What do you see on your way to work/school?
 

Here's a new "game" if you will.

Answer this question: What do you see on your way to work (or school?)

I see Pikes Peak, lots of pine trees, the Castle Rock and today...2 wild turkeys running along side the road. I had to look twice!

What do you see?

I see trees and flowers and chirping birds and basket weavers who sit and smile and twiddle their thumbs and toes...

Let's see.... I wake up around 5:45 when it's still dark. I took these two off of my front porch one morning:

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs199....8_607892_n.jpg

The sun starts to rise when I leave the house around 6:45:

http://hphotos-snc1.fbcdn.net/hs179...._8346830_n.jpg



The road I take to get to the freeway passes a gorgeous large lake, about 5 minutes from my house. I took this in the middle of winter last year... I got out of my car and took a picture from the side of the road (with a bit of zoom, but still!):

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-...22926_8892.jpg


After that, the day is boring. I get on a freeway, hop onto another freeway and then I am at school, 20 minutes away.

I can see Mt. Hood & Mt. St. Helens (and even Mt. Adams, depending on the day) quite clearly from most of the windows of my house.

Oregon is my favorite place ever. You are quite lucky.

i see my hallway & kitchen first:lol:~ i wrk from home:D~

Actually I don't see a lot either, I work a couple of minutes from home...basically driving through a couple of surburban streets then a couple of shops and I'm there..

Vivfox, your neighborhood scares me.

daniellaaarisen - How cool! Those photos! I never expected that! But I loved it.

chriskin & goddess6 - I wish I had your drive! Mine lasts 25 minutes, which isn't bad but I usually get behind school buses (high school starts at 7:25 a.m.) which stop RIGHT on the highway. You gotta be alert and ready with the brake.

LukeA - How cool to be able to see them from your house! I remember when Mt. St. Helens erupted.

Thanks everyone for playing along today. Anyone else?

I drive five miles down Santa Monica Blvd. to the beach.

i see very many dead carcasses...no lie

a river, which could be nice, but it just makes me feel cold :/

i hate my drive into school minus the party music I have going on in my car...:D

I take the route by the beach. Lucky me cause traffic in Lima is very heavy, the city is growing caothicly. But this route is quickly, just when you go up to enter the city again are some lines to wait

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_10d0Slc2CB...costaverde.jpg

chrislit - I hear you about the dead carcasses! Lots of skunks seem to move rather slowly as do porcupines. There are signs all over the town I work in. It seems our squirrels have the plague. Lots of dead ones on the grates to public buildings.

JWS...THE Santa Monica Blvd?? (The one made famous in that Sheryl Crowe song??)

Hello Villavic!

I remember you and your photos from Machu Pichu! (sorry if I miss spelled it.) Your beach photo is great too. You always posted some great shots in the photo thread.

(BTW, my husband is a member of the Colorado Hiking Club. They are planning a trip to Peru next spring to do the climb to Machu Pichu. I will be PM'ing you when the trip gets closer to ask about some do's and don't.)

Hmmm...
 

Alot of flat land until I 12 miles South of town where the Wichita Mountains start (With the Blue Canyon Wind Farm in the valley).

Heading East I travel over the worse stretch of highway in the state of Oklahoma (Highway 9) with many a death trap turn and hills for about 30 miles. Of course if I am East of Anadarko I HAVE to be reminded of Debbie as I past the accident site (With pieces of my car still in the culvert almost 1 year later)

Stairs! I WFH (work from home) so head down the stairs and make a right.

Much, much better than my previous commute (a 90 minute multi-train journey across London).

Beautiful shots you guys!! For those of you beach dwellers, I am totally jealous!!!

I walk up a huge hill and see a lot of my college campus! I love it!!!

I don't know that Sheryl Crowe song but I'm sure it's the same Santa Monica Blvd as in Randy Newmans "I Love L.A." played at Laker games. It's a long street. I live at the west end...not the Hollywood end (east)

I see four blocks of Astoria, Queens, a mixture of 24 hour fruit markets, Greek eateries, small-town style bars and the usual gentrification (Dunkin Donuts, Chase bank, Duane Reade, etc.). Then I see the elevated subway tracks of my station, the inside of a crowded subway car (but when I'm lucky it's not so crowded and I get a perfect view of the NYC skyline), the inside of a subway tunnel and eventually, my stop with the red-orange painted bricks. I emerge to see what is almost a postcard view of Times Square. Kind of surreal sometimes. Last thing to see before my office is my beloved coffee cart, where the guys know my order and starting making it when they see me emerge from the station.

NYC skyline. I live just across the river from the city and work about 20 miles west. Driving home each night i usually take note of the Empire State Building's colors.

yeah. I believe it was in "All I Wanna Do"

"...until the sun comes up over Santa Monica Boulevard"

sadly, anytime someone mentions Santa Monica Boulevard...that song goes through my brain.

see? there it went again! alhdkjankznz :mad:



oh to add to the thread.
I see manicured lawns and neat houses, an expressway, car dealerships, Target, and then some corn fields before I get to school.
truly awe inspiring.

B..All at the moment, it's pitch black when I'm on the road to work! :D but when it does eventually become light (on my way back home) theres a bit of Southern English countryside (hills trees etc) and a bunch of Highland cattle (long haired red ones) en route.

New Yorkers--

What do you love (and maybe hate) about the city? I'm applying to NYU and I'd love a resident's opinion.

I start out in the Franklin-Nicollet Neighborhood of Minneapolis

[IMG]http://i33.tinypic.com/2sbocxv.jpg[/IMG]

Then I head my way on Lyndale Avenue into Uptown.....
http://i33.tinypic.com/28ro5c.jpg

Then I reach the Lake Calhoun area of Minneapolis...where I work!
http://i35.tinypic.com/29x8xzq.jpg

I love many, many things about the city. There is ALWAYS something to do. You know that a favorite band or artist is likely going to come here at some point, there's SO much theater to see (and cheap ways to see it!), there are amazing restaurants, Central Park is fabulous all year round and something I never tire of and it's pretty easy to get from place to place around here. You can almost always get what you need when you need it. NYU's campus and surrounding neighborhood is great as well. Feel free to PM me with any specific questions! Many of my friends are NYU alums and I lived amongst the dorms when I first got here, so I know the area and culture pretty well!

My biggest thing that I hate about the city, which I KNOW is from working in the heart of Times Square for over five years, is how crowded it is. There are just SO many people, stopping to take pictures in the middle of the sidewalk or strolling at a snail's pace. I understand it, I've been a tourist many places, it just has really started driving me crazy lately. I wish they could install a lane for locals so we could go about our business and neither of us would have to bother the other! I miss space.

I used to live next to NYU buildings... but to be honest, the thing I hate most about that area is, well, NYU! They are on a mission to annex the entire Village to become one big urban campus.

There is much to love about the city- the cultural institutions, the food, the shops and the multitude of things to do. But unless you have fabulously wealthy parents or a trust fund, I can't even begin to imagine trying to live a decent lifestyle while being a student there- it is very, very expensive. There are lots of rich kids who attend NYU, so I would imagine there is quite a bit of peer pressure to "keep up appearances." But I must admit that I am envious of anyone who was able to spend their transformative years in New York- it really is an incredibly culturally enriching experience for a young adult. Very safe too, believe it or not.

I spent the first few years of my NY existence constantly pinching myself as if it was all a dream. I was constantly in awe of everything. But now it's just... home. Still, every once in a while, when I'm driving around the boroughs, I catch a glimpse of the Manhattan skyline and it gives me those chills again- the incredible vertical scale and density of this little island. But that usually fades as soon as I start hitting potholes and bridge congestion...

I saw something so disturbing on my way to work this morning!

A young woman (late teens?) walking with a couple that may or may not have been her parents. The young woman had on short shorts (tan), knee high black boots, and a pink hooded winter coat. She was about 50+ lbs overweight and it was just not a good look. So odd.

Dani- you should send petep9000 a message. He lives in NYC and writes beautifully about it. I am originally from NY and his journal entries make me terribly homesick. :)

Cars...cars...& more cars....oh, and trucks & motorcycles...and more cars. (I commute via freeway in Southern California...can you tell?)

And, I see the rollercoaster tracks of Knott's Berry Farm, the smokestacks of the Queen Mary, the dome that used to house Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose seaplane.


And, more cars & trucks & motorcycles & cars...and cars...and cars.

Is Knotts Berry Farm still operating? I thought it had shut down years ago. I live in LA and only visited one time back in the 80's

I think if you have the opportunity, you should try try try to come. It's a wonderful city, warts and all. I love living here. Granted, I was in a borough (Brooklyn) but I always worked in Manhattan and everyday I find something new to look at.
In terms of cultural offerings, NYC is justifiably world-famous. I love going to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, and also the great museums and of course eating. The skyline and sights are beautiful, and it is true that you get used to it but once you see it from a distance it all strikes you again. This I remember from Brooklyn for sure. So I moved into a new apartment with my partner on Friday, so here is some NYC views that I get to see from my house!

Here is my view from my dining room



Here is my view from my living room

That's so cool. Though actually the climbing wouldn't be to the Machu Picchu (old mountain) but the Huayna Picchu (young mountain), cause that's the challenge! To reach Machu Picchu you take a van that climbs the road. Then within the ancient city there's an entrance to the Huayna Picchu. Few people dare to go, cause there are some riske parts of the roa. The Huayna Picchu is the big peak, pyramid shape, you see at the pictures, behind the actual ruines.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huayna_Picchu

I have never climbed the H.P, but I did the inca trail, 4 days of trekking (there are sorter circuits) and it's hard, cause you have to go up 4000mt high over the see, its exhausting. But it's a beautiful experience. If you want this you have to reserver months before because entrance is very controlled, they are preserving the nature (in the past was saturated of adventure tourists and affected the ecology)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca_Trail_to_Machu_Picchu

Thank you guys SO MUCH for the feedback about New York. I think it is my second favorite choice right now and I think I should start looking at other schools in the city as well. I want to be somewhere either super urban or super rural, so we'll see what I end up with.

Its very hard for me to understand the fascination with New York. Even though such a distinction is almost inexplicable by definition & circumstance, the fact remains that NYC truly is the most overrated city in this country. If you've lived in or near a major and/or cosmopolitan city at any point in your adolescent/adult life, NYC isn't going to blow you away.

Hey....thanks for the latest posts....

bucklind17, Amlyn, golddustdrummer, tuigirl, hippilil86, HeihiraNYC, jannieC, chiliD, JWS, petep9000

Sometimes I feel sorry for myself. I drive and see this same stuff, over and over and over...and seeing what you folks have described has been fun for me.

For the hell of it, I decided to bring a camera to show you pictures of my drive.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...bels/drive.jpg

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...kcamera416.jpg

And of course....last but not least, "Castle Rock". The town I work in, is named CASTLE ROCK...so we gotta have a photo of "The Rock". The Saturday after Thanksgiving, they light that star which is on top and leave it lit until after the Denver Stock Show in January. At night, it looks like a huge star is protecting the little town.

http://i182.photobucket.com/albums/x...ls/DECA003.jpg

Betsy, that looks pretty gorgeous to me! I wouldn't mind seeing those mountains every day! Especially if it meant it was 100 or so less tourists to duck. ;)

You feel sorry for yourself with a great view like this of the Rocky Mountains?

lol don't feel sorry for yourself until you've lived in Indiana.
I live in a semi-large city, probably around 300,000
and I still have to look at corn fields on my way to school!

Colorado looks beautiful from your pictures!!!!!!
I'd choose mountains over corn and cows any day!

Stolen shopping carts.
Discarded cigar holders.
Dead squirrels.
People who think that pajamas should be worn in public.
Grocery bags.
People in pajamas driving their stolen shopping carts past dead squirrels while smoking cigars with plastic holders.

I guess I need to re-phrase what I was trying to say.

I don't know that I feel sorry for myself - but that I feel sorry that I am so wrapped up in the destination of WORK and all the stress that is connected with it, that I don't stop and LOOK at the countryside an be grateful for where I am.

Betsy, those pics are incredible! I have wonderful, vivid memories of my one and only skiing trip to Colorado... and they bring me back. Granted, I'm also reminded of my violent altitude sickness too... but that's another matter altogether. :eek: I don't know how you could ever get bored by this kind of scenery.

Betsy, those photos, especially the second one, are amazing!
I'm seriously jealous you get to see that every day!

^^^
Thank you Sharon! Post a photo of what you see.

For me, I want to see more photos of what other people see....even if it is beer cans, lots of traffice, etc. etc. It's a view.

The NYC ones, the California at 6 a.m., and the Chicago ones and well, ALL of them were fun for me to see. We take vacations to get AWAY from the mountains! So to be able to take a mini-vacation (mindwise) by seeing what you guys have posted has been enjoyable.

Work is great and money is necessary but mental vacations aid the body and soul.