Seattle

Well, we made it to Seattle. This is the first time in more than 17 years that my wife and I have driven I-5 from Vancouver, WA to Seattle. A lot has changed along the way. The trees are taller, the brush has grown up and you don't seem to get the views of the rivers and mountains like you use to. New businesses have opened and other businesses have closed. The drive was a kind of "Oh, that's new" or "remember when ......." You get the idea.

Of course no road trip, or any kind of trip is complete unless we stop at an outlet mall.

The outlet mall in Centralia/Chehalis has been in business for more years than we can remember. We saw it being built. It is a great draw for the area, and a very convenient off/on to I-5. So, after an hour of shopping and a Pecan/Carmel Latte for me, we were back on the road. For some reason the trip did not seem to take as long as it did in the "old" days. Maybe because in Texas it is five hours to get anywhere, and this drive to Seattle was a little more than 3.5.  It is hard to describe to folks in Texas what it is like to drive down a tree lined or almost tree walled Interstate, or stop at a Rest Area that has trees so tall that you can hardly see the sky.

Of course everything is green, but it comes with a price - it is most often wet as it was for a couple days on our trip. But as always there were some things that I was able to capture in my "through the windshield" photos. Might have been a few more if I kept the camera ready instead of putting it away after each shot, then hurrying to get it back out for the next photo.

We arrived in Seattle on Thursday and stayed two nights with Deb's brother and his wife. We had a great time as we always do with them. Friday found us going into downtown Seattle. We had not been to the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle, so a stop there for a souvenir was necessary. We also went to the Public Market on the Pike Street Pier.

This is another place that we had gone to for years, and it is famous for the Fish Throwing at a couple of the Seafood Stores in the Market. The place was crowded and no fish were being thrown, as nobody was buying any fish. And some nice fresh fish they have.

Since it was so crowded and there was no action (means no pictures) we took a detour to another place on the Pier that Deb and I had never seen, the "Gum Wall."

This has to be one of the most disgusting but fascinating sites to see. A large area of brick wall covered with ABC (Already Been Chewed) Gum of every color you can imagine. It has become quite a tourist attraction (and we think Austin is weird). After taking several photos and admiring the "work of art" we continued back into the Public Market.

You can get almost anything you want here, Fresh Flowers, Fresh Fish, Fresh Produce, Processed foods from local vendors, candles, jewelery, figurines made from Mt. St. Helens Ash and just about anything else you can think of.

We made our way through the mass of people, with Deb and her Sister-in-Law stopping to make a few purchases along the way. We came out right across the street from the original Starbucks Cafe.

From the outside it sure does not look like the newer one just up the street.

Along with the people there are a large number street performers. This particular group was performing outside the Starbucks and selling their CD's.

It took awhile to get this post done - Will get pictures from the rest of our trip up soon.

On the way to Seattle. First stop is breakfast at Fatty Patty's in Vancouver on Hwy 99. Where else could you get Slop, or Corn Beef Hash omelettes in the AM.

On our way to Portland. It is times like these that I appreciate RV travel. No security lines, no whining babies, ok except for me in traffic. Will post soon.

Long Beach, CA with Photos

The last time I was in Long Beach, CA was in 2005 for the same conference - the National Emergency Number Association Annual Conference and Trade Show. Did not spend much time walking around in 2005.
This time I had a little more time, and the weather was great, so I took a walk. From the hotel room window I could see a Lighthouse in the distance. I have taken pictures of Lighthouses in several coastal states and I was not going to pass up this opportunity.

This Lighthouse gives some terrific views of the Long Beach skyline -

In addition this spot overlooks (though still a ways away) the Queen Mary, which permanently docked here in about 1967.

Getting to the Lighthouse requires a walk through the Shoreline Village area that includes Bubba Gumps, the Aquarium and other shops and a marina.

There is a lot to do and see in Long Beach. But the lighthouse, known as the "Lions Lighthouse For Sight" and dedicated in December of 2000 was my point of interest.

On the way home from Long Beach, CA

Returning from sending three days at a conference in Long Beach, CA. Will post some pictures in a couple days. Stayed next to the Conference Center, in walking distance of the waterfront. Got a good view of the Queen Mary, from across the bay. Found some great eating establishments. The weather was very nice, much cooler than in Texas. More about it soon with pictures.

Solar Eclipse - 2012

Since we live just North and East of the center line of the eclipse viewing area, I decided to take a drive a little South and West to see if I could get some pictures. I travelled to the small town of Ropesville, about 20 miles SW of Lubbock. Shortly after entering the city limits there is a large parking area next to a couple of grain elevators. This made a great spot to watch the eclipse. I had previously searched Lubbock and found a #12 Welders helmet filter glass. This would go on my camera lens. I was limited on my camera to the 200MM of my lens, but that is what I had to work with. If I had done some pre-planning (paid more attention to this event and where it could be seen) I would have gotten one of those inexpensive mirrored 500MM lenses.
Following some directions I found on the Internet, I secured the filter to the lens with rubber bands around the lens hood which I had on backwards. The filter glass is green, so everything had a slight green tint to it. Below is one of the eclipse shots:

Due to the short lens length it looks a long way away.
I had the camera on a tripod and connected to a laptop with a USB cable. I was able to control the camera from the laptop. I could change all the setting on the camera, and view the live image, but did not have to stare at the sun, thus averting eye damage.
While I was sitting there, a family pulled up behind me and the father/husband came up and asked if I needed a pair of Solar Eclipse glasses. These special glasses do the same thing that the filter glass on the lens does. I told him that I did not as I could not find any in Lubbock. He stated that he had purchased his off the Internet and had a spare pair that I could have. This made the viewing easier as I could confirm what the camera was seeing. The gentleman went on to tell me that he had brought his whole family down from Oklahoma just to see this. It was an event that they may never have the opportunity to see again.
The eclipse continued in slow motion, I took a photo every couple of minutes that kind of shows the progress.  The pictures were all similar to the one above, a circle of light with the dark circle coming over it. Well, what did I expect. Of course the weather did not cooperate fully. There were some intermittent clouds during the course of the eclipse which limited the visibility, like this one at the start.

That lower cirle is a reflection of light in the lens, a reduction of the f-stop, or opening in the lens caused it to go away, but then you lost the clouds.
The best pictures were actually right at sun set. I was able to remove the filter glass and take the pictures below.

If you look close at the pictures you will see a blurred something going vertically and off to slight angles. It took me a little bit to figure out that this was tall grass that was immediately in front of the camera. With the lens open as wide as it was and the slow exposure times, the grass just shows as blurred lines. Note to self, remember that as the sun goes down, tall things in front of your camera will get in the way and ruin everything.

Getting ready for Grapevine

We are sure looking forward to our annual trip to the Vineyards Campground in Grapevine, TX. This is one of the nicest RV facilities around, especially for being owned by a municipality. This year we have a little change as one of our group could not get reservations for Thursday night, so they have invited us to their house for the Thursday night Hamburger BBQ. Since they live less than 15 miles from the campground it is a great invite. Then we have a golf outing scheduled for Friday morning (finally all of us are over our ailements and are able to play), then a trip to the Grapevine Opry one night, Great Wolf Lodge for brunch and a bunch of time sittin' around jawin'. There is a post from last year that shows the campground (RV Park) in case you missed those. The travel season is finally upon us .

Gazebo after a year

I had a comment (question) asked about the Gazebo the other day, so I thought I would provide an update. The Gazebo is still standing and looks "like new" despite having been through dirt/windstorms with gusts in excess of 70 MPH, hailstorms 100+ degree temperatures and an occasional rain storm. I had sod put in the yard in March of this year to hopefully generate some grass, and the crack that was in the concrete patio has closed up. This might be due to the added watering for the grass (ground re-inflated). Still have a 6x13 section to do. Looking at pavers, but concrete may win - less work and about the same cost.

Yes, I was in Dallas - April 3, 2012

As you have probably read, there were several tornadoes in and around Dallas and Fort Worth yesterday. I, along with about 300 9-1-1 professionals were at a conference in downtown Dallas. The staff of the Fairmont Hotel did a wonderful job in informing everyone of what was going on. We all were moved into interior rooms that did not have exterior windows.  It was interesting the impact on the wireless/cellular network this event had. Text messages which would normally be almost instant were taking several minutes to be received. We were lucky, many others that live in the effected area were not so lucky.

Mustang Island - Port Aransas

Been a long time since I posted, but we have been busy with several different projects. One of them is the laying of sod in the backyard. But before that happens (or happened) we took a trip to Mustang Island on the Texas Gulf Coast.
This was our annual winter/spring trip and instead of leaving the State like we have for the last couple of years, we decided just to visit the Texas Gulf Coast. Mustang Island is located in the area of Corpus Christi. If you look out in the gulf from Corpus Christi, you can almost see Mustang Island. Port Aransas is on the very end of Mustang Island, the far end, across the bay from Aransas Pass.
The RV Resort we chose we had visited but never stayed in a couple years prior.

Some friends of ours have stayed here in the past and not only recommended it, they joined us for this week long trip.
The resort, Gulf Waters RV Resort, is a condominium resort, where most of the spaces are owned, and then rented when the owners are not present.

A large number of the spaces or lots are centered around ponds, thus giving the owner or renter a pleasant "out the front window" view of water, greenery and birds. The lots are all concrete, paved roads and the "developed" sites feature things like tables, benches, outdoor cooking areas and many other options. The Resort also has the usual amenities like a swimming pool, spa, laundry and shower facilities. The beach is just a short walk across a wooden "boardwalk." Here you have several miles of beach which you can drive on or walk on.

One of our travelling companions and I even got a chance to play a round of golf at an Arnold Palmer designed course (Newport Dunes) on the Island. Very beautiful course with lots of water and bunkers. A trip to the King Ranch Museum in Kingsville was also accomplished. The museum does a great job in providing the history of the ranch and its impact on the local area.

Since Corpus Christi/Mustang Island is almost 600 miles south of Lubbock, we spent one night in San Antonio on the way down, where we made a short visit to the river walk, and spent one night on the way back in Fredericksburg, where we visited the downtown area and had terrific German food.

We plan on returning to all three locations to spend some time in the future.

Bahia Honda State Park & Key West

We started this day with Breakfast at IHOP,  and then exploring Bahia Honda Key, Bahia Honda State Park and Key West. It was Deb's birthday, so as a memento - we have this picture -

After leaving Marathon. the first stop was Bahia Hondo State Park. This state park has a small RV park that is probably one of the most popular in Florida. I asked about reservations, and was told that you need to be on the computer a year in advance and keep submitting you request and hopefully you will be lucky enough to get a spot.

By far the most picturesque is Bahia Honda State Park. The park encompasses almost the entire Key, and is picture perfect. The beach located between the key and the Overseas Highway is rated as one of the top 10 beaches in the US.

From this site you can get onto another section of the original Flagler Railroad network. The views are spectacular and definitely worth it.

They have restored a portion of the Railroad bridge so that you can walk out on it and get some terrific views.

From here it was off to Key West - with the first stop being Higgs Beach. In Higgs Beach are a couple of interesting things to see. The first is a mass grave of 260 African Americans that died while being rescued by the US Navy from three ships at sea. In total more than 1,400 African Americans were on board.

 This is also where the White Street Fishing Pier is located.

This concrete fishing Pier extends a good distance out from shore on the Atlantic side of the keys. It is a nice broad lighted walk that attracts a large number of tourist and locals.

The pier on the end, or outer platform has the largest compass that I have seen. It helps to put into perspective exactly where you are.

Installed by the Sunrise Rotary Club, it includes a brass cap in the center giving the direction of North and the Latitude and Longitude.

On the street end of the Fishing Pier is the Florida Keys AIDS Memorial. There were City workers there polishing the marble.

From here we went to the other side of Key West (north side I guess) and checked out the water front there. Roads in Key West are very narrow and parking is limited.

On this side you find things like Sunset Pier, which is a restaurant/bar that get packed with people when the sun starts to go down.

Of course Mallory Square the place to go at sunset. The first picture (below) is Mallory Square in the afternoon.

A large brick paved square bordered by hotels and businesses. This is is (below) what it looks like just before and during sunset.

The square fills with crafts people and vendors selling their wares, street performers and statutes>

I had to sit and watch to make sure it was not a statute, though I had not seen it in previous trips through the square.
Water Traffic going out toward the ocean increased as there were several sunset cruise tours.

And of course the whole reason people crowd to this square is to watch the sunset.

As the sun set and brought an end to daylight, our day continued with dinner at Two Friends Patio, then the drive home to our hotel. We will be back Key West.