Sunday, July 10, 2016

Mini Vacation

Look, a sculpture garden!  


If you click to see the hi-resolution version of this photo, you might recognize that these long-legged lads are made from G.I. Joe action figures.

I was out in Wellington County with my Dad and Step-mom.  This sculpture garden was adjacent to a fancy-pants art gallery, but we didn't go inside.  There was enough to see in the garden.


We couldn't figure out what was going on with this guy.  He must have an interesting backstory.


This is a mechanical loudspeaker; it says "SHOUT" on the side.  You speak into the mouth part, and then someone else is supposed to go way over there to listen through the red ear. (You can see it in the distance above, and close up below.)


It works remarkably well.  A whisper is clearly audible.


More G.I. Joe guys doing acrobatic stunts.

The day after the sculpture garden visit, we went on a short sight-seeing cruise.  This sign was in the washroom by the ticket office.


I guess they get a lot of Asian visitors who are used to squat toilets.  I have never seen a sign like this before!

There were quite a few large buses, or motor coaches, in the parking lot by the dock.  The narrow road carried on past the driveway, marked with this warning:


We took a walk further along to see if we might discover a graveyard of abandoned buses.  However, the friendly local residents were so open to chatting that by the time we had to turn around and head back to make our departure time, we hadn't gotten very far.


Here are my Step-mom and Dad enjoying the view from the boat.  I didn't take any photos of the view because I (correctly) assumed that there would be dozens available online.  Here's a stolen photo (source) of my favourite part: the world's shortest international bridge.


The big island on the left is Canadian territory, and the little island on the right belongs to the U.S. of A.  I don't know whose idea it was to draw the international boundary in between the two, or why it was done, but it's one of those things that everyone feels they need to take a photo of.  (Except me because I'm clever and lazy. ;-)  If you click on the photo to get the biggest view, you'll be able to spot a Canadian flag on the left side of the bridge and the Stars and Stripes on the right.

Anyway, it was nice to get away from work and the city for a few days and hang out with my family. Those are pretty much the highlights of my trip.  Oh, we also visited an alpaca farm, but the alpacas were all hanging out far away from the fence, in the shade, because it was such a hot day.  So I didn't get any cute alpaca photos.  

Here, just so that you don't feel deprived:





10 comments:

Vanessence7 said...

I love the bridge! It makes me want to wave, and shout, "Hulloooo Neighbor!" :D

It looks to me like the white statue character is perhaps stretching and yawning, or maybe swinging on an invisible swing.

I'm so glad you got a chance to get a mini vacation and unwind a bit. I know things have been on the stressful side for you at work, so this was a nice breather. Yay for relaxation!

*hugs*

Granny Annie said...

If you get too close to Alpacas won't they spit on you? That sculpture garden was fabulous. I would have enjoyed it immensely but touring with you photographs was second best to going there. Thanks!

Sparkling Red said...

Granny Annie, you're right! I didn't know that I was in danger at the time. I just Googled alpaca spit. "If the offending party doesn't get the hint and back off, the llama or alpaca will regurgitate its stomach contents and spit it up to 10-feet away." Yuck.
From http://www.livingthecountrylife.com/animals/why-llamas-and-alpacas-spit/.

Gia said...

Very cool! Also, ALPACAS!!! I want one of those. Kitty does too, I checked.

Abby said...

What a fun mini vacation! I want to try that shout-and-ear thing.

Anonymous said...

The following is a TRUE conversation I had with my mother on Saturday night.
Mom: Hi WIGSF. I'm back from the alpaca farm. I didn't bring you anything.
WIGSF: That's fine. How was your trip?
Mom: It was fun. The alpacas were so cute. Everybody took photos with them.
WIGSF: Did YOU take any photos of the cute alpacas?
Mom: No.
WIGSF: One thing Mom one thing! I asked you to do one thing and that was take a photo of a cute alpaca!

Lynn said...

What a nice day. Love that bridge to two countries. :)

LL Cool Joe said...

All the G.I. Joes made me grin. Now I know what to do with all my daughter's old Barbies. Turn them into sculptures and become rich and famous!

Jenny Woolf said...

Those sculptures are really interesting. It is not that I can't appreciate stuff that is purely visual, but I do relate more to sculptures that make a point, somehow.

Jenny Woolf said...

Love LLCoolJoe's idea about the Barbies by the way! :)