glass

 

The decorative glass as Spencer's Steaks and Chops is not Chihuly.  One of my regrets is not having time to visit Chihuly Garden and Glass while in Seattle.

 

Spencer's Steak and Chops

Seattle, Washington

camellias

 

Spring here on the Washington coast is amazing with all the flowers!

 

Bremerton, Washington

at ease

 

It was a tad too nippy to be dining al fresco at the Boat Shed on Puget Sound, but the umbrellas are ready to be put into service the next nice spring day.

 

Boat Shed Restaurant

Bremerton, Washington

 

the easter bunny

 

Before beginning his busy slate of activities this week, the Easter Bunny took a moment to pose for his portrait.

 

Kingsgate Shopping Center

Lubbock, Texas

spring plowing

 

The field lay fallow all winter.  Today the sorghum stubble is being chopped down in preparation for spring planting -- if it rains, if seed prices go down, if cotton prices go up --the perennial odds that the farmer faces.

Adcock Place
Hale County, Texas

new business, new paint

 

When SuperTech Automotive moved into this former service station a few years ago, the first change was bright yellow paint.  They're gone and now a new business will occupy the space.  The first change?  A coat of black paint (wonder if the accent color will be red to match the Red Raiders).  Good luck "Fourth Street Auto Depot."

 

2920 4th Street

Lubbock, Texas

women

 

I am glad looking like this wasn't a requirement for using the women's restroom!  And I didn't come out looking different.

 

Eskimo Hut Liquor Store and Convenience Stop

West McCormick Road

Amarillo, Texas

3.13.2015



pensive

 

 



tulip time

 

The Texas Tech campus is awash in red tulips.  Spring has definitely sprung!

 

Administration Building

Texas Tech University

Lubbock, Texas

through the window

 

The empty building on Texas Avenue still bears the sign "Grady Henly Decorating" although the business relocated years ago.  A peek through the dusty window revealed only windows on the far side and a trashcan.  GHD was established in 1968.  You know you've been around a long time when you knew Grady Henly!  GHD is now run by his son and grandsons.  Grady Henly was the postmaster in New Deal and when he started the decorating business, his wife took over as postmistress. 

 

607 Texas Avenue

Lubbock, Texas

impatients (and spider)

 

 

Oregon

10.13.2014

almond tree in the arboretum

 

The almond tree in the arboretum is early blooming, although the arrival of spring is very sporadic. The 93-acre arboretum in the heart of Lubbock was officially incorporated in 1964. It is home to a variety of plants, flowers, trees, birds, and butterflies, including this Prunus dulcis. 

 

Lubbock Memorial Arboretum

4111 University

Lubbock, Texas

parking in rear

 

Alas, the Ding How Chinese Restaurant is no more.  The overgrown parking lot in the rear is a vacant lot.  The large sign first attracted my attention blocks away but when I got closer I noticed it was painted all black-- but you can find some nice images of the original sign on-line.  The building was interesting but peeks through the door revealed a hoarder's paradise.  I wonder if the newer Golden Lotus that went up next door led to Ding How's demise.  The façade neon signs still offer chow mein and chop suey but no chow no more at Ding How.

 



 



 



Ding How Restaurant

2415 East Amarillo Boulevard (Route 66)

Amarillo, Texas

3.13.2015

 



el menu

 

Curious about what's on the menu at Restaurante Los Hermanos?  Just read the wall by the drive-through window! The whole place is painted in the colors of the Mexican flag.

 

Restaurante Los Hermanos

5009 East Amarillo Boulevard

Amarillo, Texas

3.13.2015

 



gone but not forgotten

 

The last Spudnut Shop in Texas is no more.  All that's left of the Amarillo store is the battered sign.  Growing up, these donuts made with potato flour were my favorite.  Leaving my grandparents' house, we would travel home on Avenue S and have to go right by the Lubbock Spudnut Shop at 1904 19th Street -- and sometimes we'd even stop!  Krispy Kremes don't even compare.

 

Spudnuts

312 S. McMaster

Amarillo, Texas

3.13.2015

my sentiments exactly

 

If you just drive on the Interstate, you miss a lot of interesting things.  On the return trip home from Amarillo, I took South Coulter to Canyon and found a series of telephone poles with unique sayings, poetry, and song lyrics along the way.  You can't read them at 70 mph so good thing there wasn't any traffic on this back road.  Some googling found more information.  An auto mechanic with his shop/home on Coulter (probably where the Freebird sign was!) is expressing his outlook on the world through signs.  I certainly agree with this message.

 

 

South Coulter Road in Randall County, Texas

3.13.2015

 



vacancy

 

Today I traveled Historic Route 66 in Amarillo from west to east.  I really didn't get many "kicks" on this Route 66.  The journey was more despairing than nostalgic.  Except for a few blocks with spruced up buildings and antique shops, the "mother road" was showing its age. Newer businesses were established a few blocks south along I-40. Bars, taquerias and motorcycle shops seemed to predominate along the historic route.  The mid-century motor courts had mostly turned into cheap apartments and budget motels. The Cowboy Motel was about the only vintage sign I saw.  And nowhere did I see Buz and Tod in their Corvette.

 

Cowboy Motel

3619 Amarillo Boulevard East (Route 66)

Amarillo, Texas

bottoms up

 

It was such a nice spring-like day that everyone was out enjoying the sunshine.  The K.N. Clapp Park is a little-known urban oasis.  This city land contains the K.N. Clapp Pool, Safety City, the Arboretum, Hodges Community Center, the Garden & Arts Center and St. Paul's Church.  It's a great place to walk.  And K.N. Clapp?  He was a Lubbock citizen, head of a cotton company, actively involved in Boy Scouts, and Mayor in Perpetuity of Prairie Dog Town.

 

K. N. Clapp Park

42nd and University

Lubbock, Texas

 

Try as gloomy Winter will,
It can’t hold back the daffodil.


apartment living

 

At The Rex Arms Apartments, there is more lacking than just the R and X missing from the sign.  An online ad states  "Discover the thrill, excitement and glee of living in Rex Arms Apartments" but I think the excitement left with the letters.  The front of the building is not much more thrilling than the alley side.

 

The Rex Arms Apartments

Hobbs, New Mexico

shard

 

This shard of class is a remnant of the windows at the Cliff House Restaurant.  According to the Urban Dictionary, a shard can also be a piece of crystal meth, which might explain some of the graffiti on the walls.

 

Cliff House Restaurant

510 East Broadway

Lubbock, Texas

park view

 

Lubbock's Cliff House Restaurant, not to be confused with San Francisco's Cliff House overlooking the Pacific Ocean, had a view of Mackenzie Park.  In the 1950s it was situated on busy Highway 62/82.  Travelers could dine, admire the view and stay over night in the nearby Park View Motel.  Today only a shell remains.  The place is popular with spray paint artists and photographers.  I had to wait until an urban portrait session was over before taking my turn.

 

Cliff House Restaurant

510 East Broadway

Lubbock, Texas

blind obedience

 

Life is confusing enough.  We are all looking for directions, but it helps if there is a destination in mind.

 

 

Highway 385

Seagraves, Texas

patio reflections

 

Today's sunshine melted the snow and ice, leaving behind puddles.  It was too nippy to sit on this patio even if you waded to the chairs.  But soon, spring will be here.

 

The Trails

Lubbock, Texas

entombment

 

The bars on this sepulcher give a literal meaning to the term "entombment."  The window may let in light, but not hope.  The Stephenson crypt has been in the City of Lubbock cemetery since before my high school days.  This was the "haunted grave" because, during our nocturnal visits, the car lights would be reflected by the marble giving forth an eerie apparition.  Today's scene was sad.  It appears no family members have visited in a long time.  Some of the vandalism inside hasn't been fixed and trash is piled in the corners.  The silk flowers must have been left by a casual visitor such as I.

 

City of Lubbock Cemetery

Lubbock, Texas

feather in the snow

 

Pity the poor blue jay perched in the tree in the back yard.  Cold enough to knock the feathers off!

bridge to spring

Although this image was taken in the fall, it is reminiscent of spring.  Hopefully spring is around the corner - right after this next cold spell!  The grounds of the Columbia Gorge Hotel are beautiful with streams, bridges, waterfalls and ducks.  The hotel is situated along the Columbia River and still emanates an early 1900s elegance.

 

Columbia Gorge Hotel

Hood River, Oregon

10.13.2014

St. Mary's Nativity

 

One of the frustrating things about traveling on business is having to take mental snapshots rather than actual photographs.  On a dreary drive to Nicholls State University to set up for class, I barely had enough time to pull through this cemetery and take a few images-- standing outside the car in the drizzle.  I would love to go back on a more leisurely day.  This cemetery was established circa 1797 - even before the parish church.  Because of the marshy land and high water table,  bodies and caskets would float if buried underground.  French immigrants adopted a European entombment practice by using above ground crypts.  I wish I'd had more time to stop at these community cemeteries.

 

St. Mary's Nativity Cemetery

Raceland, Louisiana

Lafourche Parish

2.25.2015

winter

 

The calendar page turned to "almost spring" but the weather says "winter."  With my travel troubles I didn't have time or inclination for more than a "drive by" shooting at the Country Club.  (Travel hint:  It might not be a good idea to pack the computer power cord in the luggage just because it's heavy.  When the luggage goes AWOL, so does the cord!)

 

Lubbock County Club

Lubbock, Texas