to said places, and find that they have been painstakingly restored, and are not only beautiful, but now interactive. 

  

 Stirling castle has lovingly restored the inside of the Royal Quarters, and as you walk through, each room has a docent in there.  The docents are dressed in period costume, and will answer your questions, or even just tell you about day-to-day life in the castle.  This was so nice, as it kept my 10 year old completely engaged in what we were seeing, and made it realistic for her!

After wandering through the Royal Quarters, we found our way into the courtyard, where we found the Great Hall.

The Great Hall is the only buidling in  Stirling Castle that is lime washed.  In the day time it almost looks like it has a stucco finish, and was a huge show of wealth at the time.  Inside the hall, tapestries are hung along the walls as they would have been back in the 1500s.  (All the tapestries are woven on site in the Stirling Tapestry Studio - you can even watch the weavers at work until 4:30pm daily!) The wooden ceiling and all its beams are intact (restored) - it is beautiful!

When all was said and done, and we exited the Great Hall, Dusk had fallen.  We were near to, if not the last people in the castle besides the staff, and had the place pretty much to ourselves which made it SO nice!

An interior courtyard shot of the Royal Quarters.  At night all the pedestal figures are lit up beautifully.  It was explained to us that they are mostly Roman Gods, meant to show the wealth, health and prosperity that would follow.

This the the Chapel Royal.  In the 1500's the biggest threat to scottish life (besides repeated English attacks) was the change of religion.  The Monarchs of the time were Catholic, but there was a slow and steady wave of protestantism moving through the country.  In 1560, Scotland officially became protestant, and this was one of the first churches build for the newly Presbyterian nation.  It was also the last building to be build in Stirling Castle.

As we left the grounds, the castle was beautifully lit up.  In fact, the whole city of Stirling was beautifully lit up, to include the Wallace monument in the distance.

A statue of William Wallace, with the Wallace Monument in the background.

Thank you for reading about all of our wanderings!  I would love to hear from you.  Please leave a comment, ask a question, or share your own experiences!