The crack of dawn was probably a record: 8 am!
The weather maps told us that yesterday's trip would have been almost impossible if it had been driven today. The maps also threatened nasties for today, and I suspect that's why we left with some urgency.
While it stayed below freezing all day, the threatened rain / snow did not happen until we had left the area; lucky or what.
Customs was a breeze, and we arrived home at 12:30, after finishing our peanut butter and jam sandwiches shortly after the border.
We started seeing snow in the forests, then the hedgerows, then the fields as we drove in NY to get closer to the border. By the time we got home, the old snow was nearly up to the windowsills. Tomorrow should be colder, but then we get back to more reasonable temperatures, above freezing during the day, below freezing at night. Perfect for harvesting maple syrup.
After the car was unpacked, Joan found her way to the barn where she had to convince Frankie that she was a very good friend, likely bringing gifs of carrots, and mints. But that's another story.
We eliminated the chaff from the mountain of mail, emptied the luggage and many shoeboxes, and figuring out where the light switches are. All in all, it's been a great adventure, and now we'll try to stay on the warm side of the glass, and enjoy the winter scenery.
And there will be laundry...
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Monday, March 24, 2014
Bristol VA to Binghamton NY
Yet another crack of dawn near 9am, what is the world coming to. Actually, it's fairly easy to guess why we left 'early', there's bad weather brewing up north and we'd like to beat it home.
As it turns out, the road we just took would make for a difficult trip tomorrow, so we're doing very well so far.
Ahead may lie some wet weather, but it will be above freezing until we get to Syracuse, and the rest of the way home is under 5 hours, so we should be good to go.
Today was cold, just a few degrees above or below freezing all day. Tomorrow should be considerably warmer, a few degrees above freezing most of the way: that's good enough for me.
Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania were all very well behaved today, and we managed to tag along with the usual suspects who drove faster than the rest. Rolling hills, horse fences, some grand estates, and hilly vistas were all the order of the day.
We re-listened to the Vinyl Café cd's that Kathleen gave us. As usual, even the second time around, they have great moments of hilarity. With peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch, the occasional chocolate snack, and supper at Ruby Tuesday's, the day was complete.
If the weather lets us, we should be home tomorrow!
As it turns out, the road we just took would make for a difficult trip tomorrow, so we're doing very well so far.
Ahead may lie some wet weather, but it will be above freezing until we get to Syracuse, and the rest of the way home is under 5 hours, so we should be good to go.
Today was cold, just a few degrees above or below freezing all day. Tomorrow should be considerably warmer, a few degrees above freezing most of the way: that's good enough for me.
Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania were all very well behaved today, and we managed to tag along with the usual suspects who drove faster than the rest. Rolling hills, horse fences, some grand estates, and hilly vistas were all the order of the day.
We re-listened to the Vinyl Café cd's that Kathleen gave us. As usual, even the second time around, they have great moments of hilarity. With peanut butter and jam sandwiches for lunch, the occasional chocolate snack, and supper at Ruby Tuesday's, the day was complete.
If the weather lets us, we should be home tomorrow!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Defuniak Springs FL to Bristol VA
There was a big mistake, someone was not thinking right, and the crack of dawn was actually before 8:30, yes, you read that correctly.
We had pretty dense fog surrounding us for two hours and a bit, then it rained for a few hours more: nothing serious, just enough to get some of the dirt and pollen off the car. Unfortunately, the roof dried while we were on the interstates, so it's really saggy and sloppy looking. A good dry warm day in the sun should set that right: maybe by the end of April...
We took a few star roads and secondary roads to get out of Florida and that scenery is quite wonderful: rolling hills, many estate like houses behind white picked or brick fences with the occasional horse or two to distract the navigator. Spring is behind San Diego's, and most of the southwest, but it really is colourful to see the trees break out in leaves or flower. Some white, pink, red, and the usual young spring greens. What a show, unfortunately, no pictures so you'll have to make this drive yourself to experience the magic.
The sun came out, as did the Interstates, and temperatures and speed limits went up significantly. From a start of 12ºC to a high of about 25ºC and now it's about 5ºC and could well freeze overnight. That's not a gradual easing back into winter. Shorts and sandals were not appropriate at all. The Interstate speeds also went up to a sustained 70MPH, where the fast group was hovering around 80 / 85MPH, even when the speed limit went down to the usual 55MPH. There were police around, usually giving tickets [not to the policeman's ball either]. Our group seemed to fare well and we made good distance.
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee all showed up in the rear-view mirror. We just entered Virginia and we're staying for the night at exit 7: Bristol VA. Bristol has a great choice of eateries: Ruby Tuesday's, Red Lobster, Outback Steakhouse, Perkins, Ruby Tuesday's and the usual suspects. Did I mention Ruby Tuesdays? That's where we ended up: a really very good salad bar [from me that's very high praise] and good food, service and ambiance.
All in all, the day unfolded as it should; it was interesting, we made good progress, and we ended with a good meal. Hope your day was similar, or better.
We had pretty dense fog surrounding us for two hours and a bit, then it rained for a few hours more: nothing serious, just enough to get some of the dirt and pollen off the car. Unfortunately, the roof dried while we were on the interstates, so it's really saggy and sloppy looking. A good dry warm day in the sun should set that right: maybe by the end of April...
We took a few star roads and secondary roads to get out of Florida and that scenery is quite wonderful: rolling hills, many estate like houses behind white picked or brick fences with the occasional horse or two to distract the navigator. Spring is behind San Diego's, and most of the southwest, but it really is colourful to see the trees break out in leaves or flower. Some white, pink, red, and the usual young spring greens. What a show, unfortunately, no pictures so you'll have to make this drive yourself to experience the magic.
The sun came out, as did the Interstates, and temperatures and speed limits went up significantly. From a start of 12ºC to a high of about 25ºC and now it's about 5ºC and could well freeze overnight. That's not a gradual easing back into winter. Shorts and sandals were not appropriate at all. The Interstate speeds also went up to a sustained 70MPH, where the fast group was hovering around 80 / 85MPH, even when the speed limit went down to the usual 55MPH. There were police around, usually giving tickets [not to the policeman's ball either]. Our group seemed to fare well and we made good distance.
Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee all showed up in the rear-view mirror. We just entered Virginia and we're staying for the night at exit 7: Bristol VA. Bristol has a great choice of eateries: Ruby Tuesday's, Red Lobster, Outback Steakhouse, Perkins, Ruby Tuesday's and the usual suspects. Did I mention Ruby Tuesdays? That's where we ended up: a really very good salad bar [from me that's very high praise] and good food, service and ambiance.
All in all, the day unfolded as it should; it was interesting, we made good progress, and we ended with a good meal. Hope your day was similar, or better.
Grayton Beach
Grayton Beach really has one of the finest beaches we've ever stepped on. This is a beach with no shells, seaweed, flotsam or jetsam, and few people. It does have wonderful sand dunes, aquamarine water, and the very finest white sand between your toes that actually squeaks. Squeaky sand has to be experienced to be appreciated: it's wonderful.
So this is one of our first views of the state park beach and dunes. Few people, great weather, white sand, lovely aquamarine water, what's not to like?
Joan and Jan had to 'test the waters', and eventually the water got them wet: that's what water does...
We decided to have lunch at the Red Bar, a favourite bar in Grayton, very near the beach. With spring break and all, the chances of finding parking was about zip, and the possibility of getting into the restaurant without a long wait was about nada.
We drove there anyway, Joan turned on her well known 'Parking Karma' and we found the nearest possible parking spot. As we parked, two tables in front of us left: bingo! We were in!
Here are the girls just in front of the car: will anyone ever doubt Joan's parking karma?
Great lunch at a restaurant that still has the identical menu that they had when we first volunteered at the nearby State Park about 15 years ago. Mahi mahi sandwich with a mimosa for Joan, without mimosa for Jan and with a beer for Paul. Why would you change the menu when you've had a decade of people waiting to get in?
The girls then walked the half mile back to the State Park where Jan was camping, while I drove to the Park beach to pick them up. Then we had a walk down memory lane: the park's dune walk where I made this picture of the dunes and yellow pines that make a beautiful hammock.
Hope you've enjoyed our walks down memory lane with Jan, we all loved our 8 years in this area and find many of today's adventures worth sharing.
Tomorrow, we head back home...
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Defuniak Springs [near Grayton Beach]
Nothing much to report yesterday, so we had an early night in Baton Rouge Louisiana and got off to an early crack of dawn departure of 8:45! Amazing or what. Well, maybe not so much, read on.
We settled into our Choice Hotels chain motel, the Econo Lodge. Choice Motels affinity program has a stay two nights, get one free program right now, so we [I] inquired, got the proverbial, 'some conditions apply', got left on hold, and generally got royally pissed off, so lets move on. Besides, that's really not what is quite amazing; read on.
We drove down to Grayton Beach State Park and found Jan, waiting for us while casually reading a book. Girly squeals and welcome hugs happened and the laughing began. We always laugh a lot when with Jan. Eventually, we went to the Seagrove Market and each ordered a grilled grouper sandwich with fries. That went down fast and we laughed while reminiscing about the many adventures we've shared over the years. As it turned out, we've probably had enough weird things happen to write a book, but that's another story.
We planned to show up in Grayton tomorrow and drove back the 45 minutes to our motel in darkness.
Surprise! One couldn't expect this in a million years, maybe even longer!
As we drove up to the motel, police and firemen were everywhere and we could not get to the motel. We parked nearby and walked across some grass to reach the office. It was obvious something was terribly wrong: many fire trucks were on both sides of the motel, ambulance and rescue vehicles were on the road nearby, and the acrid smell of smoke was everywhere.
The guy we met said the rear of the motel was burnt and the back section was not usable, otherwise, we could stay the night. The first picture shows the worst of the fire where a few rooms are completely gone, walls and all [I think]. The second picture shows a larger view of the damage: note the metal roof is completely melted at the end of the building, and all units had water and 'access' damage [broken doors]. The last picture is the other side of the motel: it too has a vaporized roof at the back, and the volunteer firemen are just collecting things before leaving.
We still have electricity, hot and cold water, internet access and permission to stay. Unfortunately, we also have a fairly strong smell of fire, but it's bearable. We'll likely try to find alternative sleeping arrangements for the next two days, we'll see.
Lesson: don't leave computers, passports and your last change of underwear in the motel when you go out...
We settled into our Choice Hotels chain motel, the Econo Lodge. Choice Motels affinity program has a stay two nights, get one free program right now, so we [I] inquired, got the proverbial, 'some conditions apply', got left on hold, and generally got royally pissed off, so lets move on. Besides, that's really not what is quite amazing; read on.
We drove down to Grayton Beach State Park and found Jan, waiting for us while casually reading a book. Girly squeals and welcome hugs happened and the laughing began. We always laugh a lot when with Jan. Eventually, we went to the Seagrove Market and each ordered a grilled grouper sandwich with fries. That went down fast and we laughed while reminiscing about the many adventures we've shared over the years. As it turned out, we've probably had enough weird things happen to write a book, but that's another story.
We planned to show up in Grayton tomorrow and drove back the 45 minutes to our motel in darkness.
Surprise! One couldn't expect this in a million years, maybe even longer!
As we drove up to the motel, police and firemen were everywhere and we could not get to the motel. We parked nearby and walked across some grass to reach the office. It was obvious something was terribly wrong: many fire trucks were on both sides of the motel, ambulance and rescue vehicles were on the road nearby, and the acrid smell of smoke was everywhere.
The guy we met said the rear of the motel was burnt and the back section was not usable, otherwise, we could stay the night. The first picture shows the worst of the fire where a few rooms are completely gone, walls and all [I think]. The second picture shows a larger view of the damage: note the metal roof is completely melted at the end of the building, and all units had water and 'access' damage [broken doors]. The last picture is the other side of the motel: it too has a vaporized roof at the back, and the volunteer firemen are just collecting things before leaving.
We still have electricity, hot and cold water, internet access and permission to stay. Unfortunately, we also have a fairly strong smell of fire, but it's bearable. We'll likely try to find alternative sleeping arrangements for the next two days, we'll see.
Lesson: don't leave computers, passports and your last change of underwear in the motel when you go out...
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Deming NM to Fredericksburg TX
Again, a 9am crack of dawn. Two in a row, who would have thunk?
Unfortunately, no pictures, and not much to tell. It was about a 500 mile day, many flat miles at 80 mph [I love that!], brisk winds up the tailpipe [good for gas mileage!] and basically a pleasant fast drive through a pretty blah arid desert like moonscape with a few mountains, quite a few windmills to generate electricity, and very little traffic. Every transit should be this quick and easy.
Sorry but that doesn't make for very good reading. We had finished the trivia book Kathleen and Phillip gave us for Christmas, and we weren't quite ready for a spoken book just yet [saving for the trip north], so we just drove, Joan napped a little, and the day ended after a good meal nearby. All the while, it was sunny and 31ºC!
Fredericksburg is actually quite a nice place; it's a german community with a great Main Street, check it out here. Enjoy.
Unfortunately, no pictures, and not much to tell. It was about a 500 mile day, many flat miles at 80 mph [I love that!], brisk winds up the tailpipe [good for gas mileage!] and basically a pleasant fast drive through a pretty blah arid desert like moonscape with a few mountains, quite a few windmills to generate electricity, and very little traffic. Every transit should be this quick and easy.
Sorry but that doesn't make for very good reading. We had finished the trivia book Kathleen and Phillip gave us for Christmas, and we weren't quite ready for a spoken book just yet [saving for the trip north], so we just drove, Joan napped a little, and the day ended after a good meal nearby. All the while, it was sunny and 31ºC!
Fredericksburg is actually quite a nice place; it's a german community with a great Main Street, check it out here. Enjoy.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
San Diego to Deming NM
The crack of dawn happened at 9 this morning, almost a record but not quite.
Leaving San Diego after a month and a half was very difficult; Kathleen and Phillip are great hosts, San Diego really is the place to be, and we left our little delivery package behind. I can't say the Joan's allergies disappeared by the time we reached the Interstate, and I'm not sure that sudden improvement is likely; we'll see.
The weather was great all day: from about 15ºC when we left, mid to high 20s in the mountains, and up to 33ºC when we reached the 'prairies' beyond the mountains. The mountains are awesome, from sea level we rose to 4100', back down to about 2000' and back up to 4100' before finally dropping to about 200' below sea level. I think we're at about 4500' here in Deming.
The plants along the way are all examples of drought resistant plants, and spring colours are starting. Everything that was not irrigated was bone dry, and dusty. We saw dozens of 'dust devils' mini-twisters that picked dusty soil and twisted it up to a few hundred feet at times. At times, the dust made driving vision quite limited. I can imagine that the road signs warning of the possibility of no vision could be quite accurate. Fortunately, the blowing sand did not last long in spite of the fact they happened over a hundred mile stretch or so. The sand clouds were kind of spectacular in the rear view mirror where they had the sun behind them. Sorry, no pictures; you'll just have to drive here yourself.
Heavy winds were also a factor along Interstate 8, in the valleys between mountains, and in the flat areas after the mountains. We were both very pleased that we weren't haulage a trailer! The good part of heading east is that the gas prices have fallen from $3.89 to $3.29 here. Here's looking forward to even lower prices.
Leaving San Diego after a month and a half was very difficult; Kathleen and Phillip are great hosts, San Diego really is the place to be, and we left our little delivery package behind. I can't say the Joan's allergies disappeared by the time we reached the Interstate, and I'm not sure that sudden improvement is likely; we'll see.
The weather was great all day: from about 15ºC when we left, mid to high 20s in the mountains, and up to 33ºC when we reached the 'prairies' beyond the mountains. The mountains are awesome, from sea level we rose to 4100', back down to about 2000' and back up to 4100' before finally dropping to about 200' below sea level. I think we're at about 4500' here in Deming.
The plants along the way are all examples of drought resistant plants, and spring colours are starting. Everything that was not irrigated was bone dry, and dusty. We saw dozens of 'dust devils' mini-twisters that picked dusty soil and twisted it up to a few hundred feet at times. At times, the dust made driving vision quite limited. I can imagine that the road signs warning of the possibility of no vision could be quite accurate. Fortunately, the blowing sand did not last long in spite of the fact they happened over a hundred mile stretch or so. The sand clouds were kind of spectacular in the rear view mirror where they had the sun behind them. Sorry, no pictures; you'll just have to drive here yourself.
Heavy winds were also a factor along Interstate 8, in the valleys between mountains, and in the flat areas after the mountains. We were both very pleased that we weren't haulage a trailer! The good part of heading east is that the gas prices have fallen from $3.89 to $3.29 here. Here's looking forward to even lower prices.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Anza Borrego National Park
We drove out to the Anza Borrego desert on Friday. It was an interesting drive through hilly terrain, then suddenly, big hills to descend and we were in the lowlands where the desert is.
We left San Diego where the temperatures were around 20ºC, and over the mountains where the temperatures were nearer to 11ºC, then on to the desert where it was over 25ºC.
This was our first view of the desert: the green areas on the left in the next two pictures is the town of Borrego Springs.
From our vantage point, here's a view of a large and heavy truck negotiating the steep hill.
Down in the valley, where Borrego Springs is, we drove a few miles extra to see this wonderful metal sculpture of a dragon. Scary dragon at that!
The desert has many cactus and other drought tolerant plants. Hope you enjoy their pictures.
At the gate of one of the local communities, I found this cactus with a humungous bloom, about 6" or so.
And of course, Pally.
We've been packing to leave on Monday, tomorrow, and Pally set to go...
Today we all went to Encinitas where we had lunch at a totally organic restaurant, with no genetically modified foods at all: the wait was way too long, the food: well worth the wait.
On our way back to San Diego, we took the coastal route. Interestingly enough, the scent of the ocean was overpowered by the smell of sunblock. Weird or what?
Balboa Park
Balboa Park was initially built for the 1915 exhibition. The park is full of wonderful ornate buildings and wonderful gardens. This is a very large flower, about 6" wide, just outside the building for photographs clubs.
One of the original areas has been turned over to the local artists who have turned it into a great avenue. This is the backside of the artists stores.
This next shot is a butterfly in waiting...
The above picture was made just outside the Balboa Park conservatory, a very large slat house with many beautiful mature plants. This visit they had a great selection of orchids, of which many were cymbidiums.
Other plants were equally interesting, even without flowers...
Some of the outside plants also created good scenes.
Here's Joan, enjoying the scenery, mainly the next formal garden.
These archways are everywhere in Balboa Park. Most times, it's difficult to make pictures without people. Sometimes, they're the best ones...
Balboa Park also has an excellent cactus and succulent garden; here's a bench to contemplate the gorgeous flowers.
These are ice-flowers, every last one more vivid than the previous one.
And here are a few cactus, doing well in an urban environment.
Some trees are drought tolerant; this ones blooms beautifully at this time of year. Enjoy!
Scripps Aquarium and Balboa Park
It's been a while since this blog was updated, but I received questions from two readers about my procrastination, so here goes.
This first shot was made at the Scripts research centre, note the waves are still pretty impressive from the storm a few days ago.
The Scripps Aquarium research group are well known for their extensive research about the Sea Horses, here are a few that they've managed to breed.
The Aquariums also have many examples of jelly fish; some of these are quite beautiful under the proper circumstances.
As far as I'm concerned, seahorses are absolutely wonderful. Sea dragons are even better.
On another note, Joan, Pally and Maverick have their own methods of watching TV.
The next day, we had a quick trip to the San Diego Zoo, and a visit to the orangoutangs, where Mom and baby were in the upper sections, feeding.
On the way out of the zoo, we stopped at the reptile display and found these two wonderful snakes. The bluish one is very rare.
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Big Waves at La Jolla
La Jolla is the place where Phillip usually does his surfing, I thought I'd just show him what he's missing... <grin grin>
It's been raining off and on since Thursday: no complaints at all from us because the rain is really needed.
Along with the rain came lots of wind, and with that, reasonable waves. We drove north to La Jolla, San Diego's answer to Ottawa's Rockliffe neighbourhood, except La Jolla is newer and richer... We actually saw more than a half dozen of the new Tesla coupes, but that's another story.
It seems everyone was at La Jolla to see the reportedly 15' waves. Parking was difficult to find, so Joan turned on her parking karma: no worries.
Foamy surf was to be the order du jour! This first shot has no people in the water, only a few birds.
The next few pictures have brave surfer dudes to give a little scale to the size of the waves. Note that some of the waves actually blot out the horizon from where I was standing on the beach.
Note that the dude on the right is carrying a broken surfboard. Oops...
There are actually two surfers in the next picture.
... and three in this one.
Nearby were these flowers being blown by the relentless wind.
Of course, pelicans just soar like this because they love to.
You can click on the pictures to see larger versions; the next one contains over 40 surfer dudes in the water! Mere specs sprinkled on the water, waiting for the perfect wave...
Hope some of these waves last until the kids get back at the end of the week...
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