Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

 

Made a quick trip to Pittsburgh this week. 

It's an interesting city, formed way back when it was considered the Western Edge of (European) Civilization in North America (take a look at a map, Pittsburgh dates back to the very early European settlements in North America)

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

So, of course, many parts of the city are quite old.  Pittsburgh has been a steelmaking center since the late 1800's.  Since the 1960's, steel jobs have been moving away from the area as steel making moved to lower labor-cost areas.

 

 

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

But even though many of the buildings date from the 1920's or earlier...                

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

                                          ...some of them are great examples of really ornate architecture.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

 

These must have been really high-end apartments, back in the 1950's. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

And even though some building are showing their considerable age...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

...others are new and modern, such as this one at PPG Center (note all the great looking glass, and that "PPG" stands for Pittsburgh Plate Glass, one of the other long-standing industries in the city).

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

And, lucky for me, it was a glorious, blue-sky day !!

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

As the sun went down, I saw this spooky old church up on the bluff.

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

 

 

PPG Center and the western end of the city...                                        

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

                                        ...with the lights shining on the Monongahela River.

 

 

 

 

Y'all take care.

 

-Mark W. Laughlin

 

Vacation !!...San Antonio, Texas

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Boat ride on the San Antonio River...

Took a little vacation last weekend.  San Antonio, Texas, is about 3 hours west of Houston by car.  We (me, Bren and youngest son) had been thinking about a flying vacation trip, maybe to the Northeastern USA, or maybe England and Scotland.  But, on a VERY long flight home from Korea a couple of weeks ago, I started thinking…

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 Birds at Sea World

(a) I really do not look forward to another long flight, even if by choice;

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

and

(b) if we took a vacation closer to home, maybe my older son, daughter-in-law and grand-daughter could join us.  Bingo…San Antonio…local, plenty of things to do, and I can pay for hotels with hotel-points !  We all went and it was fun !!

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Sea World has rides too...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

...plus marine and not-so-marine wildlife.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Sunday we drove over to a local drive-through wildlife park. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

 

 

 

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

The cactus were starting to bloom at the Alamo...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...the cradle of Texas liberty .

 

“Be silent friend

here heroes died

to blaze the trail for other men.”

 

 

 

 

So, check out San Antonio, including:

Sea World - San Antonio

Natural Bridge Caverns Wildlife Park

The San Antonio River Walk

The Alamo

 

 

 

Take care,

- Mark W. Laughlin

 

 

 

 

 

Photos - Favorites

 

Howdy all !

 

As I have mentioned, my time is limited when I travel.  Usually, I’m on business and only grab an hour or so here and there to take a walk and shoot a few photos.  So sometimes, I don’t get good light, or sufficient time, and the photos suffer. 

But, since we have several new “WrittenPost Friends”, I thought I would post some links to the posts where the photos came out well.  Of all the photo-posts I’ve put up, these are my favorites:

Baltic Spring  (April 2011)

http://writtenpost.blogspot.com/2011/04/baltic-spring.html

Valencia de España  (July 2011)

http://writtenpost.blogspot.com/2011/07/valencia-de-espana.html

Finland in February  (February 2012)

http://writtenpost.blogspot.com/2012/02/finlandin-february.html

The Great Wall  (June 2012)

http://writtenpost.blogspot.com/2012/06/great-wall.html

Seoul (March 2013)

http://writtenpost.blogspot.com/2013/03/seoul.html

 

Thanks again for visiting WrittenPost !!

-Mark

Baltic Sea - Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Book Promotion

Traffic - Well folks, traffic on WrittenPost has increased over the last couple of months.  Currently, visits-per-month are running about double what they were a couple of months ago.  (Thank you !!)

E-Mail Boost - Some of you have sent announcements about The Trail of the Fox to your entire E-Mail Address List and that has been most helpful !!  If anyone else would like to do that, I would most appreciate it !!  Just shoot me an e-mail and I can give you links and show you texts that others have used.

Reviews – For those of you who have read “Trail...”, please take a moment to return to the site where you bought it and write a “Review”.  Most such sites have the Review function, or at least the ability to give “Stars”.  Reviews help others decide whether to buy the eBook and if you could do that, I would most appreciate it also !!  If you do so, please let me know where.

Tell Friends – If you refer friends to WirttenPost, or to The Trail of the Fox – Introduction that helps to get further exposure for “Trail…”, do please do so whenever you think about it.  Also, when you go to Facebook, check out The Trail of the Fox page.

(http://writtenpost.blogspot.com)
(http://writtenpost.blogspot.com/p/the-trail-of-fox.html)

Sales – Well, cross your fingers.  I get the first Quarterly Report of Sales for The Trail of the Fox on 20-April…

Thank you again !!

-Mark

Dawn in Dubai - Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Seoul

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Visited Seoul again last week. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Apparently, the folks there are used to the ranting and raving of the "Dear Leader to the North". It doesn't seem to bother them, at least not outwardly. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

They just continue their usual hustle and bustle, the sidewalks are full of people heading to and from work, and as always, the streets are full of cars.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Here's a nighttime view of the hilltop park, across the street from my hotel. 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

We took a hike at dawn, up to the top of the hill...
...up to about twice the height of our 20-story hotel.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Cool park, along the remains of an ancient castle wall...

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

...with great views of the city.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

A bit of haze this morning, expected I suppose, in a city as large as Seoul.



Had a cool visit to another mountain-top castle on my previous trip (earlier in March),
a 16th century fortification built to keep out the invading Chinese.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

So, the North Korean leader is not the only difficulty the Korean people have had to concern themselves with over time.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Iron plank armor on the exterior of one of the gates in the perimeter wall.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Interesting photos, along the courtyard wall, taken in the early 1900's.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Modern day castles.

I definitely recommend Seoul for vacation travel...
...but, maybe after the "Dear Leader" settles down.

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

Take care.

- Mark W. Laughlin

Washington. America.

 
Washington...

Photo by M. W. Laughlin

 ...America.

 

Photo by M. W. Laughlin

  
 
I had a neat trip this week…Washington, DC.  For those foreign friends of mine who might not know what “D.C.” means, it stands for “District of Colombia”.  When our “founding fathers” selected the location for the new capital city, the seat of the national government of the new United States of America, they wanted a place that would be separate, and not actually a part of any of the new States.  They wanted a place that would be different from the rest of the country, a place that would stand out.  I think they succeeded.
 

Photo by M. W. Laughlin

  

Something special about this trip, it was a gathering of our team from many different countries.  It was interesting to see their reactions to the buildings, the monuments, the statues that form the city that is Washington, D. C.  These things are more than objects, they tell us who we are, and from where we come.  I am proud of America.  I am not arrogant.  We are not perfect, but I am proud of our country, and I am proud of us.  I enjoyed the opportunity to show my friends around, and explain, as best I could, about the history behind it all.
 

Photo by M. W. Laughlin

 

America is a special place.  It is special because of the hard work and determination of millions of people.  It is successful because we have land and natural resources.  We have the will to try and do, we have Freedom, and the Rule of Law.  America will always be great as long as we remember that we cannot win by sitting by the road and waiting to see what happens next.  We must make what happens next!  We must keep to our feet and be what happens next !
 

Photo by M. W. Laughlin

 

Go and visit Washington, D.C. 
                      I think you will understand. 

  - Mark W. Laughlin

Photo by M. W. Laughlin

 

Blogging Anniversary !



Photo by Mark W. Laughlin

 

Well folks, it’s been Two Years since WrittenPost began !!!

The first post, “Warm”, was about Eric, a Red Eared Sliding Turtle.
Eric Up-Date: Eric has been released into the wild, at a park on the west side of Houston. He was approaching “army helmet size” and was outgrowing his aquarium. The release point was selected because of its large turtle population, so we suppose it’s a good place for him (or her…kinda’ hard to tell with turtles !).

On the first blogging anniversary, I was just beginning to post The Trail of the Fox - III on WrittenPost.  Now, just a few days ago, "Trail..." has finally been published as an eBook.  Before long, if it sees some sales and generates some support, I will get it printed in paperback.  Let's see.  I want to thank all of you for tuning in, reading and supporting "Trail..."  It's been loads of fun for me.
 
Thanks again to all the folks who pop in to WrittenPost !!
Tell others about the site when you get a chance. Encourage them to send me their e-mail addresses, and I will include them on future posting announcements.

Take care all,
 -Mark

Promotional Bump !!!

Big Bump !!

 

My father sent out an e-mail to all the people he has addresses for,

and within a few minutes, over 50 people visited the blogsite !!!
So, if you are interested in helping to promote The Trail of the Fox,
you could do the same.

He included links to the blogtsite: http://writtenpost.blogspot.com,

as well as the link that takes you directly to the description of “Trail…”: http://writtenpost.blogspot.com/p/the-trail-of-fox.html
…along a few words of shameless promotion.

If you copy me, I will watch and see what kind of bump we get…

…and, I would most appreciate your help !!

Thank you,

-Mark

  

Many of you may not currently own a Kindle, NOOK, or other eReader device.

If so, you can download software so you can read the book on your PC or Mac.

Free downloads for eReader Software, for several devices, including Mac and Pc’s:

http://www.ereader.com/ereader/software/browse.htm
http://www.microsoft.com/reader/downloads/pc.aspx
http://allmyapps.com/apps/sony-reader-for-pc

 

Thank you for reading !!!

 

Monk's Lake, Pecos Valley, N.M. - MWL