Oh, when you’re smilin’
When you’re smilin’
The whole world smiles with you
Songwriters: Daniel Gaston Ash / Glenn Derek Campling
When I travel of course I take plenty of photos of the ‘big’ things I see. The landscapes, the city sights, the famous buildings and monuments, the wildlife, interesting people … The list is, if not endless, at least pretty long. But I’m also on the lookout for quirky details. The sort of thing that would never make it into a guidebook and which I come across by chance. Things that might not even be there if I were to go back tomorrow! Amusing signs, odd juxtapositions, anything a little unexpected.
Those images often don’t make it into my travel galleries because they don’t ‘fit’, they aren’t part of the story of a place. How happy I was then to see Ann-Christine’s call for photos of things that made us smile for this week’s Lens Artists challenge. All the sights below certainly made me smile on our recent California road trip. I hope some of them have the same effect on you!
My feature photo was taken in Tahoe City on the north shore of Lake Tahoe. The remaining images below are presented in chronological order. If interested you can see our itinerary in my previous post, Our California road trip.
Sign on Pier 39, San Francisco (and yes, we bought one!)
Spotted near Point Reyes: an appropriate slogan for our trip
In the car park at Fort Ross State Park
Posing beautifully for me outside a coffeeshop in Point Arena
Small plant holder in a Ferndale coffeeshop; I do love elephants!
(there will be quite a few coffeeshops in this post, they are great places to spot amusing details)
For sale in a Eureka coffeeshop; I loved the slogans on these jigsaw puzzles!
On a table in a café in Tahoe City, Lake Tahoe; I was moved by his missing ear!
Near Lake Tahoe (again, we bought one, naturally!)
One of hundreds of stickers on a barrier at the Mono Lake Vista Point; I loved the message, ‘You be you’!
In a car park near Soda Springs on the Tioga Pass, Yosemite National Pass
(like coffeeshops, car parks can be a fruitful source of smiles)
In a car park in Yosemite Valley: an important message conveyed in a fun manner!
Signs in a coffee shop in Fresno
The key to our cabin at Grant Grove, Sequoia / Kings Canyon National Park
In a car park in Ridgecrest: ‘Live long and prosper’
In a gift shop in Stovepipe Wells, Death Valley; I asked this sales assistant to pose for me as I loved her hair, and she pulled this face as I took the shot!
(She also posed sensibly for a second shot but this version made me smile more)
Service station toilet door near Indian Springs, Nevada, on what is badged the ‘Extra-terrestrial Highway’
Ladies’ toilets in Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas
Entrance to the toilets at the car hire drop-off, Las Vegas Airport
(oh dear, there are suddenly a lot of toilets here too!)
Spotted in the departures area at Las Vegas Airport; Hello Kitty seemed an incongruous choice for this young man!
I visited California and Nevada in September / October 2024
8 Comments
satyam rastogi
Nice post 🌺🌺
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you
Anne Sandler
Thanks Sarah! This post put a smile on my face this morning. I like the way you record the small details with your camera.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Anne 🙂 I’m always on the lookout for this sort of thing as it adds variety to my photographic record of a trip!
Ana
Very nice post, Sarah!!! I had a lot of fun and it made me smile.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you – I’m glad these shots had the desired effect!
margaret21
Well, your holiday delivered fun in spades, as well as a whole range of emotions as detailed in previous posts. What a hol!
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, lots of fun indeed 😀