2024 Pull Up a Seat – Page 2 – Gfpacificbee’s Insights & photography

Moving Forward on a Mine Train

Disneyland’s Mine Train

Through Nature’s Wonderland

Going back to our Disneyland adventure let’s take. Look at another attraction we rode. We are taking a look at our ride on Disneyland’s Mine Train through Nature’s Wonderland.

The Disneyland Mine Train was an attraction through Nature’s Wonderland in Frontierland that ran from May 28, 1960 until January 2, 1977. It was previously called Rainbow Caverns Mine Train and later became Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

The Mine Train rode past the mining town of Rainbow Ridge where you could observe what a mining town would have looked like with a hardware store, the El Dorado Hotel. It allowed you to feel like you were in the old west. The train would take you through a tunnel and into Beaver Valley, where you could witness beavers at work chomping their wood, squirrels, raccoons, rabbits, foxes and other forest animals.

After Beaver Valley the train moved forward going across a bridge by Cascade Peak, where you could feel the mist coming from the waterfall on your skin. At this point you could see jumping fish, mountain goats, and swimming bears.

The narrator would announce where you were coming to and what you would see at each destination. From Beaver Valley the train moved forward into Bear Country where you could see 2 large elk with their antlers intertwined, fighting each other.

From there the Mine Train would continue moving forward taking you in a circular shape around the Living Desert, with the other half being a forest filled with desert cottontails, rattlesnakes, waterholes, tortoises, badgers, and armadillos. The displays made everything seem so realistic and lifelike.

The last portion of the ride took you through Rainbow Caverns. In the Caverns you could see giant stalagmites, stalactites, and colorful falls on every side.And if you looked real carefully, you’d see geyser grotto, and the witch’s cauldron.

Thanks for climbing aboard and joining us for our ride on Disneyland’s Mine Train through Nature’s Wonderland adventure.

Ludwig’s Monday Window

Becky’s #SquareRenew – Moving Forward

Pull up a Seat-Week 20

Location: Frontierland; Disneyland; Anaheim, California, USA

God Bless. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024 CWWC: Traveling Around Disneyland in 1965

Traveling back in time to December 1965, to a family day trip. Packed and loaded in our 1962 Ford Galaxie 500 with a cooler of drinks, snacks, and sandwiches; we began our approximately hour and fifty-one (1hr 51min) drive north moving forward through the city streets until turning onto CA-94 and eventually onto the recently constructed I-5.

Upon arriving at the Disneyland entrance, my parents purchased our admission and ride tickets. General Admission prices for adults at that time was $2.60 per adult and included a ticket for the Monorail. Junior prices were $1.80 and Children’s admission prices were $1.10. Tickets for the rides cost extra. A book of 10 tickets ranged from $3.00 to $5.00.

In 1965, the cost of admission was considered a lot of money. However, people considered visiting Disneyland was a worthwhile family adventure.

After our tickets were purchased and we entered the park, we selected what rides we wanted to ride. We went to each ride or attraction as a family unit, not venturing off individually. Our first ride of choice was the Monorail.

The Monorail was considered as a mid-century marvel and captured the hearts and imaginations of the theme park and Disney fans. The Monorail was a Highway in the Sky which allowed for a unique experience viewing the park from above.

Our next selection was to ride the submarine adventure. The attraction features vehicles that were designed to look like submarines. It required the E ticket was in the Tomorrowland area of the park.

The submarines took us on an adventure under the sea simulating fish and other sea creatures allowing us to imagine we were really being submerged and viewing the undersea life of a tropical lagoon.

Next up was the Autopia adventure. This was where we could get in cars and race around an enclosed track. We could imagine we were actually racing the other drivers.

***My mom getting out***
***of the Race Car.***

After a full day of adventures Moving Forward around the park, we selected a spot on the side of Disneyland’s Main Street to watch the Parade. The waiting was a time of excitement as we looked forward to the parade starting.

***Mickey Mouse riding***
***in a Vintage Car***
***with Goofy***

***1965 Disneyland***
**Santa Claus Float**

Well folks, that’s all for today. We had fun, but now it’s time to head home.

Cee’s Which Way Challenge-AnyWay

Throwback Thursday

Becky’s #Square Renew/Reconstruct/Moving Forward

Location: Disneyland; Anaheim, California, USA

Photos were reconstructed from my dad’s slides using a Wolverine digital converter.

God Bless. Thank you for visiting Vintage Disneyland with us. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024 CFFC: May – Outdoor Seating

We’ve been having a lot of thunderstorms lately, so for Cee’s CMMC this week I’ve dug into my archives (actually my dad’s archives) to select photos of Outdoor Seating. I’m combining this post with Becky’s Squares Challenge and XingfuMama’s Pull Up a Seat Challenge.

For this journey of discovery we are beginning in Southern California at Knott’s Berry Farm. We are Renewing a remembrance by exploring a time of a family outing my dad captured with his camera and had developed onto slides which I Reconstructed into digital formatting for better visibility and preservation.

***Stage Coach Ride***
***at Knotts Berry Farm***
***Buena Park, California***
***Circa May 1966***

The Stage Coach ride allowed people to seat inside the coach or on the Outside up top of the coach. Being up top allowed for a unique experience and perspective of the exciting surroundings.

Moving Forward we venture out towards the California desert for a weekend of camping and the freedom of the great outdoors for a time of refreshing recreation and a time for renewing the closeness of family togetherness.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park
Borrego Springs, California

We join friends from our church family at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park for a time of food, fellowship, and tons of fun.

Whether we choose a seat at a table near the chuck wagon or close to an outdoor cook stove/oven is our choice. We may sit together or apart, however the point of the weekend is renewing and strengthening family bonds and friendships.

Moving Forward remembering the past by Reconstructing old slides renewing the photos for future generations.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge-Outdoor Seating

XingfuMama’s Pull up a Seat -2024 Week 19

Becky’s #SquareRenew/Reconstruct/Moving Forward

God Bless. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

Moving Forward in a Log “boat”

Come on and climb in the “boat” with us. We can make room for one or two more. It’s gonna be a fun ride, just you wait and see.

We’re moving forward, our turns coming up.

The ride lets boats go first from one side and then the other side. Our turn is next. Get ready. It’s our turn.

Moving forward along the ride we are going up, up, up …

And Splash … we zoom down almost to the end of our log ride. Did you feel the water 💦 splashing us? Oh right, you were in the back so you didn’t get oat all.

Pull up a seat-2024_Week 19

Becky’s Squares – Moving Forward

Six Word Saturday

Jez’s Water Water Everywhere #220

Silent Sunday (oops not quite silent)

Location: Six Flags over Georgia; Austell, Georgia, USA

God Bless. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

Moving Forward Through the Desert

Come on along for the ride, we’re just gonna meander around through the desert here in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Growing up in San Diego, California my church youth group would practically make annual camping trips out to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Several church families would bring their dune buggies, dirt bikes and give rides to the enthusiastic youth.

Ever since that time period, I have loved to go camping and hiking. I love being out in nature and my grandson, Coleman is learning to love and enjoy it as well.

Pictured here are actually two separate church camping trips; one in May of 1968 and the other in June of 1969. Those were the good old days my friends.

Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge 2024-Week 18

Becky’s Squares-Moving Forward

Throwback Thursday

Camera: Minolta XG-7 35 mm using Kodak Ektachrome Slide film.

Location: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park; Borrego Springs, California, USA

God Bless. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024 CFFC: Indoor Seating

In Memory & In Honor of Mother’s Day

For Cee’s CFFC challenge this week for Indoor Seating I chose a selection to honor the mom’s in my life [My mom, My Maternal Grandmother, My Grand Aunt (my maternal grandfather’s sister).] I also selected a couple which are the reasons I’m a Mom and Grandma. This is also my post for XingfuMama’s Pull Up a Seat Challenge.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge-Indoor Seating

Pull Up a Seat-2024 Week 19

God Bless. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

It’s about to start — Come on & Join me …

I’m in the Yellow Car

***My Granddaughter, Alona***
***enjoying a Ride at Carowinds***

Pull up a Seat 2024: Week 17

John’s Cellpic Sunday

Camera: iPhone X

Location: Carowinds; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Thank you Brian at Busboys World for the idea. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Desert Ride — Hop on Up

One-to-Three Photo Processing Challenge – April 2024

Natalie’s Photographing Public Art Challenge

Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge 2024-Week 15

Silent Sunday

God Bless. Enjoy the Ride. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

Children Climbing/Playing on Opening Day

Schroering Forest Playground

Opening Day for the Schroering Forest Playground was on March 30th. The Playground is a new addition for Anne Springs Close Greenway. Being its opening day list of families came to visit the Greenway the check out the new Playground. Children young and old alike investigated and explored the many different features and structures within the playground.

The number of people on the climbing structure varied throughout the day with the greatest impact of visitors being early in the morning and dwindling later on in the afternoon.

When Coleman and I first walked around the playground and the Climbing Structure it was intimidating with so many people in and on the various structures. Overwhelming especially for Coleman, so we chose to hike around the lake and come back later hoping for fewer children to be in the playground.

Coleman slowly getting the courage to try climbing on the Climbing Structure.

After climbing a short distance, Coleman sits down and looks around unsure of what to do next.

He eventually decides he was to get down, but was uncertain about how to go about climbing down. After watching for a little bit I realized he wanted help getting down. So we went hiking back up towards the car visiting the historic cabins, cows, and horses along the way.

Six Word Saturday: 04.06.24

John’s Cell Pic Sunday

Camera: iPhone 14 Pro Max

Location: Schroering Forest Playground; Lake Haigler Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA

God Bless. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Fairy 🧚‍♂️ Seating — It’s Swing Time

As Coleman and I were hiking along Steele Creek Trail back towards the car we spotted this little Fairy Garden tucked away in the base of a tree. I have seen pictures which other hikers have taken before, however this was the first time we had ever spotted the Fairy Garden. If you weren’t looking at the surrounding landscape you could possibly miss seeing it.

***Spotted along***
***Steele Creek Trail***

Pull Up a Seat-2024 Week 14

Camera: 1&3) iPhone 14 Pro Max; 2) Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF 75-300 mm lens and Altura CPL filter attachment.

Location: Steele Creek Trail; Dairy Barn Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA

God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024 Wordless Wednesday: Gazing Over the Pasture

Hugh’s Wordless Wednesday

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF75-300mm lens with Altura CPL Filter attachment.

Location: Near Comporium Amphitheater; Blue Star Trail; Dairy Barn Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA

God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with me. I appreciate y’all very much.

Have a Seat Before Continuing Up the Stairs

When visiting The Schiele Museum yesterday Coleman and I walked down a different staircase than we’ve taken before. Part way down the stairs in between floors was a swiveling chair which Coleman proceeded to climb upon. His antics and expressions can be viewed in these slideshow photos.

XingfuMama’s Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge March 2024 – Week 13

Camera: Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens plus Altura UV Filter.

Location: Stairwell; The Schiele Museum of Natural History; Gastonia, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Selective Seating in the Playground — Coleman Selections

We are still having a lot of rain several days out of the week. Even so Coleman and I managed to get a little walking in. We walked for a mile and a half before deciding to get on the bus. We rode the bus to a park we had not previously visited.

We visited the Erwin Center Park and Recreation. We rode the Blue line to the station, then switched to the Yellow line. The Yellow line took us to right across the street from the park.

The Erwin Center opened in 1961 in the Highland neighbourhood of northern Gastonia. The Center was named in honour of Dr. Herbert Erwin. Dr. Erwin was Gaston County’s first African American physician. He was a well known advocate for youth sports and activities. The Community Center has a game room, meeting room, kitchen, lounge, and offices.

In 1967 a full-size gymnasium and an outdoor basketball court were added. Today’s outdoor facilities also include a swimming pool, a splash pad (open during the summer months), a grass volleyball court, horseshoe pits, playground, tot play area, a large picnic shelter and a walking track.

In the summer of 2020, a Black Lives Matter Mural was painted on the Erwin Center basketball court by Ezekiel Clay, Jr.

The Erwin Center Park and Recreation outdoor park areas are open daily from Dawn to Dusk.

This park is a little further away from the park we normally visit, however it does have activities and playgrounds which are of interest to the very young as well as older children, teenagers, and adults.

If we were so inclined to travel a little further from home than usual, we would visit the park again. Coleman enjoyed the playground and wished it was already summer so he could have enjoyed the Splash Pad.

Pull Up a Seat Photo Challenge 2024-Week 12

Camera: iPhone 14 Pro Max

Location: Erwin Center Park and Recreation; Gastonia, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Thank you for visiting and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024 OWS: Seating

Around Lake Haigler

It is almost guaranteed that while Coleman and I are out hiking along a trail, he’ll decide to sit and rest a second or two before moving on. He can choose to just plop on the ground or hop up on one of the benches scattered along the trail. On this day we chose to hike around Lake Haigler at the Greenway.

Debbie’s One Word Sunday-Seating

Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge 2024-Week 9

Camera: iPhone 14 Pro Max

Location: Haigler Loop; Lake Haigler; Lake Haigler Entrance; Anne Springs Close Greenway; Fort Mill, South Carolina, USA

God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

In the YMCA Woods – Let’s Sit & Rest …

***Coleman***
on
***Outdoor Exercise Equipment***

Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge 2024- Week 7

John’s Cell Pic Sunday

Camera: Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max – Telephoto lens.

Location: Green Trail; Warlick Family YMCA; Gastonia, North Carolina, USA

God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

2024: Pull Up a Seat —

Coleman Style

***… on a “Horse”***
***Giddy Up Coleman***

One never knows where Coleman will decide to Pull Up a Seat for a spell. The first two are of places he chose to Pull Up a Seat at the Schiele Museum of Natural History in Gastonia and the third one is of his selection in the Greenway.

XingfuMamas Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge: Week 6

Camera: 1 & 3) Canon EOS Rebel T3i with Canon EF-S55-250mm lens; 2) iPhone 14 Pro Max

God Bless. Thank you for sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

Doughton Park Visitor Center and Store

***National Park Service***
***Doughton Park Visitor Center***

In front of the Doughton Park Visitor Center are welcoming chairs and a table to rest a bit and enjoy the view or perhaps to wait for the Park store to open if you are camping in one of their many campsites.

Doughton Park is located off of the Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 238.5 – 241. Besides the beautiful scenery surrounding this Park one may choose to explore The Brinegar Cabin, observe craft demonstrations, and talk a gander down one of several diverse hiking trails.

This area has one of the Parkway’s largest campgrounds, a popular picnic area, and more than thirty (30) miles of hiking trails where one may access forested slopes, streams, and backcountry in Basin Cove.

Originally called The Bluffs, 6,000 acre Doughton Park was created in the 1930s when the Blue Ridge Parkway was routed through this part of North Carolina. It was one of the first parts of the Parkway to be completed and remains its largest recreation area. In the 1950s, it was renamed for Robert Lee Doughton (1863-1954), a local landowner and politician, who was instrumental in getting the Parkway built. Mr. Doughton lived in the nearby Laurel Springs, North Carolina. [Note: the Laurel Springs area is also the area where my maternal grandfather grew up.]

The northern and western borders of Doughton Park are formed by the Parkway itself, which here follows the crest of the mountains, traveling at more than 3,000 feet above sea level through rolling highland meadow. The other borders of the Park are traced by steeply descending mountain ridges: Flat Rock Ridge along the southern side of the Park and Cedar Ridge along the eastern side. Within these borders is the rugged and remote watershed of two mountain streams, Basin Creek and Cove Creek. Together, the double valley – or double gorge – is known as Basin Cove.

In October of 2017 my eldest son and I took a scenic drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway meandering the scenic route enjoying the beautiful Autumn colours. I allowed him to drive as he had never previously driven the Parkway. We stopped at several mileposts along the way observing the beautiful landscape. At various mileposts including Milepost 238.5 – 241, we stopped, stretched our legs, and proceeded to hike along several of the many trails found along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I do not recall which trail we hiked at Doughton Park, however, I do know we visited The Brinegar Cabin. I encourage y’all if you are ever in the Western Part of the Carolinas to take a scenic drive along The Blue Ridge Parkway.

Ludwig’s Monday Window

Dan’s Thursday Doors

XingfuMamas Pull up a Seat Photo Challenge: 2024-Week 4

Camera: Apple iPhone 7 Plus — Wide Camera 28mm • screen f1.8 • 1/656s • ISO20

Location: Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 238.5 – 241

Doughton Park;

45338 Blue Ridge Parkway

Laurel Springs, NC 28644

God Bless. Thank you for visiting us and sharing your time and thoughts with us. I appreciate y’all very much.

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