The ability to slice off some time for photos and posts seems to be eluding me these last few weeks.  Life has been too busy.  I’m either either immersed in home building tasks or emergency rental repairs and 1500+ mile roundtrip drive with a couple family trips thrown in.   Most recently, my sister and I made our way to visit family in Michigan.   After this short Michigan trip, I finally matched up a couple fun photos to our photo theme of textures this week.

Our airport travel in and out of Detroit metro was uneventful but the arrival and departure times had me in a hotel both coming and going. With its convenient location, the Westin at the McNamara terminal is my favorite stop over.  Very convenient, quiet and comfortable.  Hint: thrown a swimsuit into your bag and enjoy the warm pool and a nice hot tub soak before bedtime.

Why so much about a hotel?  It just has an intriguing lobby!  I wish I could’ve captured more photos for this week here.  The lobby had so many interesting textures to welcome it’s guests.  One area in particular had us talking about it multiple times.  The lobby offers a comfortable respite from the airport hustle and this wall is intriguing yet calming simultaneously. I think you’ll agree that its layer of textures seems to fit our photo theme quite nicely.

There’s a lot going on here with the lights, shadows, live plants, metallic blocks all under those twinkle lights and then it’s surrounded by cut metal wall panels.  I was trying to figure out how to build one in the new home we’re building.  Then we saw the plant guy working on it the next morning.  I decided it would be too much work and responsibility!  He needed a scissor lift to maintain all those plants.  So, I’ll just enjoy this one at the Detroit Westin when I visit. 

Hello Goats!

It’s been awhile since I’ve accomplished a set of daily walks. The weather was perfect during my Michigan trip making a nice long daily walk a joy with a little entertainment thrown in. A new portion of a local trail opened up and now included walking past a few humorous goats.

Our goat buddies greeted us almost daily. They, of course, were just interested in food as they pressed their noses into the fence. They have very soft fur and enjoyed rubbing their sides along the hard metal fencing for a nice scratch.

I love how the chain link fence shadow just looks like a natural part of this goats coat.

Montana’s Textures

Another recent animal encounter showing off textures and a rich colorful brown was in Montana.

There are numerous squirrels hanging out at the Rock Creek Vista overlook along the famous Beartooth Highway. This past August, we took a drive up to the summit stopping at the overlook. This was my first visit to the overlook. It is quite breathtaking! Unfortunately, the number of people treating these wild animals with sunflower seeds was incredibly sad.

View from the Overlook

Following the vista are a few pullouts for hiking trailheads and alpine lake views.

Then you arrive at the summit! 10,947 Elevation kind of takes your breath away.

So many textures to be found in each of the Beartooth Highway views but it’s hard to describe the vertical sensation I got on our drive along this scenic road.

Thank you for joining me in my home building break. I enjoyed rediscovering my Montana trip photos and our recent Michigan goats were a hoot.

About the Photo Challenge

A weekly themed photo challenge hosted by Terri. Check out her Blog and come back to visit for more SundayStills and traveling posts!

More Sunday Still Posts

Thanks for visiting our travel blog and I hope you enjoyed finding the #SundayStills Challenge. You can join the weekly challenge by visiting our hosts blog Second Wind Leisure. and checking out Terri’s post for this week, Can you feel the Textures.