San Antonio Graffiti - San Pedro Ave
I've noticed that the style of graffit is quite different in San Antonio as opposed to Spokane. Super Cool stuff!
Now that I'm comfortable ensconced in my new town, I've taken to one of my favorite hobbies, walking. One of the things that I've noticed on my walks (and drives) is the very unique nature of this town's graffiti art.
Bright, loud, colorful. I won't pretend to be an aficionado of the world's different styles but the art around San Antonio seems to be laced with more humanity than I've seen elsewhere. More human elements.
This is far and above cheap street tagging. This is graffiti art in its finest form. Many of the bigger pieces have unique signatures on them and in time, I'm certain that I'll be able to recognize both the signatures and the flairs and flourishes that each artist has.
All of these images were found along San Pedro Ave and all within a few blocks of each other. As I spend more time in this town, I'll be on the lookout for more pockets of color like this
Wallace by iPhone
As many times as I've been here, I never get tired of exploring what Wallace has to offer!
From the Wallace Chamber of Commerce:
Danger, intrigue, passion, great wealth, heroics and comedy are set against the breathtaking backdrop of northern Idaho’s Bitterroot mountains. Those are the elements of the 12 decade story of Wallace. The entire town of Wallace, Idaho is on the national Historic Register.
I think that you all know me well enough by now that I'm not one to take pictures of the traditionally photographed parts of a town .... even one as pretty as Wallace. I'm funny that way. Wallace has hundreds of buildings that date from the town's early silver-minig daysand most of them are still in use. The downtown area is quite lively and hosts a great many restauarnts, pubs and shopping opportunities for visitors but it managaes to NOT feel like a hokey tourist spot. Locals and tourists sit side-by-side in most places.
I always swing by the place after I finish a hike to Stevens Lake and I'm never disappointed. The place that I normally stop at, The Silver Corner, was undergoing renovations so I wasn't able to get their greasy burger that hits the spot after a hike so I had to go without this time. Thus, I had some extra time to walk about and find things that drew my eyes.
Wallace may be slightly behind the times but that's to be expected for small Idaho towns and, in some ways, that can be quite a benefit. They don't have a Starbucks or fast food joint on every corner. Walmart is not gonna move in, either. There's room for improvement or upgrading in some areas but the lack of development has allowed so many of the great pieces of its history to stay in place and for them to be revered and allowed to be a part of the present and future. Everywhere you look in this town you'll find countless angles and colors and reminders of its colorful past. This was my first time really taking time to photograph some of these things and had I more time, I could have spent many hours poking around.
I'll be back again just after the first snows to hike to the lakes again and I'm certain that I'll be coming back to Wallace again. This time, I'll make certain to create extra time to take it in properly.
Orlando by iPhone
A family visit run amok. By "amok", I mean exactly as I wanted!
Orlando is not a place I ever saw myself visiting. Despite its obvious popularity as a vacation destination and as a town with a huge and happy population, I just never saw me as a good fit for the area. I'm much more of a mountains and rivers kinda guy. Not gonna lie, though. The idea of mucking around through swamps HAS always sounded cool ... for short periods of time.
Well, no swamp mucking for me. No hunting for feral anaconda and boas in the Everglades. Maybe another time I'll get to go with my friend Tammilee on one of her cool, Florida adventures. This trip was purely personal, a family visit. But me being me, I made it a point to look around and see the things that aren't normally seem.
In the above gallery, the image of the egrets and alligators has become my absolute favorite. It's "Just a stupid iPhone pic" (you know who you are - shakes fist!) but it's a capture and creation that I'm quite proud of. Taken at Gatorland in Orlando, it was a matter of timing and then, a lot of editing to get the colors and composition the way I wanted. All of the images are meaningful to me; looking up from the swamps, a visit to probably the coolest lighthouse I've visited, and, of course, the stork (pretty much a F'n dinosaur) captured with a selfie-stick while he was on (literally) a hot tin roof!
Perhaps it's a character flaw of mine. When I visit places, I do my very best to enjoy the moment and enjoy the company I'm with but I can't help but to see scenes and how they might play out in 1/200th of a second or after some artistic editing. I enjoy walking through a place and having a vision of both how it IS and how it could be.
Allow me to finish this post with an image of an egret riding an alligator. I guarantee you that, although you may be cool, you'll never be "egret riding an alligator" cool!
Bing by iPhone
Spokane is lucky to have such a spectacular gem in the heart of its Entertainment District! Every corner of it is stunning!
The Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane, Wa has a spectacular history. Though it’s previous owner allowed it to get run down a bit, the current owner, Jery Dicker, has spared no expense to bring the place back to its full glory. In addition to just upgrading infrastructure, the new team has added so many flourishes of art and color and style. I dare say that The Bing is more glorious now than it has ever been. I’m lucky to have been allowed the chance to visit the place during off hours in order to capture these images.
It seems that you can’t go anywhere in the building without finding a beautiful angle or color or shape. A walk around the exterior of the building will show you plenty of texture and detail of the bygone days. Lamps, stairways and even walls seem to capture light and shed color in return. Oh, and they have concerts, too.
Do yourself a favor. Go to their event page, find a show you’d like to see and arrive early. Take a walking tour of the place and look for more hidden gems.
Stevens Lake by iPhone
I've already told you about this trip to Stevens Lake in a previous post so I won't bore you with the details again. I suppose that I could add some cute poetry but I suspect that you'd rather see the pretty picture.
There may have been some skinny-dipping involved. The water was as chilly as you might expect so I didn't last long.
As the trail winds through several types of forests and gains elevation quickly, every bend and turn provided a new view or a new type of forest to walk through.
I so thoroughly love every aspect of the Stevens Lake Trail. It's my favorite escape valve in North Idaho.
Stevens Lake - iPhone - danscape (18 of 69)