Additional Thanksgiving stuff

Rose did a good job of quickly summing up thanksgiving. I thought I would add these two tidbits.

1. One of the alligators Rose and I saw at Brazos Bend State Park



2. The progression of Jamie and the water

At first she complained about getting "mud" (aka 'wet sand') on her feet. Grandma loaned her some flip flops to save her shoes. After slowly making her way to the water she suddenly evacuated them as she could not run from the incoming waves fast enough.


We finally broke down and let her wear her sneakers sans socks. She waded in, gingerly at first, to fill her bucket for the sand castle moat construction. After she warmed up to wading, she made it a point to run back as fast as she could (gigantic splashes that would make dad postpone his shell hunt and MOVE).


After the moat was complete she abandoned all inhibitions and would stand in the water and watch the waves. At this point she was soaked from the waist down. It seemed like she would stay forever. Need to move nearer to the beach.

Still to come... some dark San Fran photos

Puzzle complete!

I happen to like putting together puzzles, and I've recently completed one. Something about them just appeals to me. I've been working on this one I don't know how long. Quite a while as I only work on it when the kids are asleep and Rose is busy knitting or podcasting.
I finished on the 17th, but took these pictures when the sun was out on Jamie's B-day.

So here's my smiling mug composed by Cian.


Here's the finished puzzle.


And here's a detail.

Touring San Francisco

I decided to take advantage of the proximity of Modesto to San Francisco. Driving to Dublin is roughly an hour and from there I took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). After the ~40 minute ride to Powell station I was in San Fran.

My goals were Ghiradelli Square (mmmmm chocolate), Pier 45 (Musee Mechanique), Pier 39 (Hard Rock Cafe), and crooked part of Lombard street if possible.

Somebody should have told me about the hills in San Fran!! I missed the cable car, so I decided to walk. I stayed even with the cable car until I came to the hill up Powell Street! Egads! I made it to Ghiradelli and basked in choclatey goodness. Upon entering I was asked if I'd like a free sample.... uhh Yes! Take in some ice cream and coffee after hiking 2 miles. Another mile past pier 45 and to pier 39. And finally back to Lombard street (uphill). Note: walking downhill is not so easy on steep inclines.

Rode the cable car (not only touristy but Damned convenient!!!) back the two miles and up and down the hills. Made it to the train station in plenty of time before midnight when the trains turn into pumpkins! Long day, but fun. Hope my pictures turn out, and if they don't I'll just have to visit here some other time in the daytime!! Good night.

Go West!

So I find myself in Modesto, CA. Staying at a Holiday Inn Express. I started to laugh when I signed the "aware of active train" clause on my ticket and their are earplugs on the counter!! I think so far the highway is much noisier (much more constant). Getting here was an adventure.

The day started off at 6:30AM, 8:45 flight. Tried out US Airways this time. I've done Denver and LAX but thought I'd travel by way of Phoenix this time. I was routed through Phoenix to Las Vegas to Fresno. I'm sure the airports were nice, but I only saw them in fast forward. It felt like I was on The Amazing Race/ Treasure Hunters, etc. As soon as I would land I would have 15 minutes to find my next destination and then book it so it wouldn't leave without me because the flights were already boarding as I landed!!

The flights were fun though. Plenty of Hobbit Time (LOTR ROTK audio book). First flight I had two seats to myself with lots of leg room (front row).

Second flight (PHX to LAS) I browsed the skymall catalog. Had a fun talk with my neighbor about the strange things you never knew you needed.

Third leg was the exit row. My exit row buddy just happened to be an electrical engineer who used to work on RF and now does non-polluting power plants! He lives in the Sierra Nevadas near Yosemite in a town called Big Tree and actually has a sheer granite dome in his backyard! Of course the irony of producing all this power from wind, hydro, etc. and it is all sent to Los Angeles.

All in all it was a good day. I hope the work goes well too. Sure would like to explore Yosemite or San Francisco, but we shall see. Both are ~2 hour drives from where I am. Would make for some long days.

And I thought it was 'sunny' California. We Oklahomans come here and it starts to rain. (Doesn't help it's the rainy season), 60s and 40s all week.... just like back home!

Neighbors

Thought I'd share a picture of the neighbors we are feeding, and who I recently identified as House Sparrows. We were hanging the feeder until apartment management decided that was not allowed. This picture was taken the day after we took the feeder down. Rest assured because they quickly found the feeder when I restocked it and put it on the porch table!!

Last night in Florida

Went back to my favorite spot... Parrot Key. Listened to sounds of the decades drank a mango margarita feeling the water air. Salads back home don't come with mangos and kiwis on them. Need to get these fruits widely spread in Oklahoma!

Not looking good temperature wise going back to Oklahoma. I'm becoming accustomed to 60 degrees being cold. Not sure if I'm prepared for 30 degrees.


On the random side of things... I was looking up reel to reel on wikipedia, I thought I knew what my co-worker was talking about... just making sure. Went from there to vinyl record and noticed something about Soviet-era "Bones" records. I may be out of the loop, but that sounds like a novel idea!! cutting records into used X-ray prints!! Happened to find another site that had some better images.

Day trip Florida

Today would have been a relax at the beach day, but previous engagements with West Palm Beach had us touring. West Palm Beach, for those like me who don't know Florida geography, is due east of Fort Myers. There are two routes, and we took them both.




On the way over we went through the Everglades. Note: before leaving Naples... use the bathroom... get snacks... buy gas. There is NOTHING between west and east except Call Boxes spaced every mile or so. When you get closer to civilization on the other side the scenic pullouts don't have restrooms. There are trees and palms on either side to begin with. Then scrubby stuff, and then fields of cat tails. A chain link fence runs along either side of the road (keep gators and panthers off road??). The land is so flat that if you were to stand on a semi you could see for miles. Pretty interesting. Has this feeling of huge space closed off to people. There is an access point in the middle, but fence otherwise.

The way back sounded promising.... drive by Lake Okeechobee. The Lake ended up being a hill on our right side with pump houses and gates every once in a while. that and it was dark. So far on our trip we had panther crossing signs (near Fort Myers airport) and gator crossing signs (south of Fort Myers) and this stretch brought us to the tractor crossings!! I couldn't see, but it looked like sugar cane and lots of it.

Anyway it was an adventure.