Merry Christmas 2013

Bridgeport Village

This evening was not raining, so it’s a good day to take picture outside, the temperature was also mild. I got this idea from a person who took some pictures about a week ago, but he was not using a tripod and used a very high ISO that I am sure make the images a bit grainy (noise). So I decided to use a tripod with a remote switch, but it drew attention to the security guard of the mall who came to me and told me not to take any buildings, just the lights, so I quickly agreed and I made sure to tell him that I have no commercial intent, just a hobby. Here are some of the images outside; otherwise my camera will in the storage, hibernating until spring comes. I wish you a Merry Christmas.

http://www.yongkieandpokie.com/2013/xmas

Holiday Cookies 2013



Moonstruck Chocolate

The highlight of the Beaverton Culinary Institute is the yearly Holiday baking where we make variety of cookies and swap them when done. This year is no difference when it comes to the excitement; but I think we make more cookies than any other years that I can think of. Here are some of the cookies that we make.

http://www.yongkieandpokie.com/bci/cookie2013




Talgo - the new train on the block

Mt. Jefferson

I can’t ask for a better weather to venture around Union Station this morning. In fact there is no rain in sight for the next week. I am talking about the Northwest here and I am also talking about the later part of October. That’s a treat if you ask me.

I was too anxious to see this new train; I went last weekend without checking the date. The show was only open for two hours from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, so I came just before it was open and way too crowded.

It’s good to see the new train will be in service soon, the only sad part if this is European technology. The US only make freight trains.

http://www.yongkieandpokie.com/2013/talgo

Autumn 2013

Autumn 2013

Welcome to the autumn season 2013. I almost always go to the same spots year after year, but yet, the colors are strikingly different from one year to the next. I usually do not venture too far from home. This morning I took a drive seeking the first colors of the fall season. Can you guess the number one enemy to the fall colors in the Northwest area? If you say the rain, then you can give yourself 100 points. So, before the rain came this morning, I managed to take a few images, this would be the first of the series, I hope to take more pictures next week. Oh, by the way when I went to the New England states, I read, “ Autumn is the second spring when the leaves turn colors”. It is so true. Enjoy!


http://www.yongkieandpokie.com/2013/autumn

Snapshots

Lobster Roll

Well, I do hope that you enjoy our two-week vacation. Thank you for taking along with us exploring the entire New England states plus one province in Canada. It was certainly a trip that would be hard to forget. I think overall we drove about 1,500 miles, which was not bad considering the many places that we visited. Thank you to many of our friends who give us suggestions what to bring and what to see during our trip. We now know how to travel light and yet still have more than what we need.

In this “Snapshots” section, most of the images I did not see with my regular camera and was taken with our mini iPad. It has a decent quality. Pokie had the control of such device. Enjoy!

http://www.yongkieandpokie.com/newengland/snap.html

Here’s the whole trip:

http://www.yongkieandpokie.com/newengland

Newport, Rhode Island

The Elms

Newport, Rhode Island was the last stop of our two weeks fun filled and tired trip, I have to say that we saw a lot of places in that duration, we could not cover everything, there are many places that I wanted to see but just did not have time such as Kennebunk Port, Maine, Gloucester, Massachusetts and many other places.

Newport, Rhode Island is famous for its mansion row, I did ask for just one mansion to see and I was told to go to explore The Elms. This particular mansion was to become a parking lot if the Society did not come and rescue it in 1961 when the last of the Berwind died.

In its heyday, this mansion was the most modern in all of Newport; electricity was present in the early1900s, and telephone was used throughout the mansion as intercom. Modern plumbing was present as well.

The Berwind family made the money in the coal industry, at the time the mansion was built for slightly over $1.0 million or about $36.0 million in today’s dollar. Oh, I forgot to mention, there are two entrances in the mansion, the front was for the distinguish guests and the side entrance was used for service and the maids.

http://www.yongkieandpokie.com/newengland/newport.html

John F. Kennedy Museum, Hyannis

Young JFK

Upon returning from Martha’s Vineyard, we went straight to John F. Kennedy Museum in Hyannis Port. Pokie is fascinated with the Kennedy story and wants to explore more. The museum entrance ticket is $8.00 and I think it is over rated since most of the information you can find them in the Internet.

http://www.yongkieandpokie.com/newengland/jfk.html