Happy New Year! 2018

It's that time again.  As the old year falls away, a New Year awaits ... with the promise of joys and triumphs, fresh inspiration and opportunities.  Need a resolution?  Enjoy each day to the fullest.  May we all find some extraordinary experiences in the new year.

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go.  I travel for travel's sake.  The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off the feather-bed of civilization, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints."  So sayeth Robert Louis Stevenson (master of the run-on sentence), in his book, "Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes" (1879).  I'm not so sure about the cutting flints, but getting off the comfortable feather-bed could result in the adventure of a lifetime!  Or, changing the tune, pardon my pun, as recent Kennedy Center Honor recipient and pop singer, Gloria Estefan, belts out:  "Get on Your Feet."

Safe travels, friends, wherever you roam!

Christmas Eve, December 24, 2017

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse ...

... and then sweet Everly Rose came a'calling!  Oh my goodness, we had such a fun Christmas eve.  Of course, she brought her Mom and Dad, Jenny and Matt.  We opened presents under the tree, she tasted most of them and looked everything over very carefully.  She played with her Christmas card envelope, a bow or two, looked in awe at the bright lights on the tree.

A little while later, Grandma Alice and Grandpa Tom came, too.  We all shared gifts, and then Everly  Rose ate her dinner, and had a nap while the grownups enjoyed chili and corny cornbread (possibly a tad nontraditional?).  When she woke up, she was ready to play some more.  The family whiled away the afternoon and evening, with laughter and stories, and love.  I can't recall ever having such a joyful and joy-filled Christmas Eve.  Truly.

Presents were gaily wrapped and ready for Everly Rose.

Dressed in her reindeer suit, she looked like a tiny elf.  

The blanket she's sitting on was her Daddy's when he was a baby.

At the table, anything within reach was fair game, naturally. The fork and knife were removed, but the spoon was okay. No brownie or cookie for her, not yet! After all, she's only nine months old.  She made a grab for one anyway.  A grownup has to be quick with an inquisitive wee one around!

Ohhhh, another toy!  Gramma's phone!  She loves my phone (or probably any phone).

Grandpa Jim?  Is that you behind those eyeglasses?

This was the Best Christmas Eve ever!

And, tomorrow, Christmas Day, Jimmy and I will drive down the hill to Roseville to spend the afternoon at Alice and Tom's.  Like tonight, the kitchen will be a-bustle with cooking and the center of wonderful aromas.  The six grownups will have dinner, sprinkled with happiness and love, and best of all ... I'll have  another play date with Everly Rose!  Hooray!

Welcome to California -- through 12/04/17

From Athens to Newark Liberty Internat'l Airport to Atlanta, and finally Mobile AL.  All that took roughly 24 hours.  I don't sleep much on a plane, nor in an airport, so you can imagine how goofy I was when our time in the air and airports was over.  At Newark, we bid Bernice and Ibby farewell and they went home; we weren't finished yet.  The flight from Athens landed in Newark at 9:30 pm, meaning we traveled 11+ hours through the darkness of night.  You can do that flying from east to west.  However, no flights could take us south that night, so Jimmy and I spent Thanksgiving Eve at the Newark Airport.  We decided not to get a room, since our flight the next morning was an early one.  I guess we dozed for an hour.

Jimmy's sister picked us up at Mobile's airport at 1:30pm on Thanksgiving Day, which happened to be my birthday.  But, let's don't talk about age, okay?  After eating a combo lunch/dinner with her, Jimmy and I skedaddled across Mobile Bay to our Tergel parked in Daphne.  We managed to stay awake till 8/ish, and slept 11 hours!  The next day we emptied our suitcases and four loads of wash later, we had clean clothes -- hooray!

On Saturday, the 25th, our good friends, Tom and Diane, drove from Tallahassee to treat us to lunch at Felix's Fish Camp on the Causeway.  What a treat!  Thanks, you guys!  Later, we made time to visit another good friend, coincidentally named Tommy, in the hospital.  Back in Tergel, we decided to start the trek west the next day, Sunday.  We had an easy drive to my sister's place near Baton Rouge, spent three nights with them, and left their place on Wednesday, the 28th, aiming for Hidden Lakes RV Pk in Beaumont TX.  I-10 all the way, baby!

Winter days are short, with little daylight hours, and traveling west into the afternoon sun is no picnic.  With that combination, we decided to get up well before sunrise and put in our miles early.  By 4:30 or 5am, we'd be on the road (I-10) ... heading west in Texas.  We saw some truly spectacular sunrises three mornings in a row!  Wednesday and Thursday saw us putting in 1100 miles altogether, and we made it all the way to Benson, AZ.  A brilliant Ft Stockton, Texas, sunrise above.

Saturday's sunrise at Kartchner Caverns, AZ, was even prettier than the morning's before.  When we got to Benson AZ, where Kartchner is, we were so tired we chose to do a shorter day, which meant we could do a morning cave tour.  We still managed to drive nearly 250 miles in the afternoon.  We stayed at Kartchner Caverns C/G several yrs ago and did the Throne Room tour.  This year we toured The Big Room.  The campground has long, level spaces, set far apart from each neighbor, and oh-so-quiet ... perfect.  

The Big Room cavern is closed from mid-April to mid-October and during that time, a colony of Common Cave Bats is busy giving birth, raising their pups, teaching them to fly, echolocate, and how to hunt.  On April 15, the staff closes all the doors to the Big Room, turns out the lights, and even pulls out the plugs, to be sure no lights come on in there during the summer months. They won't enter that part of the cave until late September, after the bats have migrated. The Big Room re-opens to the public on October 15th.  

I could hear people around the corner that I couldn't see!

Supersonic bat ears really work!

In the visitor center is a depiction of a Ground Sloth that paleontologists discovered in the cavern -- a skeleton of an 86,000-year-old Shasta ground sloth.  We enjoyed The Big Room tour, but if I had to make a choice, I'd pick the Throne Room tour.

Saturday night was Desert Cypress in Wickenburg, AZ (overpriced), and after a long, hard drive on Sunday, we pulled into Tonopah Station in Tonopah NV.  A cold front had just blown through, leaving a huge, ugly wind, first against the driver's side, trying to push us over, then a head-on, in-your-face headwind.  Terrible drive.  This was the kind of wind that high-profile vehicles are warned about (and we were).  Plus due to navigator error (both me and Nuvi), we drove a good 25 miles out of our way leaving Wickenburg.  In Tonopah, elevation 6,000'+, it was FREEZING.  Jimmy hooked up the electrics, but not water.  The temp on Monday morning was 14°F.  We'd pulled in both slides and kept the catalytic propane heater on, as well as the small space heater to keep Tergel and us warm.  Above, not much traffic on Highway 95 in Nevada, and little wind on Monday.  Good night, moon!

Nice to see some snow on the Eastern Sierras. 

Even Mt Grant overlooking Hawthorne had a dusting.

The Sierras are dead ahead.

We're about to leave Nevada, climbing up to Donner Pass at 7,237'.

An hour-and-a-half from home,

this is a welcome sign!

When we pulled into our driveway on Monday, Dec 4th, it was hard to believe we'd been gone for three months.  But we had; we left the day after Labor Day.   Tergel logged 4,520 miles for her round trip.  Jimmy and I can certainly top that statistic since we flew halfway around the world!  Seven giant trees were cut down while we were away, as scheduled.  I looked around the ol' homestead, seeing it without those trees for the first time.  We needed them gone as they were too close to our house.  Can I tell you ... it feels good to be home.

Now, we'll take it easy for a spell.  Christmas is coming.  They'll be things to do, places to go, and people to visit.  Especially one sweet little girl, who was six months old when we left on this long journey, and will be nine months at our return.

Here she is with her Daddy (Matt) at Halloween time.  Everly Rose.  I'll get a new photo of her for you soon.  I hope you enjoyed following along on our trip.  For Jimmy and me, these past three months here in the US and overseas were fantastic.

The Acropolis ... Wednesday, 11/22/17

I'm not a scholar nor a dedicated student of history, especially ancient history, and I've never read the Classics.  Still, while in Athens, the four of us really wanted to see and experience the ancient ruins and historical landmarks as much as we had time for.  My first lesson was to understand what the Acropolis is.  I looked it up:  "The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historic significance, the most famous being the Parthenon."  However, it seems like the two names are used interchangeably. 

Our hop on/hop off bus tickets were still valid today, so we opted to ride up the hill to the Acropolis, as it's otherwise quite a hike.  We were also on a tight schedule.  The huge tourist buses had already arrived in the parking lot, and our little bus was followed by more.  I think we paid 20 Euros to get in.  That was the easy part.  Getting in was crazy.  

We four nearly made it through, walking up a different aisle to bypass the massive group you see above.  At the moment we were to go through the turnstile, they quit working.  More and more people crammed behind the turnstiles.  We waited for our turn, but the computer that ran the turnstiles was "down."  Eventually a man came with a rubber stamp to allow us entry.  We escaped just as a fight was erupting behind us between a guy in the crowd and one of the officials.  I didn't understand a word of it, but from the tone, fisticuffs would fly soon if they weren't allowed in.

As we wound our way up to the top of the Acropolis, we looked down on the Odeon of Herodes Atticus theater.  Built in 161 AD and renovated in 1950, it's built of stone.  Believe it or not, the theater is still being used.

I was surprised to see this sturdy-looking Eurasian Magpie.

At the top. 

From our hotel and just about every place in the city of Athens, you can see the Parthenon and its cranes.  Reconstruction has been ongoing for years.  It is hoped, one day, that the Parthenon will be returned to its original glory and, to that end, the work continues.

The Erechtheion or Erechtheum -- an ancient Greek temple built entirely of marble on the north side of the Acropolis -- was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon.  Notice the six draped female figures of the Caryatid Porch, above and below -- "Porch of the Maidens."

Closeup of two maidens.

It was pretty chilly up on this big rock, but we warmed up as the day wore on.

Love the clear, blue sky!

Cute little Lykavittos (Lycabettus) Hill is the highest point in Athens, rising 910' above the city and it sticks out like a sore thumb.  It's visible from almost every part of the capital.  Legend says during ancient times, wolves roamed freely on the hill, then surrounded by countryside. The hill was named Lykavittos, which means the hill of the wolves.  The blocks in the foreground are part of the Parthenon rubble.

Jimmy and Nickie at the Parthenon!

Pieces/Parts to be used in the restoration (if possible).

Many came to the Acropolis today, but I didn't feel "closed in" by the crowd.  I recognize three people milling around in this sea of humanity.

Ah!  These three!

We could view the Temple of Zeus from the Acropolis.

It's open now, but we won't have time to return today. 

Huge cranes are being used to put the Parthenon back together.

From this high up, we spied the entire Odeon theater.

Leaving the Acropolis, heading downhill,
we passed by the theater entrances and facades. 

Following neat, tiny lanes, we walked down and down to the hop on/off bus stop, passing some really unique old homes and apartment houses, many with wonderful ornamentation, like you see below.

Look, Smartie's in Greece!  Actually we saw a lot of Smarties here, but the car above caught Jimmy's eye, 'cause it pretty much looks like ours.

As we continued toward the bus stop, we made a brief stop at the Acropolis Museum.  Bernice, at right, is amazed that archaeological work "digs" is being done beneath the museum.  We couldn't stay to view the exhibits.  From here, we caught the bus ... and were dropped off near our hotel.

Since we walked right by the cathedral on our way to Hotel Hermes,

I made a quick photo stop at the resplendent Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens.

We had to check out of the Hermes by 11, but the hotel allowed us to store our bags for a couple of hours.  That gave us time to see the Acropolis and have a bite of lunch at Thanasis (again).  The concierge called us a taxi around 1:30/ish, and we were off to the Emirates terminal at Athens Internat'l Airport.  Our exciting and often novel month-long sojourn in Dubai, India, and Greece was drawing to a close ... it was time to go home.  Nice to breeze through airport security and customs without a hassle.  Bernice and I circled the concourse a couple of times, walking now because we'd be sitting/reclining for hours and hours on our way to Newark's Liberty Internat'l Airport ... and back in the good ol' USofA.  Above, our flight leaves Athens 5:25pm.  We'll arrive in Newark at 9pm the same evening.  Weird.

So be it.  We had a grand trip and saw many wonderful sights/sites; we feel privileged and grateful to have had the adventures and experiences.  Now all we have to do is get home!  tbc

Athens, if you please ... Tuesday, 11/21/17

Jimmy and I were on hand to observe the somber Changing of the Guard ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington DC in 2010.  Yesterday, we learned that Greece also has sentinels guarding their Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, so we got up early enough for showers, coffee, and breakfast, and a brief walk to catch Greece's 9am ritual.  Every hour on the hour, the guards change ... well almost on the hour.  Nothing happened at 9.  We began watching the clock, and about 9:12 the new guards appeared from around the corner, which meant the actual ceremony didn't begin till 9:15, give or take a minute.  Whatever happened to promptness?

We weren't allowed to go beyond the steps.

New guards marched in and after a brief ceremony,

they'll relieve the others.

High-steppin' dudes!  The morning was cold (we were cold!), maybe in the high 40's, and we were wondering what these guards had on beneath their pomp and circumstance to keep warm during their shift.  They may not have been on time, but they were in step and their marching was quite elaborate.

After watching that bit of Greece, we opted for the hop on/hop off bus to carry us around.  Seems as though ancient ruins exist in every neighborhood.  First stop was the National Archaeological Museum (above), highly recommended by yesterday's guide, Nia.

Today, again had to keep moving to stay ahead of entire classrooms of school kids -- for two reasons: their energy and they take up a lot of space.  They weren't a problem, and it was sorta neat to see them so enthused about their own history.  Jimmy at left and Bernice/Ibby on the right, split at the Bronze Statue of Zeus or Poseidon, and those gung-ho kids.

Another fascinating museum.  This one had so many priceless artifacts to admire, but after a time, the statues all begin to look alike.

Really nice clay vases and figurines, all removed from the Chamber Tombs of Mycenae. 

Bronze stature of a horse and young jockey,

approximately life-size, 9.5 ft in length and 6.9 ft high.

Retrieved in pieces from a shipwreck off Cape Artemision, Euboea (Greek Island).

All the labels were in English and Greek, which made identification so much easier.  You know the phrase, "It's Greek to me?"  I can relate!

Exquisite statues and pottery throughout the museum.

Colossal marble head of a statue of Zeus.

One is examining a label, the other appears to be "done in!"

Resting for a minute.  Lovely mural.

Round 'em up, let's go!

We didn't wait long for the hop on/hop off bus.  Athens is very clean, no litter, no trash, hardly a cigarette butt to be seen.  But groups and/or gangs of younger folks have tagged every single fence, door, sign post, building, even a vehicle they can reach.  If we held still long enough, someone would spray a tag on us!

We made our way to Thanasis Souvlaki cafe

near the Monostiraki Metro station, above.

Sure, it was still chilly, but the day had warmed enough to sit outside.

People watching is a great sport.

He was an "in your face" type of guy.  He talked to all passers-by, goading them to come in and eat.  He was quite a card, and fun to watch.  Nia recommended this place and we enjoyed the food when we finally got it.  We're pretty sure someone else got our lunches and we came in a distant second.  

Bernice is showing the salad plate with a whole slab of feta cheese on top.

Wish I had one or two of these for my back deck.

Too heavy for my suitcase!

We needed to work off these lunches! We walked a fair distance to look at (and wanted to go in) the local synagogue, but, alas, it was closed. At least we got our exercise, and we saw interesting architectural sights along the way, as in, doors and window treatments, and old buildings made livable.  Those large pots, above, were across from the synagogue.

Back at the metro station, we caught the next on/off bus; we planned to get off at the Temple of Zeus, passing an open air market along en route, above and below.  From the Temple of Zeus, it's an easy walk to our hotel.

The Acropolis is visible from many parts of the city.

A typical street scene.

We walked past the Ancient Street of the Tripods to the Ancient Agora.

Wind Tower is at top right.

Old church in the Ancient Agora.

This is the Tower of the Winds at the Roman Agora.  It's an octagonal marble clock-tower that functioned as a "timepiece," and is considered the world's first meteorological station, featuring a combination of sundials, a water clock and a wind vane.  It was supposedly built around 50 BCE, but according to some sources, might have been constructed in the 2nd century BCE before the rest of the forum.  The 39' tall structure has a diameter of about 26', and was topped in antiquity by a weather-vane like Triton that indicated the wind direction.  Very cool details.

In the summer of 2014, the Athens Ephorate of Antiquities began cleaning and conserving the structure; restoration work was completed in August 2016.  And the entire area was fenced; we couldn't get close.

  Above is one of the eight wind deities carved at the top.

Nuts. The Temple of Zeus gates were closed and locked. The site closes at 3:30, so we missed it by a half hour. We could look thru the metal bars to take a picture, but we wouldn't be going in today.  Well, at least we didn't have a long walk to return to our hotel.  Our feet were "dead," by this time.  Maybe we should've ridden more and walked less?  Whichever.  We saw a lot of GOOD stuff and consider it a GREAT DAY.

Tomorrow, a big day!