This was a fun gift for my sister-in-law who joins us in our great appreciation for the finer beverages… JAVAHHHH!!!
Along the front it reads:
To join in on the weekly photo challenges, click on over to the Daily WordPress page.
Just the basic supplies to get me through the week!…
While visiting Disney World in May for our ‘Familymoon’, we found ourselves in the midst of the new construction for the highly anticipated Fantasyland renovations. Disney announced that they would be phasing in new attractions, restaurants and shops, including the addition of The Beast’s Castle (“Beauty and the Beast”) and Prince Eric’s Castle (“Little Mermaid”) through 2014. Just past the construction barriers, you can see the beginnings of Belle’s stomping grounds.
A closer view of The Beast’s Castle under construction at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
(Photograph taken May 2012)
In a very Disney-esque style of forced perspective that is seen throughout all of their parks, the scale of the castle gives the impression of great distance. The actual size of the castle can be better realized alongside the construction workers, in some terrific photos that I found online at: Inside the Magic (click here).
Click here to get in on the Weekly Photo Challenge: Near & Far!
Just posting on the fly in this nut-astically insane week!… Here is my response to this week’s photo challenge!
Back in ’94, I spent an incredible week at Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota… I still remember the sound of hooves rumbling across the hilltop as some of the Native men in the tribe rode around the camp and into the Arena before the start of Grand Entry for the Pow Wow. It was a heart pounding vision that perfectly portrayed the theme of Free Spirit… I will never forget it!
The riders circle the Arena prior to Grand Entry.
Riders exit the Arena during Brotherhood Days Pow Wow.
(Pine Ridge Reservation, SD)
One of the many beautiful shawl dancers during Grand Entry.
Now that I am older and raising children, it is no longer appropriate for me to enter the arena as a shawl dancer. This picture of another young woman shawl dancing during that pow wow, is reminiscent of my more ‘spirited’ and youthful years! 🙂
Click here to learn more about this week’s photo challenge: FREE SPIRIT!
Last weekend, on our return trip from vacationing in Georgia, we had the opportunity to stop at Luray Caverns in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. I have never toured the caverns… They were absolutely spectacular! So this week, instead of merging unlikely subjects in my photography, I could not resist sharing some of our pictures from the tour…
Stalactites & stalagmites finally merge to form a pillar as a result of crystallized deposits accumulating over hundreds of thousands of years.
Just to give you an idea of how amazing this cavern is, here is a brief synopsis on how these formations occur… Very simply, the cave deposits are formed by small trickles of rain water that pick up diluted carbonic acid as it seeps through decaying vegetation in the soil, and into the rocky cavern below. This combined with the cave’s atmosphere, creates a formula for lime precipitation to build in rings that eventually form the long stalactites from the ceiling. As the deposits then travel down to the floor of the cave, the same process occurs in reverse, where a stalagmite is built up from the ground. New deposits actively accumulate at the rate of one cubic inch in 120 years!!! Over the course of thousands, even millions of years, these stalactites growing downward and stalagmites building upward merge to form a column or pillar, resulting in amazing natural stone formations.
These photographs do not adequately convey the majesty of this cavern… definitely a must-see for any traveler!!!
A draped translucent calcite form of “Saracen’s Tent” at Luray Caverns, Virginia.
This double column formation is one of the largest in the caverns, standing 47 feet tall in the 60 foot high chamber of “Giant’s Hall”.
“Dream Lake” is no more than 18 – 20 inches deep and covers an area more than 2000 square feet. With no movement of the water, its mirror-like quality reflects the stalactites dropping down from the ceiling of the cave.
The “Wishing Well” appears to have a depth of 3 – 4 feet, but is actually closer to 6 – 7 feet at its deepest point. Over $898,000 have been collected and donated to charities since 1954!!!
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Okay, I know this weekly challenge has passed by, but I just had to share this very unusual find while we were on a family vacation last week in Atlanta, Georgia. This advertisement was hanging outside of “Legoland” at Phipps Plaza…
Treasure Island Couture Boutique in Annapolis, MD
Running some errands in Downtown Annapolis today, I stopped immediately as I glanced into this boutique window! I could hear “Dreamweaver” playing through my mind as the rest of the world faded for a moment… It was a very virtual, parallel universe, “Wayne’s World” reality… (sigh)… One day it will be mine ~ Oh yes, it WILL be mine!… along with the 23-inch waistline I once enjoyed a long, long time ago! 🙂
Two sweet little girls
at our wedding reception in November!
As I am relatively new to this whole blogging thing, I am finding fun ways to keep my posts interesting. Upon perusing the latest postings of a blogger I follow, her ‘Purple Picture’ has inspired me to jump into the game with The Daily Post-ers and take on this weekly photo challenge that is perfect for me… 
Purples, and especially plums, are some of my favorite colors! This becomes vividly apparent through these pictures taken at our wedding last November! 🙂
Then, all the way at the bottom of the page, I included a photograph taken at Brookside Gardens in the spring. A pond surrounded by wisps of purple blooms, was tinted a dark violet color which sprinkled through a fountain at its center ! It was absolutely stunning!
A collage of wonderful winter memories…
Beautiful bouquets carried by our wedding party.
A purple-tinted fountain at Brookside Gardens.
Fitztopia 