Archive for the ‘Outside the Area’ Category
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Dec
18
Posted by Kathleen Cragun
While I sit here at my computer looking at all this cold, white stuff coming down from the sky, my mind ponders the joy of the Caribbean again, with great pleasure! Curacao, our next stop, is very close to northern Venezuala.
Curacao - (pronounced kyur-uh-sow) an Island of beaches, diving opportunities, impressive architecture, rich history, European flavor, Jewish culture, vibrant art scene, colorful carnivals and a climate of warm (but not too hot) weather. The white stuff here is SAND not snow!
WIllemstad, Curacao and the Queen Emma pontoon bridge
WIllemstad, the capital is divided into two parts, Punda and Otrobanda, but connected by the bridge shown above that opens up to let large ships come in and out.
We enjoyed a great lunch, walked around enjoying the unique Dutch influenced arcitecture……
…Took a gander at some of the innumerable shopping boothes…………………………………….
................made a wide path around this girl with a python on her neck
After waiting (not really, as there was much to do and see) for the bridge to close to get to the other side, we gave up and took a (water) taxi.
Hato Caves - a very different scene. Not far from the Curacao airport but a different end of the island from Willemstad. These caves have once been below sea level as they were formed but were thrust up and eons later became a refuge place for slaves to escape to.
Greeted upon our arrival by an Iguana.
Iguana soup is considered a delicacy. I don’t intend to find out if it is good or not!
- Inside the Hato Caves in Curacao
- Our guide explains the history of Hato Caves
Being a little bit claustrophobic, as interesting as it was, I was glad to get out of there. The tour was very professional and is worth seeing. There is a wonderful website with much info about Curacao www.curacao.com Be sure to watch some of the videos!
Like many places in the Caribbean, a mix of many languages has evolved, Papiamentu, a mix of portuguese, spanish, dutch, african and english! Wow, that must be hard to learn for an outsider.
There is much more to see and experience at every stop than time allowed.
Back to the ship, time at sea and then on to St. Maarten/St. Martin. Day 6
European and Caribbean, 2 nations, 2 capitals
The island is divided almost in half. The South half capital is Philipsburg-Dutch Sint Maarten. The capital of the French side is Marigot, Saint Martin. The whole island is 36 Sq miles. They pack a lot into that 36 Sq miles. Our tour guide took us through all different areas, many elite, monied places and more common places. With the average wage at about $4.00 an hour there are many areas that resemble the poorer areas of Latin-American countries.
On the French side, the beaches have clothing optional and topless is the norm, we won’t show you this, however, because The Undressed Network is a G rated site!
We had a delicious lunch in Marigot at Sarafina's
House ready for Christmas St Martin style
A most common sight along the shore
Our time was too short. It would be nice to go back by plane, rent a villa and stay a week!? OR even a hotel would do. There are lots of nice ones.
LAST STOP! St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Here our cell phones didn’t have roaming charges, so this was the first place since Puerto Rico we called home. Surprise, they drive on the wrong side of the road here!
Coming into St Thomas
On our open air taxi (really a bus) which we took to get to and from the place of our boat rental, charged us $10.00 for each person. However, as residents got on along the way, they were only charged $1.00. We asked the driver about this. He said he was hoping we wouldn’t notice! And then added “That’s just the way it is!”
Renting a boat at the Naughti Nymph to go to St John
St John, a quieter island
A place for great snorkling
A great place for snorkling, but when we got back to the Naughti Nymph, the owner asked where we went. After being told of the place where we found wonderful snorkling, he told us he didn’t tell tourists about that place because sometimes on the open sea side of the little island you can get carried out to sea! Yikes!
Leaving St John, back to St Thomas, back to Adventure of the Seas, back to Issaquah
Back on the ship and after an night at sea, we arrived back in Puerto Rico (Click Here for article and photos of the ship.) Sadly, our vacation was over. It was still nice to know I live in a place I love, Issaquah, even if it does snow once in a while!
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Sep
16
Posted by Kathleen Cragun
With all the talk of Staycations, which we have done many times as business never seems to let us get away, we often enjoy a mini-vacation, one of which we indulged in this last beautiful weekend. There is much to do and see east of Issaquah. All within about 90 minutes from Issaquah. It is not a sacrifice because you find places many people travel hundreds of miles to see, save gas and you are not worn out when you get home (unless you backpack or ski yourself into a limp rag)!
Snoqualmie Summit is magnificent, summer and winter. About 40 minutes from Issaquah.
It won’t be long before the snow comes and this scene is very different.
Below a “cabin” at Alpental.
Lots of camping and really good fishing places and it is a backbackers paradise.
There are many lakes off of I90, Lake Keechelus, Lake Kachess, Lake Easton, Lake Cle Elum, below is Lake Easton which has a great trail around much of it and both private camping and a State Park Campgrounds. About 55 minutes from Issaquah.
Across the freeway from Lake Easton is Mountain High Hamburgers, very different from our fast food places. Great milkshakes! It is located in what is commonly known as Turtle Town. It used to have a huge concrete Turtle there. I have always wondered what happened to him??
Want something more posh, you’ve got it! Head for Suncadia Lodge, the heart of a premier resort community in Suncadia. Enjoy Golf, Trails, Fine Dining, Spa, Pool and Fitness (not to mention close to Snoqualmie Summit for sking) and you can own a condo here and have it rented out when you aren’t using it. There are also many fine homes for sale. It reminds me of Sun River Resort and that is not by accident. About 70 minutes from Issaquah.
Click The Photo above to go to the Suncadia Website:
The view from the Suncadia Lodge is awe inspiring. One of the Spa features is outdoor rock like soaking pools (3) each with a different temperature, even in the winter with snow 10 feet or so high. (Not shown)
A home in Suncadia
A backyard in Suncadia. Many border the golf course.
Not far away, about another 10 minutes is Roslyn of Northern Exposure fame. Roslyn has a unique charm. I need to go back as we were running out of time and hurried so we missed much. I have heard about a theater with a mural of Marlon Brando on it AND it used to be a mortuary!
Does this look like your Granny’s house? It does mine. Each season and holiday is an event for this house and the lucky people who get to see it.
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Aug
28
Posted by Larry Cragun
Living in Issaquah is like living on the border of the city and the country. We are part of greater Seattle for sure, but hop on I-90 and go East and the scenery instantly changes. Go a few hours and you are in central Washington.
This photo is one taken about an hour out of Moses Lake and less than a half hour from Crescent Bar.
Crescent Bar has a campground, golf course, condos to rent, and you guessed it - a great place to enjoy the water.
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Jul
29
Posted by Kathleen Cragun
The Resort at Coeur d’ Alene in Idaho is a wonderful place to spend your birthday.
Public beach near the resort. The private beach at the resort is even better. More to come.
Big Sheep Creek Basin in Montana
The Sweeney/Hansen Ranch located in Sheep Creek Basin, in Montana, about 20 miles south of Dell. Pretty remote and it’s a gravel road. This ranch was a homestead of my grandfather, William Sweeney and is still run by one of his grandaughters and her husband.
BBQ Montana way, by (Chef) Ross Hansen, NOT just a hobby cowboy.
This photo was taken just before sundown on I-15 between Butte and Dillon, Montana, from a speeding car.
Priest Lake in Idaho, was soooooo quiet I couldn’t sleep, but I think I could get used to it. (I know I could).
The Coeur d’ Alene, a Resort on the Lake in Idaho
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Jan
15
Posted by Kathleen Cragun
Larry and I just came home from a week in New York. Larry rushed to upstage me by getting his hands on the pictures I took first but I get the last word if just for today! The Big Apple is a big change from Issaquah as you might imagine. Our main reason for going was business, attending Inman Real Estate Connect. We like to keep as current as possible on everything affecting real estate nationally AND locally. It was a conference of meetings and panels of experts in many areas, the Bears, the Bulls, the ups, the downs, the good news (yes, there is some) and the bad news and changes that are occurring, but more about that later. We had two days of fun before getting serious. FUN FIRST.
Our hotel room at the Marriott Marquis was in Times Square. Our windows looked right out onto the Square. This photo is from our room. The only thing that was a teensy bit uncomfortable was that thirty story tall woman who looked right into our window!
Eating out in New York is EXPENSIVE! It was so shocking we decided to try out McDONALD’S across the street. After a few tries at that we went back to the Marquis food. So what if we can’t pay our mortgage!
The Sushi Bar in the Marquis. We didn’t try that. I have never met a sushi I liked. To me the only good sushi is a cooked sushi and I think that is considered blasphemy! Nice bar though.
M & M’s are really big in Times Square, I mean really big! They have their own store and climb up the Empire State Building and the Statute of Liberty. Stuff like that.
Walking down Fifth Ave we saw where the devil buys her clothes,
And other interesting sites like Rockefeller Center, magnificent churches juxtapostioned against modern skyscrapers, sculptures and ice skating rinks and more.
At Central Park we rested our feet and let Joey and Eddy do all the work. The Plaza Hotel is in the background, it is undergoing renovation.
This is one of those granite rock formations that let the Manhatten skyscrapers come into being.
Below is my favorite picture of the park.
We were sobered by our visit to the WTC site. Construction is going full speed on 4 new buildings and a permanent memorial. It seems like yesterday.
On the way to Lincoln Square:
Below the New York Mormon Temple and the angel Moroni on top.
There is a really good little bakery and cafe right next door.
I really can’t quit without a few photos of and from the Empire State Building. We could hardly believe that for four days the daytime temperatures were 60 degrees. We brought heavy coats, gloves and scarfs. We didn’t need them. It also wasn’t too busy at the Empire State Building so we didn’t even have to stand in line more than a few minutes. Our view was at first sunny, then as the sun went down, glorious sunsets appeared and then we stayed until it got really dark. The end of a perfect day.
Well, not quite the end. You haven’t lived until you see the Toys R Us store in Times Sq. They have an indoor giant ferris wheel plus a life sized dinosaur that moves and growls. This may have been Larry’s favorite place.
I didn’t get to the important info from Real Estate Connect. I will do that in a post tommorow. I promise. Posted by Kathleen
