One of the pleasures of living in the Pacific North West are the beautiful sunrises and sunsets. This evening, while my service dog took me on out nightly walk we were blessed with a sunset setting over the Olympic Mountains. Granted, walking a few blocks does not sound exciting, although when you are blessed with the beauty of Mother Nature, such as a wonderful sunset. Sunsets are common here in the North West. Many times the sunsets are easily enjoyed while driving home from work, or on a walk such as my dog and I took tonight. Another location in Seattle to watch beautiful sunsets is at Golden Garden Park. Watching the sun set over Puget Sound with the Olympic Mountains in the background is always relaxing - even in the winter when it is cold out. Nature provides all sorts of wonderful, interesting things to see and learn about. All you have to do is look around you.

Kauai from new eyes...

Kauai is a beautiful island but not was never my favorite Hawaiian Island. Our trip this December held some surprises. We had to use our week at our timeshare or loose it, so we scheduled a week in early December. The weather forecast was for rain all but one day. Hawaiian rain is warmer than Seattle rain so that did not worry us much. Actually, we had good weather all but one day and on that one day it rained but didn't dampen our spirits at all. The day it rained, we went to one of the Botanical Gardens (up on the north shore) and it was interesting watching the rain squalls come through with the rain, actually a heavy mist, blow horizontally through the valley and mountain peaks. It turned out to be a very good day. We like to be in the water and the winter months are often stormy. At many of the beaches the lifeguards actually kept you out of the water. Wandering around, we stumbled onto Anini Beach on the north shore and was surprised to find it calm and protected by an outer reef that made it safe to snorkel. We found Anina Beech to be shallow quite a ways out, allowing for easy exploration of the coral canyons. We were surprised to find some reasonable coral formations the further out you went. Turtles were present as was a reasonable variety of reef fish. Looking closely, we were always able to find eels in the cavities of the coral formations. Having experienced a stroke a couple of years ago that left my left my left side weak and uncooperative, I was able to snorkel safely here. Snorkeling and being in the warm water of Hawaii makes my body feel better. It is almost magical how much better I feel there as compared to the wet, cold of Seattle's winter. My wife was able to be in the water every day but one while we were at Kauai. We saw a lot and there is still a lot more to see. Watch for future post for some of what we did and things we want to do in the future.

Chickens, Chickens, Everywhere

Chickens, chickens, everywhere. On Kauai, the Garden Isle, we are finding wild chickens every where we go. It is fun watching them strut around like they own the place. Maybe they do. I have heard several stories as to where they came from. The one I like is the hurricane that hit Kauai scattered chickens from chicken farms everywhere. In reality, the chickens were wild here long before the hurricane. There are reports of huge swells headed this way tonight and tomorrow, making snorkeling on the north shore of Kauai very dangerous. So South we go in search of calmer water.  On the way back to the condo we stopped by Hanalei to visit the Waioli Mission House and Church. This wonderful landmark was built in 1837. Stepping back in time to when this was the home of the early Christian missionaries, Abner and Lucy Wilcox. This wonderful landmark in Hanalei Was restored restored in 1921 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and reflects the southern roots of its architect, the Reverend William Alexander of Kentucky. This church, it's wonderful stained glass windows is worth the stop. Well, it's dinner time, NO we are not going to have chicken for dinner Tomorrow we go south to see what we find.

Today was not a good day to go visit big cities

Today was not a good day to go visit some of our big cities. May Day brought out a lot of protestors in many of the worlds cities. In the United States most of the people protesting were peaceful, with no intent on violence against their fellow man or against property. Because of the actions of a few, the voices of the majority of the marchers were lost in the violence in our cities.

The so-called anarchist remind me somewhat of the anti-war protestors of the 60's in that they want to tear down the establishment, but have no real idea what to replace it with. They protest against capitalism, want jobs, better pay, etc., but they don't seem to understand that capitalism and big business is what keeps our economy going.

I don't claim to be an economist, but I do know that without the Bill Gates, General Motors, and the big banks of this world, the worlds economy would collapse. I am not saying that there isn't room for change or that change is not needed, because there is.

The violent protestors just want to destroy, they don't care who or what gets hurt in the process. With the number of cameras in the hands of the public, a single clip taken out of context, or deliberately orchestrated makes our police look like the mean old bad wolf. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.

I would like to see those who condemn much of our police actions -- do as well. I would bet you that they would do worse. I am not saying that here and there a cop may have over reacted or even done outright wrong. What I would ask is that you put yourself in their place and see what you would do!

With that said, I know that a few of you good people were caught in the crossfire and are saying I will never go to that city again. I heard a Canadian from Vancouver Canada say he didn't want to come down to Seattle again, although I believe their city has had the same violence in the recent past.

Others of you were in your nice warm homes and said or did nothing. Maybe it is time for all of us couch potatoes to speak out in support of our police, corporate America (that puts the food on our tables), and our government that
Is trying to keep us safe. It is OK to express our opinions, work for change, and try to make our world a better place to live... Just do it peacefully.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Bailey, my co-pilot

I know, I am not flying an airplane, but I still have a co-pilot. About 10 months ago, my wife came home from work and dropped a bomb shell on me. She said that she thought we needed a dog to keep me company and make me go for walks. To her surprise, I jumped on the idea. About one year before this I had suffered a hemoragic stroke that should have killed me, but that is another story.

I immediately started to search dog breeders, animal shelters, and dog rescue shelters. I thought I wanted a labrodoodle or Goldendoodle. Upon visiting some breeders I determined that these dogs got too big when fully grown. I wanted puppy. My family panicked at the thought of a stroke survivor trying to train a puppy. I eventually listened to reason and started to search the web for rescue or pound dogs in the Seattle area.

I saw an ad for Gingers Pet Rescue. They were showing a group of rescued dogs that had been on death row. There were two Poodle mixes that. We were interested in. One male and one a smaller female.

I was immediately attracted to the male. He was in his crate watching what was going on but was not barking. I thought that was great. I was later to find out he barks at strangers, mail men, and anyone who rings the doorbell.

As you can guess, we fell head over heals, or should I say paws, for this dog. We were to find out that he is part Poodle and part Lhasa Apso. He definitely has traits of both. That's enough of Bailey's history for now.

Bailey does love to GO. It could be a walk, a car ride, or even a boat ride as long as he doesn't have to get in the water. He loves to see where I am going. At stop signs he loves to put his head between the front seats and lay his head on my shoulder and then look around to see where he is at. He knows when we are near home, my mothers apartment, and where my wife works.

He is such a change from our past pets. They all got car sick or howled, driving all humans nearby crazy. Bailey, just curls up and goes to sleep. Once in a while he looks around to see where the car is going. If all looks well he just goes back to sleep.

In another post I will share with you how Bailey thinks he can drive the car.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

An Old Car Guy

Spring is coming, actually it is officially here, although no one informed old man weather. With the coming of warmer weather we look forward to traveling around the Pacific Northwest or do we? With the price of gas at $4.00 a gallon and expected to edge toward $5.00 a gallon by August. What will some of us car nuts do? Before answering that question lets look back at our history of traveling with our cars.

Some of us older generation may remember the TV series "Route 66". It was my first introduction to the Chevrolet Corvette. I still would love to own a 64 Corvette... Oh well, it is nice to dream. I think this show helped create my desire to get in a car and drive anywhere. Feeling the road through the steering wheel was and is an addiction.

Even further back in history I remember my dad telling stories of traveling across country in a Model A or a Model T. They would travel with lots of extra tires and tubes, a little bailing wire, and a tool box that had enough tools to rebuild the car if necessary. Well, those days are long gone. I do not think we will ever see cars that we can easily work on ourselves.

I think that of all the cars I have owned over the years, the one that I liked to drive best was my 67 Pontiac Firebird. It had a 6 cylinder overhead camshaft engine with a four barrel carburetor and a four speed transmission that made it fun to drive. I have always regretted getting rid of it.

Now, I drive a Volvo CrossCountry station wagon. This car has every bell and whistle on it you could imagine. My wife is in love with the heated leather seats. The Volvo is a wonderful car, comfortable on the highway. It gets between 25 and 28 mpg driving at 70 mph on the highway. Unfortunately, it is a "family car" and not what I would call a "fun car".

Just filled up the Volvo with gas - over $70. This will allow me about 400 miles of highway travel or about 250 miles of city driving. I need something that is Inexpensive, fun to drive, and gets 30 mpg in town and 40 plus on the highway.

There are actually several cars available on the American market that fit all my requirements except the inexpensive part. My son is taking delivery this week of a car that meets all the requirements except the inexpensive part. He takes delivery of a 4 door Mini Cooper. The mini really is a nice car and has done well in the American market. There are several models of Toyota, Nissan, Kia, Fiat, and others that fit this market. The American automotive standard of Ford and Chevrolet are also making new models that meet my requirements although, like the Mini, they are not inexpensive.

I keep looking at my needs and my pocket book and I wonder what to do. The Smart car has my interest if I can work with its drawbacks. More homework is needed. For now it is me and my Volvo.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Delridge Way SW,Seattle,United States

A Trip With Mom

Planning a 5000 mile road trip with my 93 year old mother was made easier by the use of Google maps and Google searches. Now, my mother is pretty independent. She lives by herself, drives, and is pretty sharp for someone her age. She is also somewhat set in her ways - and definitely has her own opinion on things. This trip was for her and I needed her to be part of the planning - what route? what to see? What we choose to do has to be accessible by car - not walking as that is mom's one limitation.

OK, back to the trip. We are to leave Seattle area shortly after Memorial Day and spend about 2 1/2 weeks traveling to Oklahoma/Texas. Our hometown is in Oklahoma, not far from the Texas border and mom could remember the last time she visited there with my brother 20 or so years ago, of going to a restaurant in Vernon Texas that served good catfish. Other than visiting with her brother and family, this seemed to excite her more than anything else. I was able to Google restaurants in Vernon Texas and a restaurant that sounded like what she remembered -"The Catfish Grill" - was found. I think this helped to spark her interest in the trip.

Now that mom was willing to go on the trip, I started looking at the routes available. Mom wanted to go through the canyon country of Southern Utah if possible. So, planning the route to be driven had to include Moab Utah. The trip could take several routes: Seattle to Yellowstone and then down through the Teton's, Denver and then down to Oklahoma. Another route was to go to Salt Lake City, Utah and down to Moab Utah, and then into New Mexico and on to OKlahoma. Yet another route being explored was to go down the Oregon - California coast to the Napa Valley and San Francisco and then over to the Grand Canyon and on to Oklahoma.

I was able to print out each route, including the miles between cities and points of interest. Travel time was also calculated by Google Maps. All of this was printed out and put into a notebook that mom was then able to study and comment on.

All of these routes can be traveled in either direction. So now the challenge is to determine which way we will go. This may be determined somewhat by weather and the distances between stops for the night. As of now, we are looking at go to Salt Lake City and then down to the Canyon Country first. We will probably not decide what route we will come back until we actually start back.

All of the planning for this trip could have been done with paper road maps, tourist guide books, etc. My choice to use Google saved me lots of time and actually gave me more options and things to see and do. I was able to print out the different routes and what was along each route to see.

The one thing that really surprised mom was my ability to search for rest stops in each state we were to drive through. I was able to print out maps and list of the rest stops to assure mom that she would have ample places to stop and rest.

I plan on stopping every couple of hours to get out and stretch my bad back and walk around. I have always used the excuse of wanting to take pictures of something as a way of justify stopping. Now, with the knowledge of where the rest stops are located, it will be easier to plan the day so we can get out and stretch every couple of hours. The only states I could not find rest stop info for was New Mexico and Arizona. There were non-govenment sights that filled the gaps here. This was only possible by the ability to search the information highway and Google proved to be the best search engine to use.

Now, to find a computer and software that will actually pack my camera equipment, clothes, and load the car. The driving I want left to me.