Horton Deakins's Blog, page 29

Goin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come

I may regret doing this, but here I go with the most photos I've posted in one day.  I took all these on a trip we made to Kansas City in the fall of 2007.  The first three are of Union Station, two of the inside and one of the outside.  The rest are views from our hotel and scenes at Country Club Plaza.

Union Station chandelier

Ceiling of Union Station

The wrapper (for Union Station)

 

Here are some views of downtown.  Some were taken from our hotel room.

From a pedestrian bridge near our hotel

From our room

Another photo from the room

One more downtown shot from the hotel

A view of the Hyatt Regency glass skyway

Country Club Plaza, Giralda Tower

 

Country Club Plaza

More interesting architecture at Country Club Plaza

Another interesting building at the Plaza

Let's go catch a double-feature at the Palace!

I would have thought it unlucky to have 13 bridesmaids ...

The minister would like Ron Paul's supporters to find another corner.

This fountain was a nice spot for their wedding photos.

Here I am, grabbing the bull by the horns at Jack Stack BBQ.

 One last photo!

Brush Creek, near the Plaza

Alley oop! (Or, diagonally)

Fat man's squeeze

Here's a series of alleyways and narrow streets along the Romantic Road (der Romantischen Straße) in southern Germany.

Alley from my trailer

You may not know it to look at it, but if you've seen my book trailer (available from this site), you've seen this narrow German lane.  It the video, it's described  as Paris in 1812, and it's heavily edited — the daylight is turned into night, the manhole cover is gone, as are the house numbers, etc.

Another scene along the Romantic Road

 

Limited access squeezeway

Note the similar archway under the tower in the background.

Pretty sure our bus went through here

Never know what could be around that corner!

 

No wonder they have small cars over there!

 

Better -- but better still, get a bike.

This Kathedrale — used to be a klug Kornfeld

Bavarian Cathedral

You can find this cathedral somewhere along the Romantic Road in southern Germany.  It's right out there in the schtix, no city around for many kilometers.  It looks rather plain on the outside, nicht wahr? But take a look at the inside!

Inside the Cathedral

One more shot inside the cathedral

Rekindled Fire

This is a shot of the Edmond, Oklahoma fire on the evening of August 6, 2011, taken from our front yard, over the roof of our neighbor's house.  We had no idea how close we might have been to being evacuated until one of our neighbors drove a recon mission to scope out the fire's location.  It's a bit farther away than it looks in this photo, but the air was thick with the smell of smoke, and the wind was blowing straight toward us from the fire's location.

At last count, seven houses and three mobile homes were completely destroyed, but with no loss of life.  Read the article and see video here: http://newsok.com/article/3592635

Not your typical University of Texas mascot

African Watusi Longhorn, San Diego Zoo

I snapped this on on a visit to the San Diego Zoo back in 2004.  Not quite the variety you'd expect to see on a Texas ranch.

San Diego at Night

You can get a great view of San Diego at night from Coronado.

Peace in the midst of war

Hi Lily, hi Lily ...

This is another of my dad's wartime paintings — World War II, that is.  This one, like the other, won't hang with the Greats, but it's great to me.  But it did make a brochure that was distributed at Oklahoma tourist greeting centers, as well as being featured as a poster to publicise an art auction for seniors at our local community center.

Dad at Texas A&M, 1942

Here's Dad shortly after being activated from the Naval Reserves, and before he took up painting.  They sent him to A&M for a couple of semesters of electronics training.

Great-fitting uniform, eh?  I can remember wearing some of his old "whites" in order to have bell-bottomed pants back in the '60s.  Wish the folks hadn't thrown out all his uniforms — I'd give anything for his chief's rank patches.

Holy dark matter, Batman!

A Seine Darkly

Is it Paris, or Gotham?  Most of our time in Paris it was overcast, giving a dark feeling to the city.  Is that a large bat perched on yon ediface?

Holy Bordeaux, Batman!

Time for a little something to cheer us during the dank, dark doldrums.

A brighter day

The sun did come out while we were there, as you can see.  I posted another shot of the Sacre Coeur in an earlier post, but I just like this shot.  It's quite an amazing piece of architecture.  In fact, I'm going to indulge myself and post one more shot from this same side, but from a greater distance.

From a greater distance = velocity times time

No Macs here

I thought this scene hear our hotel was rather artsy, so it gets a place in today's blog post. If you're not running Windows, you may not be able to see it.  Au revoir!

More than one way to get there

It's what you don't see

Welcome to Mazatlán.   We're going to explore modes of travel at this tourist site.  That tractor is just the tip of the tropical iceberg, for behind it is a long trailer with lots of benches.  It was this this mode of travel we were afforded to carry us to the center of this picturesque little island.  Note the man in the center of the photo who chose to make the trip on foot.

Traveling in style

Now we're sittin' [sic] in tall cotton.  Check out this Mazatlán motorbus.  This is what we rode on to tour the area — all included in our package, of course.  It's difficul to see, but note the place of honor for the driver.  Looks like that chair came right out of the cantina.

Now, there's independence!

 

Tired of the buggy?  How about a nice horseback ride.  Just don't expect stirrups, and try to stay centered over the horse — it's easy, it's a cinch!

My name's Forrest, Forrest Gump. I'm the captain of this here shrimp boat.

Perhaps a ride on the water is more your cup of tea.  Here you can sail the seas in style.






Ay, yai, yai, Sir!

But if it's real style you're after, why not a cruise with the entire Mexican Navy? 

 

Like a phoenix

If neither one if by land, nor two if by sea, suit you, then there's always air travel.

Need a rest? It doesn't come cheap.

Now we are done with our tour; time to freshen up.  But those locks won't come off the doors to these excusados unless you pay up — five pesos per use!  Hope there's a good exchange rate.

Not Jabba the Hut

Manatee at Mote Aquarium in Sarasota

No, not even Pizza the Hut.  But I do believe Manny was looking right at me when I snapped this, don't you think?

Home Sweet Garage

This is the garage apartment which my parents, along with their first two baby girls, called home during the final two years of World War II.  The address is still the same, 403 and a half, East … no, I'm not going to give the street — but it was in DeLand, Florida.  I had to make a pilgrimage to see it when we were in Sarasota.

Rub-a-dub-dub, the original tub

The current owners were remodeling the garage apartment and allowed me to go inside to take photos.  They told me this tub was part of the original fixtures, so that means my parents had used it.

DeLand Hospital -- now a museum

Those two baby girls were born in this hospital.  I really wanted to go inside and see how they had preserved part of it as a museum, but I had picked the "one" day out of the year that it was closed.  It was several hours' drive from Sarasota, too.

What's in a name? Or a trademark?

It's always good!

Some undisclosed location in Mexico (cómo no).  And check out the "circle R" on the package.

Thanks, Al!

A double-secret location in Bavaria.

If it's Speed Rabbit, the ingredients are special.

A hidden cul-de-sac in gay Paris.  I've said enough already.