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Safari: Hippos!
Nothing like watching Hippos play while you enjoy a cup of hot chocolate. Hearing their crazy noises early in the morning (like giant amplified tubas) I pulled myself out my cozy bed to go see for myself. Since our tent was right on the river we could sit on our deck and watch the Hippos. Even though it was only 6:30 AM, there was already a group in the water so I feared that they might already be in the water for the day and that we wouldn’t get any good sightings or pictures. Just heads coming out of the water. (Hippos go out and graze at night and stay in the water during the day to keep cool.)
However, as I focused on the group in the water a large adult silently came into sight along the opposite bank of the river. Then a little later a group of three young hippos took their playing out of the water, running around and grazing a bit on the slopes of the bank.
RoadTrip Part IV: The Adirondacks via Troy
Monday 4 August
We hit the road just after breakfast on our way to Elk Lake in the heart of the Adirondacks. Having discovered RoadFood.com I had a little detour up my sleeve. We stopped at Famous Lunch on Congress Street in Troy for some of their chili dogs that are out of this world. They are about a third of the size of a regular dog on really good soft buns, mustard, onions. Absolutely delicious. Washed down with grape soda. Yum.
While we were driving around Troy we came across the new Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) looming above us from the street below. A pretty fantastic looking creation that looks like a viking ship perched on the hill encased in glass. It may not be the best visual neighbor, but it is striking.
After a beautiful drive up the interstate we pulled into the Elk Lake Lodge situated in the middle of a private forest reserve. It was like stepping into a postcard.
Coming Soon…
No doubt many of are surprised that the Mindy Cohn post was so important that I decided to let it stay at the top of the page for the past three weeks. As much as I think Ms. Cohn’s art deserves extended attention, the real reason is that we were on a 17-day road-trip through upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticutt, and Pennsylvania. The trip was amazing, we had a fabulous time and got to spend time with many good friends along the way.
Plenty of pictures will be on their way soon. First need to figure out how to download the thousand-plus pictures from the new camera.
All of the Womenfolk on iTunes
At long last all of the Womenfolk’s LPs are availabe on iTunes. I am happy that I was able to help get these recordings back in circulation. But bigger thanks go to the Womenfolk themselves and particularly to Babs Cooper, the feisty blond Womanfolk who really put the leg work into getting their recordings online.
And on the Womenfolk’s MySpace page they have written a short history of the group and have included their own Bios.
You can read about The Womenfolk and WF related items here, here, here, and here.
I am REALLY sad to report that the fabulous video I have a link to elsewhere on this site has been deleted from the MySpace page where I found it. This is hugely disappointing. That makes the second video of the WF that have disappeared into the ether. Sigh.
California Part IX: San Francisco
After several days exploring the coast, we headed into the City for two nights at the Fairmont and two nights staying with friends. Besides taking in “Sex and the City” the weekend it opened, we spent most of our time enjoying the lovely, cool weather and the fresh breezes–all the more glorious to us because we knew the hot, humid, polluted air we would be headed back to in DC.
The first two pictures were taken from the ferry on our way across the bay to Sausilito. (As much as we love San Francisco, we had to admit that Sydney Harbour is more impressive.) The third picture is taken from a residential neighborhood in Sausilito. The final picture is the de Young Museum.
Unlike DC, buses in SF are actually convenient and rather pleasant to use. Not to mention the fact that most run on electricity which makes for a much quieter bus.
California Part VIII: More Big Sur
Double click on any of the photos (anywhere on MyPorch) to get a better look.
California Part IV: Deetjen’s
While in Big Sur we stayed at Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn. Built in the 1930s the place is cute and rustic. I hate to use this phrase but the place has a certain shabby chic to it–a charming little inn that time forgot. It also has extremely comfortable beds and a really good restaurant that lands squarely on the side of fine dining. It was a wonderfully cozy place to snuggle up on the cool May nights that we stayed there.
California Part II: The B&B-hater’s B&B
While we were in Santa Cruz visiting good friends, we stayed at the best B&B we have ever experienced, the Adobe on Green Street. Besides being a beautiful old adobe house set on a quiet street in the middle of a beautiful garden, the owner’s of the B&B have created a space for people who hate B&Bs. This was our second stay at the Adobe and we had a great time.
If you are like me, you may like staying in a cozy house in a residential neighborhood, but dislike the quasi-parental eyes of the owners as you feel like you need to sneak in and out of your room so as not to disturb them. At the Adobe on Green Street you can stay for days and never even catch a glimpse of the owners. As far as I can tell they don’t actually live on the property. We kind of wish sometimes we could meet them, just to tell them how much we love their B&B, but that would kind of defeat the whole groove that they have created.
California Part I: Seals!
We had a great time in Northern California last week. I want to write all about it, but I fear whatever gift of narrative I may have needs to be set aside for a less time consuming way of communicating my fond memories. So my posts will be a little scattered and uneven but I promise lots of photos.
First installment: Elephant Seals! These sleepy gals (and a few juvenile males) were on the beach just north of San Simeon molting. Taking a few weeks to lounge around while their old brown coat gives way to a silvery gray. Having grown up in land-locked Minnesota, I found the scene on the beach endlessly fascinating. The volunteer docent on the beach explained that the females and juvenile males hang out near Hawaii when not on the beach in California while the adult males go up to the Aleutian Islands. I guess they are good with long distant relationships.
