Travel – Circadianreflections Blog

Thursday Doors- Quaker Steak & Lube

September 26, 2024Posted in Doors, Green Doors, Photography, Thursday Doors, Travel and Tourism, Travel PhotographyTagged Car Themed Restaurants, Florida, old time gas pumps, old time truck, Pinellas Co, Quaker Steak & Lube, Thursday Doors, Travel51 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

After several hours of birding my birding partner and I were hungry so went looking for a place fairly close by to have some lunch. We found Quaker Steak & Lube.

This is the only one in FL going by their website. We both had salads and I failed to take a photo of either of them. It was just a Caesar Salad w/grilled chicken. Instead of croutons they served it with Cheese Curds. Now, I thought that sounded gross and would probably just pick them out, but after trying one I gobbled them up! They were warm and slightly gooy and tender on the inside yummy. Mary had the Biker Chick salad. It sounded delicious too, but it was on the sweet side and I was hot and wasn’t in the mood for sweet.

The inside of the restaurant is car themed. Each wing of the interior has a small sports racing car hanging from the ceiling, and lots of car memorabilia like a dividing wall full of MAC tools for fixing cars. I went back a second time for that salad and this time He-Man was with me he said he has some of those tools. Who knew?!

Anyway, I did get photos of the exterior and the doors.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com

Look at the door pulls. I thought they were neat.

Most of their restaurants seem to be in OH. Do you have one in your city/state? Have you been there?

This post is part of the weekly challenge Thursday Doors hosted by Dan Antion over at https://nofacilities.com/2024/09/26/back-at-osv/

Head on over there to see more doors from around the world or join the craze and add a door or two of your own. 😊

more to come…

Whatever Weds- The Stars have It

April 3, 2024April 2, 2024Posted in Comets, Photography, Stars, Stars and Planets, Travel and Tourism, Travel PhotographyTagged City lights, Clouds, Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, Comets, Defraction, Nikon, Skyline, Snow, Sparks NV, Star bursts, Stars, Travel, Wide Field Astro Photography47 Comments

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Last week He-Man and I had a little get-away for our 43rd anniversary. We didn’t go too far just up to Sparks, NV.

We booked a balcony suite at Hampton Inn & Suites at the marina for the view of Helms Lake, and view of Reno’s skyline. This lake has an interesting beginning.

“The site was once a gravel pit owned by the Helms Construction Corp. (1968-1995) The pit is 100 feet deep. They found petroleum and solvent contamination seeping into the pit in 1987 so it was declared a Super Toxic Sight and clean up began. In 1996 it was declared free of petrochemicals and the site was turned over to the city of Sparks.

Millions of dollars of spill mitigation money was made available to the city, which they used to construct the park and make the pit a recreational pond. They had planned to fill the pit to 30 feet, but in January 1997 the Truckee River overflowed its banks and filled the Helms Pit creating what is now Richard Helms Lake or Sparks Marina Pond.” You can read a little more about how it stays filled at the link. https://www.ndow.org/waters/sparks-marina/

Now for our view-

It was pretty windy the day we were up there as you can see by the water.

We both really enjoyed having this evening view when the lights in the city came on.

I had hoped our 4th floor balcony room would afford a great view of the sky so I could also try to photograph Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, but alas we had a storm rolling in and cloud cover.

Finally, Monday night April 1st…no joke! We had a clear night so I went out to my front yard and spied the Comet.

*Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks with faint tail*.

*Green Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks cropped in.*

*Dialing in my focus I got Jupiter and her Moons too.*

We had a lovely anniversary walking around the lake both days, and we found a new Indian place we liked a lot for dinner so, we’ll make the drive up for that again when we’re craving Indian food, and we’ll be staying there again when the weather is warmer and we’ll take our kayak up for a paddle around the lake.

I hope the stars have lined up a fantastic week for you.

Nikon D850| Nikkor 80-200mm| iPhone 14 Pro| PS CC 25.5.1

more to come…

Thurs. Doors-The Little Church of the Crossroads

September 29, 2022September 28, 2022Posted in Architecture, Churches and Cathedrals, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged Churches, Fuji X-T3, Lamoille Canyon, Nevada, The Little Church of the Crossroads, Thursday Doors, Travel53 Comments

He-Man and I are beginning to explore a bit more of our new home state of Nevada this time we spent a couple of days in Elko County exploring Lamoille Canyon in the Ruby Mountains. While on the scenic highway I spied this beautiful little church and had to stop for a photo or two.

From the church’s website found here they say the congregation had its first church service in Lamoille in 1872, and in 1890 the Organization of the First Presbyterian Church of Lamoille was established.

In 1905 they layed the first cornerstone for the building.

Since then it has gone through some changes and even closed for a time because of a decline in population and non use. It came back though and has been restored and had a second addition added in 1983, and in 2005 the community celebrated its 100th anniversary!

This post is part of Thursday Doors a weekly challenge group. You can find many other door posts over on our host’s site found here.https://nofacilities.com/2022/09/29/big-e-2022/

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 16-80mm| PS CC 23.5.0

more to come…

Wordless Weds. Looking Back

September 28, 2022Posted in Fuji X-T3, Hiking, Nature Photography, Travel and Tourism, Wordless WednesdayTagged Clouds, hiking, Lamoille Canyon, Lamoille Lake Trail, Looking back along the trail, Nature, Peaks, Ruby Mountains, Travel, Trees, Wordless Wednesday39 Comments

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 16-80mm| PS CC 23.5.0

more to come…

Friday’s Feathered Friends-Northern Cardinal Male

August 12, 2022August 12, 2022Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds, Friday's Feathered Friends, Fuji X-T3Tagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Fuji X-T3, Illinois USA, Northern Cardinal, Red, The Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, Travel61 Comments

Hello! I’m back from taking a short blogging break. I have a few exciting things to share but, I haven’t been able to turn my mind to writing about them or processing my images yet. When I got home from my latest trip I came home to find #1 Grandson here for a summer visit!! He’s staying until next week then we’ll take him home. His school resumes in late August! It seems like summer is going by too fast. Already it’s dark here by 8:30 P.M.!

I’m so far behind processing and sharing images I fear I’ll never catch up, but let’s go back to my trip to Illinois which was in July this year. The day after my son’s wedding I went birding and He-Man came along for the walk, while we were at The Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center I ran into a birder and we got to chatting about birds we’d each seen so far that morning, and I asked him if he’d seen any Northern Cardinals in the area and he said he had just up the trail!! We were off on the hunt. It wasn’t long too long after that I saw a red streak fly by in the trees ahead. I raced forward, He-Man raced forward as now he too was excited and on the hunt!! I saw it dive into the bushes but, couldn’t see it then suddenly it flew up to a dead tree snag and perched!!!

I’ve been dreaming of seeing this bird for what seems my whole life…more so since I started birding more seriously in 2010. Can you see me doing my happy dance? 💃💃 I still am so excited to have finally see this beautiful bird! One day I hope to see the Female so that’s still on my list.

I saw one other “Lifer” here at this Nature Center that I’ll be sharing soon, and I’ll be telling you all about my trip to Wyoming where I met up with Janet from This, That, and the Other Thing!!

I hope this finds you all well, you have a wonderful week-end!

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm @ 400mm| PS CC 23.4.2

more to come…

Wordless Weds. Summer Wildflowers Illinois, USA

July 20, 2022Posted in Close-up photography, Flowers of Summer, Fuji X-T3, WildflowersTagged Coneflowers, Echinacea, Illinois USA, Summer, Travel, Wild Carrot, Wordless Wednesday, Yellow Flowers36 Comments

Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm @400mm| PS CC 23.4.1

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Flatirons

October 27, 2021Posted in iphonegraphy, Photography, TravelTagged Boulder CO, Cairns, Chautauqua Park, Flatirons, hiking, iphone, Photography, Pine Trees, Travel51 Comments

Have you heard of or been to the Flatirons outside of Boulder, CO? I had never heard of them before, but I ran across an article or review of them while researching “things to do in and around Denver”. The hikes sounded interesting and pretty so we added this destination to our itinerary.

It was just over an hours drive from our hotel so we got up early had breakfast at the hotel then headed out for Chautauqua Park in Boulder, CO. That’s where we’d find the Flatirons. They’re rock formations that back in the 1900’s were know as the Chautauqua Slabs, and later they were called the Crags… Wikipedia.

They do resemble clothes irons. They’re numbered 1 through 5. The big one in front is number 1.

Upon arriving and reading the trail map we discovered a big sign notifying hikers that the trail we hoped to hike was closed for repairs, so Plan B. We hiked up this trail in the image above and caught the Bluebell-Baird trail which made a nice loop and a great stretch the legs hike.

Ready? Let’s go I’ll show some of what I saw along the way.

The wide open space soon changed to a dense forest.

There were still some wildflowers in bloom. I think this is Narrow Goldenrod, but I’m not positive. Any one know for sure? I apologize for the missed focus. My iPhone and I weren’t having a good moment with focus. 😂

We walked around a bend in the trail and on both sides of the trail were cairns! I can’t recall seeing so many in one place before!

There are so many! More than fit in my frame. The park had fenced off both sides of this area but, if you know me and rocks…you just know what happened next. Shhh! Don’t tell anybody, but I had to, HAD TO add a rock to a cairn. This one.

Added one rock on top. Cairn Bluebell-Baird Trail Chautauqua Park

Then before we knew it we out in the open again. Here’s a little view of Boulder, CO.

It’s all downhill from here. Before we finish up let’s take a look behind us shall we?

Geoolgy Fun Facts:

“The Flatirons consist of conglomeratic sandstone of the Fountain Formation. Geologists estimate the age of these rocks as 290 to 296 million years; they were lifted and tilted into their present orientation between 35 and 80 million years ago, during the Laramide Orogeny. The Flatirons were subsequently exposed by erosion. Other manifestations of the Fountain Formation can be found in many places along the Colorado Front Range, including Garden of the Gods near Colorado Springs, Roxborough State Park in Douglas County, and Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Morrison.”~ Wikipedia

I’d like to go back to this park one day and hike the trail that was closed. From here we headed to Estes Park the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. More on that in a future post.

iPhone 7 Plus| PS CC 22.5.1

more to come…

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